Blackhawks fire coach Luke Richardson in his 3rd season after league-worst start

By JAY COHEN The Associated Press

Chicago Blackhawks head coach Luke Richardson, center top, talks to his players during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Columbus Blue Jackets in Chicago, Sunday, Dec.1, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)[ASSOCIATED PRESS/Nam Y. Huh]

CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago Blackhawks fired coach Luke Richardson on Thursday, signaling their frustration with the state of the franchise’s rebuilding project.

Chicago has dropped four in a row to fall to an NHL-worst 8-16-2 on the season. It was outscored 41-27 while going 3-9-1 in its last 13 games.

Anders Sorensen was elevated to interim coach. Sorensen had been coaching the team’s top minor league affiliate in Rockford.

“Today I made the difficult decision to move on from Luke as our head coach,” general manager Kyle Davidson said in a statement. “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.”

Chicago had expected to be more competitive in Richardson’s third season. It signed Tyler Bertuzzi, Teuvo Teravainen, Alec Martinez and Craig Smith on a busy first day of free agency this summer. It also had Connor Bedard coming back for his second season after winning the Calder Memorial Trophy as NHL rookie of the year.

But Bertuzzi and Teravainen have struggled, and Martinez has been hampered by injuries. Bertuzzi has five goals and five assists in 26 games going into Saturday’s matchup with Winnipeg. Teravainen has three goals and two assists in his last 21 games.

Of course, the most important player for Chicago is the 19-year-old Bedard — and it’s his lack of production that likely led to Richardson’s dismissal.

While the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 draft has shown some positive developmental signs, the young center has struggled offensively. Bedard stopped a 12-game drought when he scored in a 6-2 victory against Dallas on Nov. 27. He has five goals and 14 assists in 26 games after he had 11 goals and 10 assists at the same point last season.

“We’re not happy with the record, for sure,” Richardson said after his last game, a 4-2 loss to Boston on Wednesday night. “The guys are trying to work within the system and the right way and unfortunately, like I said before, we don’t seem to have one kind of Achilles’ heel. There’s not one problem with our team.

“It’s like one night there’s one area — maybe our defense or our forward or one player — and the next night it’s another area, like a different player.”

While Chicago has been plagued by a variety of problems, it’s clear that offense is its biggest issue. It is averaging 2.42 goals per game, ranked No. 31 in the NHL ahead of only Nashville going into Thursday night’s games. The Blackhawks finished with a league-low 178 goals last season.

Richardson, 55, had a 57-118-15 record in Chicago. The former NHL defenseman was an assistant on Montreal’s coaching staff when he was hired by the Blackhawks in June 2022. When Dominique Ducharme was diagnosed with COVID-19 during the 2021 playoffs, Richardson took over as coach for six games and helped lead the Canadiens to their first Stanley Cup Final since 1993.

The move comes with Chicago set to host the Winter Classic on Dec. 31 against the St. Louis Blues at Wrigley Field. Shortly before the coaching change was announced, the NHL released a rendering of what the rink will look like at the home of baseball’s Chicago Cubs.

Sorensen, 49, is a familiar face for many of the Blackhawks. He was originally hired by the organization as a development coach ahead of the 2013-14 season. He has a 117-89-16-7 record in 229 career AHL games as a head coach, all with Rockford.

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