Detroit — The Red Wings named Alex Tanguay as a new assistant coach on Wednesday.
Tanguay, 41, joins coach Jeff Blashill’s staff after spending the last two seasons as an assistant coach with the Minnesota Wild’s minor league affiliate Iowa Wild.
Iowa was 54-31-9 over the last two seasons, had the American League’s fifth-best power play (21.9%) in Tanguay’s first season and averaged 3.15 goals per game during this shortened 34-game season.
Iowa also had the second-best shot-per-game average in the AHL in each of the past two seasons, averaging 32.68 combined in Tanguay’s tenure with the club.
Red Wings fans may be remember Tanguay as a productive goal-scorer during his 16-year NHL career which began in Colorado, during the crux of the Wings’ heated rivalry with the Avalanche.
Tanguay went from Colorado to Calgary, Montreal, Tampa Bay and Arizona, recording 283 goals and 580 assists with a plus-163 rating in 1,088 games.
He added 59 points (19 goals, 40 assists) in 98 career playoff games, including scoring the Stanley Cup-clinching goal for Colorado in 2001.
Tanguay was originally drafted in the first round (12th overall) by Colorado in 1998.
After retiring as a player following the 2015-16 season, Tanguay worked for NHL Network as an in-studio analyst for before beginning his coaching career with Iowa.
ted.kulfan@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @tkulfan