Just two days after the 2021-22 Chicago Blackhawks season ended, general manager Kyle Davidson has reportedly taken his first step towards shaping what the team will look like next season.
On Sunday morning, Frank Seravalli of the Daily Faceoff reported that associate coach Marc Crawford and assistant coach Rob Cookson will not be back with the team. Seravalli also tweeted a statement from the team that confirmed the news:
The #Blackhawks are parting ways with associate coach Marc Crawford and assistant coach Rob Cookson.
GM Kyle Davidson is in the process of conducting exit interviews, status of interim coach Derek King TBD soon.
Statement from the #Blackhawks: pic.twitter.com/MfXZvTfsGa
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) May 1, 2022
Cookson was moved into that role last November after the Blackhawks fired head coach Jeremy Colliton and promoted Derek King to the role on an interim basis. Cookson had been an assistant coach with HC Lugano in Switzerland’s National League, where he coached current Blackhawks forward Phillip Kurashev. Cookson had prior stints as an assistant under Crawford with the ZSC Lions in that same league.
Crawford was, by far, the most veteran coach on the Blackhawks bench, having been the head coach for 1,169 NHL games with five different teams — including a Stanley Cup championship season with the Colorado Avalanche in 1995-96. Crawford had been with the Blackhawks’ coaching staff since June 4, 2019, when he was initially hired as an assistant under Colliton.
This should be the first of a whole bunch of moves made by the Blackhawks over the next months.