Joel Quenneville: A Champion Set For A Comeback
Incoming Anaheim Ducks head coach Joel Quenneville has plenty to prove in his inaugural season behind the bench. Leading his first charge at a Stanley Cup in nearly half a decade since resigning from the now two-time defending champion Florida Panthers in 2021.
Compared to a season ago, something that Quenneville brings immediately to the team is a healthy spark and a fire ready to burn from the passion and study of the game at a moment’s notice.
Scandal aside and now behind him, when looking at Joel Quenneville’s decade in Chicago (2008-2018), the record speaks for itself. Anaheim’s front office clearly believes that winning three championships in a decade as part of a storied organization doesn’t happen by happenstance or coincidence.
Bested only by Scotty Bowman for all-time wins in the NHL as a head coach, Quenneville currently rests just 31 wins away from the 1,000-win milestone that he’s likely to hit this season in Southern California.
In addition to winning Stanley Cups with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2010, 2013, and 2015, Quenneville also brings bench experience from time in Colorado, St. Louis, and of course — Florida.
The Anaheim Ducks wrestled to five wins short of forty last season. Despite missing out on the postseason for the seventh consecutive year, there is a positive sense of a light at the end of the tunnel for a team that believes Quenneville can secure the best case scenario with their young core that echoes his efforts in Chicago.
Quenneville is quoted as saying recently that Anaheim’s up-and-coming core reminds him of both Florida and Chicago.
In order to turn those reigning aspirations into tangible success, Quenneville is going to need to source a star that isn’t selfish in the spotlight but can make the key plays in the clutch when the team needs them the most.
Out of the abundance of youth in Anaheim, Leo Carlsson will be the biggest difference maker when we look at determine Quenneville’s success with the Ducks.
Drafted in 2023 at second overall, Carlsson had 45 points in 76 games over the 2024-25 regular season while contributing a score of goals to go with that.
Increasing his numbers by 16 points year-over-year and that difference being spread evenly through eight goals and eight assists, the 20-year old lefty will be looking to build on a healthy start his career in Anaheim.
Additionally, the participation of key veteran pieces cannot be underestimated for consistency to be a theme for the Quenneville era.
Previously with the Tampa Bay Lightning, veteran winger Alex Killorn is a player with a few years left on his four-year deal with the Ducks to put that trust in as a seasoned player that can help make the right plays and lead the way for the younger team.
Expecting a healthy year, Killorn can expect to cross the threshold of 1,000 career games played in the upcoming season, as he currently sits at 950 games played and 82 games played in the previous go. With 37 points to call his own, Killorn also evenly contributed with 19 goals and 18 assists.
With the right pace, which Quenneville will no doubt establish shortly, having enough constant and consistently excellent threats at multiple points on the ice gives the Ducks a serious chance at being any team.
Specifically, the Anaheim Duck and Joel Quenneville need to find a way to improve how the team rebounds after a hard-fought loss in overtime.
Throughout the entire previous season, the Ducks rebounded from an overtime loss with a win even not even once — included back-to-back road overtime losses in games 81 and 82 to Minnesota and Winnipeg. Even following overtime wins, the team failed exuberantly at capturing and maintaining a calm and clear sense of direction as a unit.
The capstone to all of this is how well the Ducks play away from the Honda Center, especially when battling the nearby Los Angeles Kings.
LA boasted the best home-ice win percentage in all of hockey last season. Just past the halfway point on the calendar, the Ducks pulled off a stellar shootout victory against the Kings and followed it up with a road overtime win in Boston in their very next game.
This came on the heels of a 4-1 home stretch leading up to the clash in Los Angeles.
A proven champion ready for a comeback is a force to be reckoned with and the same dogfight mentality from the Chicago Blackhawks semi-dynasty era is being brought to a young team with nothing to lose and everything to prove thanks to Joel Quenneville.