Blackhawks Announce Coaching Changes

Chicago Blackhawks General Manager Kyle Davidson announced today that the team has relieved Luke Richardson of his duties as head coach. Rockford IceHogs head coach Anders Sorensen has been named interim head coach and will assume duties immediately. Mark Eaton, Blackhawks Assistant General Manager overseeing player development, will assume interim head coaching responsibilities in Rockford.

Eaton, 47, takes on the interim head coaching position with Rockford after serving as the Blackhawks' Assistant General Manager since 2020. The Wilmington, Delaware native has spent 11 seasons working in Chicago's development department.

"Mark brings a wealth of experience in professional hockey to this position and has a great understanding of the game", said IceHogs General Manager Mark Bernard. "His relationships with all of our prospects, while leading the development team in Chicago, will help make this a seamless transition. We have a tremendous staff here in Rockford that looks forward to helping Mark continue the organization's success."

The former defenseman skated in 650 NHL games with the Philadelphia Flyers, Nashville Predators, Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Islanders. Eaton won a Stanley Cup in 2009 with the Penguins, contributing seven points during the postseason.

“Today I made the difficult decision to move on from Luke as our head coach. We thank him for his efforts and contributions to the organization and our community,” Kyle Davidson said. “As we have begun to take steps forward in our rebuilding process, we felt that the results did not match our expectations for a higher level of execution this season and ultimately came to the decision that a change was necessary. We wish Luke and his family all the best moving forward.”

“On behalf of the entire Blackhawks organization, I’d like to thank Luke for his dedication over the past three seasons,” said Blackhawks Chairman and CEO Danny Wirtz. “I fully support Kyle’s decision in making this change as he continues to do what is needed to move our team forward. I have the utmost confidence in him and the rest of our Hockey Operations team as they begin their search for the next head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks.”

Sorensen, 49, assumes the interim head coaching role after spending the previous six seasons behind the Rockford IceHogs bench. The native of Södertälje, Sweden originally joined the Blackhawks organization as a development coach in 2013-14, a role he remained in for five seasons until being named an assistant coach with Rockford beginning in 2018-19. Sorensen was promoted to associate coach ahead of the 2021-22 before taking over as interim head coach six games into the season. He earned a 35-26-5 record as interim head coach and guided the team to its first Calder Cup Playoffs berth for the first time since the 2017-18 season. He has amassed a 117-89-16-7 record in 229 career AHL games serving as head coach, all with Rockford, while the IceHogs have reached the playoffs in each of his three seasons serving as bench boss.

Prior to joining the Blackhawks organization, Sorensen spent three seasons serving as assistant coach for Södertälje SK of HockeyAllsvenskan from 2011-13 before taking over as interim head coach in October 2013.