The Following is a press release from the Chicago Blackhawks.
Blackhawks extend Head Coach Joel Quenneville’s contract
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.
Quenneville has posted a 781-451-77-110 record over parts of 19 years as a Head Coach in the NHL, including eight years with the St. Louis Blues (1996-2004) and three with the Colorado Avalanche (2005-08). His 781 wins lead active head coaches and rank third in NHL history, while his 1,419 games behind the bench also lead active head coaches and rank fourth all-time. Quenneville coached his 500th game with Chicago on Jan. 20, 2015, at Arizona and notched his 300th win with the Blackhawks on Feb. 6, 2015, at Winnipeg. The Windsor, Ontario, native has guided 16 of his 18 teams to the postseason, which includes reaching the conference finals on four occasions, as well as postseason berths in seven consecutive seasons from 2009 to 2015 with Chicago; his 73 playoff wins with Chicago set a franchise record, while his 115 career postseason victories are the most among active NHL head coaches.
One of only two men in the history of the NHL to have played in 800 or more games and coached 1,000 or more games (J. Lemaire), Quenneville has notched at least 40 wins in 13 of his 14 full seasons as a Head Coach, which includes a career-best 52 victories with Chicago in 2009-10. He is the winningest coach in Blues history, having compiled a 307-191-95 record at that post. Quenneville was awarded the 2000 Jack Adams Trophy as the league’s top coach and also served as the Head Coach of Team Staal at the 2011 NHL All-Star Game and the North American All-Stars at the 2001 NHL All-Star Game. He has also been named an assistant coach for the 2016 World Cup of Hockey for Team Canada.
Quenneville was selected by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the second round (21st overall) of the 1978 NHL Entry Draft. He spent 13 seasons as an NHL defenseman, netting 54 goals, 136 assists and 705 penalty minutes in 803 career games with the Toronto Maple Leafs (1979-80), Colorado Rockies (1980-82), New Jersey Devils (1982-83), Hartford Whalers (1983-90) and Washington Capitals (1990-91).
He retired as an active player after the 1991-92 season, when he served as a player-coach for the American Hockey League’s St. John’s Maple Leafs. Quenneville broke into coaching with the AHL’s Springfield Indians before serving as an Assistant Coach for the Quebec Nordiques/Colorado Avalanche organization for two and a half seasons. He helped Colorado capture the 1996 Stanley Cup in that position before accepting his first NHL head coaching job with St. Louis for the 1996-97 campaign.
Quenneville and his wife, Elizabeth, have three children: Dylan, Lily and Anna.
Main Photo: CHICAGO, IL – OCTOBER 15: Head coach Joel Quenneville of the Chicago Blackhawks watches as his team takes on the Calary Flames at the United Center on October 15, 2014 in Chicago, Illinois. The Flames defeated the Blackhawks 2-1 in overtime. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
