Just a few weeks after Mike Babcock left Detroit to take the job behind the bench in Toronto, the Red Wings announced on Tuesday that Jeff Blashill will be taking his place. Blashill has been coaching the Red Wings’ AHL affiliate the last three years and has had a lot of success in winning, as well as developing the young stars on the current Wings roster.

“This is one of the most coveted jobs, I feel fortunate to be sitting here,” Blashill said during his introductory press conference this morning.

The move from Babs to Blash was all but obvious after Babcock left the team. Blashill is essentially a spitting image of Babcock. There are a lot of similarities in the way both men approach coaching the game.  Blashill is known as a players’ coach and has chemistry with a lot of his players both in Grand Rapids and Detroit.

General manager Ken Holland stresses loyalty above all else when it comes to hiring. Before taking over as the head coach of the Griffins, Blashill was an assistant coach under Babcock during the 2011-2012 season. Having that season under his belt, as well as coaching the Griffins, gives Blashill a lot of familiarity with the Red Wings organization.

This is Blashill’s first NHL head coaching job, but do not worry Red Wings fans. Yes, there may be a few speed bumps along the way. It may take Blashill some time to become comfortable coaching at such an elite level. But the truth of the matter is, this is the best direction the Red Wings could have went in. They hired a man who knows their players and their organization better than anyone else they could have hired. They hired a man who could possibly be a key piece in bringing free agents to Detroit, a place that a lot of free agents didn’t want to come to under Babcock.

Blashill says the current Red Wings roster “oozes character,” led by Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg and Niklas Kronwall.

“I can’t wait to go to work with this group in the fall and try to win a Stanley Cup,” he said.