Red Wings Introduce Jeff Blashill As New Head Coach
By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak
DETROIT - As expected, the Detroit Red Wings have named Jeff Blashill their new head coach. Red Wings general manager Ken Holland made the announcement in a press conference Tuesday morning.
Blashill spent the last three seasons as the head coach of the Grand Rapids Griffins, the AHL affiliate of the Red Wings, and the Griffins won the Calder Cup with Blashill in 2013.
BREAKING: The Detroit #RedWings name @JeffBlashill 27th head coach in franchise history. #WelcomeBlashill pic.twitter.com/xMJDQfmnnU
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) June 9, 2015
Blashill has drawn interest from other NHL clubs, but he agreed to a pay raise before the 2014-2015 season in exchange for not speaking with those other teams. When longtime Red Wings coach Mike Babcock decided in late May to leave the Red Wings for the Toronto Maple Leafs, it was believed to be only a matter of time before Blashill took his place.
Holland said in the aftermath of Babcock's departure that his list of names of potential replacements would be short and that Blashill would be the first person with whom he spoke. With Grand Rapids still in the AHL playoffs at the time, the Red Wings elected to wait until the Griffins' run ended to make official the hiring of Blashill.
Before taking over the Griffins, Blashill spent a season as an assistant coach under Babcock.