Quenneville says Ducks remind him of Blackhawks dynasty he coached

Joel Quenneville has a sense of familiarity in his first season as coach of the Anaheim Ducks. There's the feeling the 67-year-old has been here before.  

Quenneville took over a young and talented roster in Anaheim this season, similar to the one he walked into with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2008. 

"It's comparable," Quenneville said. "Comparable from the way this season went. That first year there (in Chicago), I realized how fortunate I was to coach some of those kids that had star potential, or top-player potential, and were really good players.

"Right off the bat, we had a deeper team than I would have thought. We had balance in all forwards lines, and our 'D' were above average as well."

Under Quenneville, Chicago went from missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs five consecutive seasons, to winning the Stanley Cup three times (2010, 2013, 2015).

He now has Anaheim in the playoffs for the first time since 2017-18. The Ducks will face the Edmonton Oilers in Game 1 of the best-of-7 Western Conference First Round at Rogers Place on Monday (10 p.m. ET; CBC, TVAS, SN, KCOP-13, ESPN2, Victory+). 

"We had a lot of skill (in Chicago) and basically, I had to tell them every day that I didn't care about scoring goals, that we have to stop goals," Quenneville said. "I thought it kind of happened this year with (the Ducks) a little bit too. But it's nice having those assets that have that skill and that ability to score. And I think if they have that ability, they should be able to check as well."

Quenneville was hired by Anaheim on May 8, 2025, to take over from Greg Cronin, who was fired after two seasons. The Ducks were coming out of a lengthy rebuild and looking to take the next step forward.

In Chicago, Quenneville took over from Denis Savard, who was fired four games into his third season in 2008-09. The Blackhawks qualified for the playoffs and went to the Western Conference Final in Quenneville's first season, losing in five games to the Detroit Red Wings. The following season, Chicago won its first Stanley Cup in 49 years.

In Anaheim, Quenneville is working with talented young forwards Beckett Sennecke, 20, Leo Carlsson, 21, Cutter Gauthier, 22, Mason McTavish, 23, along with defensemen Olen Zellweger, 22, Jackson LaCombe, 25, and goalie Lukas Dostal, 25.

When took over in Chicago, Quenneville had Patrick Kane, 19, Jonathan Toews, 20, Kris Versteeg, 22, Andrew Ladd, 22, Dave Bolland, 22, along with defensemen Cam Barker, 21, Brent Seabrook, 23, Dustin Byfuglien, 23, and Duncan Keith, 25. 

"The one thing with those guys, is they made plays and the 'wow' factor was part of it as well," Quenneville said. "The consistency, competitiveness; Kane wanted the puck every single shift. He wanted the puck, wanted to play wanted to do something with it. He got better on his own every year in the offseason. 

"Toews had different level of preparation and the importance of winning and doing things the right way and as a captain. People said it was too much pressure giving him the captaincy at a young age, but he took on a lot of responsibility, doing more than just being a player, but that's just Jonny. And he always said the right thing, did the right thing and you couldn't ask for a better leader."

Toews was 20 when he was named captain of the Blackhawks and was the third-youngest captain in NHL history at time. 

Now as a 37-year-old veteran with the Winnipeg Jets, he also sees the similarities between the two teams and feels Quenneville is the right coach to take Anaheim to the next level.

"Absolutely," Toews said. "Joel's really great about that as a coach. Obviously when you know the game and have as much experience and success as he's had in his career, it's easy to want to leave your mark and sometimes do too much. But I think he's great in just letting the players play and finding confidence. (The Ducks) have a lot of young talent, so he knows how to coach in a situation like that, and I think he's having a lot of fun doing it, too."

Anaheim has young leaders in LaCombe and Carlsson, who are each alternates to captain Radko Gudas. Gauthier is quickly developing into an elite offensive player.

"Our expectations were to make playoffs going into this year," Gauthier said. "I think once all the younger guys had an extra year under their belt, they all got more comfortable with the League and the road trips and how the NHL works. We were all super confident going into this year that we were going to be able to make a good push for the playoffs."

Quenneville has been able to get the most out of his young group in Anaheim, much like he did in Chicago.

"He's old school, but old school in a good way," Gauthier said. "He knows when guys are going, he knows when guys aren't. He knows how to really work the bench and play guys at the right time to get the most out of them. Compared to last year, it's a 180-degree flip from what we had, and it's been good."

Quenneville said his approach has not changed much in the 26 seasons as a coach, which also included stints with the St. Louis Blues, Colorado Avalanche, and Florida Panthers. He relies on his staff to help bridge the generational gap with today's young players. 

"We have a really good staff that helps out," he said. "I like to do things kind of in the same way. Over the course of the season, you give the guys some room to operate and make a lot of decisions based on how they're competing and how they're playing, but more so with a consistent approach. We like to have fun, but I think a lot of that fun part comes from winning and playing hard, so that's the reward."

NHL.com staff writer Tracey Myers contributed to this report