Joel Quenneville wins his 1,000th game, joining Scotty Bowman in an elite club for NHL coaches

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Joel Quenneville became the second coach in NHL history to win 1,000 games when his Anaheim Ducks rallied to beat the Edmonton Oilers 6-5 on Wednesday night.

Quenneville joined Scotty Bowman in this unique hockey club with a key win in the Ducks’ first game back from the Olympic break. Bowman became the first coach to reach the milestone with the Detroit Red Wings on February 8, 1997, just a month after Quenneville coached his first game with the St. Louis Blues.

Announcement

The Quenneville Ducks got the win in dramatic fashion: Anaheim erased a pair of two-goal deficits and another deficit in the third period before Cutter Gauthier scored the game-tying goal with 1:14 left. When time expired, Quenneville high-fived each of his players on the bench before taking the ice to pose for a team photo.

The 67-year-old Quenneville made a successful return to the NHL this season in Anaheim after a four-year absence from the league following his resignation from the Florida Panthers in late 2021 for his inaction during the Chicago Blackhawks sexual abuse scandal 11 years earlier.

Quenneville’s NHL ban was lifted in July 2024, and the Ducks hired him a year later to take over a struggling franchise with no playoff appearances for seven straight seasons. Anaheim (31-23-3) launched itself into the thick of the Western Conference playoff race in its first season under Quenneville, who led his teams to the playoffs in 20 of 22 NHL seasons finishing behind a bench.

After playing 13 seasons in the NHL as a rugged defenseman with the signature wiry mustache he sported throughout his adult life, Quenneville served as an NHL head coach for parts of 26 seasons. He won three Stanley Cup titles with the Chicago Blackhawks during a spectacular run from 2008-2017.

Announcement

Quenneville reached its 1,000th win in its 1,825th game. Bowman finished his career in 2002 with 1,244 wins in 2,141 regular season games, also winning nine Stanley Cup titles as a coach.

After his playing career ended in 1992, Quenneville won a Stanley Cup ring as Marc Crawford’s assistant with Colorado in 1996. He got his first head coaching job with St. Louis midway through the following season, and led the Blues to seven consecutive playoff appearances before his firing.

Quenneville quickly took first place with Colorado in 2004, but lasted only three seasons despite producing two playoff teams. He spent a month as a scout for the Blackhawks before replacing Denis Savard behind their bench in 2008, and led the Original Six franchise to eight consecutive playoff appearances and three championships, including the 2010 Stanley Cup, which ended the NHL’s longest active drought at 59 seasons.

Chicago fired him in November 2018 and he joined the Panthers in April 2019, but Quenneville’s third season in Florida came to an abrupt end when the NHL banned him and former Blackhawks executives Stan Bowman and Al MacIsaac “due to their inadequate response after being informed in 2010 of allegations that Blackhawks player Kyle Beach had been assaulted by the club’s video coach,” the league said.

Announcement

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman determined that Quenneville had shown remorse for his inaction in the allegations that emerged in the midst of Chicago’s run to the Stanley Cup title. Quenneville said he had also worked with advocacy groups to study appropriate ways to lead in such situations.

Quenneville remained intensely focused on the NHL during his four years away from the bench, watching games every night on television from his home in Florida and staying in touch with his countless friends in the game. Those friends included Pat Verbeek, his former teammate with the Hartford Whalers and general manager of the Ducks in the midst of a long rebuild.

Verbeek fired Greg Cronin last spring despite a 21-point improvement in the coach’s second season, and convinced owner Henry Samueli to take the potential risk and ultimate public relations coup of hiring Quenneville. The move has worked beautifully on the ice so far, with the Ducks significantly improving their record with a talented youngster gaining another year of experience.

Bowman and Quenneville could be joined in the 1,000-win club by two more veteran coaches in the coming seasons.

Announcement

Paul Maurice, who won the last two Stanley Cup titles with the Panthers, has 945 career wins with five teams. Lindy Ruff earned her 933rd career win Wednesday night in the Buffalo Sabres’ 2-1 victory over New Jersey.

Both Maurice and Ruff have coached more NHL games than Quenneville, and both have career winning percentages under .500, a number that means less in the era of overtime losses.

___

APNHL: https://apnews.com/NHL