Hiring Joel Quenneville would be a disaster for Chicago Blackhawks

The Chicago Blackhawks are currently looking for a new head coach. Derek King replaced Jeremy Colliton as the interim head coach in 2021-22 and did okay. However, he didn’t do anything that makes you know for a fact that he is the guy going forward on a full-time basis.

He is very much going to be in the mix for the job but he probably isn’t the best option available to him. There are some really good coaches available or could be available after the season is over. There is one coach, however, that should get no consideration whatsoever.

A few years ago, Jeremy Colliton was hired to replace Joel Quenneville as the head coach. He had since been hired by the Florida Panthers where he continued his success. With Chicago, he had deep playoff run after deep playoff run and achieved winning the Stanley Cup three times.

The Florida Panthers were forced to separate from Joel after the sexual assault allegations came out against Bradley Aldrich in the Kyle Beach case. Everyone in charge of the 2010 Chicago Blackhawks should be forever banished from leading this team again.

The Chicago Blackhawks need to stay far away from Joel Quenneville as a coach.

Having him back would be a very bad idea for everyone involved. There are plenty of options that weren’t part of the darkest time in team history. Having him back would erase any of the trust that the organization is trying to build up with its new leadership and philosophies.

There is no doubt that Quenneville is an elite hockey coach. Success follows him when it comes to the product on the ice. Sometimes, however, there are things to consider that are bigger than hockey and this is one of them.

The Hawks fired a lot of people (and a lot of people were fired across the league) because of their association with these allegations and Quenneville is no different. He doesn’t belong back with this team at all.

In order to return to the NHL, he is going to have to be reinstated after having a meeting with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman. That will probably happen at some point but it should happen with another team. Not Chicago. There are plenty of good options available that will help them move forward. The keyword there is forward, not backward.