The Detroit Red Wings have a new head coach and his name is Derek Lalonde.
The Red Wings announced the move just moments ago via Twitter.
“I'm very pleased to announce Derek as our new head coach,” Yzerman said. “He has proven himself as an excellent coach at every level and has spent the last four seasons in the National Hockey League as part of a very successful program in Tampa Bay. We feel he is ready to take the next step in his career as the head coach of the Detroit Red Wings.”
“I'm thrilled to be named head coach of the Red Wings,” said Lalonde. “I'd like to thank Chris Ilitch and the entire Ilitch family, as well as Steve Yzerman and the Red Wings management team for entrusting me with the opportunity to lead this historic franchise. I'm ready to get to work with our group. There's a very bright future ahead in Detroit.”
“On behalf of the entire organization, I'd like to welcome Derek, his wife, Melissa, and their three children – Alex, Luke, and Abby – into our Red Wings family,” said Christopher Ilitch, Detroit Red Wings Governor, President and CEO. “Derek has an impressive resume, particularly the work he's done with young players and prospects throughout his career. We're excited to have him leading the charge behind the Red Wings bench. I'd also like to commend Steve and his staff for conducting a very thorough and detailed search process. We have the greatest fans in hockey, and they deserve a team that consistently competes for Stanley Cup championships. We'll continue to work diligently towards that goal under the leadership of Steve and Derek.”
UPDATE: Detroit #RedWings executive vice president and general manager Steve Yzerman today announced that the team has named Derek Lalonde the 28th head coach in franchise history.
📝: https://t.co/prZ9xpvGLj pic.twitter.com/y8RQzxn98G
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) June 30, 2022
Fans react to Detroit Red Wings hiring Derek Lalonde
Following the news breaking, Detroit Red Wings fans took to Twitter to give their reactions. Here is a sample of some of those reactions:
Welcome back to the red wings organization coach pic.twitter.com/mGdpgOpj1E
— Walleyehockey106cheeradmiral (@Walleyehockey11) June 30, 2022
— Limitless_pulls (@VlogsWut) June 30, 2022
Requirements: bald
— Cam (@Swaybeaut) June 30, 2022
CUP NEXT YEAR
— Still Dennis Cholowski fan (@cholowski21) June 30, 2022
— Jake McPherson (@JakeMcPherson13) June 30, 2022
https://twitter.com/TJN3/status/1542630277901680640
Wishing the new coach the best of luck
— Bex 🦀🐙 (@ThatBeccaPerson) June 30, 2022
IM SCREAMINGGGGG
— 🍎🐙k (@seiderlarkin) June 30, 2022
