Chicago Blackhawks fire Quenneville assistant Mike Kitchen

In the wake of a disastrous postseason, Chicago Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman vowed changes would be coming.

He wasted no time in making good on that promise, relieving assistant coach Mike Kitchen of his duties Monday.

The 61-year-old Kitchen, a longtime friend of coach Joel Quenneville, just completed his seventh season with the Hawks.

"We believe this decision is best for our organization moving forward," Bowman said. "Mike had an impact on two different Stanley Cup championship teams during his tenure in Chicago. We appreciate his many contributions and wish he and his family success in the future."

When asked Saturday if he foresaw any changes coming to his staff, Quenneville said: "Not right now."

One of Kitchen's primary responsibilities was working with the penalty-killing units. The Hawks finished 24th in the league with a 77.7-percent kill rate, and that included the team's awful start in the first six games of the season. After that, the Hawks killed 81.6 percent of their penalties, which ranked 13th from Oct. 23 to the end of the season.

Kitchen's other primary job was to work with the defensemen.

Before coming to the Hawks, Kitchen was an assistant with Florida from 2007-10, was head coach of the Blues from 2004-06, and served as Quenneville's assistant in St. Louis from 1998-2003.

Quenneville and Kitchen were teammates in Colorado and New Jersey from 1979-83.