Detroit Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill indicated he didn’t want to wait long to fill the first of the vacancies on his staff and he wasn’t kidding.
Monday – one day after assistant coach Pat Ferschweiler was reassigned and goaltender coach Jim Bedard was let go – the Wings hired former Detroit defenseman Doug Houda as an assistant coach.
Houda, recently dropped from the staff of the Boston Bruins, will serve as Detroit’s penalty killing coach and defensive coach.
“I thought in the interview process his knowledge was very deep,… Blashill said of Houda. “He talked lots about penalty kill certainly, which he will oversee and I thought his knowledge on penalty kill was very deep.
“He’s run the penalty kill for Boston for a number of years. He’s used different types of systems to success in different years, depending upon personnel.
“Overall he was very impressive in both his approach and in his knowledge as a coach.…
Perhaps the most challenging role facing Houda will be in improving the game of Detroit’s defensemen, who as a group left much to be desired on many nights during the 2015-16 season.
“I think there are two main areas where I think our D need to grow and be better,… Blashill said. “The two areas I would say are one, our puck management from our defense corps has to be better. Now that’s a team thing a lot of times that has to do with the availability of the forwards. It has to do with the talking component, but that’s one area.
“And another area is stick-on-puck defense. I think we have a number of defenders who can improve in that area, stick on puck and making sure that our sticks aren’t in the air - that our sticks are on puck.
“I think it’s a stick-on-puck league in terms of defending now in the National Hockey League. That’s an area that Doug has said to me he’s hyper critical about, it’s extremely important to him.…
Ferschweiler’s reassignment from the bench to press box eye in the sky duties on game night next season was caused for two reasons. Blashill felt that the team was understaffed on the bench during games because assistant coach Tony Granato, who left to take the head coaching position with the NCAA Wisconsin Badgers, was the only one of the three on the bench with any NHL experience in their current position.
Blashill also wants to capitalize more on Ferschweiler’s skill as a teacher.
“One of Pat Ferschweiler’s greatest strengths is his skill development aspect of his coaching,… Blashill explained. “He was in charge of player development for me at Western Michigan and in Grand Rapids and that is going to be a significant part of his role moving forward, is to create a systematic approach tailor made to each player to develop each player to the best of his abilities - not just our young players but the majority of our players.
“I think we all need to get a little bit better in order for us to have the success we want.…
Ferschweiler’s replacement on the bench and also as the coach who will oversee Detroit’s often dormant power play is going to be someone with NHL coaching experience, preferably as a head coach.
“The idea of adding another bench coach was because I wanted to add some more NHL experience to our bench,… Blashill said. “The next person that I hire I’d like to have lots of NHL experience. I’d love to have somebody that’s been an NHL head coach, although that’s not a must.
“It’s something that I’d like to have.…
Blashill spoke highly of Bedard but also suggested that he felt the time for a change in goaltending coaches was due. Certainly both Jimmy Howard and Petr Mrazek endure their struggles during the season, just as Howard did in the final months of the 2014-15 campaign.
“Jim Bedard is a great person,… Blashill said. “He’s had a great run here in Detroit. He was somebody who I felt helped me through my first year in Detroit. I certainly owe him a lot of thanks for that.
“I think there’s times where certain moves are needed and we just felt that this was the right time.…
Blashill already has an eye on Bedard’s replacement – Grand Rapids goalie coach Jeff Salajko, who worked with Mrazek in the AHL.
“I would say right now Jeff Salajko, our goaltending coach in Grand Rapids is certainly a leading candidate,… Blashill said. “I’ve got a number of other good candidates that have contacted me. We’re going to go through the process, first with Jeff and then we’ll move forward if needed.
“I don’t want to term it close or not close.…
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