The Blackhawks have named former Detroit Red Wings head coach Jeff Blashill the 42nd bench boss in franchise history.
In a statement released by the Blackhawks, general manager Kyle Davidson said:
“Jeff is an incredibly smart and talented coach who boasts more than 25 years of coaching experience across developmental leagues, the NHL and the world stage. He’s thrived when in a position to develop young players and has shown he’s capable of blending that into overall team success, a vision and philosophy we share for where we are today and where we see our team in the future. We couldn’t be more excited for what’s to come under Jeff’s direction.”
Blashill, 51, led the Red Wings for seven seasons, from 2015 to 2022. In that time, he compiled a 204-261-72 record with a rebuilding Detroit squad. After his contract wasn’t renewed after the 2021-22 season, Blashill joined the Tampa Bay Lightning, serving under head coach Jon Cooper.
“The head coach sits there in front of the camera all the time,” Cooper told the Detroit Free Press in 2022, “He’s only as good as the sum of his parts, and you need to have assistants that get it, that contribute, they work hard. To watch what Jeff brings to the table, it has been fantastic for us.”
Blashill played in college as a goalie at Ferris State University, where he’d eventually land his first coaching gig as an assistant in 1998. He then joined Miami University’s staff in a similar role for six seasons. Blashill left the college game to become the head coach and general manager of the Indiana Ice of the USHL before returning to the level as head coach at Western Michigan University.
After one season as a college head coach, Blashill was hired as an assistant under Mike Babcock on the Red Wings’ bench in 2011. The following year, Blashill was named the head coach of the Red Wings’ AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins, where he led the team to their first Calder Cup in club history in 2013. When Babcock left Detroit to become the head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs following the 2015 season, Blashill was hired as the Red Wings’ head coach following a three-week coaching search.
The Blackhawks have not officially announced the rest of Blashill’s staff, but The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta reported that former interim head coach Anders Sorensen will remain with the NHL club as an assistant coach. Pagnotta also said that former NHLer Michael Peca, who most recently served as an assistant coach on Peter Laviolette’s staff with the New York Rangers, would also be joining the Blackhawks’ bench.
This is a developing story.
