Here’s a bit of news from the oft-interesting world of the Detroit Red Wings.
- The Red Wings announced their two new assistant coaches who will help bench boss Mike Babcock today.
As we speculated earlier, one of them is Jeff Blashill. Blashill is the former head coach for Western Michigan and also coached the USHL’s Indiana Ice after assistant coaching stints with Miami of Ohio and Ferris State. Blashill called Friday an “emotional day” and stated that he is “excited for the opportunity to pursue a lifelong dream to coach in the NHL with the best organization in sports.”
Bill Peters will be the other Red Wings assistant. He spent three seasons with the Rockford Ice Hogs, the Chicago Blackhawks’ AHL affiliate. Peters compiled a 122-97-7-14 record in that time and also won a Memorial Cup with the Spokane Chiefs in 2007-08.
- In far less serious news, Mike Commodore raised the expectations of a lot of old-school video gamers by floating the idea of wearing No. 64 with the Red Wings. (For those of you who weren’t playing video games in the early 1980s, the system came out in 1982 and was a major competitor for Atari.)
Puck Daddy promised to pledge $64 to Commodore’s favorite charity if he made the number change and encouraged others to do the same, raising a reported $3,456 (and counting?) if people stay true to their words and Commodore’s charity accepts the donations. Commodore discussed the possibility with Greg Wyshynski today.
This wouldn’t be the first time a professional athlete evokes video game nostalgia, but let’s hope that things end up better for Commodore than they did for troubled Cincinnati Bengals defensive back Adam “Pacman” Jones and marginalized Green Bay Packers safety Atari Bigby.