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Before signing with the Blackhawks, Marian Hossa knew of Joel Quenneville like most players know of coaches around the NHL.
Hossa had played against Quenneville’s teams and knew of him from what he had heard around the league. Outside of that, Hossa didn’t have any connection to Quenneville. Even when Hossa was negotiating a 12-year contract with the Blackhawks during the 2009 offseason, his decision was based more on the conversations he had with the organization’s management and where Hossa saw the team going than the coach.
And then Hossa finally met Quenneville.
“I remember the one thing when I signed, the summer when I came to Chicago to sign the contract and we met with Joel, I think it was our first convention,” Hossa said by phone from Slovakia on Thursday. “He told me, ‘Hoss, we’re going to have lots of fun in here, so enjoy it.’ That’s how he was.”
From there, Quenneville differentiated himself from every coach Hossa had ever played for. Hossa spent eight of his 19 NHL seasons with the Blackhawks — the stretch of his career he’ll always consider his favorite, not only because of the three Stanley Cups, but also because of Quenneville.
“I definitely had a few coaches during my career, and I can say Joel was the best,” Hossa said. “I liked him the most from the coaching. I like his style, I like how he treated the players with respect. I like his style of his coaching. Obviously it helped when we won three championships together. Lots of great memories with Joel, and he was my best coach.”
Like many, Hossa was surprised by the news Tuesday that Quenneville had been fired by the Blackhawks. At the same time, Hossa has been around long enough to realize anything can happen.
“In this business, you prepare for everything,” Hossa said. “You expect everything. Everybody knew nobody lasts forever. Obviously Joel was a huge part of the winning culture in Chicago, so you were like everybody, shocked that this happened to the second-best coach in the National Hockey League. That’s the hard part of the business.”
Following the business portion of Hossa’s arrival to the Blackhawks in 2009, it didn’t take long for him and Quenneville to get on the same page. Hossa played the game from end to end exactly how Quenneville dreamed all of his players would play. After Hossa announced he was going to sit out the 2017-18 season due to a skin condition, Quenneville described losing “17 minutes of playing the right way.”
For Hossa, Quenneville’s confidence in him went a long way.
“I think he trusted me,” Hossa said. “I believe he knew he could use me in any different situation. He knew I was prepared for every game. I think he trusted me with lots of different situations.”
The one time Hossa questioned that trust was during the 2013 Stanley Cup Final. Hossa sat out Game 3 of the series against the Boston Bruins due to a back injury. Hossa was bothered by the injury the rest of the series and was especially struggling during Game 6.
Hossa wasn’t sure if he was actually helping the Blackhawks by being on the ice. But he also didn’t want to let anyone down. If Quenneville was going to call his name, he was going to jump over the boards.
“I couldn’t play one of the games because I had a really bad back and couldn’t feel my leg when they shot me in the back,” Hossa said. “Basically, I couldn’t play one of the games. After that, I played on one leg and felt like terrible because I wasn’t good enough. Just in my head, ‘This is not me. Why Joel using me to play hockey game?’
“He knew he needed me for some reason. I didn’t understand why because I’m only like 60 percent when I can be because of my back. He knew and used me when he needed me.”
The Blackhawks clinched the series by taking Game 6 in dramatic fashion in Boston. Hossa played 24 shifts and 17:19 of ice time in that game. After the team’s celebration on the ice, he and Quenneville shared a moment off the ice and Quenneville explained why he continued to play him as he did.
“After, he told me like, ‘Hoss, I needed you even though I knew you couldn’t play full 100 percent,’” Hossa said. “Then I sprayed a full champagne on him and his suit and I know we had a good laugh. I think we had a great picture in that coaching room. Lots of good memories.”
Marian Hossa and Joel Quenneville won three Stanley Cups together. Hossa will also never forget just how excited Quenneville would get after wins. They won a lot together, and there was a lot of high-fiving.
“When he was winning, when he was giving guys high-fiving inside the room right after the hockey game, he was so pumped,” Hossa said. “It was just fun to see coaches being pumped like that. He loved to win hockey games definitely.”
Part of Quenneville’s recipe to winning games was his ability to push his players when it was called for and let up when needed. Hossa reiterated Quenneville’s reputation as a players’ coach.
“He played over 400 or 600 NHL hockey games, right?” Hossa said. “So he knew how the players feel in certain situations. I think he had a feel when it was the right time to give a day off. He knew when it was the right time to have a practice just 20 minutes. You appreciated those things when you’re a player and you travel that much and have so many practices. Sometimes giving guys an off day is more beneficial than just over-skating them or back skate them and have a game the next day. He knew when to use those things to an advantage, and the team responded well most of the times. That was a great combination.”
In Hossa’s individual case, Quenneville was aware of his skin allergy and knew it acted up when he put on his hockey equipment. Quenneville didn’t want Hossa to endure more than he had to.
“He was great at the end of my career when he gave me freedom with the practice or not the practices because of my skin condition,” Hossa said. “He totally understands. He told me, ‘When the situation was bad, Hoss, I don’t need you to practice. I just need you for the games.’ He was great about it.”
Hossa said he hadn’t spoken to Quenneville since Tuesday’s news, but he planned to in the near future. He wanted to give Quenneville his space.
“You know what? I will,” Hossa said. “I know when the craziness goes on you get traded or something happens everybody calls you right away. The last thing you want to do is talk to everybody at once and right away, so I want to wait a couple days and I’m going to reach out to him definitely when he’s more relaxed after everything, when he’s got more time to talk. Sometimes it’s better that way because you have better and longer talk with somebody.”
When they do talk, they may discuss whether Quenneville plans to coach again. To Hossa, Quenneville has to do whatever his body and mind tell him to do.
“It’s up to him,” Hossa said. “I think it’s important either when there’s a coach when he’s older or a player when he’s older, if he still has a drive, I think it’s really, really important. If he does, I hope he coaches because for some reason he’s in the second spot with the winning all time. That’s unreal. If he doesn’t, he deserves to enjoy the retirement because he did so much for the hockey, the players he coached. It’s just up to Joel.”
Whichever way Quenneville goes, Hossa wishes him the best. Hossa doesn’t believe his career would be the same without him. In their first face-to-face meeting, Quenneville promised lots of fun, and that’s what they had together.
“We did have lots of fun,” Hossa said. “We won a lot of hockey games. Going to be with Joel, lots of great memories.”
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Don Tiny wrote:
Don't be such a fucking chump.
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at Billy. Nice retirement job for Q.