Blashill stays within organization to round out six-man coaching staff
Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill is keeping the band together, rounding out his coaching staff with two promotions of his Grand Rapids assistants to complement Wings assistants Tony Granato and Jim Bedard, along with Chris Chelios in an expanded role with the club.
Pat Ferschweiler, 50, and Dave Noel-Bernier, 39, spent last season with Blashill in Grand Rapids on a coaching staff that led the Griffins to one of their most successful seasons in franchise history. Ferschweiler will work behind the bench with Granato. Noel-Bernier will serve as the video coach.
Granato, 50, was hired last year as an assistant to Mike Babcock and interviewed with Toronto after Babcock left Detroit after a decade to become the Maple Leafs head coach. But Granato decided to stay after the Wings offered him a long-term contract. Blashill and General Manager Ken Holland value Granato's credentials as an assistant who also has head-coaching experience in the NHL with Colorado.
"Tony was my No. 1 call, my first priority when I received notice that I would be head coach of the Red Wings," Blashill said today. "From a model staff point of view, I wanted a guy with lots of NHL playing and coaching experience, and Tony obviously fits that.
"More important, I think he's a home run because of the person he is. He's an outstanding person and an outstanding hockey coach. He's earned the respect of so many of the players he's coached. And every one I've talked with has a great affinity for Tony."
Granato will run the defense from behind the bench and work with the team's penalty-killing units.
Chelios, 53, has served as an adviser to hockey operations for the Wings since 2010-11 and has spent time in Grand Rapids mentoring the organization's young defensemen. In his new role as a member of the coaching staff, Chelios will evaluate in-game player performance and offer his insight and observations to Red Wings bench coaches.
"Chris will be our eye in the sky, giving us insight from the press box," Blashill said. "He's done a great job for me the past three years, giving me a player's perspective. He sees the game through the eyes of a player, while I tend to see things through the eyes of a coach.
"And he can lend his unbelievable playing experience to our locker room."
Bedard, 58, is returning for his 19th season coaching the goaltenders in Detroit. A former goaltender himself, Blashill hopes his understanding of the position can help take Jimmy Howard and Petr Mrazek -- both of whom have shown flashes of being an elite goalie in the NHL -- to a more consistent level of excellence.
As video coach, Noel-Bernier, 39, will have expanded duties to including leading pre-scouting efforts to help prepare the Wings for coming opponents, Blashill said.
That all six members of the coaching staff come from within the organization with a strong familiarity with the players should be an advantage, Blashill hopes.
"It certainly helps in the transition," he said. "There's a familiarity there, and while it doesn't guarantee success it helps in terms of the respect level earned from the player to the coach and the coach to the player.
"It should allow us to hit the ground running, and maybe help ease over some of the bumps in the road."
As the first American-born coach in Red Wings history, the Detroit-born Blashill has assembled a decidedly American staff. Four of its six members are American; Granato and Chelios are natives of suburban Chicago and Ferschweiler was born in Rochester, Minnesota. Bedard is from Niagara Falls, Ontario, and Noel-Bernier is from Montmagny, Quebec.
More coincidence than plan, Blashill said.
"I just tried to put together the very best coaching staff that I could, from their talent and experience standpoint," he said. "It just so happens that Chris, Tony and Pat are American guys. . . For me, it means I have some other guys to help cheer on Team USA."
