Sorensen returns to team after serving as interim head coach last season
The Chicago Blackhawks announced today Anders Sorensen and Michael Peca have been hired as assistant coaches under Head Coach Jeff Blashill. Additionally, goaltending coach Jimmy Waite, assistant coach/video coach Matt Meacham and assistant video coach Adam Gill will return to the Blackhawks coaching staff.
“I’ve known Anders for many years and am thrilled to have someone of his caliber joining our staff,” said Blashill. “He’s a great coach who brings a unique perspective of this team, making him an invaluable resource. The job he’s done developing the young talent on this roster has been tremendous and I know he’ll continue to help this team forward as part of my staff.”
“Michael had a remarkable NHL career as a player and knows what it takes to be successful at this level. A two-time Selke winner, he brings the same focus and dedication to his coaching duties that defined him as a player, and the experience he’s gained as both make him an incredible asset to our staff.”
Sorensen, 50, returns to the Blackhawks after being named interim head coach on Dec. 5, 2024. Sorensen finished the 2024-25 campaign with a 17-30-9 record in 56 games.
Prior to joining the Blackhawks, Sorensen was the head coach of Chicago’s American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs, for three seasons from 2022-24 after being named interim head coach on Nov. 6, 2021. In those three campaigns, Sorensen coached the IceHogs to a 117-89-16-7 record in 229 games, reaching the postseason in all three seasons. He originally joined the Blackhawks organization as a development coach in 2014-15, a role he remained in for five seasons until being named an assistant coach with Rockford beginning in 2018-19. Sorensen was promoted to associate coach ahead of the 2021-22 before taking over as interim head coach six games into the season. He earned a 35-26-5 record as interim head coach and guided the team to its first Calder Cup Playoffs berth for the first time since the 2017-18 season. He was also an assistant coach and interim head coach of the Södertälje SK of HockeyAllsvenskan from 2011-14. Internationally, the Södertälje, Sweden native served as an assistant coach for Team Sweden during the 2025 IIHF World Championships.
Sorensen played one season in the ECHL with both the Mobile Mysticks and Baton Rouge Kingfish, compiling four points (3G, 1A) in 37 games during the 1999-2000 campaign.
Peca, 51, was most recently an assistant coach with the New York Rangers from 2023-25. In his first season during the 2023-24 campaign, Peca helped the Rangers to the Eastern Conference Final and a Presidents’ Trophy after finishing the season with a league-leading 55-23-4 record and 114 points. He spent two seasons as an assistant with the Rochester Americans (AHL), the Rangers’ affiliate, from 2021-23 and began his NHL coaching career as a development coach with the Washington Capitals during the 2020-21 season.
The Toronto, Ont. native was originally selected by the Vancouver Canucks in the second round (40th overall) of the 1992 NHL Draft and went on to play 14 NHL seasons with the Canucks (1993-95), Buffalo Sabres (1995-2000), New York Islanders (2001-04), Edmonton Oilers (2005-06), Toronto Maple Leafs (2006-07) and Columbus Blue Jackets (2007-09). In his career, he totaled 465 points (176G, 289A) in 864 career games and has posted 34 points (15G, 19A) in 97 career postseason contests. He captained the Sabres to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1999 and was also part of the “Cinderella Story” Edmonton Oiler team in 2006, where they eventually fell to the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 7. The forward won two Frank J. Selke Trophies (1997, 2002) and an Olympic Gold Medal with Canada in the 2002 Winter Olympics.
Waite joined the Blackhawks as goaltending coach prior to the 2014-15 season. He enjoyed a 22-year professional playing career that included 58 games with the Blackhawks. He was selected in the first round of the 1987 NHL Draft by Chicago and appeared in 106 career NHL games. Meacham joined the Blackhawks in the 2013-14 season and enters his 13th season as video coach, while Gill joined the Blackhawks during the 2022-23 season as an assistant video coach after working eight seasons as a video coach with Rockford.
