BlackHawks Fire Denis Savard!
October 16th, 2008 by FrankJust when you thought that everything in Chicago was going smoothly, and this year was going to bring nothing but positives, The Windy City blew it’s nose and former Hawk center and current coach Denis Savard became the first coaching casualty of the “young” season.
While I haven’t had much time to see what happened, I can only guess at this point is that Savard was on a short leash this year and a 1-2-1 start was not something that management was happy about. In Savard’s place, Joel Quenneville was named as his replacement.Savard in 147 games was 65-66-16 for the Hawks with the 2007-2008 year as his most successful as coach.
Quenneville meanwhile has compiled a .592 winning percentage in his 11 years as coach putting together a record of 438-283-118 coaching both the Colorado Avalanche and the St. Louis Blues. The former NHL defenseman is known as a fairly hard nosed coach, disciplined, and a winner in the regular season.
The Hawks must have felt that Savard is not capable of taking this club to the next level, and that Quenneville is.Time will tell. If not for my day job, I would have additional comments. More details to follow.
Thanks for reading.
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5 Responses to “BlackHawks Fire Denis Savard!”
By Jason Chen on Oct 16, 2008
That didn’t take long, did it? I would think that the Hawks would give Savard more than just a 4 game audition before they pulled the trigger, but I have a sneaking suspicion that with the high coach turnover this year the Hawks have had their eyes on Quenneville for a long time. I think 2 losses in 4 games doesn’t say anything (the Ducks are still winless, after all) about the team and Quenneville was at the top of Tallon’s list.
By Frank on Oct 16, 2008
I myself never thought that Savard was the answer, yet 4 games was not nearly enough to warrant a change. This could be a bigger issue than we all know right now.
My concern is the players being tense and uptight with the change, and if the Khabibulin situation is not resolved, could Tallon be far behind?
By cantstopthegrier on Oct 16, 2008
Lame. They should have canned Savard in the offseason. The writing was on the wall when Quenneville was brought in as a “scout”. He was a dead man walking from day one.
For a franchise that appears to have all the potential in the world, it makes me wonder who is making the calls there right now?
By Frank on Oct 16, 2008
Agreed. Hiring Quenneville and not giving Savard an extension should have spelled it all out. This could be a PR mess if things don’t go well.
The Hawks are now depending on Quenneville to get them to playoffs. Roster moves still need to be made.
By Troy on Oct 16, 2008
Why???