Boston Uprising Part Ways With General Manager HuK

Overwatch League franchise Boston Uprising announced the departure of its longtime general manager, Chris “HuK” Loranger. The unprecedented management change comes in the middle of the 2022 OWL season and marks a huge step for the OWL squad.

Boston Uprising announced the departure of HuK on Monday, June 27, in one of the most significant esports news pieces of the 2022 Overwatch League season. The decision came out of the blue, surprising many Boston Uprising supporters and fans of the league, leaving many wondering what Uprising’s plans for the future are.

“Effective today the Boston Uprising have decided to part ways with President & General Manager Chris “HuK” Loranger. Chris has been the face of Boston Upsiring since inception, and we are grateful for his contributions to the team,” read the announcement.

“While this was a difficult decision, the Boston Uprising and Oxygen Esports gold competitive viability as our north star and believe this change is the best for the long-term direction of the organization. We wish Chris the best in his future endeavours.”

Even though Boston Uprising have not specified why HuK was let go from the organization, the announcement explained that the Uprising did not believe they’ll manage to achieve the set goals with HuK in charge. So instead, the organization will continue with Vytis “Mineral” Lasaitis.

Mineral, who served as an assistant general manager, will operate as interim GM going forward, while Uprising looks to “readdress” its roster and “build for the future.”

HuK has been general manager and “president of gaming” at Uprising since the inception of the team in 2017. As a former StarCraft II professional player and commentator, he has quickly found his place in his new position and is widely regarded as one of the most impactful figures in the esports scene.

With HuK in charge, Boston Uprising went through many iterations of its OWL roster during the five years. Moreover, the team has also achieved a lot of success but has also had plenty of heartbreaks along the way.

In the inaugural OWL season, Boston Uprising placed second in Stage 3 Title Matches, third in the regular season, and ended the league in fifth-sixth place. However, despite their strong performance in 2018, the Uprising fell apart in 2019, when they ended the season in 19th place.

2020 was a season of rebuilding as Boston Uprising entered the third OWL year with a new roster, which didn’t earn them much success, with the team finishing the North American Playoffs in ninth-11th place.

In 2021, things did not change much for the Boston squad, albeit the team did show some improvement. It wasn’t enough to win the title, as Boston Uprising cashed out from the OWL 2021 Play-In West in last (6th) place.

Boston Uprising entered the 2022 OWL season with a changed roster, featuring five new faces, in a bid to re-emerge as one of the league’s top teams. However, the team has yet to achieve its goals.

During Kickoff Clash, Boston Uprising placed 10th in the qualifiers (2-4) and missed out on the playoffs. Unfortunately, things have not improved by much in the Midseason Madness either, seeing how Boston Uprising are 3-6 after nine rounds and are on the verge of missing another tournament.

So far, they’ve lost against Atlanta Reign and San Fransisco Shock but have picked up a victory against Paris Eternal. However, the Boston Uprising still have three more games left to be played – against Florida Mayhem, Houston Outlaws, and New York Excelsior, giving them more than enough chances to qualify for the main event.

However, failure to qualify will likely lead to roster changes within the team as Boston Uprising looks to turn a new leaf in what has been a fairly disappointing run since the inaugural OWL season.