This Chicago Blackhawks have fired head coach Luke Richardson following a league worst 8-16-2 start to the season.
The club announced that Anders Sorensen, coach for the AHL affiliate Rockford IceHogs, has been named interim head coach effective immediately. The Blackhawks also appointed Mark Eaton, their assistant GM overseeing player development, the interim coach for Rockford.
“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,” Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson said. “We wish Luke and his family all the best moving forward.”
Richardson, who was hired in June of 2022, replaced interim coach Derek King. Prior to that he spent time as an assistant coach for the Montreal Canadiens, after serving four seasons as head coach of the Ottawa Senators’ AHL affiliate.
Meanwhile, Sorensen now becomes the fourth head coach under Davidson when one factors in those who served on an interim basis. Across 229 career AHL games, he’s amassed a 117-89-16-7 record as head coach, reaching the playoffs in each of his three seasons.
In addition to his AHL experience with Rockford, Sorensen previously served as a development coach in Chicago and a bench coach for Södertälje SK of Hockey Allsvenskan in Sweden.
The move comes amidst a 4 game slide for the Blackhawks, who are 2-7-1 in their last 10 contests. The club is next in action on Saturday vs. the visiting Winnipeg Jets.
Photo: The AHL. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.