Blackhawks fire coach Luke Richardson after a dismal start to the season

The Blackhawks fired coach Luke Richardson on Thursday after a dismal start to the season.

Despite expectations of taking a step forward in their rebuild this season, the Hawks once again sit last in the NHL with a record of 8-16-2.

Richardson ends his 2.5-year tenure with a 57-118-15 record, one of the worst marks in history – despite not being given much talent to work with. As it turned out, the Hawks’ 4-2 loss to the Bruins on Wednesday was the final nail in his coffin.

Anders Sorensen, who previously coached the Hawks’ AHL affiliate in Rockford, will take over as interim coach starting Saturday against the Jets. Hawks assistant general manager Mark Eaton will then take over as Rockford’s interim coach.

“Today I made the difficult decision to leave Luke as our head coach. We thank him for his efforts and contributions to the organization and our community,” Hawks general manager Kyle Davidson said in a statement.

“As we began to make progress in our rebuilding process, we felt that the results were not meeting our expectations for a higher level of performance this season and ultimately concluded that a change was necessary. We wish Luke and his family all the best for the future.”

Hawks chairman Danny Wirtz said in a statement that he “fully supports” Davidson’s decision to fire Richardson and has “the utmost confidence in him and the rest of our hockey operations team as they begin the search.” the next head coach.”

This story will be updated.