Jeff Blashill to Red Wings: Latest Contract Details, Comments and Reaction

The Detroit Red Wings announced Jeff Blashil as their head coach on Tuesday: 

Blashill, 41, has been the head coach of the AHL's Grand Rapids Griffins for the last three seasons. He led them to a Calder Cup championship in 2012-13 and a conference finals berth this past season. Overall, the Griffins were 134-71-23 during his tenure.

Blashill will be taking over for Mike Babcock, who left for Toronto this offseason after a decade-long run on Detroit's bench. Babcock was one of Blashill's mentors, as he served as an assistant under the Detroit coach in 2011-12. He's also had a hand in developing a number of the Red Wings' high-profile young talents.

“I love Blash,” Detroit forward Tomas Jurco said, per Bob Duff of the Windsor Star. “He just understands the game really well. He’s a really good guy and you can talk to him and he understands you as a person.”

The Red Wings went 43-25-14 under Babcock in 2014-15. With one of his proteges taking over, the transition should be nearly seamless as Detroit looks to make the playoffs for the 25th straight season in 2015-16.

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