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After 10-plus years spearheading a dynasty that included three Stanley Cups and nine playoff appearances, Joel Quenneville was fired from the Chicago Blackhawks, leaving the second-winningest coach in the NHL jobless.
So, now what?
Don’t expect this mustachioed man to be without a job for long. Despite how stagnant things got in Chicago, there are certainly plenty of teams around the league doing a little reflecting and numbers crunching to figure out how Quenneville might fit in.
With his impressive resume already written for us, the SI NHL staff came up with a few career options for Quenneville to consider.
Jeremy Fuchs: A few options: St. Louis by the New Year; New Jersey by the trade deadline; or, to be crazy, Vancouver next year. Who better to coach two young stars in Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser?
Dan Falkenheim: Sit back and enjoy the $6 million Chicago still owes him this year. After 22 seasons, 1,636 games and three Stanley Cups, it’s time to relax. When the itch to coach returns—and it will—Quenneville and the Oilers are a perfect match for the 2019–20 season. Todd McLellan could be out of a job if Edmonton falters and disappoints down the stretch. Quenneville did well with molding two young stars in Chicago. Connor McDavid, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Leon Draisaitl aren’t too shabby, either.
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Eric Single: Spend the rest of the year doing TV work, pointing out how many Stanley Cups you’ve won to national audiences as a brand reset before the coaching market enters full swing. Quenneville is not the flashiest quote in hockey, but he’s good for a few sly remarks that could loosen things up—and he’s pretty well-versed in the teams atop each conference, having bested the Predators and Lightning on the way to his third and most recent Cup.
Kristen Nelson: Quenneville and his inspirational lip foliage can basically do whatever they please to now. But taking a look around the league, a reunion with the St. Louis Blues makes the most immediate sense. Mike Yeo has been on the hot seat seemingly since the season started and there is enough talent on that roster to get things turned around before the year is wasted. Perhaps this is Quenneville’s chance to return to the Blues’ bench and get a second chance at bringing that elusive Cup to the Notes. In the meantime, winning at Movember should be a priority.
Alex Prewitt: A partial list of possibilities:
• Hang out on the farm with Darryl Sutter
• Take French lessons from Alain Vigneault
• Meet Dave Tippett at any Seattle-area Starbucks
• Enter a Woolly Willy lookalike contest
• Drape Stan Bowman’s front yard in toilet paper
• Become an Uber driver in Ottawa
• Polish his three Stanley Cup rings
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