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Blackhawks fire president and CEO John McDonough
McDonough helped build three Stanley Cup winners in Chicago. David Banks-USA TODAY Sports

Chicago Blackhawks fire president and CEO John McDonough

The Chicago Blackhawks parted ways with president and CEO John McDonough on Monday. 

Per an official club announcement, Blackhawks Chairman W. Rockwell "Rocky" Wirtz confirmed the team's decision and also that Wirtz's son, Daniel Wirtz, will serve as interim president. 

The Blackhawks hired McDonough as team president in 2007, and he helped the franchise win three Stanley Cup championships during the 2010s. Things haven't gone well for the organization since its last Stanley Cup triumph in the spring of 2015, however, as the Blackhawks failed to make it out of the first round of the postseason the subsequent two seasons. 

Chicago didn't qualify for the playoffs in 2018 or 2019. The Blackhawks were last in the Central Division of the Western Conference standings when the NHL halted the season due to the coronavirus pandemic on March 12

There's currently no finalized plan to complete the campaign.

"While we can reassure our fans there will be hockey again, no one knows what that will look like," Rocky Wirtz added in the team statement. "What we do know is that it will take a new mindset to successfully transition the organization to win both on and off the ice."

Zac Wassink

Zac Wassink is a longtime sports news writer and PFWA member who began his career in 2006 and has had his work featured on Yardbarker, MSN, Yahoo Sports and Bleacher Report. He is also a football and futbol aficionado who is probably yelling about Tottenham Hotspur at the moment and who chanted for Matt Harvey to start the ninth inning of Game 5 of the 2015 World Series at Citi Field. You can find him on X at @ZacWassink

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