The 1,000 win club in the NHL officially has a second member as Anaheim Ducks coach Joel Quenneville joined Scotty Bowman as the only bench bosses in league history to hit quadruple digits.
In a wild come from behind victory, where Anaheim potted 4 goals in the 3rd period to defeat the Edmonton Oilers 6-5, Quenneville moved off 999 wins on his career.
“I wasn’t prioritizing the number,” Quenneville said after the game. “I just wanted to play well tonight and find a way to win. That was the motivation, and it turned out to be a very special one as well.”
“It was an important game for us in a lot of ways,” Quenneville continued. “They had the puck a lot more than we did, but at the same time, I thought we found a way to win a game. It had other meanings, but to me it was the importance of where it put us in the standings, and coming out of the break, the momentum that we could get off a win like tonight.”
The 67 year old now sports an all time record of 1000-595-77-153 for a .548 win percentage across a career split between St. Louis, Colorado, Chicago, Florida, and Anaheim.
“I think [Bowman’s] lonesome up there, the number he’s at,” Quenneville added. “I had Scotty and Stan in Chicago together. We had some great wins, and he’s got a lot of Cups. He’s been very successful in the game. … I’m happy to be getting the opportunity back in the game and be around a team like we’ve got now.”
While it’s taken since 1997 for the 1,000 win club to add a second member, Bowman and Quenneville won’t have to wait nearly as long to add a third and possibly 4th. Barring some surprise firings, Paul Maurice (945 wins) and Lindy Ruff (933 wins) could join the pair sooner rather than later.
Up next for the Ducks is a Friday night showdown with the Winnipeg Jets. Puck drop is set for 10pm ET.
Photo: Matt Boulton. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.