Chicago Blackhawks Fire Coach Luke Richardson

The Chicago Blackhawks fired coach Luke Richardson and named Anders Sorensen their interim bench boss.

The Chicago Blackhawks relieved coach Luke Richardson of his duties, the team announced Thursday.

The Blackhawks currently sit bottom of the NHL with 18 points in 26 games, holding an 8-16-2 record. The team is coming off a four-game losing streak with their latest loss being a 4-2 defeat to the Boston Bruins. 

Richardson's tenure with the Blackhawks was his first experience as a head coach in the NHL. His record with the team is 57-118-15. 

Chicago has named Anders Sorensen as the interim coach for the club.

Before this season, Richardson's Blackhawks finished 31st last year and 30th before that. Right now, they're in last by two points.

Chicago is in the process of rebuilding with a young roster. They have the fourth youngest team in the NHL, with an average age of 26. 

“I made the difficult decision to move on from Luke as our head coach," 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. We wish Luke and his family all the best moving forward.”

Reigning Calder Trophy winner and 2023 first-overall pick Connor Bedard hasn't had the start the team or himself might have expected. In 26 games, the 19-year-old has five goals and 19 points. 

Bedard is aware of his recent performances and made it clear that he hasn't been playing up to his standard.

Bedard's recent play falls into Davidson's belief that the team's results do not match their expectations.

Sorensen has never been a coach at the NHL level. However, he was the bench boss for the Blackhawks' AHL affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs. He had that role for four seasons. 

The Swede has been a member of the Blackhawks organization since the 2014-15 campaign. He started as a development coach for then-head coach Joel Quenneville.

Before that, he spent three seasons in his hometown as an assistant coach for Sodertalje in Sweden's Allsvenskan. 

With more video reaction, here's Avry Lewis-McDougall:

(Don't see the video? Click here.)

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