Why the Chicago Blackhawks should hire David Carle as their next head coach

Despite a three-game winning streak early in his tenure, it is starting to become clear that Anders Sorensen might not be the coach of the future for the Chicago Blackhawks.

The Blackhawks have allowed at least four goals in six of the last seven games, the offense has been stagnant despite Connor Bedard’s current point streak, and the team looks uncompetitive most nights.

Now, all of that doesn’t fall on Sorensen – he was dealt a losing hand in taking on a weak roster. But the team will be expecting much better results next season. 

University of Denver head coach David Carle should be able to deliver those results. 

At 35 years old, Carle has achieved what most coaches couldn’t in their wildest dreams.

He just led Team USA to back-to-back gold medals in the World Junior Championships for the first time. Meanwhile, he has won two of the last three NCAA National Championships at Denver. With a career .690 winning percentage, Carle is a bonafide winner. 

Some may want the team to hire a coach with experience behind an NHL bench after watching the struggles of first-time coaches for the past six seasons. Others may argue that Carle has coached teams with elite talent and that his success is more of a reflection on the players than his coaching. 

Those are fair criticisms, but even if Carle has had loaded rosters, he has gotten them to perform under pressure.

It’s one thing to get to the Frozen Four or the gold medal game, it’s another to execute the gameplan and win those games. Furthermore, as evidenced last night when the US came back from down two in the second period, Carle knows which buttons to push when a team is underperforming to get results. 

Addressing Carle’s inexperience in the NHL, look no further than his predecessor at Denver, Jim Montgomery.

Despite never coaching in the league beforehand, Montgomery has been wildly successful. As bench boss of the Stars, Bruins, and Blues, Montgomery has a career .656 winning percentage. Clearly, NCAA coaches can be successful in the NHL with the right team.

The Blackhawks are the right team for Carle. Next year and in the years to come, the Hawks will have a bevy of young, highly-touted players on their roster. Carle knows how to develop these players and, most importantly, he knows how to win.