Even casual hockey fans know the names Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, and Jaromir Jagr. These are the legends on the front covers of magazines, the leading stories on SportsCenter, and the ones who make the magic happen on the ice.
Hockey will always be about the players. They're the ones who people want to see and ultimately have to perform. But behind every great NHL team, there's a mastermind at work. Without the coach, you have nothing.
NHL fans have been blessed with some of the greatest sporting minds ever seen, with the game requiring high tactical acuity, a gift of dealing with ego-driven individuals, and the tools to manage complex organizations. To us, these are the top three to ever sit on an NHL coach's bench.
Al Arbour
Not many people know that Al Arbour was a great player before he became a coach. He's one of only eleven players to win back-to-back Stanley Cups with different teams. He was also a leader during his playing career, captaining the St. Louis Blues. He played a total of 626 games as a defenseman; stop there, and you've got a career to be proud of.
But as we all know, Al Arbour went on to do something even more memorable. To many, he's the best ice hockey coach of all time, period. Despite playing as a defenseman, he had a keen understanding of every hockey position, perfectly capturing the synergy required to have a hockey team performing on all cylinders. He's best remembered for his long stint as coach of the New York Islanders, where he spent two decades coaching the team.
His record includes winning four jaw-dropping consecutive NHL titles (1980–83). Talk about a dynasty, right? Perhaps more impressive is the longevity of performance, with a record 19 straight playoff appearances.
What stands out about Arbour, however, is his reputation for great humility. He had a stellar career as a player and an all-world record as a coach. Yet you'd never know it from talking to him; he was a salt of the earth kind of guy and didn't lose touch with what made players tick.
Joel Quenneville
Winning above everything, no matter the cost. And ultimately, that cost was very steep indeed. His NHL legacy may be stained, perhaps even ruined, but there is no denying that at his very best, Joel Quenneville was one of the best hockey coaches ever to do it.
If you lived in Chicago between 2008 and 2018, Quenneville was as close as you'd get to a hockey god. For NHL fans, he was a Phil Jackson-esque presence but with a little bit more grit. He came in the old-school mold, and even though he hailed from Canada, there was no one more Chicago than this guy.
When he eventually left the Blackhawks, he had three Stanley Cups under his belt and was the second-winningest coach in NHL history. And he was loved by the entire city, something you can't always buy with championships.
Ultimately, his obsession with winning led to his resignation from the Florida Panthers, leaving the team undefeated and still dreaming of winning the Stanley Cup (spoilers: they didn't).
Does his name deserve to be on the list of best coaches ever? Considering what's come out since he left, probably not. But you also can't erase what his teams achieved on the ice, and it would be unfair on them to wipe Coach Q's records from the collective history books.
Scotty Bowman
Our final entry is pretty much a unanimous selection, no matter where you're standing. Scotty Bowman never played in the NHL, but he never needed it.
The guy had a gift for coaching. His record speaks for itself, winning an insane nine Stanley Cups. And he did it with different teams as well, always reinventing himself and his teams, modernizing, adapting, and performing. Five came with his beloved Canadiens, one with the Penguins, and he even notched one of his century with the Red Wings.
That's what's so impressive about Coach Bowman: he won in three different decades (1970s, 1990s, and 2000s). In the 1980s, when he was eventually fired by the Buffalo Sabres, experts thought he was done. He'd lost his magic and didn't change with the times.
At that point, maybe it was true. Most coaches have an expiration date, no matter how good you are. When Bowman was out of work, it seemed like a permanent deal. But then, Pittsburgh.
Returning for the 1991–92 season, he immediately made the team in his image. The result? Stanley Cup. With the Red Wings, he cemented his status, going on to win another three championships, all in the supposed twilight of his career.
And that's really what made Scotty Bowman special. He wasn't the best coach of a generation, but he performed in the league for three decades. He made the playoffs in 28 out of a total of 30 seasons and holds the record for most Stanley Cups. He deserves all the plaudits. And probably more.
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