With the Boston Bruins firing Claude Julien on Tuesday, Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville is now the longest tenured coach in the NHL.
Told of that fact after his team practiced at Johnny’s IceHouse West, a laughing Quenneville said: “Well, I don’t know if we should talk about that.”
Quenneville, obviously, doesn’t have to fear for his job thanks to three Stanley Cup titles with the Blackhawks and eight straight playoff appearances.
This was Julien’s 10th season behind the bench for the Bruins. He won a Cup for the franchise in 2011, was beaten in the Final in 2013 by the Hawks, and was named coach of the year after the 2008-09 season.
This year, though, Boston is 26-23-6, and if the playoffs began today the Bruins would not qualify for a third straight season.
Julien is the second high-profile coach to be let go in the last week, joining Ken Hitchcock, whom the Blues fired on Feb. 1.
“Claude was there for a long time, did an outstanding job, kind of like Hitch,” said Quenneville, who ranks second all-time with 833 victories. “Their work in Boston and St. Louis was outstanding (and) they should be proud of what they accomplished with their teams and as coaches as well. That’s the real negative of our business is when that happens.”
Assistant Bruce Cassidy will take over in Boston.
Patrick Kane said that while Artemi Panarin continues to try to master English, it is getting easier to communicate with his Russian friend.
“Give him credit. His English is pretty good — probably more than he’d ever let on to you guys. But I think it’s pretty easy to communicate with him,” said Kane, who later added with a smile: “I almost find I’m talking in English in a Russian accent for him to better understand me sometimes.”
There are times, though, when Kane is left in the dark, such as when Panarin and Artem Anisimov are talking on the bench or on the ice before a faceoff.
“(When) those guys are speaking back and forth in Russian, just got to kind of move on the bench to get out of the way,” Kane said. “But if we’re doing a faceoff or something (I might) communicate with Anisimov in English, and he might have to talk to Panarin in Russian. That’s the way it works out sometimes.”
Vinnie Hinostroza and Andrew Desjardins skated outside the top four lines at practice Wednesday, meaning both will probably be scratched at Minnesota on Wednesday. It would be Hinostroza’s third straight healthy scratch after he played in 34 straight games. … The last time the Hawks beat the Wild in the regular season was Jan. 11, 2015. … In 19 seasons as a head coach, Joel Quenneville’s teams have finished in first place just three times. He has eight second-place finishes.
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