It didn't take long for Jeff Blashill to find a new job.
In a move many saw coming, the former Red Wings head coach has joined the Lightning coaching staff as an assistant under Jon Cooper. Tampa Bay announced the hire Tuesday afternoon.
Blashill, 48, and Cooper, 54, have a long-standing relationship. They coached Team Michigan together at various USA Hockey Festivals some 15 years ago, and Blashill frequently recruited off Cooper's USHL teams when the former was head coach at Western Michigan.
They have been friends ever since.
After Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman dismissed Blashill at the end of last season and replaced him with former Lightning assistant Derek Lalonde -- who's tight with Cooper and Blashill himself -- Cooper replaced Lalonde with Blashill. Yzerman had originally hired Cooper and Lalonde in Tampa as GM of the Lightning.
And around and around it goes.
For Blashill, it's an upgrade inside a downgrade. While he assumes a lesser role behind the bench, he goes from one of the worst teams in the NHL to one of the best. He'll make his return to Little Caesars Arena in December of next season, a couple weeks after Lalonde makes his return to Tampa.
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