Behind the Bench: The Joel Quenneville chapter

DisgruntledHawkFan

Blackhawk Down
Jun 19, 2004
56,774
27,013
South Side
So me and @TLEHMANN have had a few back and forth talks about this book. Thought I'd chime in and give some insight to everyone because a handful of people have asked. Bunch of talk last two years about Q not giving Panarin/Kane so much time with the net empty to protect bonuses/poor coaching/rewarding guys. Well, he was definitely trying to reward them. There's a bit early on about how he was known for it. The last two weeks of the season, he'd hand out notecards to assistants/captains and have everyone write down what bonuses they were close too/hoping to hit. Obviously it's a little different under the cap system, when only rookies and guys on 35+ contracts are eligible compared to when he was coaching St. Louis/Colorado. For the newer fans, you could have a bonus for damn near anything back before the hard cap. TOI, PP points, shot blocks, whatever. He told two stories, the first about Tyson Nash, needing to average 10:00 per game to reach a bonus. It was the last game of the season, the Blues had already clinched a playoff spot and they were playing the Kings in a meaningless game. Q was double/triple shifting Nash, and unbeknownst to Nash Q had figured out exactly how much ice time Nash needed in the last regular season to reach the bonus. He ended up playing Nash near twice as much as Nash would normally play, and he finished the season averaging 10:03, reaching his bonus. Nash said things like that were a big reason why guys loved playing for Q.

The other great bonus story was late in a game, same situation, post season clinched, playing out the string he had Demitra and Scott Young on the ice. Demitra needed one more point to reach a 500k bonus, Young needed one more goal to reach a 200k bonus. Demitra had a wide open net, but made an extra move to get Young into the zone who he slid the puck over too. Young fired a shot middle of the net, but Jaroslav Modry made a block and ended up costing both of them their bonus. Q went to management - again, before the hard cap - and here I'll quote from the book.

"No goal was scored and no bonuses reached because Demitra had waited for his teammate and tried to help him rather than scoring on his own. Realizing what had happened, Quenneville took the video to the Blues owner. He told them those were the type of players he wanted, guys who would risk their own money in order to help a teammate get his.

"They didn't have to do anything," Pronger said. "Joel just made them aware. They gave Pavol the bonus."

"That's the right thing to do" I suggested - Craig Custance

"That's easy for you to say. You're not the one cutting a $500,000 check." -Q

It was a great story that shows the kind of selflessness and teamwork Quenneville works to inspire in his players."

And he had another story about during the 10' cup run where he had the team compile scouting reports about one player on the other team to keep everyone engaged before every round. Apparently Adam Burish killed it, writing songs about every player he was given before every round and singing them with an acoustic guitar before every series.

I dunno. Feel kinda goofy writing a book report for strangers on the internet. Also not trying to push a book any harder than I already have, but I'm always looking for quality reads on hockey. I'd strongly suggest Ken Dryden's book, The Game. Just bought Mark Lazerus' book, If These Walls Could Talk, about the 10-15 Hawks. Who's Puck Is It Anyway is a great inside look at youth hockey by Ed Arnold, with Steve Larmer making an appearance is a book that really connected with me having grown up playing hockey.

Just a couple suggestions for people looking for decent page turners, and I'd love to hear if anybody else has any suggestions to add to my bookshelf.

Cheers.
~DHF~
 

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