GREEN BAY, Wisc. — Brasher Falls native Derek Lalonde made the most of his first hockey head coaching opportunity, guiding the Green Bay Gamblers to the championship of the U.S. Hockey League Wednesday with a 5-2 win over the Waterloo Black Hawks.

The U.S. Hockey League is the premier junior hockey league in the country and sends several players each year to NCAA Division I hockey.

Lalonde spent the past five seasons as an assistant at the University of Denver and applied for the Clarkson University coaching job last spring. He took the Gamblers’ job a few months later.

Green Bay set several franchise records in Lalonde’s first year, including reguar-season wins (47), road wins (25) and points (98).

A graduate of SUNY Cortland, Lalonde also has worked as an assistant at Ferris State, Lebanon Valley College and the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.

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