Red Wings hire Lightning assistant Derek Lalonde as coach

DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Red Wings have hired two-time Stanley Cup-winning assistant Derek Lalonde as coach after a lengthy search process. Lalonde was on Jon Cooper’s Tampa Bay Lightning staff the past four years in which they won the Cup twice and most recently reached the final. Lalonde is now in charge of a team in Detroit on the upswing of a long-term rebuild. Lalonde is the first active Cooper assistant to take a head coaching job in the NHL. He replaces Jeff Blashill who coached the Red Wings for seven seasons.