Defenseman Brian Lashoff would like to prove that he belongs back in the NHL.

Story and photo by Mark Newman

Brian Lashoff didn't expect to play in Grand Rapids this season.

After spending parts of five seasons with the Griffins, Lashoff figured he had put West Michigan in his rearview mirror. Having signed a three-year contract extension with the Detroit Red Wings in February 2013, he looked firmly ensconced in his position on the blueline in Hockeytown.

But the emergence of Red Wings prospects Xavier Ouellet and Alexey Marchenko this season pushed Lashoff down the depth chart and he found himself a healthy scratch more often than not.

Lashoff, who appeared in only three games with Detroit during December, had not played a game in more than a month when the Red Wings assigned him to Grand Rapids after putting him on waivers on Jan. 31.

What some might have viewed as a negative became a positive – for both Lashoff and the Griffins.

"At the end of the day, it became too long between games – I need to play," Lashoff said. "I can't sit there and watch hockey forever. At 24, I'm still a young guy, so it's important for me to play."

The Griffins, for their part, were adding an experienced defenseman with 117 NHL games to his credit.

The move paid immediate dividends. It was precisely one game after the arrival of Lashoff that the Griffins began their record-setting string of games without a regulation loss. It is no small coincidence that the team's second-half resurgence aligns with the return of the Albany, N.Y., native.

"Lash has done a great job," said Griffins coach Jeff Blashill. "When he first got down here, he had to get his game going a little bit, but he's been great ever since. He's been an elite defenseman in this league at different times in his career, and we believe he'll continue to be that."

After spending the better part of the past three seasons in Detroit, Lashoff admits it seemed a little surreal to find himself back in the place where his pro career had started as an 18-year-old free agent.

"It was a little strange coming back here after being away for so long, but at the same time, I hadn't played in a long time, so I needed to play," Lashoff said. "It took me a couple of games before I felt like I had my groove back, where the little things in the game just become second nature – the kind of things you forget about when you've been sitting for a month. It's been good to come back and play a lot of minutes."

Lashoff had established himself as one of the top defensemen in Grand Rapids before he made his Red Wings debut on Jan. 21, 2013. He scored his first NHL goal on his very first shot, a snap shot from the point that snuck past Columbus Blue Jackets goalie Sergei Bobrovsky.

That puck now sits in his old bedroom in his parents' home, but the goal started an unexpected journey for the young defenseman who had gone undrafted out of junior hockey.

For a time, he was paired with Niklas Kronwall, which meant that he was playing against the opposing teams' top lines. He ended up playing 31 games during the lockout-shortened 2013 season.

"Kronwall is obviously a leader up there, and he helped me a lot during my first couple of weeks, helped me get adjusted," Lashoff said. "The league is different, the guys execute better. You begin to learn what you can do and what you can't get away with. As you play more games, you definitely get more comfortable."

After being a healthy scratch the first four games last season, Lashoff played in 80 of the final 83 contests for the Red Wings, including all five playoff games against the Boston Bruins.

"It was good to be able to go through the entire grind of a full NHL season," Lashoff said. "Playing every night was a confidence builder for me. I started to feel really good. As a learning experience, it was definitely a fun year."

Even so, he knew there were no guarantees when he came into training camp last fall. As the seventh defenseman behind Kronwall, Jonathan Ericsson, Danny DeKeyser, Kyle Quincey, Brendan Smith and Jakub Kindl, he knew he might find himself sitting in the press box more often than he liked.

"I feel like I've been pretty good at coming in after not playing for a while and not really missing a beat," Lashoff said. "At the beginning of the year in Detroit, I felt like I was playing well, but eventually it got to be a little too long between games."

Although he wasn't thrilled with his situation, Lashoff never complained. "The biggest thing is you want to be a good teammate," he said. "You don't want to look or act frustrated, because then you just become a distraction. I was able to get in a couple of games and the team was doing really well."

Lashoff appeared in 11 games with the Red Wings before he really started riding the pine. He did his best to work hard in practice, but not seeing any game action eventually began to wear on him mentally.

Returning to Grand Rapids meant he would get the opportunity to play again. "When I came down here, I tried to remove the ego from the situation," Lashoff said. "I just wanted to play and have fun."

Blashill quickly offered his support.

"I've talked a lot with Blash," Lashoff said. "He's done a good job of communicating what he expects from me. He's been a good guy for me to listen to. He's helped me take myself from a situation that could have frustrated me to one where I feel really good about how I'm playing.

"The best thing I can do for my situation is to play well and help the team win, and everything else will take care of itself. It's simple, but it's true. I want to help these guys win games and whatever happens, happens."

Besides seeing plenty of minutes among the Griffins’ top defensive pairs, Lashoff also serves as one of the team's top penalty killers, a skill that he developed in Grand Rapids and cultivated during his time in Detroit.

"When I turned pro, I wasn't the type of player who was sent over the boards every time there was a penalty," Lashoff said. "Now penalty killing is one of my strengths. Blocking shots is an underrated skill, but it's something that I've learned to do. Penalty killing can change the momentum in a game and it's something I now enjoy."

Lashoff feels there is still plenty he can do to improve his play.

"It's all the little parts of the game – positioning, where to be on the ice to take away time and space from good players, how to break out the puck and get it into the forwards' hands as quickly as possible, how to get more involved in the transition game," he said. "I'm a stay-at-home defenseman who can be solid in his own end, but I think I can chip in more offensively."

He feels fortunate to be enjoying top minutes on a team with a lot of talent. "Everything is great," he said. "When you're playing with great guys and the team is rolling, it makes everything easier. The best thing about hockey is winning, so when you're winning, it takes the stress out of the situation."

Lashoff was a member of the 2013 Griffins team that brought the first-ever Calder Cup championship to Grand Rapids. He thinks this year's team has many of the same ingredients.

"Blash keeps us accountable and pushing in the right direction," he said. "A lot of things have to go right to win a championship. I think we learned that a couple of years ago. But if you have the right mindset and you keep working to be good every single day, you put yourself in a good position to have success."

In the meantime, Lashoff will do everything he can to keep improving and play his way back to the NHL.

"I'm still only 24, so I'm motivated. I want to get back as soon as possible. When that will happen, I don't know, but that's not something I'm going to worry about," he said.

"It wasn't easy getting there, so it won't be easy to get back. But I'm used to being a guy who has to prove himself every single day, and that doesn't bother me at all. I'm feeling really good about my game again. I feel like I've got it where I want it."