Detroit Red Wings

The Daily: You’ll Never Guess The Last Red Wings Coach To Lose His Debut

The last four Red Wings coaches all were earning victories in their debuts

Published

2 years ago

October 17, 2022

Bob Duff

The Red Wings blanked Montreal in Derek Lalonde's NHL head coaching debut.

Derek Lalonde was continuing a 20-year trend of success for newly-hired Detroit Red Wings coaches when he guided the team to victory in his debut behind the Detroit bench. Friday’s 3-0 victory over the Montreal Canadiens was making Lalonde the fourth successive Red Wings coach to open his ledger with the team on a successful note.

“The National Hockey League probably exposed my lack of depth in the wardrobe department.”

Red Wings head coach Derek Lalonde is keeping argyle sweater vests in business.

📺: https://t.co/T83DGyxhdx pic.twitter.com/uJWo08WGdk

— Spittin' Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) October 16, 2022

Even the much-maligned Jeff Blashill would be turning in a successful debut and like Lalonde, he did so via shutout. Blashill guided the Red Wings to a 4-0 victory over Toronto in 2015.

Mike Babcock began his Detroit days by whipping the St. Louis Blues 5-1 in 2005. And Dave Lewis was guiding the Red Wings to a 6-3 win at San Jose in 2002.

The last Detroit coach to fail to win his debut was Scotty Bowman. The Hall of Famer and nine-time Stanley Cup-winning coach’s first game behind the Red Wings bench was a 6-4 loss at Dallas in 1993.

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