Canadiens officially hire former Maple Leafs coach.

The Montreal Canadiens have officially confirmed what had previously been rumored for weeks.

On Monday, the Canadiens officially announced the hiring of former National Hockey League head coach Derek Lalonde, with Lalonde taking on the role of associate coach under Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis moving forward.

It's an interesting hire for many reasons including Lalonde bringing a wealth of coaching experience to the table and perhaps even some valuable information regarding some of the Canadiens fiercest rivals.

Most really Lalonde worked under the Toronto Maple Leafs umbrella as an assistant coach to former Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube, and that has no doubt allowed him to collect plenty of valuable data on one of the Canadiens' Atlantic Division rivals. Prior to his time in Toronto, Lalonde served as the head coach for the Detroit Red Wings for parts of 3 seasons and once again that very well could result in him bringing very valuable information on player tendencies and playing patterns from yet another Atlantic Division rival.

Lalonde was highly touted after a 4 year stint with the Tampa Bay Lightning, another Atlantic Division rival, and although he achieved limited success as head coach of the Red Wings, his successor hasn't fared any better over the two seasons since Lalonde was fired from that job.

A solid addition for the Canadiens under any circumstance, and one that could prove especially valuable given where he has worked over the last several seasons of his career.