WASHINGTON _ You might not be able to tell it when the camera cuts to him after a controversial call goes against the Blackhawks, but coach Joel Quenneville insists he has eased up on officials as he has gotten older.
No, really, he does.
"Over the years, I've mellowed out in a lot of ways," Quenneville said before Friday's game against the Capitals.
And even if you see him hollering from the bench, Quenneville said he admires how officials go about their jobs.
"There always has been a kind of mutual respect, knowing that sometimes they understand when you're heated, they accept it or absorb it a little bit better than other times," Quenneville said. "Sometimes you have to know that persistence can get you in trouble."
Quenneville also said he has different relationships with different officials and that can affect what he says or doesn't say to them on the ice.
"You have a different rapport, and they probably can accept different words and different things," Quenneville said.
