Blackhawks staff changes: Jay Blunk, James Gary depart, new management shifts focus

May 10, 2024

It’s been an offseason of change for the Chicago Blackhawks, on and off the ice.

From Seth Jones to Marc-André Fleury, their offseason on-ice moves have been well-documented. Off the ice, the Blackhawks are often less public about their moves, but there have been plenty of those, too.

Blackhawks CEO Danny Wirtz and president of business operations Jaime Faulkner have been busy reshaping the organization’s staff since assuming their current roles in December 2020. More changes are expected to come, too.

“Their focus more than anything is attracting the next generation of Blackhawks fans,” a former team employee said. “They want to attract younger fans. That’s why you’ll see a lot of social media hires and resources being shifted around from one department to another.”

The Blackhawks didn’t use those exact words, but they acknowledged they were looking ahead as they altered their front office.

“Our new leadership has implemented operational and leadership changes within the front office that reflect the Blackhawks’ vision for the future and the required skill sets to best implement those plans,” the Blackhawks said in a statement requested for this story. “On and off the ice, the entire Blackhawks organization is dedicated to fostering a culture of excellence across all that we do.”

There have been significant staff changes with the Blackhawks front office in recent months as four people have left the organization after each spending more than a decade with the Blackhawks. Most notably, Jay Blunk announced in an email to Blackhawks employees in early August he was departing the organization after 13 years. He had been the Blackhawks’ executive vice president and stayed with the organization for a year after team president John McDonough was fired.

“I’m not surprised,” a former team employee said of Blunk’s departure. “I know he’d been pushed aside.”

Blunk was brought in by McDonough in 2008 to be the organization’s vice president of business operations, as the two had previously worked closely together with the Chicago Cubs. (Blunk has been not mentioned in the lawsuits against the Blackhawks surrounding former video coach Brad Aldrich.) Blunk’s contributions to the Blackhawks include helping create Blackhawks TV, the #WhatsYourGoal campaign, the training camp festival and a partnership with Univision Chicago to broadcast games in Spanish.

Blunk responded Thursday to an inquiry about his departure, writing that he had resigned from the Blackhawks to pursue a practice helping college athletes in their brand development.

“And, with the recent changes with NIL regulations, student-athletes will be afforded new opportunities in the corporate community while also focusing on their personal journey,” Blunk wrote. “I’m very excited to serve these athletes while building partnerships that help tell their unique stories. Our current timeline is to launch the practice sometime later this fall in 4Q. … Also, I do want to mention that the Blackhawks have been outstanding and allowed me to pursue this dream. Specifically, Rocky, Danny and Jaime have been very supportive and encouraging. I’m a big fan of them.”

Blackhawks chairman Rocky Wirtz, Danny Wirtz, president of hockey operations and general manager Stan Bowman and Faulkner are now the four people listed under the ownership and executives category on the staff directory. Blunk has been removed, and Al MacIsaac, who is the senior vice president of hockey operations, has been moved to hockey operations.

In other changes, Pete Hassen, the vice president of marketing, left the Blackhawks after 16 years earlier this offseason. Hassen was thought of as a potential replacement for McDonough before Faulkner was hired for the position.

Also recently, Marie Sutera, who was the vice president of human resources, parted with the Blackhawks after 13 years. She was credited in her Blackhawks bio as developing and executing the organization’s HR strategy. She also isn’t named in either of the civil lawsuits facing the Blackhawks.

One person who has been named prominently in the lawsuits and left the organization is James Gary, who has also been with the Blackhawks for more than a decade as the team’s mental skills coach. According to a source, Gary officially retired from his Blackhawks position at the end of the 2020-21 season and has also retired from his personal practice.

Gary is accused by the plaintiff, John Doe, a former Blackhawks player who alleges he was sexually assaulted by Aldrich, as saying the assault was the player’s fault and could have been prevented.

Here are other recent staff updates:

Blackhawks radio broadcasters John Wiedeman and Troy Murray have re-signed with the organization for another season. They were offered one-year deals and were asked to renegotiate their salaries, according to multiple sources.

All four Blackhawks broadcasters are set to have their contracts expire after the 2021-22 season. TV play-by-play announcer Pat Foley announced in June this would be his final season. TV color commentator Eddie Olczyk’s contract is also up after the season and he will continue working national games this season, too. He joined TNT’s broadcast team after NBC’s contract with the NHL expired.

Also on the radio side, Chris Boden announced in June his position on the pregame and postgame shows had been cut by the Blackhawks because of the pandemic. Joe Brand will assume those radio responsibilities. Brand is employed by WGN, not the Blackhawks.

Colby Cohen was announced recently as a new member of the Blackhawks broadcast team. The Blackhawks said he’ll appear on all their content channels. He’ll also be a regular studio analyst during NBC Sports Chicago’s coverage of the Blackhawks.

The 32-year-old Cohen filled in for Olczyk for one Blackhawks game last season. Cohen has worked in broadcasting for NBC Sports Philadelphia and ESPN, among other outlets. He played hockey professionally, including for the Colorado Avalanche and Boston Bruins organizations, from 2010 to 2015.

Steve Konroyd and Jamal Mayers aren’t expected to return to NBC Sports Chicago’s studio broadcasts this season. A source said the Blackhawks plan to utilize former players in the studio, but which players and how often hasn’t been decided. Pat Boyle will continue as the NBC Sports Chicago studio host.

Kelsey Koelzer, left, has joined the Blackhawks as a scout. (Brian Babineau / NHLI via Getty Images)

The Blackhawks have made several changes to their hockey operations department:

Kyle Davidson’s title has changed from assistant general manager of hockey administration to vice president of hockey strategy and analytics. He oversees nine staff members.
Dominik Zrim has joined the Blackhawks as manager of hockey strategy. Zrim is one of the founders of CapFriendly.
Karilyn Pilch was hired as a scout of player personnel. She was previously the general manager of the Boston Pride in the NWHL.
Kelsey Koelzer was hired as a scout of player personnel. She will continue to be the women’s hockey head coach at Arcadia University.
Rod Braceful has joined the organization as an amateur scout. He previously worked for the U.S. National Team Development Program as the assistant director of player personnel.
Brigette Lacquette was hired as a pro scout. She has played professionally in the PWHPA and for Team Canada.
Dr. A.J. Sturges (director of performance psychology), Dr. Pete Kadushin (mental performance coach) and Vincent Malts (mindset performance manager) now comprise the organization’s mental performance department.
Barry Smith (senior adviser of player personnel), Ian Gentile (senior manager of player development), Rick Comley (player recruitment) and David Marks (mental skills coach) are no longer listed on the staff directory.

(An earlier version of the story noted that Scotty Bowman was no longer listed in the staff directory as the senior adviser of hockey operations. That was an accidental omission by the Blackhawks. He still works as an advisor.)

The Blackhawks appear to have made an effort to hire more women in their hockey operations department and people of color throughout the organization. In 2019, The Athletic reported that 1 percent of the Blackhawks hockey operations department was made up of women.

Danny Wirtz was asked in July 2020 whether he believed the Blackhawks were diverse enough throughout the organization.

“Absolutely not,” he said. “And so that’s why I think we need to get into what are those barriers that have kept us from being a more diverse organization. I think diversity across different dimensions is stronger than others. I think we’ve been able to welcome more women into the organization, but there’s still underrepresentation in different departments, in different areas and different levels that we have to address.”

The Blackhawks hired a consulting organization that helps businesses with diversity, equity and inclusion, called oneTILT. The Blackhawks haven’t publicly announced any changes that have been generated through oneTILT, but the team’s hiring process has apparently changed.

“One of the Blackhawks’ focuses is definitely becoming more diverse,” a former team employee said. “You can see that in their hiring practices.”

The Blackhawks are expected to hire executive vice presidents for their revenue and marketing and content departments. They have begun to combine some departments in hopes of more collaboration. For example, marketing, digital content, events and experiences, public relations and a new player branding team are combined under marketing and content. The organization created a business strategy and analytics department earlier this year. That staff now includes 11 people, and their jobs include providing fan insights and next-gen technologies. Here are some of the changes on the business side:

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