Todd McLellan has had countless interactions with his players since being named the head coach of the Detroit Red Wings last Thursday. And for McLellan, building off-ice relationships with those players is just as important as knowing their on-ice skills and tendencies.

The Detroit Red Wings announced that they have relieved head coach Derek Lalonde and associate coach Bob Bougher of their duties.

After the Red Wings' new coach gave a clear message at his first practice, his team responded by delivering his first win in Detroit.

Following a lackluster start to the NHL season, the Detroit Red Wings have fired their head coach Derek Lalonde, the first time in nearly 40 years that the team has made an in-season top coaching change.

DETROIT — From the very first minute of his introductory news conference Friday, Todd McLellan made clear what kind of changes he intends to inspire as the new head coach of the Detroit Red Wings.

And with that, the Wings fired coach Derek Lalonde and replaced him with Todd McLellan on Thursday. In a release just after noon, the Wings announced that Steve Yzerman, the Wings' executive vice-president and general manager, named McLellan the team's 29th head coach in franchise history and signed McLellan to a multi-year contract.

The puck drops just after 8 p.m. So, an early Happy New Year, too. The Penguins were commanding Sunday, claiming a 3-0 lead over the New York Islanders by midway through the third period. However, a good goal and a fluky goal closed the Islanders’ gap before the Penguins retook control.

There’s been no love lost over the years between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings. That it was the Penguins who vanquished Detroit in the club’s most recent Stanley Cup final appearance still gnaws at veteran Red Wings supporters.