Blackhawks fire coach Colliton after rough start

CHICAGO» The reeling Chicago Blackhawks fired coach Jeremy Colliton on Saturday, dismissing the former NHL forward with the team off to a rough start in his fourth season.

Colliton, who turns 37 in January, was in the first year of a two-year contract extension. Derek King was promoted from Rockford of the American Hockey League, replacing Colliton on an interim basis.

Colliton went 87-92-26 with Chicago. He was dismissed exactly three years after he got the job.

Assistant coaches Tomas Mitell and Sheldon Brookbank also were let go. The team said assistants Marc Crawford, Jimmy Waite, Matt Meacham and Dylan Crawford will remain in their current positions, and Chris Kunitz will stay on as a player development adviser.

The coaching change is the latest chapter in a rough stretch for what was once regarded as one of the NHL’S marquee franchises.

The Blackhawks published a report on Oct. 26 that showed senior leaders with the organization largely ignored allegations that assistant coach Brad Aldrich sexually assaulted former first-round pick Kyle Beach during the team’s run to the Stanley

Cup title in 2010. Aldrich told investigators the encounter was consensual.

Stan Bowman, Chicago’s general manager and president of hockey operations, resigned in the wake of the independent review, and Al Macisaac, another top hockey executive, also departed. The NHL fined the Blackhawks $2 million, and Joel Quenneville, the Blackhawks’ coach at the time of the alleged assault, stepped down as coach of the Florida Panthers.

Colliton’s firing was the first major move for Kyle Davidson, who was elevated to interim GM when Bowman stepped aside.

Davidson “has our full confidence and autonomy to make hockey decisions, and we support him on this coaching change,” Blackhawks CEO Danny Wirtz said in a team statement. “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.”

Chicago lost 5-1 at Winnipeg on Friday night, dropping to 1-9-2 after beginning the season with playoff aspirations.

Colliton stepped into a tough situation when he replaced Quenneville in November 2018, becoming the 38th coach in franchise history. Quenneville led Chicago to three Stanley Cup titles in his 10-plus years in charge.