RED WINGS NAME JEFF BLASHILL HEAD COACH
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday announced that Jeff Blashill has been named the 27th head coach in franchise history, marking the fourth Griffins head coach in 19 seasons to earn a promotion to the National Hockey League.
Blashill, 41, is the first Grand Rapids coach to become the bench boss for Detroit. Born in Detroit and raised in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., he spent one season as an assistant coach with the Red Wings in 2011-12, before being named head coach of the Griffins on June 25, 2012. Blashill becomes the first American-born head coach in Detroit franchise history.
After three of the most successful seasons in Griffins franchise history, Blashill finishes his tenure in Grand Rapids with a cumulative 134-71-12-11 (W-L-OTL-SOL) regular season record along with numerous accolades, including two Midwest Division titles (2013 and 2015), a Western Conference title (2013) and, most prolifically, a Calder Cup (2013).
He follows in the NHL footsteps of former Grand Rapids head coaches Bruce Cassidy (2000-02), Curt Fraser (2008-12) and Guy Charron (1998-00), who earned coaching promotions with the Washington Capitals (head), Dallas Stars (assistant) and Anaheim Ducks (assistant), respectively.
Blashill’s most notable season in Grand Rapids came during his debut campaign in 2012-13, when he led the Griffins to their first championship in 17 seasons. After winning the Midwest Division title with a 42-26-4-4 record (92 pts.), Grand Rapids defeated the Houston Aeros (3-2), Toronto Marlies (4-2) and Oklahoma City Barons (4-3) to earn its first-ever berth in the Calder Cup Finals. The Griffins then upset a powerful Syracuse squad that entered the finals with an 11-1 playoff mark. Grand Rapids claimed the series’ first three games, as well as all three games played at the Onondaga County War Memorial, en route to a 4-2 finals victory.
In 2013-14, Blashill won the Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award as the AHL Coach of the Year after forging a better record (46-23-2-5, 99 pts.) than his Calder Cup-winning season. Despite seeing nine players make their NHL debuts with Detroit, his squad reached the conference semifinals, falling in six games to the eventual cup champion Texas Stars.
This season, Blashill led the Griffins to a 46-22-6-2 regular season record (100 pts.), the most points under his tenure, and became the first coach in franchise history to earn three 90-point campaigns and qualify for the playoffs in three consecutive seasons. In the Western Conference Quarterfinals against Toronto, the Griffins became the 11th team in AHL history to win a best-of-five series after trailing 0-2. It was the second time in Blashill’s career that he accomplished the feat, previously leading his 2010 USHL Indiana Ice to a series victory after trailing by the same margin. Last Tuesday, Grand Rapids was eliminated from the Western Conference Finals in six games by the Utica Comets, concluding the second conference finals appearance for Blashill in his three seasons behind the Griffins’ bench. His playoff series record with Grand Rapids is 7-2.
Excluding players who spent time in Grand Rapids for conditioning, Blashill sent 24 players on to the NHL during his time in Grand Rapids. Fourteen of those players made their NHL debuts after first playing for Blashill (Adam Almquist, Chad Billins, Mitch Callahan, Landon Ferraro, Luke Glendening, Calle Jarnkrok, Tomas Jurco, Brian Lashoff, Alexey Marchenko, Petr Mrazek, Andrej Nestrasil, Xavier Ouellet, Teemu Pulkkinen, and Ryan Sproul) and 10 returned to the NHL (Joakim Andersson, Danny Dekeyser, Patrick Eaves, Cory Emmerton, Tom McCollum, Gustav Nyquist, Riley Sheahan, Brendan Smith, Tomas Tatar, and Jordin Tootoo).
Blashill began his coaching career with four seasons (1998-02) as an assistant at Ferris State University, his alma mater. He also spent six seasons (2002-08) with Miami University, helping the CCHA’s RedHawks qualify for the NCAA Tournament four times while recruiting three Hobey Baker Finalists, four CCHA All-Rookie Team members, 11 first or second team All-CCHA players and six All-Americans.
His head coaching career began with the USHL’s Indiana Ice in 2008-09, when he captured a franchise-record 39 wins and a Clark Cup championship. Blashill compiled a 72-43-5 mark in two seasons as the Ice’s head coach and general manager before departing for Western Michigan in 2010. While in Kalamazoo, Blashill led the Broncos to a 19-13-10 record, doubling the team’s win total from the previous season and leading it to its best conference finish (4th) since 1995-96 before joining the Red Wings’ organization.
| Regular Season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
| Season | Team | League | Position | GP | W | L | T | OTL | SOL | PCT | GP | W | L | PCT |
| 1998-99 | Ferris State | CCHA | Asst. Coach | 36 | 14 | 16 | 6 | -- | -- | 0.472 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 1999-00 | Ferris State | CCHA | Asst. Coach | 39 | 21 | 16 | 2 | -- | -- | 0.564 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 2000-01 | Ferris State | CCHA | Asst. Coach | 39 | 13 | 22 | 4 | -- | -- | 0.385 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 2001-02 | Ferris State | CCHA | Asst. Coach | 36 | 15 | 20 | 1 | -- | -- | 0.431 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 2002-03 | Miami (OH) | CCHA | Asst. Coach | 41 | 21 | 17 | 3 | -- | -- | 0.549 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 2003-04 | Miami (OH) | CCHA | Asst. Coach | 41 | 23 | 14 | 4 | -- | -- | 0.610 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 2004-05 | Miami (OH) | CCHA | Asst. Coach | 38 | 15 | 18 | 5 | -- | -- | 0.461 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 2005-06 | Miami (OH) | CCHA | Asst. Coach | 39 | 26 | 9 | 4 | -- | -- | 0.718 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 2006-07 | Miami (OH) | CCHA | Asst. Coach | 42 | 24 | 14 | 4 | -- | -- | 0.619 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 2007-08 | Miami (OH) | CCHA | Asst. Coach | 42 | 33 | 8 | 1 | -- | -- | 0.798 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 2008-09 | Indiana | USHL | Head Coach | 60 | 39 | 19 | -- | 2 | -- | 0.667 | 13 | 9 | 4 | 0.692 |
| 2009-10 | Indiana | USHL | Head Coach | 60 | 33 | 24 | -- | 3 | -- | 0.575 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 0.444 |
| 2010-11 | Western Michigan | CCHA | Head Coach | 42 | 19 | 13 | 10 | -- | -- | 0.571 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 2011-12 | Detroit | NHL | Asst. Coach | 82 | 48 | 28 | -- | 6 | -- | 0.622 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0.200 |
| 2012-13 | Grand Rapids | AHL | Head Coach | 76 | 42 | 26 | -- | 4 | 4 | 0.605 | 24 | 15 | 9 | 0.625 |
| 2013-14 | Grand Rapids | AHL | Head Coach | 76 | 46 | 23 | -- | 2 | 5 | 0.651 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 0.500 |
| 2014-15 | Grand Rapids | AHL | Head Coach | 76 | 46 | 22 | -- | 6 | 2 | 0.658 | 16 | 9 | 7 | 0.563 |
| GRIFFINS/AHL TOTALS | 228 | 134 | 71 | -- | 12 | 11 | 0.638 | 50 | 29 | 21 | 0.580 | |||
| HEAD COACHING TOTALS | 390 | 225 | 127 | 10 | 17 | 11 | 0.626 | 72 | 42 | 30 | 0.583 | |||
| Regular Season | Playoffs | ||||||||||||
| Head Coach | Tenure | GP | W | L | T | OTL | SOL | PTS | PCT | GP | W | L | PCT |
| Dave Allison | 6/27/96-3/3/98 | 144 | 70 | 55 | -- | -- | 19 | 159 | 0.552 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0.400 |
| Bob McNamara | 3/3/98-7/8/98 | 20 | 8 | 6 | -- | -- | 6 | 22 | 0.550 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0.000 |
| Guy Charron | 7/8/98-6/29/00 | 164 | 85 | 62 | -- | -- | 17 | 187 | 0.570 | 17 | 10 | 7 | 0.588 |
| Bruce Cassidy | 7/17/00-6/25/02 | 162 | 95 | 49 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 208 | 0.642 | 15 | 8 | 7 | 0.533 |
| Danton Cole | 6/26/02-2/10/05 | 208 | 116 | 72 | 16 | 3 | 1 | 252 | 0.606 | 19 | 10 | 9 | 0.526 |
| Greg Ireland | 2/10/05-6/15/07 | 192 | 109 | 65 | -- | 8 | 10 | 236 | 0.615 | 23 | 11 | 12 | 0.478 |
| Mike Stothers | 7/18/07-6/18/08 | 80 | 31 | 41 | -- | 2 | 6 | 70 | 0.438 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Curt Fraser | 7/23/08-6/18/12 | 316 | 146 | 130 | -- | 18 | 22 | 332 | 0.525 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 0.400 |
| Jeff Blashill | 6/25/12-6/9/15 | 228 | 134 | 71 | -- | 12 | 11 | 291 | 0.638 | 50 | 29 | 21 | 0.580 |
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday announced that Jeff Blashill has been named the 27th head coach in franchise history, marking the fourth Griffins head coach in 19 seasons to earn a promotion to the National Hockey League.
Blashill, 41, is the first Grand Rapids coach to become the bench boss for Detroit. Born in Detroit and raised in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., he spent one season as an assistant coach with the Red Wings in 2011-12, before being named head coach of the Griffins on June 25, 2012. Blashill becomes the first American-born head coach in Detroit franchise history.
After three of the most successful seasons in Griffins franchise history, Blashill finishes his tenure in Grand Rapids with a cumulative 134-71-12-11 (W-L-OTL-SOL) regular season record along with numerous accolades, including two Midwest Division titles (2013 and 2015), a Western Conference title (2013) and, most prolifically, a Calder Cup (2013).
He follows in the NHL footsteps of former Grand Rapids head coaches Bruce Cassidy (2000-02), Curt Fraser (2008-12) and Guy Charron (1998-00), who earned coaching promotions with the Washington Capitals (head), Dallas Stars (assistant) and Anaheim Ducks (assistant), respectively.
Blashill’s most notable season in Grand Rapids came during his debut campaign in 2012-13, when he led the Griffins to their first championship in 17 seasons. After winning the Midwest Division title with a 42-26-4-4 record (92 pts.), Grand Rapids defeated the Houston Aeros (3-2), Toronto Marlies (4-2) and Oklahoma City Barons (4-3) to earn its first-ever berth in the Calder Cup Finals. The Griffins then upset a powerful Syracuse squad that entered the finals with an 11-1 playoff mark. Grand Rapids claimed the series’ first three games, as well as all three games played at the Onondaga County War Memorial, en route to a 4-2 finals victory.
In 2013-14, Blashill won the Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award as the AHL Coach of the Year after forging a better record (46-23-2-5, 99 pts.) than his Calder Cup-winning season. Despite seeing nine players make their NHL debuts with Detroit, his squad reached the conference semifinals, falling in six games to the eventual cup champion Texas Stars.
This season, Blashill led the Griffins to a 46-22-6-2 regular season record (100 pts.), the most points under his tenure, and became the first coach in franchise history to earn three 90-point campaigns and qualify for the playoffs in three consecutive seasons. In the Western Conference Quarterfinals against Toronto, the Griffins became the 11th team in AHL history to win a best-of-five series after trailing 0-2. It was the second time in Blashill’s career that he accomplished the feat, previously leading his 2010 USHL Indiana Ice to a series victory after trailing by the same margin. Last Tuesday, Grand Rapids was eliminated from the Western Conference Finals in six games by the Utica Comets, concluding the second conference finals appearance for Blashill in his three seasons behind the Griffins’ bench. His playoff series record with Grand Rapids is 7-2.
Excluding players who spent time in Grand Rapids for conditioning, Blashill sent 24 players on to the NHL during his time in Grand Rapids. Fourteen of those players made their NHL debuts after first playing for Blashill (Adam Almquist, Chad Billins, Mitch Callahan, Landon Ferraro, Luke Glendening, Calle Jarnkrok, Tomas Jurco, Brian Lashoff, Alexey Marchenko, Petr Mrazek, Andrej Nestrasil, Xavier Ouellet, Teemu Pulkkinen, and Ryan Sproul) and 10 returned to the NHL (Joakim Andersson, Danny Dekeyser, Patrick Eaves, Cory Emmerton, Tom McCollum, Gustav Nyquist, Riley Sheahan, Brendan Smith, Tomas Tatar, and Jordin Tootoo).
Blashill began his coaching career with four seasons (1998-02) as an assistant at Ferris State University, his alma mater. He also spent six seasons (2002-08) with Miami University, helping the CCHA’s RedHawks qualify for the NCAA Tournament four times while recruiting three Hobey Baker Finalists, four CCHA All-Rookie Team members, 11 first or second team All-CCHA players and six All-Americans.
His head coaching career began with the USHL’s Indiana Ice in 2008-09, when he captured a franchise-record 39 wins and a Clark Cup championship. Blashill compiled a 72-43-5 mark in two seasons as the Ice’s head coach and general manager before departing for Western Michigan in 2010. While in Kalamazoo, Blashill led the Broncos to a 19-13-10 record, doubling the team’s win total from the previous season and leading it to its best conference finish (4th) since 1995-96 before joining the Red Wings’ organization.
| Regular Season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
| Season | Team | League | Position | GP | W | L | T | OTL | SOL | PCT | GP | W | L | PCT |
| 1998-99 | Ferris State | CCHA | Asst. Coach | 36 | 14 | 16 | 6 | -- | -- | 0.472 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 1999-00 | Ferris State | CCHA | Asst. Coach | 39 | 21 | 16 | 2 | -- | -- | 0.564 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 2000-01 | Ferris State | CCHA | Asst. Coach | 39 | 13 | 22 | 4 | -- | -- | 0.385 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 2001-02 | Ferris State | CCHA | Asst. Coach | 36 | 15 | 20 | 1 | -- | -- | 0.431 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 2002-03 | Miami (OH) | CCHA | Asst. Coach | 41 | 21 | 17 | 3 | -- | -- | 0.549 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 2003-04 | Miami (OH) | CCHA | Asst. Coach | 41 | 23 | 14 | 4 | -- | -- | 0.610 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 2004-05 | Miami (OH) | CCHA | Asst. Coach | 38 | 15 | 18 | 5 | -- | -- | 0.461 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 2005-06 | Miami (OH) | CCHA | Asst. Coach | 39 | 26 | 9 | 4 | -- | -- | 0.718 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 2006-07 | Miami (OH) | CCHA | Asst. Coach | 42 | 24 | 14 | 4 | -- | -- | 0.619 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 2007-08 | Miami (OH) | CCHA | Asst. Coach | 42 | 33 | 8 | 1 | -- | -- | 0.798 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 2008-09 | Indiana | USHL | Head Coach | 60 | 39 | 19 | -- | 2 | -- | 0.667 | 13 | 9 | 4 | 0.692 |
| 2009-10 | Indiana | USHL | Head Coach | 60 | 33 | 24 | -- | 3 | -- | 0.575 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 0.444 |
| 2010-11 | Western Michigan | CCHA | Head Coach | 42 | 19 | 13 | 10 | -- | -- | 0.571 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 2011-12 | Detroit | NHL | Asst. Coach | 82 | 48 | 28 | -- | 6 | -- | 0.622 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0.200 |
| 2012-13 | Grand Rapids | AHL | Head Coach | 76 | 42 | 26 | -- | 4 | 4 | 0.605 | 24 | 15 | 9 | 0.625 |
| 2013-14 | Grand Rapids | AHL | Head Coach | 76 | 46 | 23 | -- | 2 | 5 | 0.651 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 0.500 |
| 2014-15 | Grand Rapids | AHL | Head Coach | 76 | 46 | 22 | -- | 6 | 2 | 0.658 | 16 | 9 | 7 | 0.563 |
| GRIFFINS/AHL TOTALS | 228 | 134 | 71 | -- | 12 | 11 | 0.638 | 50 | 29 | 21 | 0.580 | |||
| HEAD COACHING TOTALS | 390 | 225 | 127 | 10 | 17 | 11 | 0.626 | 72 | 42 | 30 | 0.583 | |||
| Regular Season | Playoffs | ||||||||||||
| Head Coach | Tenure | GP | W | L | T | OTL | SOL | PTS | PCT | GP | W | L | PCT |
| Dave Allison | 6/27/96-3/3/98 | 144 | 70 | 55 | -- | -- | 19 | 159 | 0.552 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0.400 |
| Bob McNamara | 3/3/98-7/8/98 | 20 | 8 | 6 | -- | -- | 6 | 22 | 0.550 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0.000 |
| Guy Charron | 7/8/98-6/29/00 | 164 | 85 | 62 | -- | -- | 17 | 187 | 0.570 | 17 | 10 | 7 | 0.588 |
| Bruce Cassidy | 7/17/00-6/25/02 | 162 | 95 | 49 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 208 | 0.642 | 15 | 8 | 7 | 0.533 |
| Danton Cole | 6/26/02-2/10/05 | 208 | 116 | 72 | 16 | 3 | 1 | 252 | 0.606 | 19 | 10 | 9 | 0.526 |
| Greg Ireland | 2/10/05-6/15/07 | 192 | 109 | 65 | -- | 8 | 10 | 236 | 0.615 | 23 | 11 | 12 | 0.478 |
| Mike Stothers | 7/18/07-6/18/08 | 80 | 31 | 41 | -- | 2 | 6 | 70 | 0.438 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Curt Fraser | 7/23/08-6/18/12 | 316 | 146 | 130 | -- | 18 | 22 | 332 | 0.525 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 0.400 |
| Jeff Blashill | 6/25/12-6/9/15 | 228 | 134 | 71 | -- | 12 | 11 | 291 | 0.638 | 50 | 29 | 21 | 0.580 |