Players think Luke Richardson is an “awesome” head coach

Luke Richardson’s tenure as the head coach of the AHL Binghamton Senators is off to a great start. The Ottawa Senators-affiliate had a 9-4-1-1 record going into Saturday’s action and his players think he’s “awesome,” according to the Ottawa Citizen.

It helps that Richardson was well prepared for this job. He was an assistant coach with the Ottawa Senators for years and, of course, he has 1,417 games worth of experience as an NHL defenseman.

“A lot of the coaches who have had success in the NHL have had good relationships with their players, and I think that’s why we’re having success right now,” Binghamton Senators defenseman Patrick Wiercioch said. “A lot of the time, when you think you’re the only one going through something, and you talk to (Richardson) about it, he can relate to it and tell you stuff he did to get through certain weeks, certain months.

“You take it to heart more when you see what he did, because to have the career he did is something we all want.”

Richardson said that he likes to create relationships with the players and be the type of coach that they can joke with and talk about everyday stuff.

“But when I’m on the ice and I blow the whistle and I’m a little huffy, I have to have their respect and they have to listen to me,” Richardson added. “And even if they’re a little upset with me, that’s normal, that’s fine. But the next day I’m going to be over it, and hopefully they’re over it. And if they’re not over it, then it’s not my problem, it’s their problem.

“They can come and talk about a situation that we disagree about, and we still may disagree even after we’ve talked, but at least we’ve talked about it.”

Richardson thinks that his relationship with his players has been good so far and the results have certainly been positive.