It took Joel Quenneville 1,825 games to join Scotty Bowman in the most exclusive club in hockey. When it finally happened Wednesday night, Quenneville almost didn’t notice.
His Anaheim Ducks trailed twice by two goals against the Edmonton Oilers, then ripped off four goals in the third period to win 6-5 and hand Quenneville career win No. 1,000. Cutter Gauthier scored the winner with 1:14 to play. The moment Anaheim held on, Quenneville’s team mobbed him at the bench.
“I wasn’t prioritizing the number,” Quenneville said afterward. “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.”
Why This Milestone Hits Different for Joel Quenneville
Bowman reached 1,000 wins with the Detroit Red Wings on Feb. 8, 1997, just a month after Quenneville coached his first game in St. Louis. He finished his career with 1,244 victories and nine Stanley Cup championships in 2,141 games. Quenneville isn’t catching him, but he’s the only coach in NHL history who’s even in the conversation.
Quenneville, 67, has led his teams to the playoffs in 20 of the 22 NHL seasons he has finished behind a bench. Three of those seasons ended with Stanley Cup championships in Chicago, starting with the 2010 title that snapped one of the longest droughts in franchise history. He replaced Denis Savard behind Chicago’s bench in 2008 and produced eight straight playoff appearances.
🚨 Sennecke 🚨
This game is insane!!#FlyTogether pic.twitter.com/UHZjSlLBYF
— Anaheim Ducks (@AnaheimDucks) February 26, 2026
But the last few years have been anything but smooth. Quenneville resigned from the Florida Panthers in late 2021 after the NHL determined he had failed to act when informed in 2010 of allegations that Blackhawks player Kyle Beach had been sexually assaulted by the team’s video coach. The league banned him from the sport. He spent four years away from the bench, watching games from his home in Florida.
The ban was lifted in July 2024. Anaheim general manager Pat Verbeek, a former teammate of Quenneville’s on the Hartford Whalers, made the call and persuaded owner Henry Samueli to hire him. The Ducks are now 31-23-3, in the thick of the Western Conference playoff race and on the verge of their first postseason appearance since 2018.
“It was an important game for us in a lot of ways,” Quenneville said. “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.”
Quenneville Knows What It Means to Chase Bowman
Anaheim’s comeback Wednesday was their NHL-leading eighth multigoal comeback win this season. The young Ducks core has bought into Quenneville’s system fast, which shouldn’t be a surprise given his track record at every previous stop.
Asked about sharing the 1,000-win club with Bowman, Quenneville didn’t hide his reverence for the man he’s now joined in the record books.
“He’s from a different league when I look at his company,” Quenneville said. “I think he’s lonesome up there, the number he’s at. 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.”
Bowman finished with 1,244 wins. Paul Maurice, who won the last two Stanley Cup titles with Florida, has 945. Lindy Ruff earned his 933rd Wednesday night in Buffalo. Those two could join this club within a few seasons, but for now, Quenneville and Bowman stand alone.
Win number 1,000 came the same way all 999 of the others did: with Quenneville locked into the game in front of him, not the number on the board.
“It’s something that I don’t think about,” he said. “I think my motivation, my goals were always once you win a Cup one time, you can’t wait to do it again. It’s always been the reason why we’re doing what we’re doing.”
