Following a lackluster start to the NHL season, the Detroit Red Wings have fired their head coach Derek Lalonde, the first time in nearly 40 years that the team has made an in-season top coaching change.

The Detroit Red Wings fired coach Derek Lalonde on Thursday and named Todd McLellan as his replacement, a major change by general manager Steve Yzerman more than a third of the way through another disappointing season in the place known as "Hockeytown."

It's been a hectic 48 hours for Todd McLellan, who arrived Thursday in Detroit around 8 p.m. and was coaching the Red Wings the following morning.