ANAHEIM, Calif. — Joel Quenneville secured his 1,000th career victory, making him only the second National Hockey League coach to achieve this feat, as his Anaheim Ducks came from behind to defeat the Edmonton Oilers 6-5 on Wednesday evening.
Mr. Quenneville entered an elite group alongside Scotty Bowman, celebrating this significant achievement during the Ducks’ initial match following the Olympic hiatus. Bowman was the inaugural coach to hit this benchmark, doing so with the Detroit Red Wings on February 8, 1997 – merely a month subsequent to Quenneville leading his debut game with the St. Louis Blues.
The Ducks, under Quenneville, clinched this victory with remarkable flair: Anaheim overcame two separate two-goal disadvantages and an additional deficit in the final period, culminating in Cutter Gauthier’s decisive goal scored with just 1 minute and 14 seconds remaining. As time expired, Quenneville exchanged high-fives with every one of his athletes on the sideline prior to stepping onto the playing surface for a commemorative team photograph.
At 67 years old, Quenneville has orchestrated a triumphant comeback to the National Hockey League this season in Anaheim, subsequent to a four-year hiatus from the circuit. This absence followed his departure from the Florida Panthers in late 2021, a decision prompted by his failure to act during the Chicago Blackhawks’ sexual abuse controversy which occurred 11 years prior.
The National Hockey League’s prohibition on Quenneville was rescinded in July 2024, and the Anaheim organization subsequently appointed him a year afterward to manage a team that had been underperforming, failing to qualify for the postseason for seven straight campaigns. Anaheim, with a record of 31-23-3, has surged into a strong contention position within the Western Conference playoff picture during its inaugural season guided by Quenneville, who has guided his squads to the playoffs in 20 out of the 22 NHL seasons he concluded as head coach.
Following a 13-season career as a robust blueliner in the NHL, famously recognized by the distinctive coarse mustache he has maintained throughout his adulthood, Quenneville has served as an NHL head coach for portions of 26 seasons. He claimed three Stanley Cup championships with the Blackhawks over an impressive period of triumphs spanning from 2008 to 2017.
Quenneville achieved his thousandth win during his 1,825th match. Bowman concluded his professional tenure in 2002 with a total of 1,244 triumphs across 2,141 regular-season contests, additionally securing nine Stanley Cup trophies as a bench boss.
Once his career as a player concluded in 1992, Quenneville earned a Stanley Cup ring as an associate coach for Marc Crawford’s Colorado team in 1996. He then took on his initial top coaching role with St. Louis halfway through the subsequent season, guiding the Blues to seven straight postseason berths prior to his dismissal.
Quenneville promptly assumed the head coaching position with Colorado in 2004, yet remained in that role for only three campaigns even though he cultivated two playoff-bound squads. He served a single month as a scout for the Blackhawks before succeeding Denis Savard as their head coach in 2008, subsequently guiding the Original Six organization to eight consecutive playoff berths and three titles – notably the 2010 Stanley Cup, which brought an end to the NHL’s most extended active championship dry spell at 59 years.
The Chicago team terminated his employment in November 2018, and he subsequently became part of the Panthers in April 2019 – however, Quenneville’s third year in Florida concluded suddenly when the NHL issued a ban against him and ex-Blackhawks executives Stan Bowman and Al MacIsaac, stating it was “due to their insufficient reaction after being notified in 2010 of assertions that Blackhawks athlete Kyle Beach had been attacked by the team’s video instructor,” according to the league.
National Hockey League commissioner Gary Bettman concluded that Quenneville had demonstrated penitence for his lack of action regarding the accusations that emerged amidst Chicago’s pursuit of a Stanley Cup championship. Quenneville indicated that he additionally collaborated with support organizations to learn appropriate leadership approaches in comparable circumstances.
Throughout his four-year absence from the coaching role, Quenneville maintained a sharp interest in the NHL, observing matches nightly on television from his Florida residence and sustaining communication with his numerous acquaintances within the sport. Among these associates was Pat Verbeek, a previous teammate from the Hartford Whalers and currently the general manager for the Ducks, overseeing an extensive restructuring phase.
Last spring, Verbeek dismissed Greg Cronin even though the coach had achieved a 21-point enhancement in his second year, and he convinced proprietor Henry Samueli to undertake the potential gamble and the certain public relations challenge of bringing in Quenneville. The decision has yielded outstanding results on the rink thus far, as the Ducks have significantly bettered their performance with a gifted core of young players accumulating further expertise.
Bowman and Quenneville might see two additional seasoned coaches enter the exclusive 1,000-victory group over the forthcoming seasons.
Paul Maurice, the coach who secured the last two Stanley Cup championships with the Panthers, holds 945 career wins across five different organizations. Lindy Ruff registered his 933rd career triumph on Wednesday evening, courtesy of the Buffalo Sabres’ 2-1 defeat of New Jersey.
Both Maurice and Ruff have presided over a greater number of NHL contests than Quenneville, and both possess career winning percentages below .500 – a statistic that holds diminished significance in the current period characterized by overtime defeats.
