Blackhawks hire Tampa Bay Lightning assistant Jeff Blashill has head coach
ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO/WQRF) — The Chicago Blackhawks' search for a head coach has ended. General Manager Kyle Davidson confirmed Thursday that Jeff Blashill is the guy.The 51-year-old spent the past three seasons as an assistant coach with the NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning. The Lightning made the playoffs all three seasons.Before joining the Lightning, Blashill was the head coach of the Detroit Red Wings for seven seasons from 2015-2022. During that time the Wings posted a record of 204-261-72. Blashill also spent some time in Rockford when he was the head coach of IceHogs rival Grand Rapids in the AHL. He spent three seasons with the Griffins, and he guided them to the AHL's Calder Cup Championship in 2013. Blashill has also been the head coach of Team USA for the IIHF World Championships three times in 2017, 2018 and 2019. The Blackhawks will hold an introductory press conference with Blashill next Tuesday, May 27.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Boston Globe
7 hours ago
- Boston Globe
Patrice Bergeron and others believe Marco Sturm can do for the Bruins what he did seven years ago for Team Germany
Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up It was engineered by Marco Sturm. Advertisement The newest 'He changed the culture,' recalled Christian Künast, one of Sturm's assistant coaches and now the director of the German Ice Hockey Federation. Describing Sturm as 'the best coach I've ever worked with,' Künast raved from his office in Germany. Advertisement 'Obviously we didn't have too many NHL players at that time. It's still new for us, something special when a German player makes it to the NHL,' Künast said. 'He had so much success, scored goals, everyone knew him in the hockey world in Germany. But his biggest influence was when he started as the national team coach.' The coaching carousel spun Sturm in different directions since then, to being an NHL assistant with the Kings and then the head coach of Los Angeles's AHL affiliate for the past three seasons. It was what Sturm accomplished with Team Germany that feels so applicable to what he faces with these Bruins. Just listen to Künast. 'I remember we lost in the quarterfinals in the 2017 World Championships to Canada at home,' he said. 'We lost, 2-1. The feeling in the dressing room was, 'OK, we made the quarters, everything is great. We lost to Canada, no big deal.' Marco changed that. He was bitter and sour about it. He let everyone know about it. 'It's not good enough. We want to have more. We've got to change our attitude.' ' By the Olympics, Sturm's impact was clear, though not right away. Germany opened by getting thrashed, 5-2, by Finland, surrendering three power-play goals. Matt McIlvane was the assistant coach in charge of the penalty kill, an Illinois native who'd been coaching club hockey in Germany and joined the Olympic staff mere days before they departed for South Korea after another coach had to pull out. Now the head coach of the AHL's San Diego Gulls, McIlvane remembered feeling 'like I couldn't find a corner big enough to climb into, I felt so bad.' Advertisement Sturm stayed the course, trusting McIlvane, trusting his players. A win over Norway in the final group stage game soon followed, and then … a run for the ages. The ninth of 12 seeds in the medal round, Germany soared, beating Switzerland, 2-1, and Sweden, 4-3, both in overtime. Then the real shocker — ' Late in the third, Germany clung to a 3-2 lead. 'And we got a power play,' said McIlvane. 'I remember on the bench, talking, should we put two [defensemen] on the ice? We agreed on that … they ended up pulling their goalie, and with 20 seconds left, they scored a goal, tying the game. Then we took a penalty in overtime, they scored against us four on three. Advertisement 'You won a silver medal, but it feels like you lost the gold. It pains me to talk about it even to this day.' But disappointment eventually wanes, dulled as they arrived home to a massive airport welcoming party, embraced by a jubilant nation. The enormity of what they'd accomplished began to sink in. 'I think in that moment we were just pumped about the medal, but after a few years you realize it,' said NHL veteran and Germany team captain Marcel Goc, now a coach with the club Adler Mannheim. 'You need those moments of success for a team or individuals, like [Edmonton star] Leon Draisaitl is having right now, you get more attention, and more attention brings more players, which is what we need.' Goc, who played with Sturm on the Florida Panthers, laughed as he relayed a message for his former teammate, 'Tell him to continue, keep it going for German players.' Related : For now, that comes second to the Bruins, a franchise in the throes of a necessary reset where the roster needs more firepower — 'I was 20 years old when he came from San Jose,' Bergeron said in a telephone call Friday. 'I was trying to learn from the older guys, he was one of them. He was friendly, took me under his wing in a way, helped me along, always extremely respectful. He was a really great teammate, always there for you.' Advertisement Like the rest of the world, Bergeron later watched in awe as Sturm turned the Olympics on its head. 'I was impressed with their run, definitely, the way they came together and went above expectations,' Bergeron said. 'It was great fun for me to see him behind the bench. It was the first time for me to see his demeanor, the way he was acting, because obviously I don't know him as a coach at all, but going from teammate to friend to seeing him behind the bench was exciting.' Next up, Boston. 'There's a picture, the two of us celebrating together on the bench at the Olympics,' McIlvane said, 'I sent it to Marco with a text saying, 'This is the feeling I get when I see you're the head coach of the Bruins.' ' Tara Sullivan is a Globe columnist. She can be reached at
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Yahoo
Rafael Harvey-Pinard is Back
The Montreal Canadiens have recalled Rafael Harvey-Pinard from Laval. When he was last up with the Canadiens, he averaged 12:38 last season. But now, things have changed and one has to wonder why this is occurring. Some say there are better players in Laval at the moment. Related: Can Rafael Harvey-Pinard Grab a Habs Roster Spot? Pinard hasn't been ripping it up in Laval. He has 11 points in 24 games. He should have much better numbers. On most teams, that's not good enough to get a promotion but my guess is this is just the latest in callups that will get a few games and then on to the next player. Injuries have forced the team into this for now but a trade could cure this problem long-term. Advertisement Let's see how he looks for approximately seven minutes a game. It's hard to have any kind of impact that way. Martin St. Louis has been stingy with minutes for call-ups lately so I'm not expecting anything better. Maybe he will surprise me. In his last five AHL games, he had three assists. He's been shooting a bit more lately so I'm guessing they are looking for some offensive push besides filling the minutes. Pinard did that once upon a time. Emil Heineman will be back in a few weeks and things will settle down at that point. For now, this is what the Canadiens will do to try and fill his spot in the lineup. They have a tough schedule coming up so any tinkering is good.
Yahoo
14 hours ago
- Yahoo
Blackhawks hire Vellucci as an assistant coach under Blashill
CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago Blackhawks have hired Mike Vellucci as an assistant coach for Jeff Blashill's first staff with his new team. The Blackhawks announced the addition of Vellucci on Monday. He joins Michael Peca and Anders Sorensen as Blashill's assistants. Goaltending coach Jimmy Waite, video coach Matt Meacham and assistant video coach Adam Gill round out the staff. Advertisement Vellucci, 58, spent the previous five seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He was an assistant general manager and director of hockey operations for the Carolina Hurricanes from 2014-19. Vellucci also was an assistant coach for the U.S. when it won the world championship last month. Blackhawks forward Frank Nazar and defenseman Alex Vlasic were part of the winning American team. 'Serving as an assistant coach at the world championship this summer and winning a gold medal for our country alongside Frank Nazar and Alex Vlasic will bring such valuable experience to this group," Blashill said in a release. "That kind of championship-caliber background only makes our team better and I'm excited to get to work.' Blashill, 51, took over as Chicago's head coach last month. He spent the last three seasons as an assistant to Jon Cooper with the Tampa Bay Lightning. ___ AP NHL: The Associated Press
