Blackhawks' Quenneville as Olympic coach?
Ladies and gentlemen, the new coach of Team Canada's Olympic hockey team … Joel Quenneville?
"Yeah, it'd be great," Quenneville said when asked if he'd like to coach in the Olympics. "I think the Canadians, they've done an outstanding job, that staff."
That staff includes head coach Mike Babcock of the Detroit Red Wings, who has guided the Canadian team to consecutive gold medals.
"I commend them on what they've accomplished over the last couple of Olympics," Quenneville said. "They've been perfect. I'm happy for them."
Trickling in:
Olympians Marian Hossa and Michal Handzus practiced Tuesday, upping the total number of Blackhawks on the ice at Johnny's IceHouse to 15.
"The experience was great and it was fun to be a part of it, but hockey-wise we weren't good enough," Hossa said of his Olympic experience with Team Slovakia. "But I feel good and it's fun to get back with the team and get ready for the rest of the regular season."
If either Hossa or Handzus were suffering from jet lag or fatigue, Joel Quenneville certainly didn't notice. "Both of them were outstanding," he said. "It's good to see them return."
No big deal?
Usually a rare trip to play the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden would be a huge deal, but not this week, not with that outdoor game against the Pittsburgh Penguins lurking in the distance.
One player who's not looking past Thursday's game in New York though is Ben Smith, who can't wait to get back to the Garden.
"For me it's pretty easy not to look ahead," Smith said. "I'm from out East, and going to MSG is one of the things that I've been looking forward to.
"I played there once my first year as a pro, and I'm looking forward to getting the chance to see a bunch of family and friends out there."
He said it:
"Everybody was talking about how they got killed in the first couple of practices back. I was laughing because those were pretty good stories."
- Marian Hossa, who Tuesday participated in his first practice with the Hawks since the Olympics