Blackhawks’ coach Quenneville fined

From NHL.com

Joel Quenneville, head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks, has been fined $10,000 for public comments critical of League officiating made following yesterday’s game against Detroit, the National Hockey League announced today.

The money goes to the NHL Foundation.

For complete story, click here.

I’m assuming he ran afoul of Rule 40 (Abuse of Officials) which reads:

40.1 – A player, goalkeeper, Coach or non-playing person shall not challenge or dispute the rulings of an official before, during or after a game. A player, goalkeeper, Coach or non-playing person shall not display unsportsmanlike conduct including, but not limited to, obscene, profane or abusive language or gestures, comments of a personal nature intended to degrade an official, or persist in disputing a ruling after being told to stop or after being penalized for such behavior.

No surprise that he was fined for his comments.  In case you missed them, Joel dropped the following gems during last night’s press conference;

“We witnessed the worst call in the history of sports at the end of the period.” 

“They destroyed whatever was happening on the ice.” 

“I’ve never seen anything like it.” 

“I couldn’t find the penalties. You could argue along the way. They ruined the whole game. That’s the gist of what I’m trying to say.”

Now I understand that he was aggravated at the calls but he totally blew his cool (when he found out about the Walker minor) and unfortunately it transferred to his team’s play for the remainder of the game.  He lost control of himself and then the team and now it appears that the series is all but over for these young Hawks.