Seravalli: “Considerable friction” exists between Blashill and some of Detroit’s younger players
By Mike Gould
2 years agoDaily Faceoff hockey insider Frank Seravalli commented on the state of the Detroit Red Wings in the wake of their embarrassing 11–2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday’s edition of the DFO Rundown podcast with Jason Gregor and Tyler Yaremchuk.
Asked by Yaremchuk whether the Red Wings would elect to keep Jeff Blashill on as head coach for the rest of the season, Seravalli remarked that “there’s no reason” for the Wings to make a change before the off-season before shedding some more light on the situation inside Detroit’s locker room:
I will say they keep [Jeff Blashill], just because it isn’t that long ago that he signed his last extension. It was, what, last year? Like, I mean, it hasn’t been too long. I’m gonna say they keep him, but I think there’s been some considerable friction there, at least what I’ve heard, between the coach and some of the younger players. Which, I think when you’re a team that’s building toward something — he’s been there a long time, that’s not necessarily the friction you want to have.
Blashill has served as the Red Wings’ head coach since the 2015–16 season. He is currently the second-longest-tenured head coach in the National Hockey League, with only Tampa Bay Lightning bench boss Jon Cooper surpassing Blashill in that regard.
Cooper has won two Stanley Cup championships with the Bolts; Blashill has not coached the Red Wings to the playoffs since his first season after taking over from Mike Babcock. The 48-year-old has a 198–253–70 record in his seven seasons with the Red Wings.
The Red Wings currently rank 24th in the NHL with a 26–32–8 record and, as Yaremchuk mentioned in the broadcast, have allowed nine or more goals on three separate occasions since Feb. 26.
The DFO panel begin discussing the Red Wings’ coaching staff at the 26:10 mark of Episode 115 of the Rundown, which can be streamed wherever you get your podcast fix.
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