Panthers hire Joel Quenneville as head coach

60-year-old NHL veteran won 3 Stanley Cups with Blackhawks

SUNRISE, Fla. – One day after firing Bob Boughner, the Florida Panthers have hired a new head coach.

The Panthers named Joel Quenneville as head coach Monday.

Quenneville, 60, most recently coached the Chicago Blackhawks. He previously coached the St. Louis Blues and Colorado Avalanche.

"Joel is a three-time Stanley Cup champion head coach who will be a transformative leader for the Florida Panthers franchise," general manager Dale Tallon said in a news release. "We've seized the opportunity to add one of the most successful head coaches in hockey history and we're thrilled that Joel has agreed to take on the challenge of leading our promising young team."

Florida fired Boughner on Sunday after two seasons in which the Panthers failed to make the playoffs.

Local 10's Will Manso goes 1-on-1 with new Panthers head coach Joel Quenneville

Quenneville led Chicago to nine playoff appearances in 11 seasons with the team, winning the Stanley Cup in 2010 to cap his second season. The Blackhawks won their second Stanley Cup under Quenneville in 2013. Two years later, Chicago hoisted the Stanley Cup again.

The Blackhawks fired Quenneville after a 6-6 start to the 2018-19 season.

Quenneville coached Colorado from 2005-06 to 2007-08, leading the Avalanche to 131 wins and a pair of playoff appearances.

Quenneville's first head coaching experience was with St. Louis, where he led the Blues to the playoffs for seven consecutive seasons from 1996-97 to 2002-03. He was fired 61 games into the 2003-04 season.

"Words can't even express how excited our family is about coming to South Florida," Quenneville said. "Across the board, everybody's elated. This is where we wanted to be, and we're so happy to join the Florida Panther family."

Excluding the two seasons in which he was fired, Quenneville has only missed the playoffs twice in his 22 seasons as a head coach.

"I've worked with Joel previously and have seen firsthand how his passion for the game, head coaching experience and leadership can impact an organization," Tallon said. "Joel will accelerate our growth into a club that qualifies for the playoffs consistently and competes every year toward our goal of winning the Stanley Cup."

His 890 regular-season wins are the second-most in NHL history.

"I've been priviledged to coach some of the great players in the game, and that's one of the reasons why I'm here today," Quenneville said.

Quenneville spent 13 seasons in the NHL as a player, recording 190 career points between 1978 and 1991. He began his NHL coaching career as an assistant with the Quebec Nordiques and continued with the franchise after it relocated to Denver in 1995 and became the Avalanche.