A number of NHL teams could change coaches in the offseason and Quenneville has interest in taking over somewhere.
A number of NHL teams could change coaches in the offseason and Quenneville has interest in taking over somewhere.
Joel Quenneville appeared on The Cam & Strick Podcast on Tuesday to reveal more details on the situation with former video coach Brad Aldrich and the Chicago Blackhawks.
While you can see a more in depth analysis of the interview from Matt Carlson here, let's hone in on something the former bench boss of the Blackhawks said about a number of teams in the NHL and interest in coaching any one of them.
Quenneville has watched the NHL this season and had a closer eye on the teams sitting outside of the playoffs. As a former coach without a job, he said "I think I deserve the chance to coach again." His 969 wins as a coach places him second all-time.
If reinstated by Gary Bettman and the NHL, Quenneville has some teams in mind he thinks he could coach. Without specifically naming any, he said "One day I think I've coached my last game, and the next day I'm sitting there like geez, I'd like to get a hold of that team. That'd be fun to work with. There's a list of about 10 right now."
Quenneville alludes to all non-playoff teams as the 10 or more that he thinks he could come in and take over. Currently 10 teams have been officially eliminated from playoff contention. A couple of clubs below the playoff cutoff in the Western Conference have more points in the standings than those still holding on in the East.
Let's start with seven possible teams Quenneville might coach next season if he were permitted. These clubs have seven of the eight worst records:
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There's no way Quenneville could even think about returning to the Blackhawks given the team's zero-tolerance policy on HR violations under owner Danny Wirtz. Besides, coach Luke Richardson seems to have the right vibe going for now with rebuilding Chicago.
But when he spoke about 10 teams he's thinking of, Quenneville also might have been considering:
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That brings us to 10 teams.
Almost any team that doesn't make the playoffs in a season could change coaches and even some playoff teams might not like how the season ended by failing to reach expectations.
Even if there is a clear plan to rebuild and the team was expected to miss the playoffs, a proven coach like Quenneville doesn't come along very often. Whichever roads this whole situation leads to for Quenneville, there will be some coaches let go and we may see some familiar names emerge as head coaches.
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