Chicago Blackhawks Fire AHL Coach Ted Dent

By Sean Fitzgerald | Apr 26, 2017

Apr 20, 2017; Nashville, TN, USA; Chicago Blackhawks players during the National Anthem prior to the game against the Nashville Predators in game four of the first round of the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports /

Apr 20, 2017; Nashville, TN, USA; Chicago Blackhawks players during the National Anthem prior to the game against the Nashville Predators in game four of the first round of the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

Apr 20, 2017; Nashville, TN, USA; Chicago Blackhawks players during the National Anthem prior to the game against the Nashville Predators in game four of the first round of the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports /

The Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday ousted their minor league leader

Chicago Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman stated in his end-of-season press conference last week that there will be changes, and no one aside from Joel Quenneville is safe. First Bowman fired Mike Kitchen, who was responsible for the PK and the defense.

Next, on Tuesday, Bowman fired Rockford IceHogs coach Ted Dent. The IceHogs are the AHL affiliate of the Blackhawks.

Dent had been the IceHogs’ head coach for the last six seasons. He was 221-179-33-21 with the IceHogs. Dent probably saw the writing on the wall after he was very outspoken against some of the moves Bowman and his staff made. Dent made some critical remarks about Bowman’s organization decisions. Naturally, Dent took to social media to do so.

Dent’s social media rants

Dent went on Twitter and apologized to IceHogs fans after Spencer Abbott, Sam Carrick and Mark McNeill were traded away. They were Dent’s three best players for majority of the season.

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Ted was quoted in a Chicago Tribune article:

"After the moves he told WREX-Ch. 13 in Rockford that: “We needed to be better and we weren’t so Chicago kind of dismantled our team … It’s not everyday you lose three of your top six forwards.”"

After the Abbott and Carrick trade, the IceHogs went 4-12-1. Their record for the season was 25-39-9-3.

After Bowman and his staff dismantled the IceHogs, Dent received questions from the media about his lineups. A frustrated Dent directed people to the general manager’s office. Dent’s media jabs at Bowman forced his hand this offseason.

It is a sad ending to Dent’s tenure with the Blackhawks organization. He helped current Blackhawks Tanner Kero and Ryan Hartman get to the NHL level. He also helped Nick Schmaltz fine-tune his game when he needed a re-adjustment earlier in the season.

While Dent deserves some credit, shouldn’t he take some blame? Blame could be placed on Dent McNeill never becoming an NHL player after spending four full seasons with Dent.

Could he blamed for Jeremy Morin’s failings? Morin spent a considerable amount of time with Dent and never developed. What about the second-line center of the future Brandon Pirri? Pirri also never developed with the Blackhawks.

Currently, this offseason has told us the Blackhawks have fired two coaches thus far and there could be more moves coming.

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