It did not surprise me the Chicago Blackhawks would bypass some of the bigger experienced names available to take over the head coach duties. Guys with the experience with a track record of success as a head coach in the NHL, may not want to take the mess the Blackhawks have made for themselves with their current roster. Plus, the Blackhawks being exposed for the Kyle Beach cover-up for letting a sexual predator in Brad Aldrich go about his business without a care in the world. The Blackhawks have cleaned house with anybody linked to that off-the-ice scandal. The Wirtz family still owns the franchise that is at another fork in the road taking the side road that leads to the huge slide going down in the game of Chutes and Ladders. Perhaps a bigger name would want to be paid a King’s ransom for the job they are expected to do that may involve a bulldozer and wrecking ball. Once again the Chicago’s sports landscape has to settle for door number 3 or maybe 8 or 9 of a flea bag motel with no cleaning service available. Blackhawks hired Luke Richardson, a 53-year-old native of Ottawa to be the franchise’s 40th head coach of all-time.

Who the hell is Luke Richardson? Richardson is a former defenseman who played in the NHL for 21 seasons with six teams. Richardson was drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1987, number 7 overall. Besides the Leafs, Richardson played for the Oilers, Flyers, Blue Jackets, and the Senators from where he retired and hung up the skates for good. Richardson scored 35 goals in his career, dishing out 166 assists in 1,417 games in the NHL. Richardson played in 69 playoff games as well during his long career as a player. After Richardson retired, he found a spot on the Senators staff in 2008-09. Richardson would eventually slide into the head coach role of the Senators’ AHL affiliate. Richardson would take on the role of head coach for the Binghamton Senators from 2012-16. Richardson would then head back to the NHL as he became an assistant on the New York Islanders staff & then moved on to the Montreal Canadians. In Montreal, it’s Richardson who took over the coaching duties for the Canadians when Dominique Ducharme tested positive for Covid. Richardson took over the team for 6 games during the 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs and helped the team continue their magical run as the Canadians made their first Stanley Cup since 1993.

Kyle Davidson shook off the interim tag for the Blackhawks general manager’s job as he now is a permanent fixture after the team axed Stan Bowman for his ties in the cover-up. Davidson’s hire of Luke Richardson means the interim tag is off Derek King, as his duties for the Blackhawks had come to an end. Derek King went 27-33-10 after replacing another bad hire as head coach, Jeremy Colliton, who had the Blackhawks off to one of their worst starts in franchise history when shit hit the fan with the cover up.

Kyle Davidson is preaching patience as this may take a few seasons to get the roster to be competitive again and skating in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Davidson says his new guy, Richardson, checks all the boxes with a calm, cool, & collected voice that demands respect in the locker room. Hard work pays off for a team that wants to show up every night and play hard while gelling together. Looks like Richardson will have a long leash to play with while Davidson will have to make decisions about some key players. What can the Blackhawks get for the Cat? Alex DeBrincat, a young proven offensive force, should get you some pieces back in trade. Is this the farewell tour of Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, who will be reaching their mid 30’s and are on their final year in their contract? Will Kane and Toews play out the entire season wearing the Indian head sweater? Will Kane and Toews lift their trade clause and let Davidson find them a new home on another team? Kane may net you something big in a trade. Toews may not get you much the way he’s been on the down side of his career, but the Captain still can bring value to a team fighting to make the playoffs. Overall we will see some bad hockey at the United Center for the next few seasons. You can never buy into what the Blackhawks are selling. Like dealing with a guy trying to unload snake oil on you. The judge and jury of this Richardson move will have to take a “wait and see” approach. See how players respond to his coaching scheme. A positive thing about this hire is Richardson was a scrappy type of defenseman who has worn the Captain C on some of the teams he played for. Does that mean he is a good coach? Most of these coaches hired after a natural disaster never last through the full rebuild. We do know this Luke is not a Jedi master because he would be somewhere else leading a team to the promised land.