CHICAGO (AP) — Jeremy Colliton knows all about Joel Quenneville’s legacy with the Chicago Blackhawks.He thinks he knows what to
do
Derek Grant Jersey Womens , too.“I have a huge amount of respect for Joel,” Colliton said. “Those are huge shoes to fill. I won’t try to fill them.
I’ve got to be myself. And we’re different people, so I’ll bring different
things to the table, different ideas to the table.”Chicago is hoping Colliton’s
fresh perspective will help the team get back on track after he became the 38th
head coach in franchise history on Tuesday, taking over when Quenneville was
fired after a wildly successful run with the Blackhawks.Colliton goes from
Chicago’s American Hockey League affiliate in Rockford, Illinois, to the NHL’s
youngest head coach at 33. Blackhawks forward Chris Kunitz, defenseman Duncan
Keith and goaltenders Corey Crawford and Cam Ward are older than Colliton, and
defenseman Brent Seabrook also is 33.“I have to earn their trust by them
believing that I can help them win, that I can help them be better individually,
that we as a staff can put together a plan so they can have success,” Colliton
said. “So if I can do that, there’s no problem. It doesn’t matter how old I
am.”Colliton and Seabrook played alongside each other when they were kids.
Colliton also made 57 appearances with the New York Islanders over five
seasons
Erik Karlsson Jersey Womens , playing in his final NHL game in 2011.“Growing up, we sort of followed the same career path as kids,” Seabrook
said, “played in the Western League against each other, played in the World
Juniors together. When we were playing he had the same agent. A lot of
connections there.“So it was nice to see him come back to North America last
year and get the job in Rockford. Sounds like he did some good things in Europe
and with Rockford last year.”But that’s a far cry from the situation he faces
now, replacing Quenneville after he coached Chicago to three Stanley Cup titles
and nine playoff appearances.The move comes in the wake of a winless three-game
trip, extending Chicago’s losing streak to five in a row heading into Thursday’s
home game against Carolina. The power play, a persistent problem, ranked 27th in
the NHL heading into Tuesday. The Blackhawks (6-6-3) also are allowing an
unseemly 3.73 goals per game.“A decision like this isn’t made on one game, one
play, or one specific thing,” general manager Stan Bowman said. “It’s sort of a
collection of things. Certainly the road trip was concerning. But I think even
heading into that, there were some elements to our game where they weren’t where
they needed to be.”Assistants Kevin Dineen and Ulf Samuelsson also were let go.
Barry Smith
www.ducksshoponline.com , 66, moved from Chicago’s front office to the bench as an assistant coach.The
60-year-old Quenneville was the longest-tenured head coach in the NHL. He had
another year left on a three-year contract extension he signed in 2016 that pays
him $6 million per year, second highest in the NHL behind Mike Babcock in
Toronto.Whenever Quenneville wants to get back to work, he likely will have
plenty of suitors.The former NHL defenseman has 890 wins in 22 years as a head
coach with St. Louis, Colorado and Chicago. Scotty Bowman, Stan’s father and a
senior adviser with the Blackhawks, is the only man with more regular-season
victories.
