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Amid an atrocious start to the NHL season, the Chicago Blackhawks have relieved head coach Jeremy Colliton of his duties with the team. Via Emily Kaplan of ESPN:
The Chicago Blackhawks have dismissed coach Jeremy Colliton, sources tell ESPN.
Interim GM Kyle Davidson made the call. Derek King will be the interim coach.
— Emily Kaplan (@emilymkaplan) November 6, 2021
The Blackhawks are currently 1-9-2, which puts them towards the bottom of the league. On top of that, there is tons of drama surrounding the organization right now after the bombshell sexual assault case towards a former coach.
As noted, Derek King will replace Colliton. He had been coaching Chicago's AHL affiliate, the Rockford IceDogs. Assistant coaches Tomas Mitell and Sheldon Brookbank were also fired by the Blackhawks. CEO Danny Wirtz released this statement following the decision to let Colliton go. Via The Chicago Tribune:
“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,” Wirtz said in a statement Saturday. “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.”
Colliton had been just 12 games into his fourth season with the club. Chicago is currently seventh in the Central Division and has allowed an NHL-worst 47 goals so far.
