Blackhawks Name Gerard Gallant Head Coach

As hinted this week, the Chicago Blackhawks announced their replacement for Ken Hitchcock. Gerard Gallant of the the AHL's Milwaukee Admirals has come aboard to try and right a shockingly floundering Chicago team. Despite having arguably the best and deepest roster in the entire league, the team is treading water around the .500 mark and is all but certain to miss the playoffs. With this in mind a coaching change comes as no surprise.

"We are very excited to bring Gerard aboard. He is among the most respected coaches in the game, and has enjoyed great success in his young head coaching career. We expect Girard to bring stability to our coaching situation and remain with the organization long term" Were the words of GM Todd Semonick.

Hitchcock was always believed to be a short term stop gap, however the original plan was to have him see the year through before naming a long term successor. The team's recent nose dive however forced managements hand in making this change now. There is still a glimmer of hope for a playoff spot this season, and the team felt it was important to give Gallant an entire offseason to implement the changes he wants to see for next season.