Red Wings linked to Joel Quenneville per top NHL reporter!

There are rumours that the Detroit Red Wings could be considering a coaching change, and according to Larry Brooks of the New York Post, Joel Quenneville is the top candidate for the spot.

Brooks believes Quenneville could be brought in if there is an early struggle by the Red Wings to start the 2024-25 season. As of now, the team has a 1-2 record in three games and is set to take on the New York Rangers on Thursday night. The Blue Shirts have a perfect record.

In Detroit, the eight-year playoff drought is definitely weighing heavily and the pressure is mounting on GM Steve Yzerman, who needs to pull off a monster move that will alter their course.

“If not a playoffs-or-bust Detroit, which projected contender will turn to Quenneville, cleared to return for duty by the NHL in July?”

On July 1st of this summer, Quenneville was officially reinstated by the NHL and is now able to seek re-employment. This came as the end of a long deliberation by the NHL after Quenneville resigned in disgrace from the Florida Panthers in late October 2021 after being implicated in the Chicago Blackhawks’ cover up of the Brad Aldrich sex scandal in 2010. As you may remember, the victim, Kyle Beach, was a former 11th overall pick of the Blackhawks in 2008, and alleged that the team’s former video coach Aldrich sexually assaulted him during the 2010 season. Beach said that the abuse he suffered was an open secret in the dressing room, and that the team’s veteran players knew and did nothing. Furthermore Beach explained how he notified then Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman and head coach Joel Quenneville of the alleged abuse and neither took action.

Many fans are still uneasy with the idea of seeing Quenneville return behind the bench of an NHL team, however Bowman is now back in the league as the general manager of the Edmonton Oilers, who are big on giving second chances.

Despite the controversy around Quenneville, there is no arguing over his talents as a head coach of the game. He is the second-winningest coach in NHL history, his 969 victories trailing only the 1,244 amassed by Scotty Bowman.

The Red Wings could surely benefit from his help and who knows finally get back to playoff contention.