Tuesday is the one day of the week I can sleep in.

Freed from the burden of 8 a.m. class, I was still fast asleep at about 7:45… then the phone rang.

It was my good friend from back home, who like me, is quite fond of the Chicago Blackhawks.

I answered and he proceeded to tell me the Blackhawks had just fired Joel Quenneville.

“Coach Q” as he is affectionately known, had been behind the bench for over a decade. His hiring back in 2009 almost immediately lifted the Blackhawks out of the dark age and back into the limelight.

He was on the bench for all three of Chicago’s Stanley Cup victories in the past nine seasons, each with a significant amount of roster changes before the next.

It’s hard to see Coach Q go and many Blackhawks fans are not happy about it.

However, after a 6-2-2 start, the Blackhawks are currently on a five-game losing streak and the front office struck fast.

As Quenneville told then-Chicago Sun-Times writer Mark Lazerus back in February, “We’re in the winning business… it’s a short-term business.”

Since the Blackhawks won their most recent Stanley Cup in 2015, the results have been less than stellar.

After getting bounced in the first round in 2016 and 2017, the Blackhawks suffered through a disastrous 2017-18 campaign that saw them finish last in the Central Division and miss the playoffs for the first time since 2008.

Rumors are now swrirling the Blackhawks were close to relieving Quenneville of his duties over the summer months. They let him stay, albeit with a short leash heading into this season and just a month in, changes are being made.

Blackhawks fans have become accustomed to seeing Coach Q behind their bench and to many, no one can replace him.

Jeremy Colliton is going to try to do that.

Colliton finished his playing career just five years ago and went straight behind the bench of Mora IK in the Swedish League.

The 33-year old is now the youngest bench boss in the NHL, after serving one year coaching the Blackhawks’ AHL affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs.

Many fans have already put this season out to pasture. They think a 33-year old has no chance running an NHL team, especially with players on the roster such as Brent Seabrook and Corey Crawford being older than Collition.

However, I believe the firing of Quenneville and hiring of Colliton will be a move Blackhawks fans will look back on fondly, when all is said and done.

In an era where the game of hockey is changing so much, the divide between 60-year old Quenneville and his team was only growing bigger. He reportedly would not entertain any conversations about analytics and was very stubborn to give young guys significant time in the lineup.

Enter Colliton, who is on the cutting-edge of hockey analytics, along with his new staff.

Blackhawks winger Alex Fortin, who played for Colliton a year ago in Rockford, says his communication is his biggest asset as a coach.

That’s the same thing many Vegas Golden Knights players had to say about their head coach, Gerard Gallant, last year. He went on to win the Jack Adams’ Award as the NHL’s best coach as well as lead the Golden Knights to an improbable Stanley Cup Final appearance.

If we were to draw a parallel to the NFL, we would see the youngest coach in the league is 32-year old Sean McVay of the L.A. Rams.

Criticism was abound after the hiring of McVay in 2016. Many doubted he was mature enough to handle the responsibility, as well as coach players his senior.

He went on to lead the Rams to a division championship and win the Coach of the Year award in his first year.

This year, the Rams are 8-1 and the current Super Bowl favourites.

Like the NHL, the NFL has undergone a significant transformation in the past half-decade spurned by information. I think Blackhawks fans struggling to see the silver lining can take a look over to McVay’s Rams and see just how well it can work.

As for the Blackhawks today, they take to the ice tonight against the Carolina Hurricanes in their first game without Quenneville.

If the next week will be a test of one thing, it will show hockey fans just how good the Blackhawks’ on-ice leadership group is.

Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith, Seabrook and Crawford all will have significant roles in practice and the dressing room this week as a whole new coaching staff gets acclimated.

Tonight, a new era of Blackhawks hockey begins. I think it has the potential to match the era we just left.