Taylor Hall Benched Without Warning: Drama Unfolds Between Star Forward and Head Coach Luke Richardson

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Tom Banks
November 18, 2024 (5:55 PM)

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The Chicago Blackhawks recently scratched Taylor Hall, and now his comments on the situation have led to plenty of drama between he and Luke Richardson.

After a slow start to the 2024/25 campaign, the Chicago Blackhawks were recently looking to shake things up, and in doing so, the team gave veteran Taylor Hall his first healthy scratch of the season.

This unsurprisingly brought with it plenty of speculation, with the former No. 1 overall pick already seen as a trade candidate, with this latest move only increasing the belief that he'll be traded at some point this season.

The shock move from the Blackhawks brought with it plenty of drama though, as Hall recently revealed that the communication surrounding the move was lacking, with no one being more shocked than the former Hart Trophy winner.

"I was surprised. It was unexpected, from the standpoint of I just didn't know I was even close to being in that spot, really," Hall said Monday. "If there were some conversations in the days leading up about my game, or if I was constantly being shown video, that would be one thing. So I was a bit surprised."

After the shock surrounding the move, Head Coach Luke Richardson owned up to the mistake, admitting that he could have handled the entire situation very differently.

"That could be part of my problem, too. Sometimes you give veterans a little bit more of a grace period," he said in a postpractice interview posted by CHGO Blackhawks. "For me to communicate with him, I need to get to know the player more, to see how they like to handle that. We talked lots during and after, but maybe it needs to be more before [the scratch]."

Ultimately though, the move was a long time coming after Hall's slow start to the year, with just 2 goals and 6 points through 17 games this season, and with the team struggling overall, it seems to be just a matter of time until a trade comes.