Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde celebrated his birthday on Sunday. The man from Brasher Falls, New York, turned 52 years old.
Many birthdays ago, in 1995, Lalonde began his career as an assistant coach for North Adams State College in the NCAA Division III. He spent seven seasons at four different D-III schools before moving up to the Division I level as an assistant coach at Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Michigan. In his first season there, Lalonde coached Hobey Baker Award winner Chris Kunitz. He spent four years with the Bulldogs before moving on to the University of Denver for another five years.
Lalonde began his career as a head coach in 2011 when he became head coach and general manager of the Green Bay Gamblers in the USHL, a junior league that primarily features college hockey players. In his first season, he coached his team to a Clark Cup victory. Players included Utah Hockey Club star Nick Schmaltz and recently signed free agent Sheldon Dries from the Red Wings.
Stops in the ECHL Toledo and AHL Iowa led to Lalonde’s first NHL job as an assistant coach under Tampa Bay’s Jon Cooper. After four seasons there and two Stanley Cups, Lalonde became head coach of the Red Wings just before his 50th birthday. Now on his third birthday with Detroit, Lalonde has a 76-69-19 record as a head coach.
Lalonde shares his birthday with several notable NHL alumni. Geoff Courtnall, who played for five different teams in his 17-year career, was born on August 18. The same goes for Peter Worrell, the Florida Panthers’ enforcer in the early 2000s, and former Red Wing Forbes Kennedy, who played in Detroit from 1957 to 1960.
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