For the first time since being fired by the Detroit Red Wings on Dec. 26, 2024, coach Derek Lalonde talked at length about being “let go” by general manager Steve Yzerman on the recent edition of “The Cam & Strick Podcast,” hosted by St. Louis Blues reporter Andy Strickland and former NHL forward Cam Janssen.

“He (Yzerman) is an intense, hard-nosed person and I’m grateful I got three years with him because he made me a ton better,” Lalonde said on the podcast. “It wasn’t the most pleasant and comfortable at times but he made me better and that’s all you can ask really.”

Lalonde also discussed the Jake Walman trade, the team’s penalty-killing problems, rooting for Dylan Larkin and the pressure on Yzerman to break the nine-year playoff drought in Detroit.

Here’s a transcript of the highlights from the podcast, which has been edited for clarity and brevity.

Strickland: When you got fired by Steve Yzerman, it was right around Christmas, right? When did you find out and how did that impact your whole holiday that year?

Lalonde: First and foremost, it was unfortunate. You could feel it was uncomfortable. My first time going through this. It’s pro hockey, man. We had 91 points the year before. We improved 17 points over two years. We were projected to be in the low 80s and we finished in a virtual tie with Washington. The old tiebreaker, from three years earlier, we would’ve been in the playoffs. It’s just amazing how it transforms, to no one’s fault.

Our summer was what it was. We lose Shayne Gostisbehere, we lose Jake Walman, we lose David Perron. Things just didn’t go our way around July 1. Even Steve was being cautious. As a coach, you don’t want to hear that. All I had known since I was here was progress in our program. Then, of course, it hit some snags.

We weren’t playing well and we had one of those moments in Philly (lost 4-1 on Dec. 12). I left Philly and said this does not feel comfortable. And then what does the team do? We beat Toronto at home (4-2 on Dec. 14), our best game of the year, and we put up six on Philly (won 6-4 on Dec. 18) but then we lose three in a row (lost 4-3 on Dec. 20 and 5-1 on Dec. 21 to Montreal and 4-0 on Dec. 23 to St. Louis). We just couldn’t get traction. It was just one of those things.

Steve called. He said, ‘Hey, I want to see ya.’ And it stings a little bit because it’s your first time but the reality is, because of the landscape, I was the 27th coach fired under three years and we’re into the low 30s before the three-year cycle. It’s almost the reality of it. And then the unique thing is about being fired is the guys. They were phenomenal.

Then they go on a heater. They had two seven-game win streaks and I get the question all the time, ‘Did that hurt you?’ Absolutely not because you root for Dylan Larkin, you root for Mo Seider, you root for Lucas Raymond. The first time I thought I was going to get fired, the two hardest games we played, the guys played hard for me. So it’s more about the relationships. It was a weird feeling. Then they fell apart completely, the wheels completely fell off and my buddies were sending me Dr. Evil smiling emojis. Like no. I feel even worse for Larkin because I’ve been there with him and here they go again.

(Las Vegas coach Bruce) Butch Cassidy, was like, ‘Newsy, I know it sounds crazy. You feel like you failed but soon, maybe it will be four, five, six months, it’s a crazy cycle, you become the coach that wins Stanley Cups and now you’re an experienced coach.’ He goes, as unfair as it is on this end, you get time to spend with your family. It may sound crazy but it wasn’t that awful. It’s an unfortunate reality in our profession right now. You gotta have some tough skin.

Janssen: Do you look back and say, OK, I need to change a couple of things, maybe I could’ve changed a couple of things up?

Lalonde: I’m a career coach. From the day I finished playing college hockey, I coached for the next 28 years so you’re always self-evaluating. Our penalty kill was 29th in the league at the time. If we could’ve turned that around alone, just that alone, we would’ve been fine. Unfortunately, they found a way to make it worse. They actually finished last. It was something I wished we could’ve turned it around. Player deployment, 100%. I’m a relationship type guy, holding guys accountable. That’s hard in this league. They want to be held accountable but always on their own terms. Sometimes I’m holding guys accountable, and they’re getting 11 minutes because I’m trying to win a hockey game and they need feedback the next day. There’s some deployment issues, 100%. There’s a ton of things I would’ve done differently.

Even the things I would’ve done differently, even just the experiences, like the noise. It was the first time I was in a real market and again we overachieved in our second year. We were where nobody expected us to be and I thought maybe I was going to get a pat on the back in the summer. But then you get the Lalonde screwed up articles, our coach isn’t the right coach, how do we miss the playoffs. It’s so negative with today’s social media and it’s just a reality of it. That’s an experience in itself. You have to learn to not listen to it. That’s real. There’s a ton you learn from and grow. People always get better from these experiences. I certainly lived it.

Strickland: Is your contract up?

Lalonde: Yup. July 1.

Strickland: Yzerman’s press conference was real interesting. You don’t hear him talk too often. The way he handled it was different. It’s not the way most general managers would handle it. Working with him on a daily basis, is that a reflection of how he is? Is that how he handles the coaches, treats the coaches? Or is there another side of this guy who obviously was a great player and so respected as a player that we just don’t see?

Lalonde: Yeah, good question. Good person, very appreciative. He gave me my first opportunity as a head coach. You dream about being a head coach in the league, let alone an Original Six team, with that type of history. We knew what we were in. In that process, he must’ve told me five different times, ‘Are you sure you want to do this?’ He was pretty realistic where we were at. Yeah that’s him, not in a bad way. I think that’s part of the reality. He’s an introverted person, by nature, an unbelievable family man. What I appreciate is when my family was around, he treated them well, with respect.

He’s just extremely competitive. He made me a ton better because he’s so hard. I remember one game in Year 1, we weren’t very good but we beat the New York Islanders, we shut them out, 3-0 (Nov. 5, 2022), and one of those analytic dreams; we give them just six chances and couldn’t have played better. He comes in and he’s mad at a couple of individuals, and rightfully so. He sits there and he goes, ‘Newsy, I tend to be a little negative in some of these situations. I’m not happy with a couple of the players. It was a good win and I’m going to leave.’ And he just walked out the door. And I appreciated it because that’s just how he is.

He’s competitive. He’s probably a perfectionist when he played and that’s why he finally got to the top. He treats it the same way here. I don’t know if that’s a complete reflection. I didn’t really watch that presser. Obviously you talk about the 1% of the 1% of the negative media that got a lot of attention, which is not always the real thing. I got let go by the Red Wings. I appreciated the time there. I grew immensely. My relationships with those guys will never change. I’ve always been a relationship guy but I’ve moved on. That’s just reality. That’s some of the advice I got from the get-go, so I didn’t even watch it. I don’t know if that’s technically him but he’s an intense, hard-nosed person and I’m grateful I got three years with him because he made me a ton better. It wasn’t the most pleasant and comfortable at times but he made me better and that’s all you can ask, really.

Strickland: You always wonder if guys like that know they make others uncomfortable. Maybe that’s the intention of some general managers; they don’t want you to be comfortable.

Lalonde: He’s got a presence. I don’t think he means it but basically he’s an icon, especially in that city. And you know what, he feels pressure to win, too. He knew he was taking a really tough rebuild and it’s had its bumps. I think he’s feeling a little bit of it, too. He’s just competitive. You don’t become who he is if you’re not that competitive. He wears it, too. He’s human like the rest of us.

Janssen: The Jake Walman situation. He goes to Detroit and it seems like he’s scoring big-time goals and he’s playing good hockey, he’s doing the Gritty. All of a sudden, you trade him and you give away a pick to trade him and then someone else gives a first-round pick to get him back. What can you tell us about that whole situation?

Lalonde: I really liked coaching the kid. I liked the individual. I felt very fortunate. He played at Providence and one of my best friends, one of my college roommates, Nate Leaman, was his coach and Nate basically just said, ‘Just dig into the relationship. If you let him know you have his back and you care for him, he’ll do well.’ And that’s exactly what he did. He blew up. He had an unbelievable first year. He went from not knowing if he would play in the league to earning a three-year, $10 million contract. I liked the kid. I liked the relationship. I just think maybe it was a bigger plan on what they were trying to do, maybe trying to build within. I’m not surprised he did well. I have a lot of time for him. I certainly would enjoy coaching him again.

Sometimes, you’re trying to do something and you have visions of building and maybe it was a step back or step forward. Steve is a very patient manager. He’s got a plan and he’s going to stick to it and just in that circumstance, it’s kind of how it played out there. I appreciate how well he played for me.

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