Tallon hires Quenneville to coach Panthers

One day after firing head coach Bob Boughner, the Florida Panthers have hired Joel Quenneville as his successor. Quenneville, who was fired by the Chicago Blackhawks in November, is receiving a multi-year contract worth more than $6 million a year with bonuses, according to ESPN. The Panthers announced his hiring Monday.

"Fate is a wonderful thing in my life," said Panthers general manager Dale Tallon, who hired Quenneville in Chicago but was fired by the Blackhawks a year later. "It's like a blessing for me. This is a blessing. There are a lot of coaching jobs available. We wanted to get it done because he's a popular guy and a lot of teams out there would love to have him as their coach."

The Blackhawks won three Stanley Cups during Quenneville's tenure that began in 2008, and they missed the playoffs just once. He left with a record of 452-249-96 in 797 games. Quenneville, 60, also coached a combined 11 seasons in Colorado and St. Louis and has an overall career record of 890-532-77-137. He won the Jack Adams Award in 1999-2000 as the NHL coach adjudged to have contributed the most to his team's success, and his 890 regular-season wins as an NHL head coach are the second most in NHL history.

"Joel is a three-time Stanley Cup champion head coach who will be a transformative leader for the Florida Panthers franchise," said Tallon. "We've seized the opportunity to add one of the most successful head coaches in hockey history and we're thrilled that Joel has agreed to take on the challenge of leading our promising young team. "I've worked with Joel previously and have seen firsthand how his passion for the game, head coaching experience and leadership can impact an organization. Joel will accelerate our growth into a club that qualifies for the playoffs consistently and competes every year toward our goal of winning the Stanley Cup."

The Panthers were 79-62-22 in Boughner's two seasons at the helm, missing the playoffs both times. This season was the 16th time in 18 seasons that Florida has missed the playoffs. Boughner's assistant, Paul McFarland, also was fired.

--Field Level Media

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