Blashill on coach firings: 'It's a bit crazy in the league right now'

Seemingly no coach is safe after the surprise firing of Gerard Gallant, and the head coach of the last-place Detroit Red Wings knows it.

"Most of the guys that have been fired are people that I know well and some are more friendly than others," Jeff Blashill said Thursday, according to the Detroit Free Press' Helene St. James. "They're good coaches. Gerard is a good coach. Pete DeBoer is a good coach. They're guys that I respect a lot and I just send out a note.

"I think it's a bit crazy in the league right now, but that's the way it is right now."

Seven coaches have been fired this season, with five of those dismissals attributed to a team's on-ice performance.

Dylan Larkin, one of the alternate captains of the Red Wings, said players need to be held accountable, too.

"I think anyone in this locker room would be crazy not to tell you that we have to do a better job and that's the players," Larkin said. "Unfortunately in this league, the coaches seem to be replaced first before the players, when mostly it's on the play of the players. We need to be better as everyone in the locker room and the players know that."

The 23-year-old pointed to the Vegas Golden Knights' firing of Gallant on Wednesday.

"The players in that room sounded sad that he was gone and that he lost his job because of their play," Larkin said. "That's really what it comes down to and I'm just kind of echoing what they said. It sounds like he was well-respected, well-liked by the guys in the room."

Blashill, who is currently in his fifth season coaching the Red Wings, has missed the playoffs the last three years, finishing 28th, 27th, and 25th, respectively. He's the league's third-longest-tenured coach behind Jon Cooper of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Paul Maurice of the Winnipeg Jets.

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