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The Chicago Blackhawks fired head coach Luke Richardson, the team announced on Thursday.
Richardson’s third season with the team was off to a poor start, as Chicago’s 8-16-2 record represents the worst mark in the NHL. The Blackhawks are also currently in the midst of a four-game losing streak and have lost eight of their past 10 contests.
Richardson finished his career in Chicago with a 57-118-15 overall record.
Anders Sorensen will take over as interim head coach, according to Mark Lazerus of The Athletic.
Sorensen previously served as the head coach of the Rockford IceHogs, Chicago’s AHL affiliate.
Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson thanked Richardson for his time with the team as part of the announcement.
“Today I made the difficult decision to move on from Luke as our head coach,” Davidson said. “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.”
Since Richardson took over ahead of the 2022-23 season, the Blackhawks finished with the worst record in the Central Division in each of his first two years with the team before the dismal start to their 2024-25 campaign.
Chicago averaged just 2.42 goals for per game in 26 contests prior to the coaching change, the second-worst mark in the NHL.
The play of Connor Bedard has also been a cause for concern, as the reigning Calder Trophy winner is off to a slow start compared to his stellar rookie year. After recording 61 points in 68 games last season, Bedard has registered 19 points in 26 appearances to begin his second year.
With a league-worst record combined with the struggles of the team’s 19-year-old star, the Blackhawks made the decision to move on from Richardson.
