Detroit Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman has made another shrewd move, bringing aboard former rival forward Alex Tanguay as an assistant coach on Jeff Blashill‘s staff to replace Dan Bylsma, who was not retained.
Of course, Tanguay was a key part in the legendary rivalry between the Red Wings and Colorado Avalanche. He also scored the game winning goal in Game 7 of the 2001 Stanley Cup Finals against the New Jersey Devils, and spent additional time playing with the Calgary Flames, Montreal Canadiens, and Tampa Bay Lightning. He scored 283 goals and 580 assists with a plus-163 rating in 1,088 games, with another 59 points (19 goals, 40 assists) in 98 career playoff games.
“I know I’m relatively new to coaching but players always have feels you can’t get as a coach,” Tanguay said. “When you experienced it, you got a different perspective on certain things. My job is to build relationships with players and get their trust, put them in situations to succeed. I can’t wait.”
Tanguay will be running Detroit’s power play, which has struggled in recent years under former assistant Dan Bylsma. And during his two seasons as an assistant coach with the AHL’s Iowa Wild, he helped them to one of the top power play units in the League.
“This is not about re-inventing hockey, it’s about putting players in situations to succeed and facilitate for them.”
“Every bit of information they gave me I took and ran with it,” Tanguay said. “I knew it had been tried before, it was something they did on the ice previously that worked for a player.”
Tanguay noted the irony of joining an organization that had a heated rivalry with his Avalanche 20-25 years ago.
“Kris Draper called me and said, ‘You’re the first one to cross that bridge,’ ” Tanguay said. “It was such a unique rivalry. I missed most of the fighting from the ’90s. I was drafted in ’98. We played a few times in the playoffs. It was always such a special place to play, the Joe, and the organization was so good. I understood how much pride those guys had in the Red Wings organization and I’m glad to be a part of the organization now.”
– – Quotes via Detroit Red Wings Link – –
