Firing Luke Richardson won’t stop the Blackhawks’ slow slide into irrelevance

Is it Luke Richardson’s fault that Tyler Bertuzzi has only scored two even-strength goals in 26 games? Or that Teuvo Teräväinen does the same? Is it Richardson’s fault that the Chicago Blackhawks fell 14-6 with TJ Brodie on the ice? That Philipp Kurashev hit a dead end and outscored 18-3 in five-on-five play? Is it Richardson’s fault that Connor Bedard seems to find iron or leather with every shot he fires?

Is it important?

Does anything matter when it comes to the Blackhawks at this point?

The most troubling thing about general manager Kyle Davidson’s decision to fire Richardson on Thursday is the collective shrug with which she responded. Sure, there’s a portion of the fan base that was angry about another losing Blackhawks season, and they got their head on a spike they wanted. Good for you.

But much of Chicago stopped caring a while ago. Maybe it was because Davidson gave in so nakedly two summers ago by shutting out Alex DeBrincat and letting Dylan Strome walk. Perhaps when Davidson didn’t even offer franchise icons Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews the chance to re-sign and usher in the next generation of the Blackhawks, it was a reckless decision that left many fans cold. Maybe it was because the Blackhawks disappeared from most fans’ TVs earlier this season and the Chicago Sports Network debacle generated so many references to “Dollar” Bill Wirtz that he was practically trending on Wednesday night.

As Florida Panthers coach Paul Maurice astutely (and correctly) noted last month, no one outside of Chicago will feel sorry for the Blackhawks, less than a decade after their third Stanley Cup championship in six seasons. Success is cyclical, after all, and the golden age of Chicago hockey is a vivid memory for current high school freshmen.

But man, things are bleak right now.

The Blackhawks are bad, dead last in the NHL.

The Blackhawks are going to be miserable for a while, as much of their deep youth pool is still years away from the NHL.

Nothing is guaranteed to happen to the Blackhawks in this demolished rebuild, as the beleaguered Buffalo Sabers and Detroit Red Wings can attest.

And the Blackhawks are unwatchable. And we don’t mean boring, although the Bedard novelty is wearing off and the roster is full of stopgap veterans who are basically just passing through and are just laundry for the fans to cheer them on. No, the Blackhawks are literally unwatchable for a large portion of their fans. For subscribers to the two largest television providers – Comcast and YouTube TV – the hurdles you have to jump through to watch this team play hockey are ridiculous. You need to purchase a set of bunny ears (bunny ears! In 2024!). You must have a room with a window facing downtown Chicago. You must have the bunny ears somewhere high up on the wall. And you need to have a night that isn’t too windy. Or too rainy. Or too cold. Or too clear? Who knows? On any given night, there’s a good chance you’ll be watching something more reminiscent of the 1980s HBO series than a high-definition hockey game. Your other (legal) option is to pay $20 per month to watch the games on your phone or laptop. But only the Blackhawks. If you want the Bulls and the White Sox – those high-profile teams you shouldn’t miss – you’ll need to pony up $30. A month. It’s amazing.

It will take years to find out whether Danny Wirtz made the right decision when he hired Davidson as general manager instead of Eric Tulsky, Mathieu Darche or Scott Mellanby. Despite the excruciating production Davidson has brought to the ice over the past few seasons, the sheer amount of quality talent the Blackhawks have acquired in such a short period of time suggests he could have it. But it didn’t take long for me to realize that it was completely the wrong call for Wirtz to align himself with a Jerry Reinsdorf company like CHSN. The billionaires are more likely to fight for transportation fees and meager advertising dollars than for their fans. And in the long run, it could be disastrous for the bottom line.

Bad, irrelevant and out of the public eye. If any team should know how dangerous this combination is, it’s the Blackhawks. As Jason Dickinson put it a few weeks ago in an intelligent and impassioned plea to expose his team to as many eyes as possible: “It’s never a good thing when a company just fades into obscurity.” The Blackhawks were only there 20 years ago , and it took a miraculous confluence of talent led by Kane and Toews and a massive influx of cash from Rocky Wirtz to win back the city’s imagination and the hockey world conquer.

Nowadays? Hell, the Blackhawks don’t even give away fans anymore. Last year there was a towel day and a leap day. That’s it. This year? Even less. It’s been years since the last bobblehead was handed out before a Blackhawks game. Fans notice. Fans mention it. A small complaint? Secure. But also an insightful one. Either the Blackhawks don’t want to spend the money, or their advertising partners don’t want to. Neither is a good sign. The crowds thin out again and return to pre-Bedard levels. And they are quieter than ever. There is so little energy in the building these days, so little enthusiasm, so little noise. You can hear each skate making its way through the ice, echoing throughout the league’s largest arena. And who can blame fans for holding back when the Blackhawks are doing so little to motivate them?

The only thing the Blackhawks have is Bedard, and we thank the hockey gods for that. Bedard is so good (don’t believe the naysayers, the kid will be fine) and so popular with young fans (a weekend practice at Fifth Third Arena sounds like a Taylor Swift performance) that he may be able to single-handedly keep this team at least somewhat relevant as it wanders the wilderness for another season or two or three or four. That’s a lot to ask of the league’s second-youngest player, but he’s pretty used to it by now. He seems tailor-made for this task. He’s only 19 years old, but there may never have been a Blackhawks player more important to the team’s fortunes on and off the ice.

How much blame does Luke Richardson deserve? (Isaiah J. Downing / Imagn Images)

As for Richardson, he didn’t exactly help. Nice guy, tried hard. Developing Bedard into the superstar he is destined to become was his top priority. In fact, from an organizational perspective, it was his only priority. And Richardson deserves some credit for Bedard’s improved defensive awareness in his second season. But the coach’s constant line-switching hurt Bedard more than it helped him, and now you have to hear the words “sophomore slump” every time a national pundit calls Bedard’s name. Richardson’s seemingly random relegation of former MVP Taylor Hall to the bench and his insistence on keeping Kurashev in the top six only made matters worse.

Like his predecessor, Jeremy Colliton, Richardson is a good man who could be a good coach in a better situation. To his credit, Richardson admitted his mistake after scratching Hall without speaking to the veteran first. He was honest and direct with players and the press, rarely riling up fans as so many coaches do. He was a modern coach, a progressive thinker who learned how to reach Generation Z players through long conversations with his daughter, a high school teacher.

The Blackhawks have been far more competitive this season after Davidson went on a summer shopping spree – leading by a tie or within a goal in all but one of their 26 games in the third period. But all coaches have a shelf life, especially if they don’t win. There have been rumors that some Blackhawks players have grown tired of Richardson, and perhaps interim coach Anders Sorensen – who was so influential in the development of Alex Vlasic, Wyatt Kaiser and now Frank Nazar – can get more out of these Blackhawks. Or at least the Blackhawks that matter, the Blackhawks that will be here in four years. It seems inevitable (and logical) that the Blackhawks will look to bring in an experienced coach now that two straight rookies – names like Gerard Gallant, Bruce Boudreau and Jay Woodcroft, among many others – are out there – but perhaps the 49-year-old – Old Sorensen finally turns out to be the right one. This answer is a long way off. Just like hope and excitement.

The Blackhawks are disappearing from the public consciousness and there is no easy way back. No, there will be no significant hockey in Chicago this spring. Yet again. It will probably take a while.

At least not that anyone could watch.

(Top photo: Jamie Sabau / Getty Images)