Jeff Blashill (right) is Mike Babcock's replacement behind the Detroit Red Wings bench. (USATSI)
Jeff Blashill (right) is Mike Babcock's replacement behind the Detroit Red Wings Bench. (USATSI)

The Detroit Red Wings made it official on Tuesday morning and introduced Jeff Blashill as their newest head coach.

He replaces long-time coach Mike Babcock whose contract expired after the 2014-15 season. He recently signed a record-breaking contract to coach the Toronto Maple Leafs. 

Blashill being Babcock's replacement has been the worst kept secret in hockey over the past couple of weeks as it's been assumed from the very beginning that he would be next in line for the Red Wings' job. 

Before joining the Red Wings organization in 2011 as an assistant coach in the NHL under Babcock, Blashill was the coach of the Western Michigan University hockey team for one season, which also happened to be one of the best seasons in the program's existence, reaching the NCAA hockey tournament. After spending one year on the Red Wings' bench, Blashill was hired as the head coach of the team's AHL affiliate in Grand Rapids where he would lead the team to the 2013 Calder Cup Trophy. During his three seasons behind the Griffins' bench they compiled a 130-71-12 record and never won fewer than 42 games. 

This will be Blashill's first head coaching job in the NHL, but he has plenty of experience with several members of the Red Wings' current roster, having coached Gustav Nyquist, Tomas Tatar, Tomas Jurco, Riley Sheahan, Landon Ferraro, Luke Glendenning, Brendan Smith and Petr Mrazek in the AHL.