Chicago Blackhawks Officially Fire Head Coach Luke Richardson

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Joshua Deeds
December 5, 2024 (5:16 PM)

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The consequences have arrived for Chicago Blackhawks Head Coach Luke Richardson.

According to reports by Daily Faceoff's Frank Seravalli GM Kyle Davidson and the Chicago Blackhawks have relieved Luke Richardson of his duties.

The Blackhawks will now be on the lookout for a new Head Coach, as they will look to improve on their 8-16-2 record. A record just good enough for 8th in the Central Division.

The move isn't surprising, as Richardson hasn't been able to turn an improved roster into a functioning, and competitive team.

The Blackhawks added Tyler Bertuzzi, TJ Brodie, Laurent Brossoit, Craig Smith, Pat Maroon, and Teuvo Teravainen with the intent to compete.

Since then, Richardson has been fumbling through a multitude of line combinations and poor defense which has left goalies Petr Mrazek, and Arvid Soderblom out to dry.

Richard was hired on June 27th, 2022 after Derek King shortly held the position in 2021-2022, after Jeremy Collition's failed 3-year tenure from 2018-2021.

Luke Richardson has coached the Blackhawks for 164 games in the NHL, with a dismal 49-102-13 record, with an .338 winning percentage.

It's debatable to say whether or not he's had a negative impact on Connor Bedard's development. But it feels as if he hasn't helped Bedard in the areas he's needed to as his sophomore season in the NHL has been a slump the majority of the season.

Only 8 hours ago he claimed that there wasn't anything wrong with the team after their loss to the Bruins.

«We're not happy with the record, for sure,» Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson told NHL.com after the loss. «The guys are trying to work within the system the right way and unfortunately, like I said before, we don't seem to have one Achilles heel. There's not one problem with our team. It's like one night there's one area, maybe our defence or our forwards or one player, and then the next night it's another area by a different player. So, it's just an accumulation of one-offs every game that put us behind the 8-ball.»

Well, it looks like, GM Kyle Davidson disagreed.