The Chicago Blackhawks got off to a terrible start and calls for demanding Luke Richardson to be fired started to get louder as the Hawks were once again at the top of the Tankathon.com/NHL standings.
Winning two straight games has quieted those cries for Richardson’s firing.
Also, he got a vote of confidence from general manager Kyle Davidson.
Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson is pleased with the team's improvement and Luke Richardson's coaching so far this season, despite their inconsistent results.
"I actually like the way we’re playing… There has been definite improvement."
New story: https://t.co/2EtsXqX1m2
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) November 4, 2024
The only thing to question is whether it makes sense to like the hockey the Blackhawks have played outside of the past four periods.
The team’s two biggest flaws are a lack of intensity for a full 60 minutes, along with an unwillingness to fire the puck at the net.
At least they put together three good periods of hockey against the Anaheim Ducks. That performance showed they were capable of playing hockey everyone could be pleased with. They just need to do it more often.
However, it is a good idea to pump the brakes on any Blackhawks playoff talk, much like it would be a good idea to quiet the chatter around wanting Richardson fired.
Also, demanding Richardson’s ouster should never have been going on in the first place since being competitive was not in the cards.
Sure, the standards were raised in the offseason, but it was not to the point where it was playoffs-or-bust for Richardson to keep his job.
That does not mean Richardson is the perfect head coach. He tinkers with the lines way too much. He also has given a lot of leeway to struggling veterans, but not enough patience to younger players.
Benching Philipp Kurashev for poor play, but that was like taking a flamethrower to kill a hornet’s nest. Sure, it gets the job done, but it might be a too much.
Better talent has at least allowed Richardson to use the healthy scratch as a teaching tool since he can afford to bench Kurashev, and it not killing the team.
A coaching change is the last thing this rebuilding team needs right now. If this team was close to making the playoffs like 2009, and there was a great available head coach to replace Richardson, then it makes sense to move on from Luke.
This team is still not anywhere near that level yet. Richardson has his flaws but they are not bad enough to question if he should be the man to lead the club through the losing stages of the rebuild.
