Chicago Blackhawks Community Meltdowns as Jeff Blashill News Turns Head

Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson now knows who he will be joining as head coach as they embark on a daunting journey to make the Blackhawks a playoff-level team. But the Jeff Blashill news has not been received well by the fans, it seems. Well, the reaction has been varied, from frustration to practically conceding that it will be yet another tenure of poor results and the team going backwards. Are they being too quick to judge the new man? Well, first, let’s break down the big NHL announcement.

Renowned sports reporter Frank Seravalli tweeted on May 21, “As speculated, Jeff Blashill will be named next #Blackhawks head coach today.” And it has been confirmed by the Blackhawks that Blashill will be the 42nd Head Coach (HC) in franchise history. The Western Conference team has decided to go with the 51-year-old instead of continuing with Anders Sörensen, who had been the interim coach in the 2024-25 season.

Well, Blashill is coming from being the assistant coach to Jon Cooper for the Tampa Bay Lightning for 3 years. And the fans will be hoping the former Detroit Red Wings HC has learned a thing or two from the NHL’s longest-tenured coach. Because his first and only stint as an NHL HC hasn’t been really that good. Not that the Blackhawks are doing any better.

GM Davidson made the hiring official as he welcomed Blashill to the hold. “Jeff is an incredibly smart and talented coach who boasts more than 25 years of coaching experience across developmental leagues, the NHL, and the world stage.” And the particular reason for choosing Jeff Blashill as the candidate? “He’s thrived when in a position to develop young players and has shown he’s capable of blending that into overall team success, a vision and philosophy we share for where we are today and where we see our team in the future.”

As speculated, Jeff Blashill will be named next #Blackhawks head coach today.

— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) May 22, 2025

The Blackhawks have a young squad and also a 3rd pick in the 2025 NHL Draft. Which means Blashill will be expected to do his usual thing, starting with 19-year-old Connor Bedard, who was drafted first overall in 2023. There is no doubt this is a franchise decision keeping the future in mind, because you don’t go from 31st to playoff competitors in a season. Well, the fans definitely have no such expectation.

In fact, if anything, the majority of them are saying it’s a bad hire. And boy, are they being expressive.

Jeff Blashill Announcement made, and the Blackhawks fans are already complaining

Indeed, such a hiring won’t exactly evoke confidence. He has neither sustained NHL experience nor the numbers to back him up. His Red Wings tenure lasted from 2015 to 2022. How many times had he made the playoffs? Just the first season. And after that, his best finish was 5th. So, naturally, a fan tweeted, “ what a tire fire.”

Well, one fan was rather opportunistic in his approach. His tweet?—“Do you think he takes any Bolts assistants with him?” Obviously, you would want that. The Lightning have been playoff regulars and are such a well-oiled machine. But will Jon Cooper let anybody walk? Who knows? Either way, Blashill has to make it work. He still has a few fans in his corner. And there will be more if he starts getting results.

The focal point, and maybe the only hope, for the Blackhawks, be it fans or the franchise, has been Bedard. The teenager has 67 points in the 2024 season, and he is improving. Well, that’s where Jeff Blashill comes in. One fan’s tweet read, “Jeff “The Process” Blashill is back!” Sure, it may have been made in a disapproving tone, but he has been brought for that exact job.

After being 27th, 30th, 31st, and 31st in the NHL regular season, the Blackhawks are down and buried, no doubt. But the positives are that they have had 8 first-round selections, 5 second-round picks, and 8 third-round selections in the last 3 NHL drafts. And they get a 3rd round pick in 2025. Speculations are that Matthew Schaefer or Michael Misa could be the Blackhawks’ target.

So, the Blackhawks situation can be exactly tailor-made for him. This fan tweet exactly reflects that “jury is out. He has to prove himself. Not throwing it away.” It’s important to know where his good work has come from. At Western Michigan, he did amazing work in his first season that saw the team go from bottom-dwellers in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) to a team that made it to the NCAA Championships for the first time in 15 years. He was even named the National Coach of the Year in 2011 by the U.S. College Hockey Online.

So, he can do well with youngsters. Like he did at the Grand Rapids Griffins, the top minor league affiliate of the Detroit Red Wings in the American Hockey League (AHL). He won them the Calder Cup in 2013. But most fans are not optimistic, though. In fact, this fan thinks the Jeff Blashill hiring is a nail in the coffin. And his reaction?—“Yuck. Poor Bedard.” Bedard’s development years are being risked, this fan thinks. All because the Blackhawks have hired Blashill.

What does a fan say when he’s given up hope, depressed, and doesn’t want good, promising players to waste their time in a dead-end franchise? This—“Just trade bedard. Do not make him stay with the franchise who clearly doesn’t give a shit about winning hahaha what the fuck is this hire?” Maybe he thinks that, except for a few good years in the NCAA and the AHL, Jeff Blashill has mostly been a miss.

How will it actually turn out? Let’s see. To be honest, even the most pessimistic Blackhawks fans would want to be wrong.

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