Blackhawks firing Joel Quenneville is probably best for both parties

The Chicago Blackhawks have fired long-time head coach Joel Quenneville, which was probably the right move for everyone.

The Joel Quenneville era is over in Chicago as it seems this season’s short leash has run out for the Stanley Cup-winning coach. Jeremy Colliton (AHL’s Rockford IceHogs) has been named the 38th head coach in Blackhawks franchise history. At 33 years old, he is also now the youngest current coach in the NHL.

Quenneville was in his 11th year with the organization, bringing home Stanley Cup championships in three of those seasons (2010, 2013, 2015). This wouldn’t be enough to keep him around any longer though, as he was let go on Tuesday morning along with assistant coaches Kevin Dineen and Ulf Samuelsson.

The top end of the Blackhawks roster is packed with talent. Future hall-of-famers Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane are still in their primes, playing great hockey, 33-year-old Brent Seabrook is having his best start to a season since 2015 and Corey Crawford is seemingly healthy again.

Still, the Blackhawks currently sit in sixth in the stacked Central division, with a 6-6-3 record. This wasn’t a good enough start to the season for Chicago brass, who decided to shake things up early in the year.

Sometimes a fresh face and some new ideas is all that’s needed to spark a team. Quenneville had a very impressive 452-249-96 record in 797 games with the Blackhawks, but the last two seasons have been rough and the organization needed a change of pace.

For comparison’s sake, the Boston Bruins made a similar move two seasons ago, firing Cup-winning coach Claude Julien and promoting assistant coach Bruce Cassidy to the head coaching position. It worked wonders for them, as the team went on to make a solid playoff push in 2017-18 and looks to be a contender once again this season.

Quenneville is the second-winningest coach in NHL history, with a record of 890-532-214 all-time. Chances are he won’t be unemployed for a long time. He’s a top-tier NHL coach who’s proven that he can win Stanley Cups is sure to get a job this coming offseason, if not much sooner.

Unfortunately for Quenneville, no matter where he goes, he’ll be playing in far less winter classic games after being released from the Blackhawks organization.

The Blackhawks under Colliton face an uphill battle to be successful this season. They have the talent to hang with any team but the Central Division is loaded. The Blackhawks are currently behind the Nashville Predators, Minnesota Wild, Dallas Stars, Winnipeg Jets and Colorado Avalanche, who all seem playoff-worthy.

Regardless of what happens this season, the Blackhawks have made a huge change. Whether it works out for them or not will be determined in the coming years.  Don’t be surprised if both the team and Quenneville come out successful after this.