Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson and new interim head coach Anders Sorensen met with the media on Friday less than 24 hours after former head coach Luke Richardson was relieved of his duties late Thursday afternoon.
Davidson spoke on Friday morning and here’s his opening statement in full, courtesy of Scott Powers from The Athletic:
Kyle Davidson’s opening statement
— Scott Powers (@scottpowers.bsky.social) December 6, 2024 at 9:51 AM
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A central theme of Davidson’s comments related to what went into Richardson’s firing was the general underperformance of the team:
Davidson: "You have to be realistic with what you're expecting and what you demand out of a group, but I don't believe this is a last-place group."
— Ben Pope (@benpopecst.bsky.social) December 6, 2024 at 10:13 AM
Kyle Davidson is making it clear that the lack of offense and the bad habits of this team are why he made the coaching change.
— Greg Boysen (@gregboysen.bsky.social) December 6, 2024 at 9:57 AM
Kyle Davidson: "The reasons things went sideways for us were likely fixable." He says the games were usually close, but the losses were caused by "habitual" things that he believes can be cleaned up with different coaching.
— Ben Pope (@benpopecst.bsky.social) December 6, 2024 at 10:12 AM
Chicago did have a few wins over top teams in November but all of the losses sandwiched around those victories helped push Davidson towards that decision:
Kyle Davidson said he made the decision to change coaches after the recent losing streak. He was hopeful things would change after wins over Dallas and Florida, but the team took a step back.
— Scott Powers (@scottpowers.bsky.social) December 6, 2024 at 10:10 AM
Davidson also said that they did not consider assistant coach Derek King for the interim role this time around after he handled that role when Jeremy Colliton was fired in-season three years ago:
Davidson said Derek King wasn't considered for the job. "That’s no slight to Kinger. It’s just moreso Anders is a new face, new voice, new ideas… We’ve gone down that road with Kinger before, and I think there could be some fear of him just being the de facto 'Interim Guy.'"
— Ben Pope (@benpopecst.bsky.social) December 6, 2024 at 10:28 AM
For the short term, at least, don’t expect anybody from the IceHogs to be following Sorensen up to the NHL level:
Davidson said he wants to give the team a few games to settle things down before considering any call-ups, such as Nazar.
— Ben Pope (@benpopecst.bsky.social) December 6, 2024 at 10:13 AM
Following that media session, the Blackhawks hit the practice ice for Sorensen’s first time at the helm. Here’s the first look at his interpretation of the lineup:
Blackhawks lines today: Kurashev-Bedard-Teravainen Hall-Donato-Bertuzzi Foligno-Dickinson-Mikheyev Maroon-Reichel-Smith Vlasic-Murphy Allan-Martinez Brodie/Crevier/Kaiser PP1 was Bedard, Teravainen, Vlasic, Donato bumper, Bertuzzi netfront
— Ben Pope (@benpopecst.bsky.social) December 6, 2024 at 12:43 PM
Sorensen ended practice with the following message for his team:
Sorensen at the end of practice: “Our effort is going to fix a lot of things.”
— Scott Powers (@scottpowers.bsky.social) December 6, 2024 at 11:43 AM
Sorensen then met with the media himself and talked about some of the things he wants to do now with the on-ice product now that he’s running the show:
Anders Sorensen on tactical adjustments: "We want to encourage our D to be up in the rush… We need to get skating here — we have some guys that can move…so try to play to their strength. Just encouraging guys to be up the ice more. Defend on the forecheck vs. waiting."
— Ben Pope (@benpopecst.bsky.social) December 6, 2024 at 12:45 PM
Sorensen's emphasis on speed and keeping feet moving especially applies to Connor Bedard: "We've got to find a way to get him the puck in motion." They're going to meet later today for Sorensen to get Bedard's thoughts on what could help him.
— Ben Pope (@benpopecst.bsky.social) December 6, 2024 at 12:45 PM
Hear from the man himself:
What was #Blackhawks interim head coach Anders Sorensen's approach to his first practice with the team? NOTE: You'll see "pace" as a common word in today's comments
— CHGO Blackhawks (@chgo-blackhawks.bsky.social) December 6, 2024 at 12:56 PM
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How does #Blackhawks interim head coach Anders Sorensen win over vets without having any NHL coaching experience of his own?
— CHGO Blackhawks (@chgo-blackhawks.bsky.social) December 6, 2024 at 12:58 PM
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What changes to the system can #Blackhawks fans expect from Ander Sorensen right away?
— CHGO Blackhawks (@chgo-blackhawks.bsky.social) December 6, 2024 at 1:00 PM
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We’ll get our first glimpse of the Andersen-led Blackhawks on Saturday afternoon at the United Center against the Winnipeg Jets.