Blackhawks officially announce three-year extension for Joel Quenneville

The most silver thing in this photo is arguably that moustache.

It's amazing how thin the line between employment and unemployment is for head coaches in the NHL. This time last year, Chicago Blackhawks' head coach Joel Quenneville was on the hot seat after his club's second consecutive first-round playoff ouster. And even in these playoffs, with a Presidents' Trophy season under his belt, one wondered if an elimination at the hands of the Detroit Red Wings might spell the end for Coach Q.

But the Blackhawks stormed back, and after finishing off Detroit in overtime, they never looked back. A month later, Quenneville had coached the Blackhawks to their second Stanley Cup in four years. For that, as expected, the club announced Friday that Quenneville gets three more years of contract:

Quenneville is entering his sixth season with the Blackhawks after being named the 37th Head Coach in franchise history on Oct. 16, 2008. During his tenure, Quenneville has led the team to two Stanley Cup Championships becoming the only active head coach with multiple Cup wins. He coached the Blackhawks to their second President’s Trophy in 2012-13 when the team set a NHL record with 77 points in a 48-game schedule and finished with a .802 points percentage, fifth-best in league history; the Blackhawks also set a NHL record with a 24-game season-opening point streak. Quenneville was named a finalist for the 2013 Jack Adams Award, presented annually to the NHL coaches judged to have contributed the most to his team’s success.

With Quenneville at the helm, the Blackhawks have compiled a 222-106-44 record in 372 regular-season games. He holds a franchise-best .656 regular-season points percentage, while his .613 postseason winning percentage (46-29) is the highest for a Blackhawks coach since 1940. Quenneville is the only head coach in franchise history to win two Stanley Cup Championships.

Look at those numbers. It's amazing the Blackhawks were even considering letting him go when you see how successful he's been as the bench boss in Chicago. You could argue he's the best coach Chicago's ever had. But even that's not enough if you don't win, and win with regularity.

Lucky for Quenneville, he's back to winning, which means he gets to keep this job a little longer.

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