DETROIT (Michigan News Source) – After five years of as the head coach of the Grand Rapids Griffons, an AHL affiliate of the Detroit Red Wings, Ben Simon’s contract will not be renewed by the Detroit Red Wings. It was announced on Sunday night by Assistant General Manager for the Red Wings Shawn Horcoff.

“It is really important for the development of our players, but we want a winning environment. We didn’t put together a good enough team this year, we didn’t put together a good enough team last year,” said Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman.

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Simon’s team missed the AHL playoffs for the second year in a row and finished in last place in the AHL Central Division with a 28-36-4-4 record. He had been with the program since 2015 when he was an assistant to Tod Nelson and then become the 11th head coach in 2018. In his five seasons, in which two were shortened due to COVID, he went 144-137-38 with a playoff appearance in 2019 exiting in the first round.

Along with letting go Simon, they also did not renew assistant coaches contracts in Matt Macadonald, Todd Krygier, and goaltending coach Brian Mahoney-Wilson.

Yzerman added about the Griffons, “We had some position players on the team that underperformed for us. We’re hoping to fill those spots, whether it be with our own prospects or going out and signing some free agents that can help the team down there.”

Horcoff, who is the GM for the Griffons in his first season, followed with, “All of our coaches contracts were up, so it’s not like anyone got fired, they just didn’t get renewed. They’re very hard workers., they’ve faced some tough situations over the last couple of years. The last couple of years haven’t been great, and you have to look at the entire organization and start from scratch.”