Red Wings hire Iowa’s Tanguay as assistant coach

The Detroit Red Wings have hired Alex Tanguay as an assistant coach.

Tanguay, 41, has spent the last two years as an assistant with the American Hockey League’s Iowa Wild. Over those two seasons, the Wild combined for a 54-31-8-4 record, with a second-place finish in the Central Division during the 2019-20 campaign. Iowa had the AHL’s fifth-best power play in Tanguay’s first season behind the bench at 21.9 percent, and its offense was among the league’s most productive, improving from 3.08 goals per game in 2019-20 to 3.15 goals per game over a 34-game schedule in 2020-21. The Wild also had the second-best shot-per-game average in the AHL in each of the past two seasons, averaging 32.68 combined in Tanguay’s tenure with the club.

A member of the Colorado Avalanche’s Stanley Cup championship team in 2001, Tanguay skated in 1,088 regular-season games in the NHL with Colorado, Calgary, Montreal, Tampa Bay and Arizona, recording 283 goals and 580 assists for 863 points.

Tanguay began his pro career with the AHL’s Hershey Bears at the end of the 1998-99 season, appearing in five regular-season games and five playoff contests.