CHICAGO (AP) — Jeff Blashill was 41 when he replaced Mike Babcock with the Detroit Red Wings in 2015.
A decade later, long after he was dumped by the Red Wings, he has a second chance to prove himself as a head coach in the NHL.
The Chicago Blackhawks think he is ready.
Blashill was introduced Tuesday as the 42nd coach in franchise history, taking over a Blackhawks team looking to transition out of a painful rebuilding project. He brings along extensive experience at multiple levels, from the college ranks to his time with Detroit and the past three seasons as an assistant to Jon Cooper with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The previous four coaches for Chicago — Anders Sorensen, Luke Richardson, Derek King and Jeremy Colliton — had never been a head coach in the NHL when they got the job with the Blackhawks.
“For me, this job at this moment with this team was the exact job that I wanted,” Blashill said.
Blashill is replacing Sorensen, who served as the interim coach after Richardson was fired in December. Sorensen, 50, is staying on as an assistant, and Blashill also is keeping goaltending coach Jimmy Waite. Former NHL forward Michael Peca is joining the organization as an assistant.
“I’ve known Anders for a long, long time,” Blashill said. “I have tons of belief in him as a coach and person. I think he’s a great fit to help guide our young players. He has relationships with a number of guys, which I think is important because it keeps some continuity on the staff.”
Blashill, a 51-year-old Michigan native, coached Detroit to the playoffs in his first season in 2015-16. But that was the high point of his tenure with the franchise.
With the Red Wings going with a youth movement, Blashill finished with a 204-261-72 record in seven seasons in charge. He was let go after the team went 32-40-10 during the 2021-22 season.
“There's certainly times as you go through that that you can over-search for answers, that you can maybe change a system when maybe that's not what needs to be done,” said Blashill, looking back on his time with Detroit. “And sometimes you just have to stay calm, believe in the process and stay the course.”
General manager Kyle Davidson said throughout the team's coaching search that NHL experience wasn't any sort of prerequisite. But the way Blashill talked about his Red Wings tenure during the interview process strengthened his case for the Blackhawks job.
“Getting in the room and learning about him and learning how he was going to approach this job I think that time in Detroit as an NHL head coach certainly set him up for approaching this a different way,” Davidson said.
Blashill, a former college goaltender for Ferris State, faces a daunting task with a Chicago team that might be further along with its rebuild than what he had in Detroit, but still has a long way to go.
The Blackhawks went 25-46-11 this past season, finishing last in the Central Division and No. 31 overall in the NHL for the second straight season. The team has made just one postseason appearance since 2017, and that was the expanded playoff format after the 2020 season was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Artyom Levshunov, Colton Dach, Sam Rinzel, Oliver Moore and Ryan Greene each made their NHL debut this past season, ramping up hope for the future. Connor Bedard, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 draft, is going into his third season, and the continued development of the 19-year-old center might be the most important task for the team's new coach.
“First of all, I think Connor’s going to get to another level,” Blashill said. “I don’t think there’s any question because, like other superstars in this league, he has the drive and want to be the very, very best he can be. There’s zero doubt of the ability that he has. ... Working toward Connor’s strengths will be important.”
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Jay Cohen, The Associated Press
