Detroit native joins organization following three seasons as assistant coach for Tampa Bay Lightning
Chicago Blackhawks General Manager Kyle Davidson announced today that Jeff Blashill has been named the 42nd head coach in franchise history. Blashill joins the organization after spending the previous three seasons as an assistant coach for the Tampa Bay Lightning.
“Jeff is an incredibly smart and talented coach who boasts more than 25 years of coaching experience across developmental leagues, the NHL and the world stage,” Davidson said. “He’s thrived when in a position to develop young players and has shown he’s capable of blending that into overall team success, a vision and philosophy we share for where we are today and where we see our team in the future. We couldn’t be more excited for what’s to come under Jeff’s direction.”
During his tenure behind the Tampa Bay bench, Blashill, 51, helped the team earn a record of 138-86-22, qualifying for the Stanley Cup Playoffs in each of his three seasons with the club. Prior to his time with the Lightning, Blashill served as head coach of the Detroit Red Wings for seven seasons from 2015-22. Under his guidance, the Red Wings logged a record of 204-261-72 in his 537 games as head coach with the franchise. In his first season as bench boss in 2015-16, Blashill led Detroit to a 41-30-11 record and a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. His .567 points percentage that season marked the sixth-highest in Red Wings history for a first-year head coach, while it marked the team’s 25th consecutive season qualifying for the Stanley Cup Playoffs which is the third-longest such streak in NHL history. Blashill departed the Red Wings ranked fifth in franchise history in games coached (537) and sixth in wins (204).
The native of Detroit, Mich., originally joined the Red Wings organization as an assistant coach ahead of the 2011-12 season, a position he held for just one season before being named head coach of the Grand Rapids Griffins, Detroit’s American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate. Blashill earned a regular-season record of 134-71-12-11 in his three seasons as head coach of the Griffins, qualifying for the Calder Cup Playoffs in each to become the first head coach in Grand Rapids history to reach the postseason in three consecutive seasons. He finished with a 29-21 postseason AHL record, winning seven of nine career postseason series and leading the Griffins to its first Calder Cup championship in franchise history in 2013. Additionally, Blashill won the 2013-14 Louis A. R. Pieri Memorial Award as the AHL’s most outstanding coach and was named a head coach for the 2014 AHL All-Star Classic.
On the international stage, Blashill served as head coach of Team USA three times at the IIHF World Championships (2017, 2018, 2019), guiding the team to a bronze medal in 2018. He also worked as an assistant coach at both the 2022 IIHF World Championship as well as the 2009 World Junior Championship.
Blashill began his coaching career in 1998-99 as an assistant coach with his alma mater, Ferris State University, where he played for four seasons as a goaltender, before serving in the same role with Miami University for six seasons from 2002-08. He then took on a dual role as head coach and general manager of the Indiana Ice of the United States Hockey League (USHL) for two seasons from 2008-10, securing a Clark Cup championship in 2009. Blashill would return to the collegiate ranks for one season as head coach of Western Michigan University in 2010-11 before joining the Red Wings in July 2011.
Blashill and his wife, Erica, have three children: Teddy, Josie and Owen.

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