Jeff Blashill

Jeff Blashill
Sport(s) Ice hockey
Current position
Title Head Coach
Team Grand Rapids Griffins
Conference American Hockey League
Biographical details
Born December 10, 1973
Sault Ste. Marie, MI, USA
Playing career
1994–98 Ferris State
Position(s) Goaltender
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1999–02
2002–08
2008–10
2010–11
2011–12
2012–present		 Ferris State (asst)
Miami (OH) (asst)
Indiana Ice
Western Michigan
Detroit Red Wings (asst)
Grand Rapids Griffins
Accomplishments and honors

Championships

Awards

2011 USCHO Coach of the Year
2014 AHL Coach of the Year

Jeff Blashill (born December 10, 1973) is an American ice hockey head coach of the Grand Rapids Griffins of the American Hockey League (AHL). Blashill previously served as assistant coach for the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League (NHL), 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.

Playing career

Blashill played college hockey as a goaltender at Ferris State University from 1994–1998[2] He earned team Rookie of the Year honors in 1994 and was named to the CCHA All-Academic team in 1997.[3] Blashill 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.[4] 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.[5][6]

In July 2011, after only one season at Western Michigan, Blashill accepted an assistant coach position for the NHL's Detroit Red Wings under head coach Mike Babcock.[7]

On June 25, 2012, it was announced that Blashill will become the head coach of the Grand Rapids Griffins, the top minor league affiliate of the Red Wings. He replaced Curt Fraser, who had accepted an assistant coaching position with the Dallas Stars of the NHL.[8] Blashill was replaced on the Red Wings staff by NHL veteran assistant Tom Renney.[9]

On June 18, 2013, the Griffins under Blashill won the Calder Cup as American Hockey League champions for the first time in club history.[10][11]

Blashill was awarded the Louis A. R. Pieri Memorial Award as the AHL's most outstanding coach for the 2013–14 AHL season. In two seasons as head coach, Blashill has guided the Griffins to a combined 88–48–2–12 record that includes winning the Calder Cup championship in 2013. The Griffins have posted three separate seven-game winning streaks while never losing more than two consecutive games in regulation.[12]

On June 4, 2014, it was announced Blashill had agreed to a new three-year contract, though the 2016–17 season.[13]

With a win over the Rockford IceHogs on April 1, 2015, Blashill became the first coach in franchise history to post three 40-win seasons, and three 90-point seasons.[14]

International

Blashill has also been a member of Team USA's coaching staff three times in international competition, at the 2006 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament, the 2009 World Junior A Challenge, and the 2009 IIHF World Junior Championship.[15]

Personal life

Blashill was raised in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, where his father Jim was a professor at nearby Lake Superior State University. Jim had originally worked as a police officer in Detroit and served as a professor of criminal justice at LSSU for over 30 years. Jeff's brother, Tim Blashill, also played and coached college hockey. Tim currently coaches high school hockey in Big Rapids, Michigan and also serves as program coordinator for Ferris State's Ewigleben Arena.[16][17][18] Blashill and his wife, Erica, live in East Grand Rapids with their three children, Teddy, Josie and Owen.[15]

Head coaching record

Team League Year G W L T OTL Result
Indiana USHL 2008–09 60 39 19 0 2 Clark Cup champions
Indiana USHL 2009–10 60 33 24 0 3 Lost in semifinals
Western Michigan CCHA 2010–11 42 19 13 10 0 NCAA Tournament first round
Grand Rapids AHL 2012–13 76 42 26 0 8 Calder Cup champions
Grand Rapids AHL 2013–14 76 46 23 0 7 Lost in semifinals
Career totals 5 seasons 314 179 105 10 20

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Broncos Bio". Western Michigan University. Retrieved June 16, 2011.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Jeff Blashill stats". hockeydb.com. Archived from the original on June 16, 2011. Retrieved June 16, 2011.
  3. ↑ "Official site of the Grand Rapids Griffins: Front Office". Griffinshockey.com. June 25, 2012. Retrieved February 25, 2014.
  4. ↑ 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 June 16, 2011. Retrieved June 16, 2011.
  5. ↑ Bodnar, Adam. "Blashill completes hat trick of National Coach of the Year awards". Western Michigan University. Archived from the original on June 16, 2011. Retrieved June 16, 2011.
  6. ↑ Horgan, Candace. "Western Michigan's Blashill gets USCHO nod as top coach". USCHO.com. Archived from the original on June 16, 2011. Retrieved June 16, 2011.
  7. ↑ "Blashill Resigns For Red Wings Position; Search Begins Immediately". Western Michigan University. Retrieved July 8, 2011.
  8. ↑ Steve Amorose FOX 17 Sports (June 25, 2012). "Griffins New Head Coach: Jeff Blashill Named the New Grand Rapids Griffins Head Coach". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved February 25, 2014.
  9. ↑ "Wings tab Renney as associate coach - Detroit Red Wings - News". Redwings.nhl.com. Retrieved February 25, 2014.
  10. ↑ "Grand Rapids Griffins win the Calder Cup thanks to late goal by Brennan Evans". MLive.com. Retrieved February 25, 2014.
  11. ↑ "Calder Cup Finals: Grand Rapids Griffins hold off Syracuse, win first AHL crown". SBNation.com. Retrieved February 25, 2014.
  12. ↑ Roose, Bill (April 15, 2014). "Blashill earns coach of the year award". Detroit Red Wings. Retrieved April 15, 2014.
  13. ↑ Roose, Bill (June 4, 2014). "Wings give Blashill new 3-year contract". Detroit Red Wings. Retrieved June 4, 2014.
  14. ↑ Wallner, Peter (March 31, 2015). "Coach Jeff Blashill rewriting the record book". MLive. Retrieved April 1, 2015.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 "Jeff Blashill Bio". Grand Rapids Griffins. Retrieved June 4, 2014.
  16. ↑ Couch, Graham. "'A force of nature': Jeff Blashill era of Western Michigan hockey about to begin". Kalamazoo Gazette. Archived from the original on June 16, 2011. Retrieved June 16, 2011.
  17. ↑ "Sault native wins National Coach of the Year". eupnews.com. Archived from the original on June 16, 2011. Retrieved June 16, 2011.
  18. ↑ Tim Blashill. "Tim Blashill". Ferris State Bulldogs. Retrieved February 25, 2014.

External links