In the end, the amount and way the Red Wings were losing lately was simply too much to ignore.

And with that, the Wings fired coach Derek Lalonde and replaced him with former San Jose Sharks head coach Todd McLellan on Thursday.

The Wings announced that Steve Yzerman, the Wings’ executive vice-president and general manager, named McLellan the 29th head coach in franchise history and signed McLellan to a multi-year contract.

The Wings also hired Trent Yawney as an assistant coach, replacing Bob Boughner, another ex-Sharks head coach, who oversaw the defense and penalty-kill for Detroit.

McLellan will be behind the bench tonight as the Wings host Toronto.

McLellan is San Jose’s all-time winningest coach, compiling a 311-155-63 mark over seven full seasons from 2008-15. He won three Pacific Division titles and had a 30-32 record in the postseason, reaching the conference finals in 2010 and 2011.

McLellan’s Sharks teams finished with more than 100 points four times, winning the President’s Trophy in the 2008-09 season.

The Wings have struggled to a 13-17-4 record, good for 30 points, just two points above Buffalo for last place in the Eastern Conference. They trail Ottawa by eight points (38-30) for the final of two Eastern Conference wild-card positions.

Lalonde, 52, ended his Wings career with an 89-86-23 record. This was his first NHL head-coaching job, and he was in his third season guiding the Wings.

In steps McLellan, 57, who was an assistant coach under Mike Babcock from 2005-08. Yzerman, incidentally, was the captain in his final playing season and first season for McLellan in Detroit under Babcock.

McLellan has 16 seasons of NHL head-coaching experience, posting a 598-412-134 regular-season record and a 42-46 postseason mark with the Los Angeles Kings (2019-24), Edmonton Oilers (2015-19) and Sharks (2008-15). His 598 regular-season wins are ranked 24th in NHL history and sixth-most among active coaches behind Paul Maurice (891), Lindy Ruff (876), Peter Laviolette (823), John Tortorella (757) and Peter DeBoer (632).

Men’s basketball

Larrañaga steps down at Miami >> Jim Larrañaga insists he still loves the University of Miami, still loves the game of basketball, still loves mentoring players, still loves coaching. He doesn’t love what college basketball has become.

The 75-year-old Larrañaga stepped down, effective immediately, and will be replaced by associate head coach Bill Courtney — one of his best friends for the past three decades — for the remainder of the season.

“I’m exhausted,” Larrañaga said. “I’ve tried every which way to keep this going.”

Larrañaga joins a long line of prominent college basketball coaches — Virginia’s Tony Bennett and Villanova’s Jay Wright among them — who have left their jobs in recent years citing the changes in the game and the challenge of coaching in the Name, Image and Likeness era of college sports.

For Larrañaga, those changes began presenting themselves when he had eight players — all of whom said they were happy at Miami — enter the transfer portal after the Hurricanes went to the Final Four in 2023.

“The opportunity to make money someplace else created a situation that you have to begin to ask yourself as a coach what is this all about,” Larrañaga said. “And the answer is it’s become professional.”

The decision by Larrañaga ends a 14-year run as Miami’s coach — and, presumably, a 41-year college head-coaching career that saw him win 744 games at Miami, American International, George Mason and Bowling Green. He took Miami to the Final Four in 2023 and took George Mason to the Final Four in 2006.

The Hurricanes are 4-8 this year.

Tennis

Halep withdraws from Aussie Open >> Two-time Grand Slam champion Simona Halep pulled out of Australian Open qualifying and a tuneup tournament in Auckland, New Zealand, because of pain in her knee and shoulder, the latest interruption of her comeback from a drug suspension.

Halep posted on social media that she was feeling poorly after participating in an exhibition event in Abu Dhabi.

The 33-year-old Romanian said she is planning to next enter the Transylvania Open in her home country, where play begins Feb. 3.

Last week, Halep was granted a wild-card entry for qualifying in the Australian Open. She was the runner-up at Melbourne Park in 2018 and won major titles at the French Open later that year and at Wimbledon in 2019. She has been ranked as high as No. 1 but is currently 877th and hasn’t played at any Grand Slam tournament since 2022 after missing all tournaments for 1 1/2 years because of a doping case.

Sailing

Two sailors die in Sydney to Hobart yacht race >> Organizers said that two Sydney to Hobart sailors have died at sea amid wild weather conditions that forced line honors favorite Master Lock Comanche to withdraw among mass retirements.

The race will continue as the fleet continues its passage to Constitution Dock in Hobart.

The Cruising Yacht Club of Australia in Sydney, which administers the yacht race, has said that one sailor each on entrants Flying Fish Arctos and Bowline were killed after being struck by the boom, a large horizontal pole at the bottom of the sail.

The incident aboard Flying Fish Arctos occurred around 30 nautical miles east-southeast of Ulladulla on the New South Wales south coast. Crew members attempted CPR but could not revive their teammate.

The crew member aboard Bowline was struck approximately 30 nautical miles east/north-east of Batemans Bay and fell unconscious, with CPR also unsuccessful.

“Our thoughts are with the crews, family and friends of the deceased,” the CYCA said in a statement.