Prior to making his head coaching debut, Lalonde was an assistant coach at the University of Denver, Ferris State University (Big Rapids, Mich.), Hamilton College and Lebanon Valley College. He began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.
When reflecting on his coaching journey, Lalonde believes there's a blueprint for team success.
"I've been fortunate to be on successful teams and teams that have won," he said. "When you ultimately start playing for that guy next to you, that becomes really powerful."
For Lalonde, his first order of business in Detroit is ensuring his players buy into the process.
"When we were in Tampa Bay, it took us time to judge ourselves on process over outcome," Lalonde said. "A perfect example is the year we won 62 games because we were not judging ourselves. We were rewarded with winning. There were holes in our game and times where we did not play winning hockey, but we still found ways to win. I just wanna get the process going the right way and if that happens, I think the outcome will take care of itself."
In mapping out his to-do list, Lalonde also wants to foster a team-first mindset.
"Certainly, it doesn't happen overnight," he said. "It will be a challenge not only as a coach, but for our coaching staff and as a group."
