Joel Quenneville Committed To Getting Things Right In Chicago

Pick your cliche—the writing was on the wall, the heir apparent had been chosen, there was a dead man walking. The Blackhawks brass waited almost long enough for the paint to dry in the ice to run Denis Savard out of town this season, replacing him with pricey "scout," and all-time winningest coach in St Louis Blues history, Joel Quenneville.

In a piece I published less than 48 hours before Savard's firing, I outlined a number of things the coach needed to change for the Hawks to be successful this year. I begged Savard to give the team some consistency; to commit to some youngsters the way he had with Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, and to formulate a set rotation so that chemistry could grow.

Much like when Rocky Wirtz took over the franchise, Quenneville arrived on the scene and changed each piece of what I had asked for back in mid October.

The difference in the Blackhawks has been a commitment to consistency.

He committed to Kris Versteeg as a crucial part of the offense, and has been rewarded by the kid playing like he wants a taste of Kane's Calder Trophy success.

He also committed to playing Nikolai Khabibulin and Cristobal Huet. He, again, has been rewarded by the "Bulin Wall" playing like a 30 year old again, and Huet competing for the job his salary had promised him (in theory).

Finally, he committed to setting up a regular rotation and playing longer and faster in practice so the team could build better chemistry. The team has been more crisp on the ice, and the power play has been more effective on offense and defense. The fact that the Hawks had more short handed shots on goal in the first period against Detroit than the rival had in total says volumes about the new coach's style.

It was Savard that told the team to commit to the Indian. The irony of the Blackhawks success under Quenneville is that it is now the Chief Indian committing to the players that has led to the team's success.