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Blashill already has Wings' trust

June 7, 2015, 5:58 PM ET [8 Comments]
Bob Duff
Detroit Red Wings Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Once it’s official, likely later this week, that the Detroit Red Wings have promoted Jeff Blashill from their Grand Rapids AHL farm club to take over as their new head coach, there will be much work for Blashill to do.

One item that won’t be a challenge for him, though, is earning the trust of his players.

The vast majority are already quite familiar with Blashill’s work, and they are also very impressed.

“For me, Blash has been huge,” said Detroit forward Landon Ferraro, who moved up to Detroit late last season and looks to be with the Red Wings to stay after suiting up for all seven of the team’s playoff games.

Ferraro credits Blashill for enabling him to make the transition from prospect to NHLer.

“He’s taken me from a guy that had the tools to get here and get a chance, to someone that’s actually got here,” Ferraro explained.

Like most junior players, Ferraro arrived to the pros with a knack for scoring, but learned quickly from Blashill that if he sought to succeed at hockey’s highest level, it would require that he learn to play a 200-foot game.

“He made it clear that I wasn’t going to make it right away as a scorer, and I’ve got to make sure I’m good defensively.” Ferraro said. “You can be a really good goal scorer in junior but you get into the American League and guys are good.

“Sometimes in junior, you’re going down the wing and you get caught against a 16-year-old defenseman that’s trying to learn.”

Under Blashill’s tutelage, Ferraro learned to excel as a penalty killer and in a checking role, the tasks he performed so effectively for the Wings that earned him a spot in the playoff lineup.

“I made a ton of strides with him working with me the last three years,” Ferraro said. “I owe a lot to him and it’s been good.

“He’s a guy I would pretty much do anything for. I trust him and he’s got the respect of the all the guys in Grand Rapids.”

That’s evident when you talk to others who played for Blashill with the Griffins, a group that includes 16 players who suited up for Detroit last season.

Another who he helped make the grade was right-winger Tomas Jurco. A high-end skill player in junior, Jurco struggled mightily with the transition to the pro game and it was Blashill who helped him figure out how to use his large frame to his advantage.

“I love Blash,” Jurco said. “He just understands the game really well. He’s a really good talker and that’s one of the best things about him. The things that he actually shows you, every time he showed me something it was like ‘You are right. I can do it differently.’

“He just understands it so well. He knows what the players can do a little differently. He’s a really good guy and you can talk to him and he understands you a person.

“A great guy, great coach, and I only have great memories of him.”

Blashill spent the 2011-12 NHL season as an assistant on Mike Babcock’s Red Wings staff, so even veteran Detroit players are familiar with his work.

“The American Hockey League is a great hockey league,” Detroit left-winger Justin Abdelkader said. “It’s a grind in the playoffs down there.

“I think the experience they’ve gotten down there, the job Jeff Blashill has done to prepare those guys for this stage has really shown.”

Those who’ve experienced lengthy tenures under both Blashill and his predecessor Mike Babcock see many common traits in the way the two men operate, another factor that should make the transition easier for the players.

“He’s really, really similar,” Detroit left-winger Tomas Tatar said. “He’s helping the team a lot. I think it’s a really similar school to what we’re doing here.

“It’s a similar system so guys are coming up here really ready. He’s a good talker. He can motivate the players. I feel like the system and how he’s willing to play with the players is really good.

“Players feel like they can talk to him. He’s somebody who they can trust and feel good.”

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