Detroit Red Wings: Alex Tanguay is a unique hire for this organization
By Tyler Kotila
The Detroit Red Wings made an announcement today that an old enemy has turned into a friend. The team has announced the hiring of former NHLer Alex Tanguay as an assistant coach on Jeff Blashill’s staff.
Any fan of the Detroit Red Wings knows how big the rivalry is with the Colorado Avalance. The two teams are major rivals. While the Red Wings have been shifted to the Eastern Conference, the Avalanche are lifetime enemies of the Red Wings.
Tanguay is a former Avalanche player who played there for nine years of a sixteen-year NHL career. But, as his career has come to a close, the Red Wings faithful will have to find it within their heart to let Tanguay cross sides in this long-standing rivalry.
New Red Wings assistant coach Alex Tanguay, who played for Avalanche 1999-2006, said Kris Draper called him a few days ago & said "You're the first one to cross that bridge. ... It was such a unique rivalry."
— Helene St. James (@HeleneStJames) June 30, 2021
His connection with the Avalanche is what makes this hire unique. As Draper mentioned, this is the first player from that insanely cut-throat rivalry era to make the switch. Tanguay is breaking that barrier of former Red Wings/Avalanche players. He’s got a big task ahead of him too.
Detroit Red Wings General Manager Steve Yzerman made a unique hire with Alex Tanguay.
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Colorado Avalance “legend” Alex Tanguay is still new to coaching and is going to be doing a lot of learning in the process. This move by General Manager (GM) Steve Yzerman seems like a band-aid slap on last year’s power-play issues.
Former assistant coach Dan Bylsma was unable to kick start the power-play, and Tanguay has some good experience with that so far during his time with the Iowa Wild. The American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the Minnesota Wild is where Tanguay has been an assistant for the past two years.
Tanguay is 41 years old and is not that far removed from his playing days. He last played in the 2015-16 season, meaning that Tanguay is hoping to bring some of his playing experience into effect early on in his coaching career.
As Mlive reported, Tanguay feels that he can use his unique offensive perspective to help get the most out of the Red Wings players offensively. As someone who had nearly a third of his career points come on the power-play, there is some good hope here.
The Red Wings opted to bring head coach Jeff Blashill back on a contract extension, and with a new assistant coach coming in, there should be some hope for the Red Wings to spark some new offense.
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Detroit Red Wings faithful find it in your heart to welcome Alex Tanguay to the organization even though he’s a former Colorado Avalanche team member.