The Chicago Blackhawks have hired Jared Nightingale as head coach of the Rockford IceHogs, the team’s American Hockey League affiliate.
Nightingale returns to the Rockford bench, having previously served as an assistant coach for the IceHogs from 2021-24.
Assistant coaches Rob Klinkhammer and Josh MacNevin will remain with the club.
Nightingale, 42, most recently served as head coach and director of hockey operations for the ECHL’s South Carolina Stingrays during the 2024-25 campaign. He posted a 52-15-5 record in his one season with the team, and won the John Brophy Award as ECHL coach of the year as the Stingrays finished with the best regular-season record in the league.
During his time as an assistant in Rockford, Nightingale helped the club to 111 wins and three straight appearances in the Calder Cup Playoffs. He has also served as an assistant with Flint and Saginaw in the Ontario Hockey League, the U.S. National Team Development Program, and Omaha in the United States Hockey League.
A native of Jackson, Mich., Nightingale played 11 professional seasons as a defenseman, including 472 games in the AHL with Springfield, Iowa, Chicago, Hartford/Connecticut, Syracuse, Rockford, Grand Rapids, Milwaukee and Norfolk.
