Red Wings Name Derek Lalonde Head Coach

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The Detroit Red Wings announced on Thursday evening that Derek Lalonde will be the team’s next head coach.

Lalonde replaces Jeff Blashill, who was let go by the team after the Red Wings missed the playoffs in six of his seven years behind the bench.

The move was somewhat expected, as it was Detroit general manager Steve Yzerman – then in the same role for Tampa Bay – who hired Lalonde as an assistant coach with the Lightning, his most recent role.

As my primary hope for the Red Wings’ next head coach was new blood, this move works for me.  I kind of would have preferred someone from Europe – Roger Ronnberg would have been interesting and Sergei Fedorov would have been entertaining – but Yzerman specifically said he wanted someone he was familiar with and this certainly checks that box.

Somewhat interestingly, Lalonde’s coaching staff was not announced.  Alex Tanguay remains as an assistant coach with the team but assistant Doug Houda and goalie coach Jeff Salajko were let go with Blashill.

This is just one in many dominoes to fall for the Red Wings this offseason, but it’s certainly a large domino.

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Clark founded the site that would become DetroitHockey.Net in September of 1996 with no idea what it would lead to. He continues to write for the site and executes the site's design and development.

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