Chicago Blackhawks fire coach Joel Quenneville

[mr.MUskie]

In the end, three Stanley Cup championships and nine consecutive playoff runs wasn't enough to save Joel Quenneville.

Chairman Rocky Wirtz, President and CEO John McDonough and GM Stan Bowman made the decision to relieve Quenneville and assistant coaches Kevin Dineen and Ulf Samuelsson from their duties Tuesday morning.

Jeremy Colliton, who was hired to coach the Rockford IceHogs last year, takes over as head coach. Colliton, 33, becomes the youngest coach in the NHL.

Wirtz said he gave full support to the firing of Quenneville and his staff.

"As Chicago Blackhawks fans have seen over the last decade, this organization no longer shies away from making tough decisions or ones based on emotion," Wirtz said in a statement. "Those days are long behind us. Of course, Joel's was difficult, as it should have been. During his tenure as head coach to the Chicago Blackhawks, Joel brought the city of Chicago and our fans three Stanley Cups and an incredible era of hockey."

The Hawks got off to a 6-2-2 start this season but have dropped five in a row and sit in sixth place in the Central Division at 6-6-3.

With 890 victories, Quenneville is the second-winningest coach of all time. He led the Blackhawks to Stanley Cup titles in 2010, 2013 and 2015, and was one victory from the 2014 Stanley Cup, but the Hawks fell to the Kings in Game 7 of the Western Conference final.

Last season, the Hawks were without goalie Corey Crawford for more than half the season and missed the playoffs after going 33-39-10. Before that campaign began, McDonough was asked if Quenneville had reached a level akin to Bill Belichick in the NFL or perhaps Red Auerbach in the NBA where he could basically call his own shots and decide when to walk away.

Here was McDonough's answer: "I think all of us are accountable. All of us. Certainly me. I'm accountable and I'm responsible. And I would never put myself in a position that I would say, 'Well I'm going to be able to call my own shots.'

"I report to a great owner -- Rocky Wirtz -- the best in our industry. But this is a game that's based on achievement. We're in the results business. We've never had any conversation even remotely close to that. That's the best answer I can give you."

Many will wonder why Bowman is still around as the salary cap and many questionable moves have left the Hawks' roster in tatters.

Bowman remains and had this to say in a statement: "This is certainly a very difficult decision. But I believe it is in the best interests of the Blackhawks organization. We need to maximize each and every opportunity with our playoff goals in mind and create continued growth and development throughout our roster at the same time. After much deliberation the last several days, with great respect to what Joel has meant to the Blackhawks, we knew we had to make a change."

The Hawks are practicing at MB Ice Arena today at 11 a.m., so stay tuned for reaction from Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and others later today.

Before joining the IceHogs, Colliton spent four seasons coaching Mora IK in Sweden. Rockford went 40-28-4-4 last season and advanced to the Western Conference final.

Colliton, a second-round pick of the Islanders in 2003, appeared in 57 NHL games as a forward. He spent most of his eight-year pro career in the AHL.

Barry Smith, 66, is in his ninth season as a member of the Blackhawks Hockey Operations staff and joins Colliton's coaching staff as assistant coach.

[GGGG]

Q is the fall guy when Bowman is the one to be questioned.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

Bowman is the one who needs to go...Look at the state of that team.

[Galway Eagle]

RIP chicago hockey 08-2017. it was a great run while it lasted.

[DegenerateDish]

Q got a raw deal, not saying he's not at some fault here, but the real problem is Hjalmarsson, Panarin, Teravainen are in different uniforms today.

Not saying navigating the NHL salary cap is easy, but Bowman's managing of the cap and trading away talent has gotten the Hawks into the sorry state they are in today. If you fall off the cliff that fast, Bowman should be responsible here.

[MU82]

As usual in sports, "loyalty" matters little.

And maybe it shouldn't.

But maybe if Colliton is successful in Chicago and leaves to take a better offer somewhere else in 4 years, folks will remember that not even a three-time SC winning coach received any loyalty from management.

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

Former Whaler favorite.

[RJax55]

Q got a raw deal, not saying he's not at some fault here, but the real problem is Hjalmarsson, Panarin, Teravainen are in different uniforms today.

Not saying navigating the NHL salary cap is easy, but Bowman's managing of the cap and trading away talent has gotten the Hawks into the sorry state they are in today. If you fall off the cliff that fast, Bowman should be responsible here.

Q and the Bowmans' had been locked into a cold war going back years. This started prior to the Cup in '13. Frankly, I'm surprised it lasted this long. And, yes, the current state of the roster is on the Bowmans. Had to ship out talent due to salary cap issues, but the returns back have been awful.

[🏀]

Q got a raw deal, not saying he's not at some fault here, but the real problem is Hjalmarsson, Panarin, Teravainen are in different uniforms today.

Three jerseys I once had.

[buckchuckler]

Q got a raw deal, not saying he's not at some fault here, but the real problem is Hjalmarsson, Panarin, Teravainen are in different uniforms today.

Not saying navigating the NHL salary cap is easy, but Bowman's managing of the cap and trading away talent has gotten the Hawks into the sorry state they are in today. If you fall off the cliff that fast, Bowman should be responsible here.

Nailed it, I would say.

[MUEng92]

My daughter and I are going to our first Hawks game a week from Friday.  Nothing like a little chaos to make it interesting.

[WarriorDad]

Bad move

[JWags85]

Q got a raw deal, not saying he's not at some fault here, but the real problem is Hjalmarsson, Panarin, Teravainen are in different uniforms today.

Not saying navigating the NHL salary cap is easy, but Bowman's managing of the cap and trading away talent has gotten the Hawks into the sorry state they are in today. If you fall off the cliff that fast, Bowman should be responsible here.

Bowman's mismanagement put together a terrible roster.  Basically gave away Panarin.  Handled Saad poorly.  Hjalmarsson was almost a direct shot at Q.

To amplify things, what you hear from the UC, Bowman is a pretty horrible communicator and has basically castrated his assistant GMs in favor of listening to his dad's people.  Like Chief from Barstool described, the Hawks have basically become a Game of Thrones power struggle.

[mr.MUskie]

Like Chief from Barstool described, the Hawks have basically become a Game of Thrones power struggle.

Sad what a proud and storied franchise has become.

[RJax55]

Sad what a proud and storied franchise has become.

Umm, let's not forget that until 2007, this was the most back-ass professional sports franchise in North America. The last decade of Bill Wirtz's life the organization was in shambles. The Hawks have seen much, much worst.

Today's drama in many respects is nothing new in pro sports. The painful transition as an old championship team fades into a rebuild.

[WarriorDad]

Sad what a proud and storied franchise has become.

I don't know about that.  The franchise was terrible for most of its history and had a 10 year run.

[GGGG]

The Blackhawks are last on the list of original 6 teams in terms of all time points and all time winning percentage.

[JWags85]

Umm, let's not forget that until 2007, this was the most back-ass professional sports franchise in North America. The last decade of Bill Wirtz's life the organization was in shambles. The Hawks have seen much, much worst.

I think the problem, and the disappointing fact, with all this is that there was a change and shift.  The organization was horrible and unsuccessful for so many years.  Then Dollar Bill died, things changed, and not only did the Hawks turn it around and win multiple cups, they became the template and aspirational franchise of the NHL. 

If they had drafted well with Kane and Toews, won a cup, and then this happened, sure, tale as old as time in the sports world.  But they didn't.  So the wheels coming off and all this behind the scenes drama that you expect from franchises that are struggling or terribly run, is more than upsetting.

[Galway Eagle]

I think the problem, and the disappointing fact, with all this is that there was a change and shift.  The organization was horrible and unsuccessful for so many years.  Then Dollar Bill died, things changed, and not only did the Hawks turn it around and win multiple cups, they became the template and aspirational franchise of the NHL. 

If they had drafted well with Kane and Toews, won a cup, and then this happened, sure, tale as old as time in the sports world.  But they didn't.  So the wheels coming off and all this behind the scenes drama that you expect from franchises that are struggling or terribly run, is more than upsetting.

Funny that usually the adage is winning cures all ails and now it's "run the team the way I want and bend the knee or else you're out no matter what"

[Jockey]

How is Joel Quenneville allowed to coach a game tonite?

[Warrior Code]

How is Joel Quenneville allowed to coach a game tonite?

It's a yikes from me, dawg

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

Yeah he should have been put on paid leave. I don’t know what to think about this. Should the Hawks be praised for this?  Did Rocky really not know?  I guess justice was served albeit very late.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

Holy Sh*t I just saw the interview with Kyle Beach. It is absolutely heartbreaking. 

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

Former Hartford Whaler.  A Last of the Mohican's.

[DegenerateDish]

I don’t know what’s worse, Toews lying and saying he didn’t know, or him actually not knowing.

It’ll be a long, long time before the Hawks get any of my money or viewership. I wish they hadn’t won the cup that year. I’d be 1000% fine if they took down that banner.