The Chicago Blackhawks have fired coach Luke Richardson, the team announced on Thursday. Richardson was in his third season and had a just a 57-118-15 record with a winning percentage of .339 during that span.
The Blackhawks were off to an 8-16-2 start, putting them last in the NHL standings. That poor performance came after the team spent money to upgrade the roster in free agency.
General manager Kyle Davidson announced Richardson’s firing, and he cited the team’s lack of progress on the ice as a major reason for the decision. Richardson, 55, was in the last year of a three-year contract.
“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,” Davidson said in a statement. “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.”
This was supposed to be a year in which the Blackhawks took a step forward, even if it was a small one. Connor Bedard, the 2024 Calder Trophy winner, is in his second season and Davidson tried to get more help around the young star.
Chicago spent a total of $42.2 million on Tyler Bertuzzi, Teuvo Teravainen and Alex Martinez and hoped those veterans could lead the team into the next phase of the rebuild. Instead, the results have been just as poor as the previous season.
The Blackhawks’ minus-18 goal differential ranks 29th in the league, and their 64 goals scored rank 30th. Bedard is on pace to score 15 goals, seven less than his rookie campaign, and Bertuzzi has yet to find his groove in Chicago.
Anders Sorensen, the coach of the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs, will take on the role of interim head coach.
