According to Adam Proteau of The Hockey News on Saturday, the Chicago Blackhawks have named Luke Richardson of Ottawa, Ontario their new head coach. Richardson has been an assistant coach in the National Hockey League for eight seasons and now gets his first chance as the bench boss.
Richardson was an assistant coach with the Ottawa Senators from 2009 to 2012, with the New York Islanders in 2017-18, and with the Montreal Canadiens from 2018 to 2022. In 2021, Richardson helped the Canadiens reach the Stanley Cup Finals, and even got a chance to be the interim head coach for Montreal in the Stanley Cup Playoffs when Canadiens head coach Dominique Ducharme of Notre-Dame-des-Prairies, Quebec tested positive for coronavirus.
Richardson does have head coaching experience with Team Canada at the international level and the Binghamton Senators of the American Hockey League. He guided Team Canada to Spengler Cup gold in 2017 and was the head coach of the Binghamton Senators from 2012 to 2016.
As a National Hockey League player, Richardson was a defenseman for 21 seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Edmonton Oilers, Philadelphia Flyers, Columbus Blue Jackets, Tampa Bay Lightning and Senators. In 1417 games, he had 35 goals and 166 assists for 201 points, was a -119 with 2055 penalty minutes, 16 power-play points, 17 shorthanded points, three game-winning goals, and 1160 shots on goal.
