MONTREAL — Shortly before the Red Wings were going to officially announce his hiring as the new head coach on June 30, Derek Lalonde made eight or 10 phone calls to give some important people a heads up.
He phoned his dad, Jack, of course, along with his old college coach, his high school coach from his tiny hometown of Brasher Falls, N.Y., and some lifelong friends. But the one person Lalonde wished he could have connected with the most was his mother, Donna, who died last month at age 74.
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“She was my biggest fan,” Lalonde said. “She would have absolutely loved this. It was one bittersweet part of that, not being able to share with her, celebrate with her.”
Lalonde, at his first NHL Draft as a head coach, reminisced the other day while wearing his Red Wings-red tie and pin. He was pretty busy, including finalizing his coaching staff with the hiring of assistant Bob Boughner. But after Friday’s second day of the draft wrapped up, he planned to make the one-hour, 15-minute, drive to Brasher Falls for the weekend.
On Sunday, they celebrated his mother’s life.
It wouldn’t have been surprising if a good chunk of the town of 1,000 at some point dropped by the Knights of Columbus hall or the Riverview Bar & Grille, Lalonde’s go-to-dive. Donna was the hairdresser in Brasher Falls, so most everyone knew her. And she’s a major reason Lalonde is coaching an original six franchise today.
Before Lalonde started his unique coaching path, spanning the college level, NAHL and AHL, and winning the Stanley Cup twice as a Lightning assistant, he was toiling away at small colleges trying to figure out his place.
Lalonde has his undergraduate degree in physical education, with a minor in science, and a master’s in education, and was going to become a teacher. But he loved being a coach — the process, the games, everything.
Could he make a living doing it, though?
“It literally got to the point where I was making no money being an assistant coach at a Division III school — do I get on with my life?” Lalonde said. “And she was always super supportive. She’d say, ‘Keep doing what you’re doing.’
“And it led to this.”
Derek Lalonde’s family. (Courtesy of Derek Lalonde)Lalonde got his big break four years ago when he joined Jon Cooper’s staff with the Lightning. Lalonde had been the Wild’s AHL coach but shared a close bond with Cooper and then-Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill, which went back to their Michigan days.
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The morning after the Lightning lost in Game 7 of the 2018 Eastern Conference final to the Capitals, Cooper called Lalonde.
“I’m making some changes,” Cooper told him. “Would you be interested?”
Four days later, Lalonde turned down Cooper, mostly because he wanted to be a head coach. But not too long after, there was a regime change in Minnesota, with GM Chuck Fletcher losing his job. Cooper called again.
“What do you think now?” he asked.
Lalonde interviewed and, at the “11th hour,” remained a little hesitant. But he took the chance, becoming an integral part of a very inclusive staff. He ran the penalty kill and was a go-to for players when it came to video sessions. And his interpersonal skills and culture-building were pretty similar to Cooper’s. But Lalonde could also tell Cooper when he thought he was wrong. As his longtime friend J.P. Genest said, Lalonde was the “yin to Cooper’s yang.”
Lalonde said Cooper is the best “modern-day coach,” balancing emotional intelligence, building relationships and “being hard on guys the right way,” some aspects he hopes to bring to his role in Detroit.
“I went (to Tampa) to grow,” Lalonde said. “A chance to win. They had a window. I never thought three Cup finals. But I also wanted to learn from Coop. I thought he was one of the best managers of people I ever met. I felt it was a strength of mine, too. But I wanted to see it at the next level. And it was well worth it. You learn what winning looks like.”
The winning with Tampa put Lalonde, along with Cooper’s other assistants, on other NHL teams’ radar. But the three consecutive long playoff runs also made it challenging for Lalonde to get looks from other teams that would fill their vacancies while they were still playing. It happened again this summer, with teams like Dallas, Vegas, Florida and the New York Islanders all making coaching changes.
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But Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman, who was with Lalonde in Tampa Bay, made sure to wait. At approximately noon on the day after the Lightning lost in the Stanley Cup Final to the Avalanche, the Hall of Famer sent Lalonde a text that read, “Hate to bother you so quick, but can you talk tonight?”
That Monday night talk led to Lalonde flying Tuesday night to Detroit. Lalonde and Yzerman met at the hotel at the Detroit airport for what turned into a life-changing, six-hour interview. It started in the lobby, moved to a back room and then to the restaurant for dinner.
The first couple hours were general conversation, with the next two including a presentation from Lalonde, showing Yzerman video on how he’d like his team to look, how the players be coached.
“You kind of know you’re on the same page where it didn’t feel that long,” Lalonde said. “You look at your watch and are like, ‘Holy shit, this has been six hours!’ That was a good sign for both parties.”
Yzerman called Lalonde several times the following day, Wednesday, to go over some details and ask a few questions on how the prospective coach would handle different situations. He texted Lalonde at 11 p.m., asking if they could talk the next day. Lalonde said he was up, so they talked again right then.
Yzerman offered him the job.
From the moment Lalonde flew home the next night, through all the calls he made, up until the draft, it still hasn’t really sunk in. Before Lalonde left Tampa, Cooper gave him a hug and pat on the back and told him, “You’re ready.”
“It’s surreal,” Lalonde said. “If you would have told me four years ago, when I came to Tampa, that there’d be three Prince of Wales trophies, two Cups, and I’d be the head coach of an Original Six franchise, I’d have told you, ‘You’re crazy, not a chance,’” Lalonde said. “It’s unbelievable. But I’m very grateful and excited.”
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It was emotional for Lalonde, leaving a very tight Tampa staff. They were there for Lalonde when he lost his mother during the middle of the playoffs. The fact that Tampa Bay swept the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Panthers in the second round was a blessing, Lalonde said, as he got to go home and spend time with Donna before her open-heart surgery.
“It was amazing,” he said.
When Donna’s recovery took a negative turn the following week, Lalonde missed Game 3 of the Eastern Conference final to be with her. Cooper, who lost his mother a couple of years ago, encouraged him to go.
“As tough as it was, I feel really blessed I got to spend time with her on the front end and back end,” Lalonde said. “I got to say goodbye.”
Lalonde thinks about her a lot. How she’d drag him around to hockey practice. How she always supported him when he thought of giving up coaching. How much fun Donna had drinking out of the Stanley Cup last summer on his Cup Day in Brasher Falls. He can only imagine what she’d think of him now, with his dream job. She wouldn’t have to stretch the truth around town anymore about him being a head coach.
Lalonde smiled.
“She would have been very proud,” he said.
(Top photo of Donna Lalonde: Courtesy of Derek Lalone)
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