BREAKING: Chicago Blackhawks Name Jeff Blashill New Head Coach

The Chicago Blackhawks have hired Jeff Blashill as the 42^nd head coach in franchise history. General manager Kyle Davidson kept his coaching search under wraps until last week, when reports of Blashill being a serious candidate started to come out. Today, the team made the hiring official.

Blashill spent seven seasons as head coach of the Detroit Red Wings, compiling a 204-261-72 record for a .447 points percentage. Those who covered the team in that timeframe all say Blashill was put in a position to fail. After making the Stanley Cup Playoffs in his first season, the Red Wings went into rebuild mode, and he never had another truly competitive roster to work with.

Related – What the Blackhawks See in Jeff Blashill

Wins and losses aside, Blashill has a good reputation for working with young players, which the Blackhawks need. Before landing in Detroit, he coached in the NCAA and won championships in the USHL and AHL. He spent the last three seasons as an assistant coach on Jon Cooper’s Tampa Bay Lightning staff. Learning from one of the best coaches in the game while observing the habits of world-class players will only help him in his second NHL stint.

“Jeff is an incredibly smart and talented coach who boasts more than 25 years of coaching experience across developmental leagues, the NHL, and the world stage,” Davidson said in a team statement. “He’s thrived when in a position to develop young players and has shown he’s capable of blending that into overall team success, a vision and philosophy we share for where we are today and where we see our team in the future. We couldn’t be more excited for what’s to come under Jeff’s direction.”