Jeff Blashill has been employed as coach of the Chicago Blackhawks, it was introduced Thursday.
The veteran bench boss steps in to interchange interim coach Anders Sorenson, who was promoted after the Blackhawks fired Luke Richardson early within the 2024-25 season. Sorenson was regarded as a candidate for the everlasting position, and Chicago had additionally proven curiosity in College of Denver coach David Carle.
The Blackhawks finally landed on Blashill to be the forty second head coach in franchise historical past. Blashill, 51, most lately spent three seasons as an assistant coach on Jon Cooper’s employees with the Tampa Bay Lightning. He beforehand changed Mike Babcock to tackle his first NHL head teaching job with the Detroit Pink Wings from 2015 to ’22, trying to information Detroit by a prolonged rebuilding course of.
After reaching the playoffs in his first 12 months with the Pink Wings, Blashill’s groups by no means improved past fifth within the division and, after six consecutive seasons outdoors the playoff discipline, he was fired following the 2021-22 marketing campaign. He left the Pink Wings with a 204-261-72 file.
Blashill now joins one other group deep right into a rebuilding course of, offering expertise that Chicago has been missing. The Blackhawks have churned by 4 totally different first-year NHL head coaches — Jeremy Colliton, Derek King, Richardson and Sorenson — since Joel Quenneville’s departure in 2018, and now they’ve focused a brand new voice with a developmental background.
Blashill has labored within the NCAA, USHL and AHL all through his profession. His time spent underneath Cooper — the NHL’s longest-tenured head coach — is one other asset.
“Jeff is an extremely sensible and gifted coach who boasts greater than 25 years of teaching expertise throughout developmental leagues, the NHL and the world stage,” normal supervisor Kyle Davidson stated in a press release. “He is thrived when able to develop younger gamers and has proven he is able to mixing that into total workforce success, a imaginative and prescient and philosophy we share for the place we’re right this moment and the place we see our workforce sooner or later. We could not be extra excited for what’s to return underneath Jeff’s course.”
The Blackhawks have not been to the postseason since 2017, however they did not start their retooling in earnest till the 2021-22 season. Davidson has been on the helm of Chicago’s rebuild since October 2021 and stays within the thick of it, as Chicago has completed thirty first total within the league standings the previous two seasons. The Blackhawks have centered on rising by the NHL draft, and chosen phenom Connor Bedard first total in 2023.
