Anders Sorensen’s time as Blackhawks interim coach is nearing an finish.
The Hawks, losers of 5 straight, have lower than 4 weeks left in one other brutal season. Fourteen video games from now, a much-needed overhaul of the NHL roster and training workers is nearly actually coming.
Sorensen hardly ever talks about himself, however he’s certainly conscious of his ticking clock. When requested Tuesday — after the Hawks’ 6-2 loss to the Kraken — if he’s struggling to maintain gamers motivated, he responded that they need to be motivated as a result of they’re continuously being evaluated. Then he added with a chuckle, “All of us are, proper?”
The workforce has gone 12-23-7 to this point below Sorensen, equaling a .369 factors share — only a hair above their .346 factors share below ex-coach Luke Richardson. Neither is anyplace near acceptable, even for a rebuilding workforce with no playoff expectations but.
And because the Hawks have been blown out much more typically in latest months, their 43.0% targets share below Sorensen is definitely worse than their 43.5% targets ratio below Richardson. The identical sample is much more noticeable when it comes to pictures on aim.
Connor Bedard, the teenage star whose Sorensen’s loosened, offense-friendly methods had been most designed to learn, has endured the quietest stretch of profession up to now below Sorensen, too.
Regardless of his fortunate power-play aim Tuesday, Bedard has tallied simply 4 factors in his final 13 video games. His general point-per-game price below Sorensen (0.81) stays barely larger than below Richardson (0.73), however each are decrease than final season (0.90). And he’s recording fewer pictures per recreation below Sorensen than below Richardson.
To be honest, Sorensen was thrown into an especially tough state of affairs this season. The very fact it hasn’t gone properly displays the circumstances greater than his teaching means.
His Dec. 5 promotion from the AHL caught him unexpectedly, and he got here in with zero prior NHL expertise. He inherited — and has saved — the identical workers Richardson assembled. He additionally inherited a poorly constructed workforce, into which he has overseen the combination of many inexperienced prospects.
These prospects have introduced youthful vitality, however their presences have pushed some veterans out of the lineup fully, giving Sorensen a number of ticked-off males to rein in. On Thursday towards the Kings, T.J. Brodie might be a wholesome scratch for a ninth straight recreation, Philipp Kurashev for a sixth straight and Pat Maroon for the fourth time in 5.
Wednesday was a scheduled off-day, however due to Tuesday’s debacle, Sorensen referred to as the workforce in for an “sincere” video-review assembly and observe — throughout (and after) which tempers flared.
“[We’re] attempting to maintain everyone on the identical web page, and I feel the fellows are — for probably the most half — doing an honest job,” Sorensen stated. “There’s all the time going to be frustration with sure gamers right here and there. I don’t suppose you’re going to maintain everyone joyful this time of the 12 months with the place we’re at, proper? It’s inconceivable.”
At this level, Sorensen’s quest to earn the full-time job appears nearly equally inconceivable.
After 4 consecutive first-time NHL coaches — Jeremy Colliton, interim Derek King, Richardson and Sorensen — the Hawks will doubtless pursue a extra confirmed, skilled, well-known coach of their upcoming search. That’s except College of Denver coach David Carle — the most well liked up-and-coming candidate — reveals curiosity and significantly impresses Hawks common supervisor Kyle Davidson.
In the course of the playoffs, the pool of individuals for Davidson to comb via will regularly broaden as groups fireplace coaches or consent to creating assistants accessible for interviews. Penguins coach Mike Sullivan, for instance, may curiosity the Hawks if the Penguins half methods.
Davidson stated March 7 he has begun fascinated about “how that [coaching] profile seems to be, what the workforce will appear to be and what they’ll want in a coach” subsequent season. He’ll additionally must nail down the funds for this rent.
