It shouldn't come as a huge surprise that Joel Quenneville received a three-year contract extension this week. Quenneville did a nice job last year, albeit with a great collection of talent.

Is he the game's best coach? No, but I'd put him definitely in the top 10, and with even the Hawks' remaining collection of talent, that should be good enough to keep the team competitive for a number of years.

That said, even with all the bodies leaving the dressing room, expectations are still high for the Hawks in Chicago and elsewhere.

Q will have to earn that extension this year.

On a similar note, Quenneville confirmed yesterday what everyone in the hockey world already knew: Cristobal Huet will not be in camp, and his days as a Hawk (player) are essentially over.

When Huet signed his $22 million contract in the summer of 2008, it could be argued he was being paid for being one of the league's best goalies from 2005-08. That said, he walked into a divided dressing room (between he and Nikolai Khabibulin), and then Khabibuoin went out and won the job in a contract year.

Truth is, aside form a well-watched bad game in the Winter Classic, Huet had a good 08-09, culminating in a brilliant (albeit losing) performance in Game 5 of the WCF— after not playing for 6 weeks and, it's rumored, Khabibulin quit on the team.

The wheels came off for him at the end of the 09-10 season, and the job was finally nailed down by Antti Niemi. And the rest, as they say, is history.

All that said, Huet was always the consummate teammate and a man who always took all the responsibility on his shoulders.

And I know there is a large chunk of Blackhawk Nation this morning that wishes him nothing but the best.

Au Revoir et Bon Chance, Notre Ami!

Join the Discussion: » Comments » Post New Comment

» Thanks and Farewell

» Where do we go from here?

» Preds at Hawks Breakdown

» "All Teams Have Flaws"

» The Games You Should Win