Blackhawks Coach Colliton, 2 Assistants Fired After 1-9-2 Start

CHICAGO — As if things weren’t already bad enough with the Chicago Blackhawks off the ice, the on-ice product wasn’t much better.

One day after the Hawks fell to 1-9-2 on the season with a 5-1 loss to the Winnipeg Jets Friday night, the team announced they have fired coach Jeremy Colliton and two assistants, the team announced Saturday.

The Blackhawks have named Derek King, the coach of the American Hockey League affiliate in Rockford, as the interim coach. Marc Crawford, Jimmy Waite, Matt Meacham and Dylan Crawford will remain on the Blackhawks coaching staff in their current position, the team said. Chris Kunitz will remain in his role as Player Development Advisor with the Blackhawks.

Also fired on Saturday were assistant coaches Tomas Mitell and Sheldon Brookbank. King will coach his first game on Sunday when the Blackhawks host the Nashville Predators at the United Center.

"Our on-ice goal remains the same: to build an elite system of hockey — and we have not delivered on that. The fact is our play and competitiveness must improve," Blackhawks interim general manager Kyle Davidson said in a statement issued by the team. "Every game, every shift. Today's coaching changes are difficult, especially given the incredible personal connections Jeremy and others have made with our players in their development."

On Friday, the Blackhawks allowed an opponent to strike early as the Jets were able to tally a goal in the game's first minute. The Hawks have struggled throughout the first 12 games of the season, captain Jonathan Toews has failed to score this season and as the team deals with the aftermath of an 11-year-old alleged sexual assault of a prospect by a former video coach.

Still, even after another sluggish performance against the Jets, Colliton seemed anxious to get the team moving in the right direction after such a horrible start to the season in which the Hawks have allowed a NHL-worst 47 goals while scoring just 26.

“Tonight, we’ve got to leave this game,” Colliton told reporters after the Hawks lost their second straight game after picking up their first victory of the year earlier this week. “We’re nowhere close with that effort. I don’t think that’s us. We’ve performed at a much better level than tonight.

“We’ve got to take the day off and regroup and come out flying.”

The regrouping will now take place with a new coach at the helm while the Hawks consider which direction to move forward in without Colliton, who was hired after Joel Quenneville was fired early in the 2018 season.

King joined the IceHogs after stints as an assistant and associate coach with the Toronto Marlies of the AHL from 2009-15. With the Marlies, he helped the team capture one Western Conference Championship (2012) and three North Division Championships (2012-14).

King played 14 seasons in the National Hockey League, beginning with the New York Islanders during the 1986-87 season. He was originally selected in the first round (13th overall) of the 1985 NHL Draft by the Islanders.

"This team has a lot of talent-talent that I am familiar with from my time in the organization-and I look forward to working with them behind the bench," King said in a statement issued by the team. "I appreciate the support from Kyle Davidson and Danny Wirtz through this process and I cannot wait to get going. I understand my role and position and ready to do the work necessary to help the organization succeed."

Colliton's firing comes less than two weeks after general Manager Stan Bowman and other front office members resigned in light of the team's mishandling of the 2010 incident. The Hawks were also fined $2 million for their handling of the incident, which came to light when the former prospect, recently identified as Kyle Beach, filed a lawsuit against the team.

The Hawks' play on the ice came at the start of a season when the team hoped to rebound by getting Toews back into the lineup after missing all last season and adding several key players onto the roster. But the Hawks have been booed routinely at home and calls for Colliton to be fired have remained constant at home games almost from the beginning of the year.

"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," Blackhawks CEO Danny Wirtz said in a news release. "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. On the ice, Interim General Manager Kyle Davidson has our full confidence and autonomy to make hockey decisions, and we support him on this coaching change.

"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."