Jeff Blashill

Jeff Blashill
Sport(s) Ice hockey
Current position
Title Assistant coach
Team Detroit Red Wings
Conference National Hockey League
Biographical details
Born December 10, 1973
Place of birth Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan
Playing career
1994–98 Ferris State University
Position(s) Goaltender
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1999–02
2002–08
2008–10
2010–11
2011–present		 Ferris State University (asst)
Miami University (asst)
Indiana Ice
Western Michigan University
Detroit Red Wings (asst)
Head coaching record
Overall 19–13–10 (.571)
Tournaments 0–1 (.000)
Accomplishments and honors
Awards
2011 USCHO Coach of the Year

Jeff Blashill (born December 10, 1973 in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan) is an assistant coach for the National Hockey League's Detroit Red Wings. He previously served as the head coach of the Western Michigan Broncos men's ice hockey team[1] and as the head coach and general manager of the Indiana Ice and was an assistant hockey coach at Ferris State University and Miami University.

Contents

Playing career

Blashill played college hockey as a goaltender at Ferris State University from 1994–1998.[2] He had previously played junior hockey for the Des Moines Buccaneers of the United States Hockey League from 1991–1994.[2]

Coaching career

After his playing career ended, Blashill joined Ferris State as an assistant coach in 1999. He remained there for 3 seasons before joining Miami University as an assistant coach in 2002. In 2008 he was named head coach and general manager of the Indiana Ice, a Tier 1 junior hockey team in the United States Hockey League. In Blashill's first season, the Ice won the Clark Cup for the USHL Championship.[1]

Blashill was named head coach of the Western Michigan Broncos men's ice hockey team on April 6, 2010.[3] In his first season as head coach, Blashill led WMU to a top-four finish in the CCHA, the CCHA Championship game, and the 2011 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, the best season for WMU in 15 years. After the season, he was named USCHO Coach of the Year, Inside College Hockey Coach of the Year, and College Hockey News Coach of the Year.[4][5]

In July 2011, after only one season at Western Michigan, Blashill accepted an assistance coach position for the NHL's Detroit Red Wings.[6]

Personal

Blashill was raised in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, where his father Jim was a professor at Lake Superior State University after a stint as a police officer in Detroit. He has a brother, Tim, who also played and coached college hockey, and who currently coaches high school hockey in Big Rapids, Michigan.[7][8]

References

  1. ^ a b "Broncos Bio". Western Michigan University. http://www.wmubroncos.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4600&ATCLID=204923680. Retrieved 16 June 2011. 
  2. ^ a b "Jeff Blashill stats". hockeydb.com. Archived from the original on 16 June 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/5zUakYOHT. Retrieved 16 June 2011. 
  3. ^ Couch, Graham. "Western Michigan willing to wait for Jeff Blashill: New hockey coach in midst of USHL playoffs". Kalamazoo Gazette. Archived from the original on 16 June 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/5zUaxOrO1. Retrieved 16 June 2011. 
  4. ^ Bodnar, Adam. "Blashill completes hat trick of National Coach of the Year awards". Western Michigan University. Archived from the original on 16 June 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/5zUbBmuNY. Retrieved 16 June 2011. 
  5. ^ Horgan, Candace. "Western Michigan’s Blashill gets USCHO nod as top coach". USCHO.com. Archived from the original on 16 June 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/5zUbKDVvl. Retrieved 16 June 2011. 
  6. ^ "Blashill Resigns For Red Wings Position; Search Begins Immediately". Western Michigan University. http://www.wmubroncos.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4600&ATCLID=205179962. Retrieved 8 July 2011. 
  7. ^ Couch, Graham. "'A force of nature': Jeff Blashill era of Western Michigan hockey about to begin". Kalamazoo Gazette. Archived from the original on 16 June 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/5zUbTEgJH. Retrieved 16 June 2011. 
  8. ^ "Sault native wins National Coach of the Year". eupnews.com. Archived from the original on 16 June 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/5zUbYF3qj. Retrieved 16 June 2011. 

External links