The Toronto Maple Leafs will face the new Detroit Red Wings when they return from the holiday break on Friday.
The Red Wings announced a major shakeup behind the bench, firing coach Derek Lalonde and assistant coach Bob Boughner while signing Todd McLellan to a multi-year contract. Trent Yawney will rejoin the Red Wings as McLellan’s assistant.
The Red Wings are 13-17-4 this season and head into the holiday break on a sour note, being kicked out of their building following a 4-0 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals. Louis Blues on Dec. 23.
McLellan becomes the 29th head coach in franchise history and gets the spot after being one of the few coaches hired for the head coaching position in Toronto that eventually went to Craig Berube. McLellan was spotted at the airport on his way to Toronto while the club was searched.
Improvement was expected from the Red Wings this season as their young core of Moritz Seider and Lukas Raymons have matured. But the way things were going, they seemed to miss the playoffs for nine years in a row, unless a change could get them out of the nose.
In hiring McLellan, the Red Wings are going with experience for the first time since getting Mike Babcock as coach. Neither Lalonde nor his predecessor, Jeff Blashill, have coached in the NHL before. McLellan has 16 years of NHL experience with the San Jose Sharks, Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings with a record of 598-412-134.
The Red Wings beat the Maple Leafs in Detroit earlier this month.
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