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The move the day after Christmas comes with the
Red Wings on a three-game skid and having lost nine of their
past 12. They've lost 21 of their first 34 games this season and
are above only the lowly Buffalo Sabres in the Eastern
Conference.
Lalonde was nearly midway through his third season with Detroit
after winning the Stanley Cup twice as an assistant with Tampa
Bay. Yzerman inherited Jeff Blashill as coach when he left the
Lightning for the Red Wings in 2019 and hired Lalonde in the
summer of 2022 with the goal of getting the team back in the
playoffs.
Despite signing three-time Stanley Cup champion Patrick Kane in
2023 and re-signing him last offseason, the success has not
approached the Red Wings’ glory days when they won the Cup four
times between 1996-97 and 2007-08 — three times with Yzerman as
captain and once with him working in the front office. Instead,
their playoff drought is on track to reach a ninth year —
second-longest in the league behind Buffalo.
Associate coach Bob Boughner was also fired and Trent Yawney
hired to work on McLellan’s staff as an assistant. McLellan
signed a multiyear contract to start his fourth NHL head
coaching job after stints with San Jose, Edmonton and Los
Angeles.
McLellan, 57, coached his team to the playoffs in nine of the 14
full seasons he was in charge behind the bench. He returns to
the Motor City after getting his first job in the league as a
Red Wings assistant in 2005 and serving under coach Mike Babcock
on the 2008 title run.
The Melville, Saskatchewan, native was hired by the Sharks just
after and led them on three trips to the West final. Most
recently, McLellan was fired by the Kings in February during the
All-Star break and interviewed for other vacancies since.
This is the fourth coaching change around the NHL this season
and 15th this calendar year, counting Rick Bowness' retirement
in Winnipeg. The Boston Bruins in November fired Jim Montgomery,
who was hired by the St. Louis Blues less than a week later, and
the Chicago Blackhawks replaced Luke Richardson with Anders
Sorensen in early December.
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