The Blackhawks have a long history as a franchise, dating all the way back to 1926. Over the years, 40 men have served as the head coach of the team forꦆ any length of time, from Godfrey Matheson’s two games as head coach in 1933 to Billy Reay’s 1෴,012 behind the bench.
Pete Muldoon was the first head coach in Blackhawks’ history. An infamous curse was allegedly placed on the franchise by Muldoon when he was fired after only one season; that curse was later revealed as being made up by a Chicago sports writer, but the Blackhawks not finishing in first place between 1927 and 1967 made many fans in a town that has dealt with its share of curses over the decades believe there was something to the legend.
When Luke Richardson took the job l🔴ast summer, he knew he was taking over in the early stages of what would prove to be a painful rebuild. The team had a few franchise icons left on the roster and some other young players fans were excited to watch. All of th🍬em would be gone before the first regular season of Richardson’s tenure came to a close.
Looking back at Blackhawks’ history, of Richardson is poised to climb the franchise ranks quickly as he begins his second season behind the bench. His 82 ga♛mes as head coach are already tied with a name that receives a gag reflex from many fans, Alpo Suhonen, for 22nd in franchise history in games coached.
When Richardson complete🧜s a second full season, his 164 games as head coach will move him all the way up to 13൩th in franchise history.
This season, Richardson will pass Tommy Ivan, Dick Irvin, Ebbie Goodfellow, Clem Loughlin, Trent Yawn♔ey, Keith Magnuson, Sid Abel, Denis Savard and Charlie Conacher on Chicago’sܫ all-time games coached list.
A third full season would give Richardson 246 games coachedꩵ, tying him with Craig Hartsburg and Darryl Sutter for seventh on the franchise’s all-💮time list.
Only five coaches have called the shots for more than 300 games in Blackhawks history: Reay, Joel Que൲nneville (797), Bob Pulford (4🌸33), Rudy Pilous (387) and Mike Keenan (320).
