Jeremy Colliton, Chicago Blackhawks’ three years head coach was fired on Saturday following a rough start of the team’s season on Friday night. Chicago lost by 5-1 to the Winnipeg Jets, hitting a 1-9-2 record. Similarly, the two assistant coaches Tomas Mitell and Sheldon Brookbank were fired. In Jeremy’s place, Derek king; RockFord IceHog’s coach, was promoted to interim coach.
In this season, under the guidance of Colliton, Chicago only managed 47 goals while ranking second last position in the league. The only team they outdid is the non-winning Arizona coyotes.
Issuing a statement, the Blackhawks’ CEO Danny Wirtz said that the team has had it rough recently which called for mandatory changes. Moving forward, the team is determined to restore their fans’ trust while appreciating the community’s support while working on it.
He further stated that General manager Kyle Davidson has the organization’s full support regarding the change of coaches and independence to make hockey decisions. In addition, the organization appreciates Colliton’s contributions to the team and is looking forward to working with the interim coach to win back the team’s glory as the permanent leader in hockey operations.
On November 8th, 2018 Colliton was promoted to Chicago head coach following the firing of Joel Quenneville in the middle of the season. During his first three seasons, Colliton led the Blackhawks to a record of 86-83-24 in 193 games. Among the games was one playoff appearance in which the team lost in the first round to the Vegas Golden Knights in 2019-20. With Colliton, the best the team ever managed was a sixth position in the Central Division
The new Blackhawks’ head coach, Derek King will lead the team in his first game on Sunday. The team will be hosting the Nashville Predators.