Red Wings make a surprising hire as they name their new Head Coach
The Yzerplan is all coming together, as he poaches an assistant coach from his former organization and from Jon Cooper and the Tampa Bay Lightning.
«I'm very pleased to announce Derek as our new head coach,» Yzerman said in a released statement. «He has proven himself as an excellent coach at every level and has spent the last four seasons in the National Hockey League as part of a very successful program in Tampa Bay. We feel he is ready to take the next step in his career as the head coach of the Detroit Red Wings.»
Lalonde has been behind the bench during Tampa Bay's last three Cup runs, albeit 2021-2022, being beaten by the Colorado Avalanche. He's also had success in the ECHL coaching the Toledo Walleye, during their affiliation with the Detroit Red Wings to a 50-15-5-2 and winning the Brabham Cup during the regular season.
He's also been successful in the AHL with the Iowa Wild, 69-58-17-8 all the while posting records for wins, home wins, road wins, fewest losses and total points in a season.
Yzerman wanted a coach who would shore up the team defensively, as under Blashill they had regressed, so the choice checks out, as Lalonde's record is impressive.
| POLL | ||
Did Steve Yzerman get the hire right? | ||
| Yes, this is a good choice | 204 | 68 % |
| No, there were better coaches | 96 | 32 % |
| List of polls | ||
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