A day after Kyle Davidson fired Luke Richardson — his first head coaching hire — the Chicago Blackhawks general manager said he made the decision because “some of the realistic expectations that we had coming into the year just were not met.”
Davidson appointed Rockford Ice Hogs coach Anders Sorensen as interim head coach of the Hawks.
“Obviously a tough day yesterday,” Davidson said. “I’d like to thank Luke Richardson for all of his effort and commitment to the organization and to the community, but unfortunately, some of the realistic expectations that we had coming into the year just were not met.
“I think our results fell a little bit short, so I felt a change needed to be made and a new voice was needed. I’m very confident Anders Sorensen will be a good source of a new voice, new ideas and someone who’s capable of extracting more from this group.”
When Richardson was hired in June 2022, he took over a team that was at the beginning of a rebuild. The Hawks finished 26-49-7 in his first season and 23-53-6 in his second.
Davidson shed some of the Hawks’ less talented players this offseason and loaded up with proven veterans in a bid to slowly move out of the rebuilding phase. But on the ice, Richardson failed to move the needle.
The Hawks started this season 8-16-2 before Davidson pulled the plug on Richardson.
“I think we have taken some nice steps, but we’re in last place,” Davidson said. “So you have to recognize that.”
Richardson had an all-time 57-118-15 coaching record (.339), one of the worst in franchise history.
Davidson said, “With a little better execution and ability to manage some of the games and the personnel in games, could we be a bit ahead? I think so. But we are where we are, so we’ll give Anders some run and we’ll see where we’re at the end of the year, take stock of what needs to happen.”
Sorensen first joined the organization as a development coach for the Hawks and Ice Hogs in 2013-14 and was promoted to assistant coach for the IceHogs in 2018-19.
He was promoted to associate head coach before the start of the 2021-22 season, but when the Hawks fired Jeremy Colliton on Nov. 6, 2021, then-Ice Hogs head coach Derek King took over as interim coach while Sorensen did the same in Rockford.
This season was Sorensen’s fourth with the IceHogs (third as their full-time coach). He has a 117-89-16-7 record in 229 games and has reached the AHL playoffs in all three seasons he’s run the program.
“There’s no perfect solution when you’re looking at it and I think the work he’s done for us in Rockford is impressive and notable,” Davidson said of Sorensen.
“In one sense, yeah, you don’t want to mess with a good thing. But at the same time, just what we’ve seen from him and his ability to either communicate or his in-game adjustments and use of his bench and how he implements a message, is something I think could work here. So, from that standpoint, you want to bring that influence into our group in the NHL.”
Mark Eaton, the now-former Blackhawks assistant GM of player development, will take over as interim head coach in Rockford.
“The way I see Rockford and our development group is that we have a great infrastructure in place,” Davidson said. “Mark Eaton stepping in is someone who’s been around that group a ton. He knows all the players, the players all know him.
“He and Anders have worked hand in hand for a number of years now, so that’s a natural, seamless transition that should continue the really good work that’s going on there.”
