Former Blackhawks’ head coach, Joel Quenneville, was recently interviewed by Dan Roan of WGN at the Blackhawks’ alumni charity event at the Willowbrook Ice Arena. This was Quenneville’s first major interview since he was relieved of head coaching duties with the Blackhawks back on November 6th, 2018. Quenneville seemed to be in good spirits as he cleared the air, answered a few questions, and thanked the fans in the brief interview.
Roan asked Coach Q whether or not he was surprised by the move, and this is what he had to say,
“I think, in our business, there’s not too many surprises anymore. I was priviledged to be in Chicago for 10 years. It’s part of the business. I understand all that. I know when I exited other places, the bitterness, the animosity was at a different level. And here the memories were so special and so good, and the people here were so special to me and my family that it was tough, but they made it all like … I never [had the opportunity to] thank the fans since I left, but I’ve got nothing but appreciation and admire all they’ve done and supported our team and our experience in Chicago.”
When asked about his future in coaching, Joel Quenneville remained noncommittal and had this to say,
“It’s been a while now since we’ve been behind the bench, so I think there’s an appetite as we go along here to get back into the game. I try to not watch as much Blackhawks as I used to, but I watch most of the games. It’s been a great race and it’s going to be fun to see how it all plays out. We’re in no hurry right now. We’ll see how things transpire in the offseason. We’ll have to think about it and we’ll see.”
Watch the entire interview below:
When the dust finally settled, Joel Quenneville was as gracious as ever. I admire the hell out of that. StanBo & Co. executed probably the worst head coach firing in the history of all sports. The fact that Coach Q had such nice things to say about the organization after being replaced is a testament to the type of guy he really is.
Joel Quenneville will always be remembered for what he did for the city of Chicago and the Blackhawks organization. I’m happy to see that he has taken the high road in this messy situation. He really is a Hall-of-Famer, on and off of the ice.
THANK YOU, Q
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