Jeff Blashill has been here before, trying to fix a floundering team as critics call for his job. A slew of embarrassing losses for the Red Wings has put their head coach on the hot seat. But Blashill isn't focused on saving his future so much as salvaging the present.
In the end, the two go hand in hand.
"In this business, you never know your future," Blashill said Wednesday as the Red Wings try to flush an 11-2 loss to the Penguins from their system. "That never changes at any point. I've always said, your contract status just gives you financial security. The reality is, we're in the highest level of sports so certainly you understand you have to get the job done."
The job, at its core, is winning games. But the demands are different for Blashill, who's been guiding the Red Wings through a rebuild for the bulk of his seven-year tenure. Progress is measured in the development of young players and the larger growth of the team. Several young players have taken a step forward this season for the Wings. The team has not.
What does that mean for the coach? Blashill signed a reported two-year extension with the Red Wings after last season, in large part because of the way the team finished. Despite being buried in the standings and missing several key players, Detroit stiffened up defensively and played at a near-playoff pace (9-7-6) down the stretch to quiet questions about Blashill's future.
The questions are back, louder than ever. Steve Yzerman didn't exactly hush them last week when he declined to comment on Blashill's future, perhaps commenting all the same. It feels like Blashill is on thinner ice than at any point in his tenure, over which time the Red Wings have the second most losses in the NHL. But with 16 games to go this season, starting Wednesday against the Rangers, Blashill doesn't have time to fret about his job.
"I’ve been at this seven years and I’ve gone through lots of ups and downs," he said. "What you learn over time is to focus on what you can control, and that’s trying to get our ship back in a better direction. So while I understand the questions on that, it’s not at all what my focus is. And honestly, the work and effort that it takes to get this thing back on track is so immense that you can’t waste time on things that are really out of your control."
Related
Yzerman retained Blashill after last season for two reasons. One, he thought the team was "collectively competitive and played hard," which he took as a sign that the coaching staff had "the respect of the players." And two, he felt Blashill demonstrated the proper "patience" in "transitioning our younger players into the lineup."
"And as we’re rebuilding," said Yzerman, "I think it’s important to have a coach that has a calmness and a willingness to allow these younger players to go through some of the growing pains of playing in the NHL."
The pains have intensified in the past month, with little growth to show for it. The Red Wings have given up so many goals in so many routs that they all blend together, a recurring nightmare of flashing red lights and goalies skating back and forth to the bench. In the wake of Sunday's debacle, which marked the first time in the NHL's salary-cap era that a team allowed more than 10 goals in a game, Blashill said "you’re embarrassed, you’re frustrated, you’re mad, you’re upset."
"You’re all those things coming off the game, but you gotta collect yourself, both individually and as a team," he said. "And it’s one of the things we spoke about (Tuesday): let’s get ourselves right. Let’s get ourselves back to playing good hockey."
Good hockey, by Blashill's simplest definition, means smart hockey -- which means defending first. In several games this season, especially of late, the Red Wings haven't defended at all. For Blashill to make it to next season, that will have to change down the stretch. So will the team's sense of resolve; its will has faded after a competitive first half.
"No one’s going to feel sorry for you in this league," Blashill said. "We have to pick ourselves up and get back to playing with that fight and energy."
Coming out of the All-Star break, the Red Wings were within striking distance of a playoff spot. Blashill said they had hopes of making a push, and falling out of the race has "crushed us mentally a little bit." Their response over the next month may determine whether Blashill is the coach pushing them into the future.
"Anybody that’s gone through something where you have high hopes and you get disappointed, it affects you. Unfortunately we have let it affect us too much," Blashill said. "We haven’t been able to climb our way out of it quick enough. It doesn’t mean we can’t, we have lots of season left here, but we have to start getting back to playing better hockey."