It’s officially a new era in the Motor City, as the Detroit Red Wings have themselves their 28th head coach in franchise history in the form of Derek LalondeDerek Lalonde, who was hired by general manager Steve Yzerman earlier this offseason.
A former assistant coach with the Tampa Bay Lightning, he had just helped them to the Stanley Cup Finals for the third consecutive year, where their dreams of becoming the 1st NHL squad since the early 1980’s New York Islanders to win three straight championships were dashed by Detroit’s former rival, the Colorado Avalanche.
The Red Wings are currently in preparations for their regular season opener this Friday night against the Original 6 rival Montreal Canadiens, and the team continues going through the process of deciding ultimately who will be hitting the ice later this week.
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“There’s still evaluation going on, and you saw today we had a lineup where (Filip) Zadina and Joe (Veleno) were 13 and 14 and that’ll likely change,” head coach Derek Lalonde said after today’s practice session. “We’re still evaluating.”
Players who don’t ultimately qualify for Detroit’s roster will have the chance to further develop their skills with the American Hockey League affiliate Grand Rapids Griffins, including towering forward Elmer Soderblom, who impressed the coaching staff and management during exhibition play.
Derek Lalonde still has roster decisions to make
“It’s that balance of what it would look like for minutes here versus of what it’d look like in Grand Rapids,” Lalonde said. “If we’re going to keep Elmer, part of it would be developing him on the powerplay and getting him more minutes. If we can’t find more PP time for Elmer, we’d likely consider what GR would look like for him.”
However, Lalonde explained that he doesn’t understand what seems to be the hysteria surrounding which names are and are not ultimately penciled in for the opening game of the season.
“Maybe it’s still new and I’m still green in the NHL, but everyone makes such a big deal for this day of who made the team,” Lalonde said. “I’ve never understood on making the team on the very first day…..I’ve never understood the black-and-white of making the team. We don’t have a yoyo of guys going up and down of playing a significant role here or in Grande Rapids. We have a new staff and we’re getting a feel, and it’s a credit to the group. Everyone has done a lot of good things to put everyone in a similar light, and it’s going to take more time.”
