Another former Red Wings head coach has found himself a new job — the Toronto Maple Leafs announced Friday that the team has hired Derek Lalonde as an assistant coach.
Lalonde coached 198 games for the Red Wings after his hiring almost three years ago. He had a record of 89-86-23 in that span.
Lalonde was canned in Detroit after a miserable start to the 24-25 regular season. His firing came the day after Christmas. Lalonde’s stint with the Red Wings was his first job as an NHL head coach. I chalk most of his failures up to being inexperienced. I think going back to being an assistant (he was in Tampa before arriving in Detroit) is the right call. Toronto is, well they are a hockey team. A hockey team that needs serious help. It’s an assistant coaching job, but it is a challenging assistant coaching job. That’s probable best for Newsy at this point. I wish him the best, yet at the same time he is now one of my worst enemies!
