Chicago Blackhawks: Three reasons Quenneville should’ve stayed
Reason #2: Front office more to blame for team’s sudden downturn
Early in his tenure as Blackhawks general manager, it seemed as if Stan Bowman could do no wrong. The son of NHL legend Scotty Bowman, who is the winningest coach in NHL history, was named GM of the team in 2009. His father joined the staff as an advisor as well.
Bowman was very successful right off the bat. The Blackhawks won their first Stanley Cup in 49 years in 2010 with a talented, young team. That team had to be somewhat dismantled because of salary cap issues. There were fears that the Blackhawks wouldn’t be as effective going forward.
Bowman was able to rebuild the team quickly, and the Blackhawks won another Stanley Cup in 2013. The team added a third cup in the lockout-shortened 2015 season, and it seemed as if a dynasty was emerging. That all changed very quickly.
After a disappointing 2016-2017 season, Bowman fired Mike Kitchen, a longtime assistant coach, and Quenneville’s close friend.
Later in the offseason, Bowman traded defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson and forward Artemi Panarin in separate deals on the same day. Quenneville wasn’t happy and stormed out of a team meeting that day. This was another sign of tension between the coach and the front office.
The firing of #Quenneville is nothing more than John McDonough, Stan Bowman & Al MacIsaac’s (Hockey Operations) desperate attempt to save their jobs.
— Daniel Carcillo (@CarBombBoom13) November 6, 2018
There has always been tension between Joel & the above men mentioned.
Barry Smith is best friends with Scotty Bowman #Blackhawks
The Blackhawks also quietly fired Quenneville’s top two assistants in Ulf Samuelsson and Kevin Dineen. The replacement assistant is Barry Smith, a coach who was previously brought in to help with the team’s failing power play a few years ago. Smith and Quenneville butted heads often.
I believe that this move was as much about the team’s early-season skid as it was about the front office shifting blame off of themselves. Fans and analysts need to take a hard look at Bowman’s decisions over the past two seasons. He needs to be on the hot seat and be held accountable.