The Chicago Blackhawks just made a coaching change, letting Luke Richardson go and bringing up Anders Sorensen from the AHL to be the interim head coach.
Sorensen hasn’t had much time to get acclimated to the team and make many changes, but typically when a new head coach comes in, the tenure starts well and the team plays especially hard. This is due to guilt of letting the last coach down and feeling like their play cost him his job, but also because there is an opportunity in front of most players to make a good first impression on the new head coach and earn more playing time.
The Blackhawks are the third team to change head coaches already this season. The first two were the Boston Bruins and St. Louis Blues. Joe Sacco took over the Bruins while Jim Montgomery, who was fired from Boston, took over the Blues.
Both the hiring of Sacco and Montgomery in Boston and St. Louis changed the complexion of the teams. The Bruins are 7-2-0 since the coaching change while the Blues are 4-1-1, just losing in regulation for the first time in their most recent game.
While Chicago doesn’t have as high expectations as the Bruins and Blues this season and were last place in the NHL at the time of the coaching change, we should still see a jolt of energy and jump in production by the Blackhawks.
In the Blackhawks’ first game under Sorensen, they did put up a good fight for most of the game against the Winnipeg Jets, but ultimately lost hold of the game and got no points out of the matchup.
Related: Anders Sorensen Makes NHL Coaching Debut; Blackhawks Lose To Jets
The players did play hard and a number of them, who have been moved all over the lineup and even healthy scratched at times, have the opportunity to show Sorensen what they can do to earn more ice time and chances. It wasn’t for lack of effort, but it also wasn’t an immediate win to kick things off like there was in Boston and St. Louis this season and many others before that in previous seasons.
Sorensen is going to get a good chance to show what he can do with the Blackhawks. The talent is there and the new head coach has proven that he can work well with players and coach a winning team. Chicago may not make the playoffs, but offense should be a big focus and something the team can only go up in from here.
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