Polling place
Luke Richardson played 21 seasons in the NHL and was one of the steelier blueliners around. Since hanging up the skates, he has been an assistant coach for the Senators, the Islanders and, most recently, the Canadiens. Now, at 53, he’s getting his first chance to steer his own ship. And there you have it: the basics on the new head coach of the Blackhawks.
So what’s your first take on the guy? That’s what we wanted to know in this week’s ‘‘Polling Place,’’ your home for Sun-Times sports polls on Twitter. The results indicate that Hawks fans aren’t overly excited. Then again, when was the last time they were?
With Chicago getting ready to host the WNBA All-Star Game, we also asked for your first-half Sky MVP. A Candace Parker no-brainer? Not necessarily. Finally, we hit the really, really
Big Ten, which will add Los Angeles schools UCLA and USC in 2024. Are you in favor of this once-unfathomable development?
On to the polls:
Upshot: Richardson is highly respected and looks as though he could lace ’em up and play another 21 years — or at least beat the daylights out of somebody — but there are reasons a lot of first-time coaches never become second-time coaches. Perhaps it’s no surprise that cautious optimism wins the day. ‘‘Why not? It’s not like the Hawks are going to be contenders for anything soon,’’ @JeffreyCanalia commented, summing things up quite well.
Upshot: Copper leads the team in scoring. Meesseman has been terrific all-around and a wonderful addition to the roster. It’s impossible to imagine this team without point guard Vandersloot, one of the best to do it. Yada, yada, yada, it’s Parker’s team and town. ‘‘As much as I love Sloot and think she’s worth the price of admission alone,’’ @ahermann350 wrote, ‘‘good things happen when CP3 is on the floor.’’
Upshot: ‘‘It doesn’t matter what we think — $$ talks,’’ @Chicagosports09 offered astutely. We chuckled at this from @NiseiLounge: ‘‘Nothing screams ‘Big Ten’ like that epic Rutgers vs. UCLA rivalry!’’ And this, from @BahnsenDave, is kind of brilliant: ‘‘The Big Ten was once a group of universities. Then, it became a football conference. Now, it’s a television network.’’ Jeez, why can’t we write like that? ✶