Column: Let’s Not Blame Luke Richardson for Blackhawks Woes

Chicago Blackhawks head coach Luke Richardson politely declined, with a chuckle, when asked postgame about calling up Kyle Davidson for some more help with the roster. He’s pretty sure they see how injuries are affecting the team.

“Yeah, that’s not my area, but I think they obviously realize that, too,” Richardson said.

A combination of injuries and a lack of roster depth to supplant the losses have contributed to the Blackhawks latest losing streak. But for some frustrated fans targeting Richardson for the problems, it’s simply that–frustration.

Seen again despite a 3-0 loss to the Nashville Predators, was a shorthanded team that fought through a tough opening ten minutes and played the Predators tight for nearly 56 minutes. A five-on-three power play put the game out of reach, but it came late in the third after a shorter bench literally shuffled things again.

Perhaps Richardson should quote Chicago based band Local H:–what would you have me do?

Luke Richardson Furthest Thing From the Problem

I’ve compared this current Blackhawks team to the 2005-06 Pittsburgh Penguins–a rebuilding squad in Sidney Crosby’s rookie season. Lost in that comparison is that Blackhawks legend Eddie Olczyk was the bench boss–and was dismissed after 31 games. But this snippet from the 2005 ESPN article is telling:

Patrick said it became obvious during a 5-0 loss to Minnesota last Thursday that the players were tuning Olczyk out and no longer respected him, and the situation got only worse during losses to Detroit (3-1) on Monday and St. Louis (3-0) on Tuesday.

“The Minnesota loss was very disturbing — the team had shown its face and for whatever reason they weren’t listening,” Patrick said.

Not once in the two years that Richardson has been at the helm have the Blackhawks given off this vibe. For sure, they’ve had clunkers. But I’ve written it before and will write it again, not even the great Scotty Bowman could do any better. It isn’t to rip on the players, either. They’ve been dealing with injuries from almost the very start of the season.

The paper thin depth right now would be comical if it wasn’t so alarming. With Anthony Beauvillier the latest in a long line of key player going down, what more can Richardson do? Heck, even Rockford is going to be short staffed with the number of callups they’ve had to make.

The fact that the Blackhawks answered in the fashion they did following the 8-1 debacle against Dallas is another testament to Richardson’s effect on the team. A lesser coach could have lost them, opening up last night’s effort to a real setback.

Instead, the Hawks fought tooth and nail until the power play sealed the deal.

Davidson Might Need to Find Some More Roster Help

But there is some seriousness, in what was a lighter question, to Davidson getting some help for Richardson and his staff. There isn’t much of a fighting chance with the bulk of players Davidson brought in watching while wounded. There are options out there, starting with Phil Kessel who would be a terrific way to start. Not only would he add some offense, his iron man streak could offset some of the bad luck they’ve experienced with the injury department.

It’s hardly time to panic, but it is alarming to see just how many players are sidelined. If Beauvillier’s injury keeps him out on a week-to-week basis, it will force Davidson’s hand in some regard.

Richardson is doing everything he can to keep the Hawks competitive. Any thought to him being part of the problem is simply not looking at the whole picture.

He’s part of the solution, not the problem. And until he has a full roster on which to judge his efforts on, blame assigned to him is simply misguided frustration.