Coaching Change: Original Six organization finally fires head coach following ongoing struggles
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The Detroit Red Wings have shifted priorities and fired Head Coach Derek Lalonde today. In his place Todd McLellan, will replace him and lead the team through the ongoing rebuild.
The Detroit Red Wings are one of the worst teams in the Atlantic Division at the moment, with a 13-17-4 record under Lalonde.
A record that would lead GM Steve Yzerman to make a major coaching change on Boxing Day.
After the announcement they had fired Derek Lalonde and Bob Boughner, they signed their 29th head coach Todd McLellan.
McLellan would be inked to a multi-year deal with the Detroit Red Wings and would bring along Trent Yawney as part of the coaching staff.
Detroit Red Wings Executive Vice President and General Manager Steve Yzerman today announced that the team has named Todd McLellan the 29th Head Coach in franchise history and signed him to a multi-year contract. Additionally, the Red Wings have hired Trent Yawney as an Assistant Coach. Head Coach Derek Lalonde and Associate Coach Bob Boughner have been relieved of their coaching duties, effective immediately.
The Wings need to dig themselves out of the hole they're in, as they're right spots out of a Wild Card spot, being 15th in the Eastern Conference.
Lalonde was unable to deliver success, as both years as head coach he never made it to the playoffs each season.
They were unable to make headway over the Washington Capitals last season in order to break the tie in the Wild Card race in 2024 to make the playoffs.
The Flyers sit just below the Penguins now. The Washington Capitals, who were idle Saturday, are next, with 82 points and six games left. The Wings also have 82 points but the Capitals have 28 regulation victories to Detroit's 26, which is the first tie-breaker. The Wings and Capitals play Tuesday at Little Caesars Arena.
Like the Buffalo Sabres, the Red Wings have experienced a playoff drought going on 7-years, 2nd longest behind the Sabres 13-year drought.
Before the drought, the team had been regular playoff contenders going on 25 years, from 1991 to 2016.
The Red Wings were Lalonde's first experience as an NHL coach, prior to that he coached in the NCAA, and with the USHL's Green Bay Gamblers in 2011, where he'd lead the team to the Clark Cup his first year.
Lalonde would follow that success with a head coaching job with the ECHL's Toledo Walleye, the AHL's Iowa Wild, the Minnesota Wild's affilliate. Prior to the start 2018 season, he joined the Tampa Bay Lightning as an assistant coach under Jon Cooper and would find his way to Detroit thanks to a relationship with Steve Yzerman.
Lalonde's record in the NHL is 198 games coached, with an 86-89-23 record and a n .508 winning percentage.
| POLL | ||
DECEMBRE 26 | 1112 ANSWERS Coaching Change: Original Six organization finally fires head coach following ongoing struggles Do you think Head Coach Todd McLellan can turn things around for the Detroit Red Wings? | ||
| Yes | 423 | 38 % |
| No | 689 | 62 % |
| List of polls | ||
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