 | Currently, all eyes in the hockey world are on the NHL Stanley Cup finals and once again Windsor is front and centre. Both Chicago Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville and Boston Bruins bench boss Claude Julien have connections back to the City of Roses.
Both head coaches are part of a very prestigious club - that of being Windsor Spitfires alumni. | |
Stoney Point - June 14, 2013 - Growing up in Cornwall, I was a huge fan of the Cornwall Royals. To this day, I tend to remember all kinds of quirky stats and things related to our hometown hockey team. Now that I am in Windsor, I am enjoying learning more about the history of the Windsor Spitfires.
Seemingly every day I learn about a new Spits alumni or a name that has ties back to Windsor-Essex. Like the Royals, the Spits have produced a great number of NHL players, coaches and broadcasters.
Currently, all eyes in the hockey world are on the NHL Stanley Cup finals and once again Windsor is front and centre. Both Chicago Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville and Boston Bruins bench boss Claude Julien have connections back to the City of Roses.
Both head coaches are part of a very prestigious club - that of being Windsor Spitfires alumni.
Quenneville was born in Windsor and played three seasons and 197 games with the hometown Spits before being drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the second round of the 1978 entry draft. He went on to play over 800 NHL games with Toronto, Colorado, New Jersey and Washington. He has been the head coach of the St. Louis Blues, Colorado Avalanche and Chicago Blackhawks. He won the Stanley Cup in the Windy City in 2009-10.
Julien wasn’t born in Windsor nor was he drafted by the Spitfires. The Blind River, Ontario native was acquired via trade from the Oshawa Generals in the 1978-79 season. He would end up playing a 111 games over three seasons in Windsor. Julien was an undrafted defenceman who made a number of minor league stops but also managed to suit up for 14 NHL games with the Quebec Nordiques. Julien got his first head coaching gig with the Montreal Canadiens, spent a season with the New Jersey Devils before landing with the Boston Bruins in 2007. He won the Stanley Cup with the Bruins in 2010-11.
Newell Brown and Marc Crawford are Royals alumni who have won a Stanley Cup as a coach. Bob Hartley coached the Cornwall Aces and he has also won a Stanley Cup. Scott Arniel, Orval Tessier, Jacques Martin and Doug Carpenter all have Cornwall connections and have coached in the NHL, but none have a Cup win on their resume. In the coming days, either Quenneville or Julien will win their second cup and will add another piece to the storied past of the Windsor Spitfires.
Interesting article by Tal Pinchevsky on NHL.com today about this topic. Please check it out - Quenneville, Julien share Windsor connection. Another great article on the Spits site - Quenneville, Julien share playing past, coaching style.
If you have an interesting story about the history of the Windsor Spitfires that you would like to share with our readers, please visit our Contributors page.
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