Hockey In June! Griffins Have A New Coach!

The Griffs and the Red Wings made it official today! The new head coach of the AHL team is West Michigan's own Jeff Blashill! The former Red Wings assistant and Western Michigan University coach is the new head man in the Griffins organization! The announcement broke on Twitter today, and was even a trending topic! Go Griffs!

Blashill has won everywhere he has been. A former Ferris State coach, he left to go to the Miami Redhawks also of the CCHA. The Redhawks started their upward climb un Blashill's time in Ohio. Then he went to become the head coach of the Indiana Ice of the USHL. The Ice won the league championship his first year in Indy. Then he turned around the fortunes of the WMU Broncos his only season in Kalamazoo, leading the Bronco's to their first CCHA Tourney Championship game since 1986.

Now Blashill comes to Grand Rapids. Say what you will about the Griffs and being a development team and all, there are 29 other AHL teams in the same boat, and one of them finds the way to win the Calder Cup. The Norfolk Admirals, the AHL Team of the Nashville Predators--the team ahead of the Red Wings all season--found away to the AHL Calder Cup while helping their parent team to playoff success. So it can be done. Blashill might be the coach to train the future Red Wings to play the system AND win Grand Rapids it's first hockey championship. Good Luck Coach!

Here's the MLive.com Story: Red Wings assistant Jeff Blashill named new coach of Grand Rapids Griffins
And the WZZM Story: Red Wings appoint Blashill as new Griffins coach