Blackhawks Coach Luke Richardson "Drops Gloves" Verbally After Lousy Start in San Jose

Chicago Blackhawks Luke Richardson was a rugged NHL defenseman who played with a quiet, but punishing edge. Keep your head on a swivel, or risk being separated from the puck with authority.

And Richardson backed it up in bouts against the league's heavyweights, fighting at least 130 times according to HockeyFights.com. He still likes to include boxing training in the offseason for his players.

As a coach Richardson often is almost stoic on the bench, but he had seen enough and "dropped the gloves" verbally late in the Blackhawks' horrific first period on Saturday in San Jose. The Sharks, the only NHL club with a worse record than Chicago this season, badly outworked and outplayed Richardson's team in taking a 2-0 lead.

The ultra-fit and still-chiseled Richardson was furious. He didn't hold back.

"It was actually a little bit before that," Richardson said. "We had a little talk on the bench, obviously not happy.

"I like to keep calm and get the message across, but tonight was a circumstance where they needed a little bit less calm." See video.

Although Chicago allowed two more goals in the opening 1:24 of the second period, the Blackhawks regrouped. The Blackhawks won 5-4 on defenseman Seth Jones' second goal of the game, 18 seconds into overtime.

Jones and forward Ryan Donato helped lead Chicago. Donato had a goal and two assists, playing with solid straight-line energy to spark the comeback.

Richardson turns 55 on Tuesday, but looks like he could still hammer current NHL tough guys. Anger isn't a motivational approach that works well with many modern players, but it might have in San Jose as Chicago stormed back to win from a four-goal deficit for the first time since beating Calgary 6-5 in OT on Oct. 12, 2009.

So what did Richardson say?

"Not good things, I'll tell you that," Donato said. "It was a little scary. 

"Luke, he's a very kind guy. When he needs to be, he can definitely get us going in the right direction if he needs to. And he definitely did for us this game." See video.

Richardson was pleased with his players' response.

"It took everybody from the goaltender out and they did it together," Richardson said. "They really wanted it. Internally that's good leadership in the room to pull things together. It's easy to pack it in this time of year with our record (20-46-5) and where we're going.

"We're not going to get to the playoffs, but we're playing for lots of things. There's guys playing for jobs and contracts, they're playing for pride. I think the character they showed tonight is a good step n the right direction for all of them." See video.