Derek Lalonde saw a text congratulating him, but didn’t have time to read the body of the message.
When he found out, he had a good laugh.
A press release made the rounds Tuesday morning, declaring Lalonde was named “the third-most handsome NHL coach of 2022, according to beauty-technology analysis.” He ranked behind Edmonton’s Jay Woodcroft (who was a video coach under Mike Babcock in Detroit) and Calgary’s Darryl Sutter.
“Someone is getting fired for that,” Lalonde said, laughing. “Those are two really good coaches but I’d put them towards the bottom with me also in that category. ”
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Lalonde was even more incredulous when told the rankings, released by gambling.com, had David Quinn of the San Jose Sharks at No. 29.
“If David Quinn is at the bottom and I’m at the top, that’s a bad, bad list,” Lalonde said.
Back when he was coaching the Toledo Walleye, Lalonde saw a fan with a poster calling him Uncle Fester from the Addams Family. After the game, Lalonde found the fan, signed the poster and took pictures.
He had another good laugh Tuesday.
“Someone sent me a text, ‘congrats,'” he said. Once he found out why, Lalonde’s response was: “You sure it’s not the bottom up?”
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames. Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter. Her latest book, On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL Draft is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.