Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde spoke with DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills about the addition of NHL veteran and NHL head coach Bob Boughner to the coaching mix as an associate coach and assistant who will help the defense:
“He’s coached a Norris Trophy winner and Stanley Cup winners,” Lalonde said about Boughner last Friday at the Bell Centre in Montreal. “A huge piece, ecstatic. What makes me more excited is he probably had other options. I think he liked not only where our young D-core is and where it could be, but him being part of developing them in where our organization is and was.”
Boughner, who was Detroit’s 32nd overall pick in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft, spent parts of the last three seasons as head coach of the San Jose Sharks and was at the helm of the Florida Panthers from 2017-19.
The NHL coaching and management tree is a tight-knit group. Lalonde took advantage of his relationships to do his homework on Boughner, and came away impressed
“I talked to (Dallas Stars head coach) Pete DeBoer about him, and I felt like Pete wanted to put his hands through the phone and slap me to hire him ASAP,” Lalonde said. “That’s how strongly he felt about him as a coach and how he’d be a really good fit for us.”
Lalonde said talks with Boughner began over the phone and quickly progressed leading up to the 2022 NHL Entry Draft.
“We were fortunate enough to have real positive talks throughout,” Lalonde said. “We sat here the other day and said ‘listen, let’s try to get on this.’ And Steve did, amongst his many other things going on.”
