Blackhawks make coaching change amid poor start to 2021-22 season

The Chicago Blackhawks announced on Saturday that they have fired head coach Jeremy Colliton as well as assistant coaches Sheldon Brookbank and Tomas Mitell. The team also announced that Derek King has been named interim head coach.

Colliton, 36, had an 87-92-26 record in 205 regular season games as head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks.

"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. 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." Blackhawks CEO Danny Wirtz said on Saturday.

"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. 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." said interim head coach Derek King.

The Blackhawks have relieved Jeremy Colliton, Tomas Mitell and Sheldon Brookbank of their coaching duties and have named Derek King Interim Head Coach, effective immediately. https://t.co/2PggeNtIY4— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) November 6, 2021

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