Chicago Blackhawks Fire Luke Richardson, Name Replacement

This was supposed to be another rebuilding season for the Chicago Blackhawks. But due to their disappointing start to the campaign, with the worst record in the Western Conference, the "rebuild" thing wasn't enough to save head coach Luke Richardson, who has now been relieved of his duties.

BREAKING: Blackhawks have officially fired Luke Richardson.

Anders Sorensen will be the Hawks' interim coach.
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) December 5, 2024

Rockford IceHogs coach Anders Sorensen has been named as the interim head coach.

Hawks' GM Kyle Davidson said in a statement:

“Today I made the difficult decision to move on from Luke as our head coach. 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.”

According to Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff, Chicago believes Sorensen "has a bright future and will be given every opportunity to earn the full-time title." Sorensen is the third European-born and trained NHL head coach.

The plan for Chicago is for Anders Sorensen to be interim HC for rest of the season at which point the Blackhawks will conduct a coaching search process at that time. Sorensen, depending on how he fares, could obviously be a candidate within that process. Hawks are high on him.
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) December 5, 2024

LeBrun adds that a full coaching search will take place after the season, but that Sorensen would be a strong candidate to be named the full-time coach if the team responds to him.

The Blackhawks have struggled to an 8-16-2 mark and are currently on a 4-game losing streak. Even young phenom Connor Bedard hasn't made the strides expected of him in his second season, as he has just five goals and 19 points in 26 games.