The Anaheim Geese are anticipated to call veteran NHL head coach Joel Quenneville because the twelfth head coach in franchise historical past, per TSN’s Darren Dreger. This can be Quenneville’s first teaching job since resigning from the Florida Panthers group in 2021 because of his involvement within the Chicago Blackhawks’ 2010 sexual abuse case. Quenneville was barred from returning to the NHL till reinstated final summer time. Dreger factors out that Anaheim did in depth background checks on the sexual abuse case, and what Quenneville has achieved to reform his actions within the years since. He was the primary candidate they interviewed after firing Greg Cronin.
There was just one head teaching emptiness when Quenneville was reinstated, limiting his choices to return rapidly to the league. He’ll discover a path again in earlier than the following summer time hits, although, and be part of the sixth group of his 27-year teaching profession. Quenneville has racked up three Stanley Cup wins and the second-most wins in NHL teaching historical past, behind solely Scotty Bowman, with whom he had an opportunity to achieve roles with the St. Louis Blues and Chicago Blackhawks. Quenneville is a whopping 275 wins behind Bowman’s report — and would wish a wholesome extension to his profession, and a resurgence from the Geese group, to rival the mark.
Quenneville’s prolonged NHL profession started as a participant initially drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs within the second spherical of the 1978 NHL Novice Draft. He joined the NHL the next season and rapidly discovered a rut as a bottom-of-the-lineup utility participant, routinely posting meager scoring and lofty penalty totals. Quenneville performed two years with the Leafs, three years with the Colorado Rockies, and one 12 months with the New Jersey Devils and Washington Capitals, all cut up round spending the guts of his profession with seven years with the Hartford Whalers. His profession as an NHL participant spanned 12 years and ended with Quenneville totaling 190 factors and 705 PIMs in 803 video games.
Quenneville operated as a participant and assistant coach hybrid with the AHL’s St John’s Maple Leafs in 1991-92, the ultimate 12 months of his taking part in profession. Two years later, he was promoted to assistant coach with the Quebec Nordiques, which continued when the membership turned the Colorado Avalanche in 1995. After three seasons as a second-rank coach in Quebec and Colorado, Quenneville was awarded the pinnacle teaching position for the St. Louis Blues, the place his prowess rapidly turned noticeable. Quenneville championed St. Louis to seven consecutive postseason appearances, although the membership by no means made it past the Western Convention Finals. He was solely fired when the crew eyed a postseason absence in 2004. He took the lockout season of 2004-05 off work and returned because the Avalanche’s head coach within the 2005-06 season.
Colorado made the playoffs in one in every of two seasons with Quenneville on the helm. However after not gaining a lot floor, they opted to punt him to the Chicago Blackhawks for the 2008-09 marketing campaign. In Chicago, Quenneville turned a legendary teaching determine, becoming a member of fingers with a younger Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane to type one of the vital formidable golf equipment within the NHL. The Blackhawks took a run to the Convention Finals in Quenneville’s first 12 months, then gained the Stanley Cup in 12 months two. That pair of seasons would spark a nine-year streak of postseason appearances for Chicago, headlined by two extra Cup wins in 2013 and 2015.
Quenneville left Chicago after a missed postseason in 2018 and a poor begin to the 2018-19 marketing campaign. He discovered work with the Florida Panthers from 2019 to 2021, although he couldn’t push the membership past the primary spherical of the postseason.
Anaheim Geese normal supervisor Pat Verbeek made one factor clear within the membership’s exit interviews: the objective of subsequent season is to make the postseason. That’s a lofty objective for a membership that completed with 80 factors and a sixth-place divisional rank this season, however they’re trying to discover a spark by bringing on the person with the second-most playoff video games coached in NHL historical past (once more behind Bowman). Quenneville will inherit a roster that options burgeoning children like Leo Carlsson, Mason McTavish (pending contract), Olen Zellweger, Lukas Dostal (pending contract), Trevor Zegras, and extra. The younger core is flanked by sturdy veterans similar to Troy Terry, Alex Killorn, Jacob Trouba, and John Gibson. That’s a hardy make-up for a professional membership, however the Geese nonetheless haven’t discovered a postseason berth since 2018. Following a radical background verify and a number of interviews, Anaheim will stake its playoff hopes in Quenneville starting subsequent season.
