Chicago Blackhawks: Joel Quenneville and Stan Bowman will return

The Chicago Blackhawks ended any speculation about the futures of head coach Joel Quenneville and general manager Stan Bowman 

For the first time in nearly a decade, the Chicago Blackhawks will not be in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Head coach Joel Quenneville and general manager Stan Bowman have taken them to nine straight postseasons, but the streak ends this year.

With the team potentially going through some changes, the futures of both were up in the air. Blackhawks president John McDonough has done the smart thing and gotten rid of the speculation.

There are two sides to this decision. On one hand, this is a wise decision. There’s no reason to overreact to one bad season. The Blackhawks have had a ton of success over the past nine seasons, including three Stanley Cups. Despite Chicago’s failures this season, Quenneville and Bowman deserve the opportunity to clean up the mess.

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Moving on from their head coach would have been especially hard. Quenneville has optimized his roster since the day he was hired. He’s clearly not a part of the problem, at least not yet. You could argue Quenneville’s voice has gotten tired in the locker room, but one has to imagine the front office is in tune with what their players want.

But on the other hand, if the Blackhawks are going to go through changes, why not go all-in? If your house needs to be renovated, do you just do your bathroom? Or your kitchen? Nope. When you renovate your house, you go all-in. There’s no sense in doing it otherwise.

Likewise, the Blackhawks could benefit from changes to the coaching staff and front office. This has nothing to do with how great Quenneville and Bowman are. Even the best things have to come to an end. The Blackhawks are going to have to survive without Quenneville eventually. Unless they think they can compete again in the next three seasons, why not get started on life without Coach Q?

Next: Top 3 Reasons The Blackhawks Missed The Playoffs

All of this said, the Blackhawks still have a talented team. If Corey Crawford’s healthy next season and Bowman makes the right moves to improve the team, Chicago could be contending for the postseason again as soon as next year. The Blackhawks have been knocked down. Let’s see if they can get back up.

Did the Hawks make the right decision? Let us know in the comments!