Chicago Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville took to the podium on Monday morning to give his review of the disappointing 2017-18 NHL season for the Blackhawks.
Quennevile came back to the same word when talking about what it would take for the Blackhawks to get back to the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the 2018-19 season:
Coach Q: “Relentless in our game can get us back to being a top team.. This year was an off year. There’s a lot of areas that we should be better at and more consistent. Harder to play against. Relentless would be a good word.” #Blackhawks
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) April 9, 2018
Like general manager Stan Bowman, Quenneville was also optimistic that goaltender Corey Crawford would be back next season:
Coach Q on Corey Crawford: “We expect him to be ready. He’s on the right track. He’s close to being ready to go.” #Blackhawks
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) April 9, 2018
And after a season when Chicago’s defense was often the reason for games that were lost, Quenneville said he’d spend the summer months looking for ways to shore up that side of his team’s game:
Joel Quenneville on the defense: “The area where we need to get better is on our back end.”
— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) April 9, 2018
Joel Quenneville said he’ll be looking to “tighten up” the Blackhawks’ systems and make sure they don’t give up as much next season.
— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) April 9, 2018
Quenneville was also asked about Brandon Saad, whose 2017-18 performance was one of the bigger talk points all season long:
Joel Quenneville said Brandon Saad had an “ordinary” season after his hot start: “We’re going to need more from him going forward.” #Blackhawks
— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) April 9, 2018