After two and a quarter seasons behind the Chicago Blackhawks bench, Luke Richardson is out as head coach. Shortly after wrapping with the latest CHGO Blackhawks Podcast on Thursday afternoon, the Blackhawks made the announcement that Luke Richardson had been relieved of his duties as head coach and that Rockford IceHogs head coach Anders Sorensen would take over in the interim in Chicago.

In early November, Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson told Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times that the idea of firing Richardson was not on the table and was “ridiculous.” Just a month later, Davidson made the move to fire Richardson.

“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,” Davidson said. “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.”

Richardson took over the head coaching position at the beginning of the teardown process in Davidson and the Blackhawks’ rebuild plans in the summer of 2022. He complied a 57-118-15 record in his time as head coach in Chicago, including an 8-16-2 record this season and currently sitting in last place in the NHL with 18 points.

Rockford IceHogs head coach Anders Sorensen will take over the head coaching duties in Chicago in the interim and Mark Eaton, Blackhawks Assistant General Manager overseeing player development, will assume interim head coaching responsibilities in Rockford.