Struggling Red Wings fire coach Derek Lalonde, hire Todd McLellan
NY Post
The Detroit Red Wings fired coach Derek Lalonde on Thursday and named Todd McLellan as his replacement, a major change by general manager Steve Yzerman more than a third of the way through another disappointing season in the place known as “Hockeytown.”
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.
Adam Edstrom was drafted as a center out of Sweden, even if the hulking 6-foot-7 forward exclusively has manned the wing since joining the Rangers’ organization.
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ST. PAUL, Minn. — Rangers head coach Mike Sullivan developed a reputation for managing egos and personalities, as well as fostering sincere relationships with his players, over his decade with the Penguins.
President Donald Trump seemed to confirm he once broke up an elevator fight involving former NBA great Kobe Bryant.
SAINT PAUL, Minn. — With the Rangers hovering over the bottom of the NHL standings, it’s easy to root for whatever outcome would most likely lead to general manager Chris Drury announcing Gavin McKenna’s name on the draft stage at KeyBank Center in Buffalo this June.
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SALT LAKE CITY — It’s easy to forget about the quiet, which in Knicks World means Leon Rose. We’re approaching five years — amazingly — since the team president answered questions from the independent media, and I’ve always maintained that’s poor practice because it avoids responsibility. If there’s no public explanation behind a move or a goal, there’s no accountability if it doesn’t work out.
PORT ST. LUCIE — The Mets’ 2025 failing (one of them anyway) might be their big strength now.