After Missing Playoffs, Blackhawks Fire Coach

Craig Hartsburg was fired as coach of the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday after the team missed the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since 1969.

General Manager Bob Murray, the man who fired Hartsburg, said the coach wasn’t the only one at fault.

“I think he did everything he possibly could. I don’t think there’s anything left in the bag for him to bring,” Murray said.

“I could not see him asking him to go back in that dressing room next year and try it again. . . . I don’t think he’s bitter. He’s peeved, like I am.”

Murray blamed himself and the players, especially the veterans, for failing to provide leadership on a team that struggled all season, especially at home.

“No matter how much I’d like to get rid of 25 hockey players, I will not be able to get rid of them all. There are just so many you can get rid of and I just didn’t think it was fair to put Craig back into that,” Murray said.

“The things he did to motivate the team, he ran the gamut. He even came to me at one point and said, “Murph, if this doesn’t work, you’re going to have to get rid of me.’ . . . Too many guys had bad years and that has to be corrected.”

Hartsburg’s ouster is the beginning, Murray said, of what he hopes will be a major overhaul.

Hartsburg coached the team for three seasons and had two years left on his contract after signing an extension last June. His team seemed headed for the playoffs but finished with a slide of 0-6-1.

Assistants Lorne Henning and Newell Brown were also fired.

Hartsburg played 10 seasons in the NHL with Minnesota. He was hired by Chicago in June 1995 and his three-year record was 104-102-40, including 30-39-13 this season. The Blackhawks were 8-8 in the playoffs during his tenure, winning one series and losing two.

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Curtis Leschyshyn, who would have become an unrestricted free agent after July 1, signed a multi-year contract with the Carolina Hurricanes.

Leschyshyn, 30, completed his second season with the Hurricanes after being acquired in November 1996 from the Washington Capitals.