There have been many great head coaches that have graced the sidelines of the National Hockey League. However, few of them had coach Joel Quenneville's success. Affectionately called "Coach Q," Joel Quenneville's career as a player and coach in the NHL has spanned 5 decades.
Joel Quenneville was the 21st pick in the 1978 NHL Entry Draft. Quenneville's primary position was a defenseman. He had a few stints as a player in the American Hockey League at the beginning and toward the end of his career. Before being drafted into the NHL, he spent three years of his career with the Windsor Spitfires of the Ontario Hockey League.
Quenneville played for 5 different NHL teams. He played for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Colorado Rockies, Washington Capitals, Hartford Whalers, and New Jersey Devils.
Before Queenevillle started coaching in the NHL, he had several coaching stints. As a member of the St John's Maple Leafs of the AHL, he served in the dual role of player/assistant coach. He also had a stint as the head coach of the Springfield Indians of the American Hockey League. Also, he was an assistant coach for the Colorado Avalanche franchise.
During his tenure, he was part of the coaching staff that guided the Avalanche to its first-ever Stanley Cup as a franchise. He even served as an assistant coach when the Avalanche franchise was located in Quebec and was known as the Quebec Nordiques.
Quenneville's 1st head coaching stint in the NHL would occur with the St Louis Blues franchise in 1996.
He would replace former Blues coach Mike Keenan in the middle of the season. Quenneville would guide the Blues to an 18-15-7 record and an appearance in the Conference Quarterfinals.
Quenneville would guide the St Louis Blues to playoffs for seven years. His most successful regular season with the St Louis Blues was 1999-2000. However, his best season overall was 2000-2001 since the Blues made it to the Western Conference Finals.
Joel Quenneville won over 300+ games as coach of the St Louis Blues. However, he was let go from the franchise after his eighth season.
The Colorado Avalanche hired Joel Quenneville in 2004. However, the prior NHL season would be canceled due to a lockout.
In his 1st entire season with the Colorado Avalanche, he would steer the team to an upset in the 1st round of the playoffs over the Dallas Stars. Quenneville would lead the Avalanche to another playoff berth two seasons later. In September 2008, Quenneville left the Colorado Avalanche to become a professional scout for the Chicago Blackhawks.
One month ago, the Chicago Blackhawks promoted him from within the organization to be their next head coach. This would be Quenneville’s most successful tenure of his coaching career. Quenneville would steer his team to the Eastern Conference Finals in his 1st season as coach. In 2010, Quenneville would win his 1st Stanley Cup as head coach as the Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Philadelphia Flyers in six games. It was the franchise’s first Stanley Cup in nearly 50 years.
Three years later, Joel Quenneville would look to lead his team toward a season that started late due to a lockout. Despite that, Quenneville would lead the Blackhawks to one of their best seasons in franchise history. He would lead the team to the President’s Cup by having the best regular season record and then win the Stanley Cup memorably over the Boston Bruins. Trailing the Boston Bruins 2-1, the Chicago Blackhawks would score two goals in 1 minute and 16 seconds to clinch the Stanley Cup.
Quenneville’s 2012-2013 Blackhawks team is the last President’s Cup winner to win the Stanley Cup. Two years ago, Quenneville would lead the Blackhawks to another Stanley Cup Championship in 2015. They defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in six games. Quenneville would spend another three seasons with the Blackhawks before letting go in 2019. He would have a brief stint with the Florida Panthers before resigning at the start of the 2021-2022 season.
Quenneville had 20 playoff appearances in 25 seasons as a coach. He is 2nd all-time in wins as a head coach with 1,090. Anyone that wants to bet that Quenneville isn’t a legendary coach can go to all the UK betting sites not on Gamstop. They would be wrong.
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