Former Avalanche coach Joel Quenneville was in the Pepsi Center press box at the Colorado-Dallas exhibition game Wednesday in his new role as a pro scout for the Chicago Blackhawks.
Quenneville said he accepted the scouting job after talking with Marc Bergevin, a retired defenseman who played for Quenneville at St. Louis and recently was promoted by the Blackhawks to director of pro scouting.
“I said, ‘Who do you direct?’ and he said, ‘Just me,’ ” Quenneville said, smiling. “We threw out the idea and worked a deal. I’ve been excited about it ever since.”
Following his resignation from the Avs head coaching job after three seasons, Quenneville interviewed for the vacant San Jose Sharks head coaching position, which went to Detroit Red Wings assistant Todd McLellan, and spoke on the phone with new New York Islanders general manager Garth Snow before Snow hired Scott Gordon in mid-August.
“San Jose certainly was interesting,” Quenneville said. “At the end of the day, things happen, and sometimes for reasons. It was a good process.”
Quenneville said he and his family will continue to live in Denver for the foreseeable future, and that his work for the Blackhawks primarily will be at Avalanche home games.
“Except for the lockout year, for the first time in 30 seasons, this is the first time I’m not playing or coaching, so this is a whole different way of going about it,” he said. “I’m relaxed, energized, and I like the opportunity I have with Chicago. There’s a lot of excitement there now. Scotty Bowman’s there now (as a senior advisor), the coaching staff is exciting as well, but the ironic thing is that ‘Bergie’ is my boss.”
Given the inevitable turnover in NHL coaching, it seems inevitable that positions will open, and that Quenneville will be thrown into the mix of candidates.
“We’ll see,” he said. “There’s a lot of enthusiasm internally that makes me think I would like to go back behind the bench again.”
Terry Frei: 303-954-1895 or tfrei@denverpost.com
