Quenneville, Bowman to remain as coach, GM with Blackhawks next season

CHICAGO -- Joel Quenneville and Stan Bowman will remain coach and general manager of the Chicago Blackhawks, respectively, next season, president John McDonough said Thursday.
The Blackhawks (33-37-10) are last in the Central Division and will miss the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2007-08.

McDonough said he thinks Bowman and Quenneville are the right people to put the Blackhawks back on track after their worst season in a decade.
"I met with Stan about a week ago, talked about his future, talked about Joel's future," McDonough said. "I believe in continuity. They've had an incredible body of success. We're not tethered to the past. This has been a very disappointing year and our expectations are incredibly high. We're not going to deviate from those expectations. But I believe both Stan and Joel are the guys that are going to bring this back."
Quenneville has won the Stanley Cup three times with the Blackhawks since he was named coach Oct. 16, 2008. His 884 NHL wins with the St. Louis Blues, Colorado Avalanche and Blackhawks are second all-time behind Scotty Bowman (1,244).
"We're excited today," Quenneville said. "It's been a tough year, but we all expect and look forward to getting back to where we want to be. That's to be] a contending team, learning from this experience from beginning to end, finding ways to recapture what made us so successful in the past and finding that appetite of winning again. Some good conversations with John and Stan, and we're looking forward to getting back to where we expect to be."
Stan Bowman replaced Dale Tallon to become the ninth GM in Blackhawks history July 14, 2009.
"We've been through a lot, playing for Joel. Stan's done a lot of great things for this team," Chicago captain Jonathan Toews said. "A lot of things went sideways this year, so I think the first people you look at are not only the players on the ice but other people you can hold accountable. It's good to know we'll have some consistency in knowing what we're looking at as far as players for next year. I think everyone's committed to fixing the issues and the problems that we faced this year, and the same goes for Joel and Stan."
Forward Patrick Kane said he is happy Quenneville will be back.
"You're not going to find a better coach than Q," he said. "We should all feel very fortunate that he's going to be back another year and try and play better for him next year. I think he's done a great job this year. If you look at some of our younger guys, the way they've played and the way they've developed, he's done a great job having a hand in that. Us veterans need to be better for him. I think it's great news."
McDonough said he expects the Blackhawks to be in the playoffs next season.
"The standards are very high here. I think what people want to do, they want to put a brand on it. They want to put a retool, or a rebuild. I'd like to re-win," he said. "I think these teams come in all shapes and sizes. You've seen a lot of teams that miss the playoffs last year that are now back in the hunt to win the Stanley Cup. I want that to be the Chicago Blackhawks going forward. So I have confidence in Stan and Joel figuring this out.
"There's going to be a lot of deep and heavy conversations as we get into the offseason. We're not afraid of any topic, or addressing anything. I had a long conversation with Joel this morning. I have so much respect for him as a coach and as a man, and the same applies for Stan Bowman."
The Blackhawks have struggled since starting goaltender
[ Corey Crawford
was sidelined with an upper-body injury Dec. 23. McDonough said he is hopeful Crawford will be ready to play next season.
"I'm very optimistic. I'm very optimistic," he said. "And that's certainly going to be a critical part of our success going forward, but I'm very optimistic."