Joel Quenneville Signed To A Three Year Extension. Will He Be The Greatest Coach Ever When He's Done?

(source)–The Chicago Blackhawks announced today a three-year contract extension for Head Coach Joel Quenneville, which runs through the end of the 2019-20 National Hockey League season.

Quenneville is in his eighth season with the Blackhawks after being named the 37th Head Coach in franchise history on Oct. 16, 2008. He is the only active coach to have led a team to three Stanley Cup championships (2010, 2013 and 2015) and is currently one win shy of tying Al Arbour as the second-winningest coach in league history.

In Quenneville’s 580 regular-season games behind the Blackhawks bench, the team has compiled a record of 343-168-69. His regular-season points percentage of .651 is the best in Chicago franchise history, while his .624 postseason winning percentage (73-44) is the highest for a Blackhawks coach since 1940. Under his leadership, the Blackhawks claimed the 2013 Presidents’ Trophy as the regular-season points leader, in addition to the 2013 and 2015 Jennings Trophies as the team with the fewest goals allowed during the regular season.

Coach Q for at least the next three years, Toews and Kane for the next 8, and may the Dynasty reign forever. A well-deserved contract extension and pay raise for a Hall of Fame coach and maybe the greatest who ever lived.  For whatever reason, the local media and other Hawks blogs love to blame Joel Quenneville when things aren’t going perfectly and he isn’t exactly heaped with praise when they win either.

With his next win, Coach Q will tie Al Arbour for 2nd all-time. Let’s put it to the stoolies. The most objective group of people on the internet. When it’s all said and done will Joel Quenneville be regarded as the best ever?

Okay, if I’m being honest I would’ve preferred that the poll come back closer to 50/50. Joel Quenneville has a LONG way to go to catch Scotty Bowman. Scotty has 9 Stanley Cups to Quenneville’s 3. Bowman also has 1244 wins to Coach Q’s 781. Let’s say the Blackhawks win 44 games per year over the next four years, Joel would still be 287 wins shy of Bowman.

However, if Q does end up with another Cup or two and 1000+ wins, it would be reasonable to say Coach Q’s career was more impressive because of the era in which he did it. Bowman won 5 Stanley Cups in the 70s with the Montreal Canadiens including 4 in a row to close out the decade. Guy LaFleur, Ken Dryden, Pete Mahovlich, Larry Robinson. One of the greatest teams ever. They dominated…because they were given all the resources to dominate. At that time parity was non-existent in the NHL. Teams could sign any prospect in their region and didn’t have to bother with a true amateur draft. And obviously there wasn’t a salary cap. Montreal was allowed to build a super team and Bowman ran it to perfection, but he didn’t face any of the roster challenges Coach Q deals with every year. Imagine if the Hawks had been allowed to keep Byfuglien, Ladd, Frolik, Sharp, Saad, Brouwer, Versteeg, Campbell, Dave Bolland, and Nick Leddy. Coach Q might have been able to catch Bowman’s 9 Stanley Cups with a roster that stacked. We are talking a minimum 8-peat. Instead the Hawks have to live with the three Stanley Cups.

So again, I think Bowman ends up with a slight edge, but when Coach Q calls it a career and his statue is out front on Madison, there should be a legitimate argument about whether or not he’s the best ever.