CHALK TALK
WITH GRIFFINS HEAD COACH JEFF BLASHILL Photo: Occam Photography
In any race, it’s not how you get out of the blocks but how you finish that counts the most. Stumble at the end and you’re not likely to achieve the desired results. Coach Jeff Blashill likes where the Griffins are positioned going into the homestretch, but he also knows that his team still has to run the most important portion of the race. “We’re in an extremely tight race, and we better be on top of our game every single night to have a chance to put ourselves in the position to become a playoff team,” Blashill said. “You have to put your best foot forward every night.” As the team heads into the final 20 games of the season, Blashill will continue to look for leadership from veterans like Jeff Hoggan, Nathan Paetsch, Brennan Evans and Triston Grant. “I’ve said all along that our character is our No. 1 strength,” Blashill said. “Our guys have done a great job of bouncing back, and that’s because we have a bunch of guys who come ready to work every day. “You’re not going to win every day, but if you’re willing to work, you’re going to put yourself in the best position possible to have success. Guys like Francis Pare and Gus Nyquist have been around the league long enough to know what it takes to be successful, and they’ve been outstanding examples for our team to follow.” In general terms, Blashill would like to see his team strengthen its defensive play in the closing weeks of the season. “If you’re good defensively, you’re going to have a better chance to be in every game. We’ve gone through a few stretches where we haven’t been good enough defensively speaking, and that ultimately hurts our offense because we end up spending too much time in our own end.” Blashill and assistant coach Jim Paek are also trying to get the team to focus on its penalty killing. While the Griffins have one of the best power plays in the AHL, their penalty killing ranks among the bottom tier. “We feel like we have made improvements, although the numbers haven’t necessarily shown it,” Blashill said. “We’ve talked about doing a better job of blocking shots, not allowing backdoor goals and reducing the
number of rebounds. Essentially, we want to force the other team’s power play to make great plays. Let’s take away everything that is easy. “Let’s forget what has happened up to now. We feel like we can have one of the top penalty killing units in the league during the last part of the season. That’s a big goal of ours.” Everything has been complicated, of course, by the absence of players called up by the Red Wings, who have suffered an unusual number of injuries this season. Thankfully, the depth of the organization has allowed the Griffins to weather the changes. “With the fluctuations in the roster, depth becomes a critical factor in our success,” Blashill said. “Hopefully, that depth will help us in the long run as guys get the opportunity to play, whether it’s on the power play, penalty kill or even time on our top three lines.” More ice time will help the youngest Griffins in their maturation process as players. As youngsters like Gleason Fournier, Andrej Nestrasil and Max Nicastro get a chance to show their skills, Blashill continues to stress the finer points of the game. “When you get past the middle part of the season, your attention to detail on a daily basis needs to be outstanding,” he said. “Winning often comes down to whether you’re making the little plays.” In reality, the difference between winning and losing is very small. “We’re no different than everyone else,” he said. “This isn’t Division I basketball with the haves and the have-nots. The rest of our games are going to be hard-fought battles, and that will make us a better team in the long run.” Although encouraged by the fact that the Griffins were still in first place heading into March, Blashill knows there are plenty of games still to be p played. y “I feel good about the progress we’ve made up to now, but we need to continue to get better in all areas of the game if we want to have a chance to be a good team down the stretch.” Grand Rapids GRIFFINS 5