Chicago Blackhawks fire Dennis Savard, hire Joel Quenneville

The Chicago Blackhawks fired head coach Dennis Savard on Thursday after the team had been slow getting out of the gate.  The talented young Blackhawks had limped to a 1-2-1 mark though they looked sharp in their most recent outing, a 4-1 home victory over Phoenix.  The team immediately announced that they’d hired veteran NHL coach Joel Quenneville to take over head coaching duties.

While the timing was somewhat strange given the fact that the season had just started, it appears to be just another step in the overall franchise housecleaning begun back owner Rocky Wirtz upon his assumption of team leadership just over a year ago.  Wirtz, son of longtime owner Bill Wirtz, took over the team upon the death of his father and has started to bring the franchise into the 21st century.  He began televising the Blackhawks home games (something his father was always opposed to) and had hired some PR savvy front office executives.  He also opened up his wallet to allow GM Dale Tallon to compete in the free agent market.

Savard sounded somewhat resigned when asked to comment on his ouster:

"I'm disappointed but I guess it's the nature of the business, I know I was doing a good job, I'm dedicated to my work. Obviously they felt they had to make a change, so what can you do."

"They promised to bring a Stanley Cup here, and they felt maybe I wasn't their guy. It's very well understood. The only thing I can say is that last year I thought I did a heck of a job with our young kids, Eight to 10 rookies in our lineup. We had a bit of a slow start this year but I thought the team was on the right track. I guess it goes with the territory. As a coach you're judged on wins and losses."

The team through GM Tallon, meanwhile, issued a prepared statement that praised Savard without giving much substantive justification for his removal at this time:

"This was an extremely hard day for this organization and for me personally. Denis is forever a part of our organization. We made a tough decision that we strongly feel is the right one as we continue to evaluate our team and create a championship caliber organization that can sustain success."

Tallon also praised new coach Quenneville noting that he "brings us a wealth of experience and a winning track record that will have an immediate and lasting impact."  He had been working as a scout for the Blackhawks and has a seven year track record as an NHL coach posting a 438-283-118.  He most recently coached the Colorado Avalanche from 2005 through the end of last season.