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Quenneville Canned As Colorado Avalanche Coach

Fri, 09 May 2008 21:58:26 +0000

Matt Aug - AHN Sports Reporter

Denver, CO. (AHN) - The Colorado Avalanche fired coach Joel Quenneville on Friday, just days after the team was swept by the Detroit Red Wings in the second-round of the NHL playoffs.

Quenneville was successful with the 'Lanche, posting a 131-92-23 record in three seasons with the squad, but the team's style of play and his way of coaching may not have been a fit.

"You have to merge your philosophy on how to play with the players that you have," Colorado G.M. Francois Giguere told the Denver Post. "I think we've always built our team with players that are successful in an environment of a high, up-beat tempo and puck-possession type of game."

NHL sources say Toronto could be a landing place for Quenneville, while the Avs may look to fill their coaching slot with former New Jersey Devils coach Pat Burns, who led that team to the Stanley Cup in 2003.

For his part, Quenneville said he has no regrets about his term in Colorado, except perhaps for not leading the Avalanche deeper into the postseason.

"I look back at the three seasons, and we've got a lot to be proud of. We accomplished a couple of playoff victories and had a couple of tough endings," Quenneville said. "It was a great place to live and work, and it was a privilege for me and my family to be here. I think everybody has a way of looking at things, whether they're technical things or whatever, and everybody has ideas going forward."