“It has been an extremely difficult couple of weeks…we have had to come to terms with a number of necessary changes,” the team said Saturday.
The Chicago Blackhawks fired head coach Jeremy Colliton, along with assistant coaches Tomas Mitell and Sheldon Brookbank, after recording its worst start in team history, creating further chaos for an organization that has already been reeling from a sexual assault scandal. The National Hockey League team announced Saturday that Rockford IceHogs head coach Derek King will now serve as interim head coach, effective immediately. Other assistant coaches will remain in their positions. “It has been an extremely difficult couple of weeks for our organization, and we have had to come to terms with a number of necessary changes. As we look to move forward, we know we must earn back the trust of our fans, and we are grateful for the support of our entire community as we work to do just that,” the Blackhawks leadership said in a statement Saturday. “We appreciate all that Jeremy has brought to the Blackhawks, and we look forward to working with Derek as our interim head coach while we work to rebuild our permanent hockey operations leadership.” The coaching changes come as the Blackhawks are off to their worst start in franchise history, at 1-9-2, only notching their first win in the 10th game of the season.
