Chicago Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson, like many GMs before him, believes progress isn’t necessarily “linear.”
But Luke Richardson has lived it.
The Montreal Canadiens went from play-in charity chase in 2020 to Stanley Cup Final runner-up in 2021 and back to last-place languisher this past season, and Richardson was along for the ride as an assistant coach.
So Richardson appeared unfazed by the word “rebuild” during his introduction as Hawks head coach Wednesday at the Blackhawks Store on Michigan Avenue.
“I’ve been through — both playing and coaching — rebuilds, teams that are competitive, whether it was two years ago in the Stanley Cup Final. The ultimate challenge is to get there,” Richardson said. “I’m totally comfortable with developing players, having patience with players, but I said right from the start, I am an optimist and I want to go win every game and I’m going to approach every game like that.”
But there will be plenty of time for all the heavy lifting — and losing — this team may endure. Wednesday’s introduction christened the honeymoon phase.
Richardson held court with a backdrop of the Apple Store and Tribune Tower across the Chicago River, but he might as well have been perched atop Willis Tower.
“It’s a real exciting day,” he said. “Right from Day 1 of my NHL career, (Chicago) was such an exciting place to be, and I’m so happy to be on it from this side of it for a change.”
The former defenseman alluded to his NHL debut on Oct. 8, 1987, when his Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Hawks 7-5 at Chicago Stadium.
In settling on Richardson as the franchise’s 40th head coach, Davidson chose the person he believed would have credibility with veterans and patience with prospects.
“When we started the search, we wanted someone who could lead with authority and hold players accountable,” Davidson said. “In addition we were looking for someone who could develop and coach young talent while also connecting with the veteran players.”
Richardson replaces interim coach Derek King, who took the reins after the Hawks fired Jeremy Colliton on Nov. 6. Davidson still envisions a place for King — whom he called “a serious candidate” for the head coaching job — to be determined later this summer
“It was a tough spot for Derek to step into (in) his first foray as a head coach, so we thought he did excellent,” Davidson said. “He really helped calm things down and solidify things in the locker room. … We’re looking to bring high-character people into the organization, and Derek is that.”
Here are five things we learned about Richardson.
1. Cool Hand Luke?
Talk to people who know Richardson, and one word keeps coming up: “calm.”
Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis told the Tribune, “He’s got a quiet confidence.”
Folks once said similar things about Colliton’s demeanor, and we saw how that turned out. So Richardson was asked: Can you get feisty when you need to?
“Usually the referees do that to me,” he joked. “I have learned I don’t have to do that so much, and you get your point across better. It’s the same with the players.”
When he needed to send a message in practice, especially when he coached the AHL Binghamton Senators, “I’d (bag) skate the players, but I’d skate with them,” Richardson said. “And I would try to beat them. I would hold my breath and pretend I was not out of shape. But I am. I try to let them believe that I can (beat them), and it shapes them into, ‘Wow, we’ve got to pick it up here.'”
That’s a case where he needs the players amped up. Richardson wants them also to follow his lead when he needs them to settle down.
“A calm demeanor … leads to the players feeling calmness on the bench but aware of their job and what they have to do,” he said. “Not tense or yelling and screaming at the ref but under control. I think that filters into the players in front of you and they lose track of the game plan and get off track.”
Richardson said it’s not calculated but occasions to be aggressive will come up organically. He thinks back to what he responded to as a player.
“It’s not all the time where they’re going to shut you off and not listen to you because you’re yelling more than you’re teaching and coaching,” he said. “Nobody wants to be in an environment like that. I don’t.”
2. Richardson’s courtship included dinner and a (playoff) date.
Richardson said he first learned of the Hawks’ interest when Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes informed him that the Hawks asked permission to interview him.
“The initial reason that Luke’s name popped up was something you’re seeing a lot of over the last couple days: Nobody has a bad word to say about him,” Davidson said. “Everyone’s had a great experience with him, so that was one of the first things that put him on our radar.
“Then once we got into the room with Luke, something intangible — it just felt like it clicked. It felt really natural and comfortable.”
The first interview lasted “41/2 hours or something, but it didn’t seem that long,” Richardson said. He discussed his philosophies with Hawks management and broke down film.
“Once we got a little deeper into how he sees the game and how he views players and his communication styles,” Davidson said, “it really resonated with us and felt like something that would work within the system we’re putting in place here.”
The Hawks also interviewed King, Vancouver Canucks associate coach Brad Shaw and Pittsburgh Penguins assistant Todd Reirden. They invited Richardson to fly back to Chicago and took him to dinner. Later, he watched a Stanley Cup Final game with Davidson.
“I felt very comfortable, confident on how things went,” Richardson said, “and Kyle said, ‘I think we’re going to meet one more time tomorrow morning.’ I walked back to the hotel thinking, ‘Well, that’s got to be good.’
“Then I started overthinking: ‘Maybe they’re going to call me in and say thanks very much for coming, see ya next time.’ But it worked out and Kyle presented it to me in a way that I felt was the right fit — not a good fit, it was the right fit. Very comfortable with each other in supporting each other going forward on the direction the management and organization want to go, and I feel that I can deliver in that area.”
3. How long does Richardson expect Hawks fans to be patient?
There’s a unique energy at the United Center when Jim Cornelison belts out the national anthem, and that hasn’t been lost on Richardson.
“If we can take that passion and excitement and take that right out of the national anthem and play like that, taking the X’s and O’s out of it, just with that passion alone and implementing it into our system, that is what I want,” he said. “I think the people see that.”
And there’s a time when the music stops.
“Obviously sports is a tough business, it’s a win-loss business, and you get there with your play,” he said. “When? I’m not sure. I can’t give a timeline on that, but I know that we’re going to be working toward that every day, and I think that will resonate and show in the product on the ice.”
Richardson added this caveat, reminiscent of Davidson’s reluctance to rush the rebuild or put a timeline on it: “We’re going to have to take those steps one, two, three, four. We can’t go one, 10 — we can’t skip anything. We have to do everything right.
“It’ll take a little time. I’m not sure how much time, but that’s exciting. I like a challenge and I’m ready for it.”
4. Richardson’s NHL journey has come full circle in Chicago.
Richardson’s rookie season, 1987-88, also happened to be Hawks great Eddie Olczyk’s first season in Toronto.
“I was lucky enough to be roommates with Eddie Olczyk,” Richardson said. “What a great mentor he was both on the ice and off the ice. His personality is so bubbly.
Richardson made his NHL debut on Oct. 8, 1987, at Chicago Stadium. Olczyk alleviated any pregame nerves.
“He took me out for breakfast that morning — because obviously he knows Chicago — at a little diner somewhere,” Richardson said. “And just being with me all day that day. He was like: ‘Just make sure you’re ready for that national anthem. Just make sure you’re ready.’
“It didn’t matter how many times the players said that, I was not ready. I was definitely intimidated with the big team, the loud crowd and that organ. Chills on the back of my neck. It was such an exciting game.
“Today, every time I come to the United Center, I have that feeling. It brings me back to 1987.”
5. Richardson hopes to extend his daughter’s legacy in a new community.
After the news conference, Richardson posed for pictures with his family, flanked by wife Stephanie and daughter Morgan.
Earlier he memorialized his daughter Daron, who inspired his family’s cause to raise suicide awareness among young people.
“Life is tough and 11 years ago we lost our daughter Daron (then 14) to suicide,” Richardson said. “It was devastating obviously for our family, but we wouldn’t be here today, the three of us, without the hockey community, guys like Eddie (Olczyk) reaching out and his wife, Diana. Our house was full of people that I played with, coached with, hockey community, and that’s the only way we got through it.
“And that’s the way I believe that a hockey team survives. It’s family and it’s support. So I coach like that.”
The Richardsons created Do It For Daron (DIFD) to support suicide prevention, and Richardson said he was gratified that as he moved from stop to stop in his hockey career, each community — Ottawa, Binghamton, Montreal, New York — took up the cause.
“We bring that movement of mental health awareness with us everywhere we go,” he said, “and that’s why purple is a big part of my wardrobe and our family’s. It’s Daron’s favorite and it’s part of the DIFD movement.”
In the wake of the scandal involving the 2010 Blackhawks — in which former prospect Kyle Beach accused a former video coach of sexual assault and the team was found to have suppressed the allegation — the Hawks launched a new department dedicated to players’ mental health.
“(The) department that’s in place here is ahead of anybody in the NHL, I can tell you that,” Richardson said. “Very impressed with meeting with everybody and talking about creating an environment where the players feel comfortable going in and having support.
“And the coaching staff has got to respect that, support that. (That’s) a great advantage for our organization to have and it’s a very smart step for all teams to follow.”
