(Detroit) The Detroit Red Wings have hired Derek Lalonde as head coach of their rebuilding team, hoping the man who won two Stanley Cups in an assistant role can lay down all the good gestures to make this organization relevant again.
Posted yesterday at 7:43 p.m.
Lalonde has spent the past four seasons on Jon Cooper’s coaching staff with the Tampa Bay Lightning. During those years, he contributed to the Lightning’s triumphs in the 2020 and 2021 finals and an appearance in another final in recent weeks.
In a press release, Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman said Lalonde had proven himself to be an excellent coach at all levels, and recalled that he had spent the past four seasons with a organization that has had great success in Tampa Bay.
In a statement, Lalonde said he was ready to start working with his group and said the future was bright in Detroit.
The 49-year-old Lalonde, like Cooper, won a title with the Green Bay Gamblers in the United States Hockey League. He coached in the ECHL and the American Hockey League before joining the Lightning.
After a search that lasted two months, Lalonde was chosen to replace Jeff Blashill, whose optional clause in his contract was not executed by the Red Wings, after seven seasons at the helm of the team.