<p>The <a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/teams/chicago-blackhawks/line-combinations">Chicago Blackhawks</a> started 8-16-2 this season and on Thursday, <a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/news/chicago-blackhawks-fire-head-coach-luke-richardson">relieved head coach Luke Richardson</a> of his duties. The coaching change was a touch surprising considering the Blackhawks weren’t necessarily a team expected to compete for a Stanley Cup Playoff spot this season.</p>



<p>Chicago promoted Anders Sorensen&nbsp;from their AHL affiliate in Rockford, and GM Kyle Davidson is hopeful Sorensen can help get the most out of the Blackhawks’ roster. So, where did things go wrong for Richardson?</p>



<p>It’s been a tough year in Chicago to say the least. Earlier on this season, Richardson made headlines when he decided to healthy scratch veteran forward Taylor Hall. Hall has recorded just five goals and 10 points in 25 games, and it became obvious Richardson was trying to get creative to motivate players on his team who weren’t meeting expectations.</p><div class="injected-ad injected-video" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="0" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="137"></div>



<p>On Friday’s episode of <em>Daily Faceoff LIVE</em>, Tyler Yaremchuk and Frank Seravalli were joined by Charlie Roumeliotis from WGN Radio 720, and the trio discussed where exactly Richardson went wrong. </p>



<p><strong>Yaremchuk:</strong> Excited to welcome in Charlie Roumeliotis from WGN radio in Chicago. Charlie, thanks for popping on, and let’s start with the Luke Richardson side of this. Back when he was hired, it was like – ok, they got this young guy coming in that was going to grow with the team, and take them out of this rebuild. So, where did everything go wrong?</p>



<p><strong>Roumeliotis: </strong>Yeah, this is tough, I kind of wrestle with this decision by the Blackhawks, because you think about Kyle Davidson’s exit interviews from last year, basically saying the last three years we’ve been in the bottom of the standings. And, going into this year, the expectations were a little bit elevated. </p><div class="injected-ad" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="1" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="149"></div>



<p>From that stand point, you see through 26 games, the Blackhawks are dead last in the NHL. On the flip side, you look at the 26 games and all except one of them, and the Hawks have either been leading or trailing by one, or tied within the third period of every single of those games. So, they have been competitive from that stand point. This is kind of where I’ll defend Luke Richardson from this stand point. </p>



<p>So, the Blackhawks do this behind the scenes – it’s called ‘Every Shift’, they’ve done it for three years in a row now. And, the debut episode of this season, at the end of the episode, the coaches and the Blackhawks’ management are sitting in a room, looking at a whiteboard at the opening night roster. They were projecting what the lines were going to be, and Blackhawks’ associate general manager Norm Maciver is looking at the whiteboard and says ‘where are the goals going to come from, because if we want to be better we need a significant increase in our goal output’.</p><div class="injected-ad" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="2" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="183"></div>



<p> From that standpoint, before they even took the ice this season, the Blackhawks were concerned about where the offense was going to come from, and that feels like a big reason why the Blackhawks haven’t been able to get just that one extra goal. If they have gotten that, it would have translated into more points this season.</p>



<p>For more on the Blackhawks coaching change, the Rangers moving Jacob Trouba and all the very latest from around the NHL, watch the full episode below. </p>



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