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Ex-Detroit Red Wings head coach Jeff Blashill thrown under the bus by former player
Photo credit: AP News
Ex-Red Wings head coach Jeff Blashill was thrown under the bus by a frustrated former player who played under him with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The Red Wings hired former Grand Rapids Griffins head coach Jeff Blashill as the official replacement for Mike Babcock when he departed in 2015 to take a record contract as head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
While Blashill helped the Red Wings to a 25th consecutive postseason appearance that year, things began to go considerably downhill after that as Detroit entered the 1st stages of a painful rebuild, which they are still in today.
After another losing season, the Red Wings parted ways with Blashill in 2022 and hired Tampa Bay Lightning assistant Derek Lalonde in his place. Blashill was then hired by the Lightning, who are coached by his friend Jon Cooper.
Blashill spent 3 years with the Lightning as an assistant before being hired as the next head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks this summer. But one former Lightning player is speaking out against Blashill for what he felt was a needless implementation of a new playing system.
Former Lightning defenseman Mikael Sergachev, who is now with the Utah Mammoth, blasted Blashill for changing the defensive system that Tampa Bay had employed during each of their 3 straight trips to the Stanley Cup Final.
And then we changed our system. The coach from Detroit came in, and I mean we had gone to 3 straight Finals, and this guy comes in and says, 'We're not playing like that anymore, we're playing like f***ing Vegas.' And we're all like, 'Why?' And he goes, 'They have a better system, it'll work for us.'
Well it didn't work for me, it didn't work for anyone. Everyone ended up with a negative plus/minus.
Well it didn't work for me, it didn't work for anyone. Everyone ended up with a negative plus/minus.
Blashill now has a difficult task ahead of him, as he takes over a rebuilding Blackhawks team that has been among the worst clubs in the NHL over the last several years.
| POLL | ||
JUILLET 11 | 171 ANSWERS Ex-Detroit Red Wings head coach Jeff Blashill thrown under the bus by former player Did the Red Wings make a mistake by letting go of Jeff Blashill in 2022? | ||
| Yes | 17 | 9.9 % |
| No | 154 | 90.1 % |
| List of polls | ||
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