Detroit Red Wings: Could Joel Quenneville be the next head coach?
Joel Quenneville is the second-winningest coach in NHL history next to former Detroit Red Wings coach Scotty Bowman. Tuesday, November 6th Quenneville was fired by the Chicago Blackhawks. Could he land in the Motor City?
During his time in Chicago Joel Quenneville, amassed 400 wins and 3 Stanley Cup Championships. This season the Blackhawks got off to a 6-6-3 record. Rumored tensions finally broke, and Quenneville was canned. Joel began his coaching career in 2004 as the head coach of the Colorado Avalanche. Would he consider coaching for the Detroit Red Wings in the future?
Detroit Red Wings head coach Jeff Blashill is a fan favorite punching bag, as the team has stalled in many development stages. Blashill is on thin ice, and he is in the final season of his contract.
Detroit Red Wings fans are speculating this could very well be the final year for both Blashill and general manager Ken Holland. Throw former Tampa Bay Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman who just so happens to be living in Detroit into the mix, and the speculation will only grow.
More from Octopus Thrower
- Detroit Red Wings forward Carter Mazur injured in Prospect Tournament
- Detroit Red Wings: What does Klim Kostin’s role look like in 2023-24?
- Detroit Red Wings: 3 players who will make biggest impact in first year
- The Detroit Red Wings need Andrew Copp to start fast in 2023-24
- Detroit Red Wings had a busy off-season; but was it enough?
If (and I stress IF) Holland is either let go or steps down and Yzerman is brought in it would almost guarantee a change at head coach. Almost every general manager wants to bring in “their guy.” If that happens and a coach like Quenneville is sitting there, Yzerman could strike.
Even with the Detroit Red Wings in a rebuild, with a lot of salary cap money coming off the books the rebuild will speed up. It is not every day a coach like Joel Quenneville is just sitting there. Yzerman would want to make a big splash as a sort of “I’m back” statement to get the fans attention and to get more bodies in the Little Caesars arena seats. This would certainly qualify.
Detroit Red Wings fans can only imagine what this would do for the franchise. This would be an absolute dream scenario for Red Wings faithful. It would also heap coal on the Detroit/ Chicago rivalry.
Right now it is only a dream. In fact, it may be a pipe-dream. But, something says this could really play out. At 60 years old Joel Quenneville is a hockey lifer. I suspect he would leap at the opportunity to work with and for Steve Yzerman. There is one more small detail, Joel Quenneville is from Windsor Ontario.
Next. Roundtable Discussion of Jeff Blashill. dark
Coaching in Detroit gets him closer to home. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out. In a long rebuilding season, this is a sub-plot worth checking into.