Chicago Blackhawks fire head coach Luke Richardson in stunning move
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Photo credit: NHL
The Chicago Blackhawks announced today that they have fired head coach Luke Richardson.
NHL insider Frank Seravalli was the first to report the news this afternoon, revealing in a post on X that the Hawks had made the move.
The Blackhawks quickly put out an official statement shortly after the news leaked to the press.
Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson explained his decision, and complemented Richardson, thanking him for his work with the team while noting that when push came to shove, the team simply needed a change this year.
«Today I made the difficult decision to move on from Luke as our head coach. We thank him for his efforts and contributions to the organization and our community. As we have begun to take steps forward in our rebuilding process, we felt that the results did not match our expectations for a higher level of execution this season and ultimately decided that a change was necessary. We wish Luke and his family all the best moving forward.»
The Blackhawks went 8-16-2 under Richardson this year. That makes them last place in the NHL by a wide margin.
With 18 points, the team sits 2 points behind the Predators for last place in the Central Division.
It appears as though the team has actually taken a step back from where they were last year, which is largely unexpected.
Much of that can be explained by Connor Bedard's slow start. The sophomore forward has just 5 goals through 23 games, and many have pointed to Richardson's line combinations as a key problem for the 19-year-old.
Hopefully, this change will unlock Bedard's potential and he will start putting the puck in the back of the net again.
After all, ruining his development would be the worst thing the team could do at this point.
Luckily, Bedard is such a good player he should be able to adjust quickly. Be sure to tune into the Hawks's next game on Saturday when they take on the Winnipeg Jets to see if he returns to the form we saw in his Calder-winning rookie year.
| POLL | ||
DECEMBRE 5 | 176 ANSWERS Chicago Blackhawks fire head coach Luke Richardson in stunning move Are you surprised to see that the Chicago Blackhawks fired head coach Luke Richardson? | ||
| Yes | 62 | 35.2 % |
| No | 114 | 64.8 % |
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