The Detroit Red Wings, one of the most historic franchises in the NHL, introducedJeff Blashill Zach Allen Jerseys as the 27th head coach in team history Tuesday.
Kenny Holland makes it official!
Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings)Blashill comes to Detroit after spending the last three seasons as the head coach of the AHLs Grand Rapids Griffins, the Red Wings top minor league affiliate. Before his Kyler Murray T Shirts run in Grand Rapids, Blashill served as an a sistant coach with the Red Wings.
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Blashill has large shoes to fill after for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Babcock had coached the Red Wings since the 2005-06 season and posted a 458-223-105 record and qualified for the postseason in every season on the bench. He led Detroit to back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals in 2008 and 2009, winning the trophy in 2008.
The Red Wings lost in the first round of this seasons playoffs after Justin Pugh Jerseys going 43-25-14 during the regular season.
Blashill was an early favorite to replace Babcock after being considered one of the hottest coaching prospects in hockey. Detroit invested in Blashill last season bydoublinghis salary when he agreed not to talk to other NHL teams about vacant head coaching positions.
"I told Blash that if we werent able to retain Babs than he would be my No. 1 candidate," Red Wings GM James Wiggins Jerseys Ken Holland said at Blashill's introductory pre s conference."I think its a perfect time for Blash to take over this team. We had a fabulous run with Mike Babcock for 10 years and I hope the decision we made here today is going to be one that runs here for a lot of James Conner Jerseys years."
Blashill will certainly face immense pre sure as a first-year NHL head coach for a prestigious franchise that last mi sed the playoffs in 1990, but he said the pre sure he'll put on himself, as a coach and a Michigan native, will outweigh any outside pre sure.
"I grew up an avid Red Wing fan. Its a Zaven Collins Jerseys neat thing to be able to ultimately be a head coach of an organization that was a big part of your life growing up," he said."I cant wait to go to work with this group in the fall and try to win a Stanley Cup."
