What in the double hockey sticks is going on in Chicago? Today the Chicago Blackhawks fired Joel Quenneville. The man that led the Blackhawks to three Stanley Cups, all of a sudden gone after going 6-6-3 this season. Three cups in six seasons as he coached a dynasty in the hockey world that is hard to do with the salary cap rules in this era. He is the second winningest coach in NHL history. He did not get a chance to be the winningest coach in Blackhawks history as he was shown the door along with some of the assistant coaches today. He settles for being the second winningest coach in after ten full seasons and the dozen games this season in his 11th year. He only missed one year not making the playoffs. Only twice in his long tenured career. Why was a legend fired?

The Blackhawks have been down this road. The front office was evaluating Denis Savard when he was coaching, and they pulled the trigger to replace him with Joe Quenneville who was in-house at the time. The front office has probably been evaluating Joel Quenneville for some time now. The first thing that jumps to my mind is missing the playoffs last season. You could say the five game losing streak the team is on, after a pretty good start to the season. It’s going to be a few things especially to justify getting rid of a guy with the amazing resume that the coach has. The last time the Blackhawks made the playoffs was the year Nashville Predators swept them out in round one. That series the team looked very bad and very old at the same time. The last time the Blackhawks won a playoff series goes back to 2015.

This goes much deeper then the last couple of seasons. I believe the three cups Joel Quenneville has won have kept him in Chicago longer. If it was only two or just the one, I think he would have been shown the door years ago. It comes down to a different philosophy than GM Stan Bowman. The GM of the Blackhawks obviously thinks the roster they have now can get it done. Joel Quenneville will play veterans over younger guys until they play his style. Players are always in Quenneville’s dog house. Some don’t get out for long periods of time. It always goes back to the Coach’s way of doing things, especially his style of play. The GM Stan Bowman disagrees and has a totally different philosophy.  I imagine both have  been butting heads for years, especially if Bowman signs a free agent or makes a trade with some team. Bowman thinks that player can help the team. The player hardly sees any ice time.

The Blackhawks hired Jeremy Colliton who will be the 38th coach in franchise history. He comes from the Blackhawks minor league affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs. This is his second season with the IceHogs. The first season he went 40-26-4-4 and got the team deep into the AHL playoffs, during which they knocked out the Chicago Wolves. Before that he was overseas coaching a team in Sweden. Jeremy will also be the youngest head coach in the entire NHL as he is only 33 years old. He is the same age as Brent Seabrook. He was actually drafted in the same year as Brent Seabrook. Jeremy Colliton last played for the Islanders in  2011. He only played in 57 games in five seasons in New York. He will be younger then a few of his players in his first head coaching job in the NHL.

It seems like a trend in all sports… out with the old and in with the new. Everybody wants the young guy with analytics and some fresh ideas.  The Blackhawks are thinking the team needs a new voice to listen to with new ideas. Stan Bowman and the rest of the organization feel confident this young cat will come in and inject his new ideas into this team. The new voice will provide a spark to Stan Bowman’s roster where they can get back to the playoffs and still win, now, instead of a complete overhaul.

Last time they did the coaching change, the team was young and filled with talent. This team has too many aging superstars making a lot of money that is handcuffing the salary cap.  You have your star goalie who is coming off a season where he missed most of it from concussions. Your aging defense is slow as molasses and will have a hard time keeping up with young and fast skaters. Patrick Cane is still playing well. Jonathan Toews is doing good this season but was MIA last year. Brandon Sadd just got out of the dog house. He has not been like the same guy they had the year they traded him away.  The rest of the cast have one goal each in their stat lines.

It’s another chapter in Chicago history where Coaches get too big. GM’S feel small. The relationship that worked at one point has become strained. This happened with Ozzie Guillen and Kenny Williams after the White Sox won it. Mike Ditka was chased out of town by the Bears. It will happen to Joe Maddon and the Cubs. Phil Jackson left the Bulls because things were escalating to a level higher than any of the colors on the terrorist alert system. I do not think the Blackhawks roster is at a championship level. Possible playoff berth and one and done from any coach. It’s a roster with too many holes. If it was not this year, it would have been next season. Joel Quenneville would have suffered the same fate he did today. I think it is hard to find great coaches. The kid from Rockford is destined to  have a similar career to Tim Floyd, when he replaced Phil Jackson that first season. I think GMs in this town need to be held accountable. All the talent the Hawks  had traded away over the years. I know you can not pay everyone. Seems like Pittsburgh Penguins have no problems staying afloat. You got rid of many young guys that could be helping you stay afloat right now, perhaps made you better. You held on to some of the wrong guys you have overpaid. Just because your father is a mentor to the organization, should not give Stan Bowman a job to hold on to like the Pope. Joe Quenneville will resurface. He will get the last laugh. He will also be missed. Definitely if Chicago had a Mount Rushmore for coaches, Q is on that mountain.