Chicago Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson announced Monday that the team has hired Luke Richardson as its new coach.
Richardson replaces interim coach Derek King, who went 27-33-10 after taking over for Jeremy Colliton 12 games into the season.
Richardson, 53, had been an assistant coach on the Montreal Canadiens' bench for four seasons, working with three different head coaches. Before that, he was the head coach of the AHL Binghamton Senators, the top affiliate for the Ottawa Senators, from 2012 to 2016 and worked as an assistant for Ottawa and the New York Islanders.
In the 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs, Richardson took over the Canadiens bench when coach Dominique Ducharme entered the NHL COVID-19 protocol. He went 3-3 and guided the Canadiens past the Vegas Golden Knights to advance to the Stanley Cup Final. Ducharme returned for Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final, which the Canadiens lost in five games to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Richardson played 21 years in the NHL as a rugged defenseman, most prominently with the Edmonton Oilers and Philadelphia Flyers.
The move leaves the Boston Bruins, Detroit Red Wings and Winnipeg Jets as the only teams without a head coach.
