It took the greatest coach in the history of the NHL to see that the Emperor was naked.  And that's why, after only four games, the Chicago Blackhawks changed coaches yesterday, going from Denis Savard to Joel Quenneville.

As consultant and legendary coach Scotty Bowman said in the press conference yesterday, he thought Savard may be overmatched against the likes of Columbus' Ken Hitchcock, Nashville's Barry Trotz, Mike Babcock of Detroit and sadly, even Andy Murray of St. Louis.  Quenneville has eleven years of work behind NHL benches.

Bowman, who won a record nine Stanley Cups and over 1,200 regular season games knows coaches.  And when Scotty talks, people listen.  People like Hawks GM Dale Tallon, who called training camp "flat." Or Hawks President John McDonough who has tried to position the Hawks as the up and coming "in" team in Chicago.  There is way too much competition for the sports dollar in a slow economy and the Hawks are not only hurt by the Bulls, they in many ways lag behind the local AHL team, the Chicago Wolves.

It was obvious four games in that Savard wasn't the guy, even after every effort was made to make him the guy.  The truth is if Savard hadn't been a a popular hall of fame player and Hawk icon, Tallon most likely would have shown him the door at the conclusion of last season.  But with the Hawks having a strong second half and Savard having name equity with the fans, Tallon held off.  Until the Hawks looked lifeless in their first three games and Bowman, a man who cares far less about legend than about winning, starting whispering in his ear.  Scotty Bowman is one voice you can't ignore.

Savard is a hall of fame player and Hawk legend.  He took over for Trent Yawney a couple of years ago and was handed a team full of young, raw, recruits.  But he was doomed by the "Ted Williams Rule" which holds that great players make lousy coaches.  You only have to look as far as Larry Bird, Magic Johnson or Wayne Gretzky to figure that out.

The Hawks will probably make some strides under Quenneville, who is looking for redemption himself.  Fired by the Colorado Avs last year, Quenneville is anxious to prove that his reputation for being a solid regular season coach whose teams dry up in the playoffs is undeserved.  If not, no doubt he'll hear from Scotty Bowman.