Luke Richardson played nearly 1,500 games in the NHL as a defenseman. That’s massive. Only character guys play that long.
He went right into coaching after his playing days. Been a head coach in the AHL, & an assistant w a number of NHL teams: Ottawa, the Isles, Montreal. Now he gets a chance to be the top guy for the Chicago Blackhawks…& I’m excited to see what he does w his platform, given that he’s a big MH advocate. That’s why I was enthused to see this tweet, yesterday.
In 2010, on the Ottawa bench at the time, Luke lost one of his two daughters, Daron, to suicide at just 14 (pic➡️ slide).
I hadn’t heard abt the tragedy until last season, when the Vegas Golden Knights played the Montreal Canadiens in the Western Conference Finals. Richardson was the top assistant w the Canadiens at the time. Heading into Game 3, the Habs head coach was put on health protocol, & Richardson became the default head coach for the game – one that he steered his team to victory on, 3-2, in OT. After the game there was much talk abt the purple pin he tapped & kissed (3rd slide➡️).
That pin was a “DIFD” heart pin on his lapel that signified the: Do It For Daron youth mental health program he & his wife, Stephanie, started in their daughter’s memory.
Richardson gets “it.” When interviewed abt his daughter, & what his fam is trying to accomplish, he said: “People think with mental health there’s a stereotypes, very visible, whether it be addiction based or real serious mental health problems. Daron suffered in silence. We didn’t see any signs.”
To see a bench boss talking openly like that – in a sport traditionally thought of as “hard nosed/we don’t show emotion/we don’t discuss those things” is amazing. And to see he wants to openly address it w players & on behalf of the team in the community is refreshing.
The new definition of an effective coach/leader in pro sports is slowly changing. Caring about their PEOPLE to accomplish goals is where “it” is at. Can’t wait to see what Luke does here. This may be just what the Hawks need given events of the past many seasons. It’s def what pro sports needs more of!
