Luke Richardson for Jack Adams? Hear Me Out
After taking over the head coaching duties of the Chicago Blackhawks in June 2022, Luke Richardson has done nothing but exceed expectations. For a team that is supposed to be in a full rebuild and doing its absolute best to tank for Connor Bedard, it has been quite fun to watch. Despite currently having a 24-38-6 record, with many more losses coming, Richardson has done an outstanding job of keeping Blackhawks players excited to play hockey and fans excited to watch.
The Jack Adams Award is given “to the coach adjudged to have contributed the most to his team’s success,” and Luke Richardson has arguably done just that. Before he was named as the 40th to get the job in franchise history this past summer, the Chicago Blackhawks experienced the inexperience of Derek King, and before that was the perplexing system of Jeremy Colliton after longtime head coach Joel Quenneville was fired. Richardson undertook what many consider to have been a broken team with no direction and is slowly but surely turning it into a place that will have success. Shortly after the announcement in June, forward Max Domi signed with the Blackhawks in free agency. He directly stated that after playing for Richardson in Montreal from 2018-20, he knew that he wanted to be reunited one day. Beginning with Domi, this coaching change is a huge part of the fascinating year that the Chicago Blackhawks have had.
With the most recent departure of franchise legend and one of the greatest NHL players of all time, Patrick Kane, it seemed as though the team was headed to the bottom of the league and was going to stay there for a long time. While that is true, the Blackhawks have exceeded expectations once again. Since the Kane trade on February 28th, his former team has won three out of nine games and has been competitive in the six losses. They shut out the Ottawa Senators, who are over .500, scored six goals on the first-place Boston Bruins and only allowed three, and most recently did their part in dashing the wild card hopes of division rival Nashville Predators. It is interesting to watch a team with very little to be excited about playing fun, entertaining hockey regardless of all of the departures and losses.
General manager Kyle Davidson has been absolutely relentless in making trades and signings that will guarantee his team, if not the #1 pick, one that is very high in the upcoming NHL Draft. Despite Davidson’s rebuild-focused mindset, Richardson is doing his best to make sure his players can still experience the feeling of winning and fun on a bottom-five hockey team. Luke Richardson has proven to be a great coaching choice for a rebuilding team and is one of the main reasons for its unexpected success. While the Jack Adams Award is likely to be given to Lindy Ruff of the New Jersey Devils or Boston’s Jim Montgomery, Richardson most definitely deserves a look and maybe even a few votes.