The Chicago Blackhawks fired coach Luke Richardson after two-plus seasons, the team announced Thursday afternoon.
Under Richardson’s leadership, the Hawks this season trudged to a 8-16-2 start, the worst record in the NHL. Richardson amassed a 57-118-15 record with the Hawks, the eighth worst in NHL history among coaches with at least 100 games.
Today I made the difficult decision to move on from Luke as our head coach,” general manager Kyle Davidson said in a news release. “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 came to the decision that a change was necessary. We wish Luke and his family all the best moving forward.”
Rockford IceHogs coach Anders Sorensen takes over as interim coach and will be behind the bench Saturday when the Hawks play host to the Winnipeg Jets at the United Center.
Sorensen, 49, joined the organization as a development coach in 2013 until being named an IceHogs assistant beginning in 2018-19. He has a 117-89-16 record in 229 career AHL games, and the IceHogs reached the playoffs in his three seasons as head coach.
“I fully support Kyle’s decision in making this change as he continues to do what is needed to move our team forward,” Hawks Chairman and CEO Danny Wirtz said in the release. “I have the utmost confidence in him and the rest of our Hockey Operations team as they begin their search for the next head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks.”
Richardson, 55, was hired as the team’s 40th coach in June 2022 and was given the keys to a rebuilding team — his calm demeanor seen at the time as an ideal fit for developing young talent — while tasked with creating a winning culture.
But even a rebuild has its limits.
Among coaches in Hawks franchise history, regardless of length of tenure, only six had a winning percentage equal to or worse than Richardson’s .339: Hugh Lehman (.167), Barney Stanley (.217), Herb Gardiner (.219), Ebbie Goodfellow (.282), Frank Eddolls (.307) and Dirk Graham (.339).
But Hawks weren’t worried about the past. They’re more concerned with the future.
