Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Red Wings Promote Blashill

Ferris State grad becomes third former NCAA coach in one month to earn NHL head coaching position.

Red Wings Promote Blashill
Jeff Blashill spoke at a College Hockey Inc. Summit in Michigan last August (Photo by Michael Caples, MiHockey).

The Detroit Red Wings named Ferris State graduate and former Western Michigan head coach Jeff Blashill their head coach Tuesday, making him the third former NCAA coach to ascend to an NHL head coaching job in the last month.

Coming on the heels of the hirings of Dave Hakstol (Philadelphia) and John Hynes (New Jersey), Blashill becomes the 14th NHL head coach all-time to join those ranks with NCAA coaching experience.

“I came up through the college ranks and I take great pride in that,” he said during his introductory press conference. “I’m standing here today and I know lots of other guys in college who will be in my shoes at some point.”

Blashill began his coaching career at his alma mater under head coach Bob Daniels before moving to Miami as an assistant coach with Enrico Blasi. From there he became the head coach of the USHL’s Indiana Ice prior to a one-year stint as head coach at Western Michigan in 2010-11.

At Western, Blashill led a Broncos team that had been 8-20-8 the year before to the NCAA Tournament with a 19-13-10 record.

That season drew the attention of the Red Wings, who initially hired Blashill as an assistant coach under Mike Babcock. From there he took over the head coaching job with the AHL Grand Rapids Griffins prior to Tuesday’s promotion.

Blashill has remained a strong supporter of college hockey, and just last August spoke to a group of 70 prospective players about the college path at a College Hockey Inc. summit.

“The player dictates the player’s success, not the route,” he told Michigan Hockey magazine at the event. “It can be murky waters to work through for the families and the players and if I can help shed any light on that I was certainly happy to do that.”