Red Wings Words Damning Indictments of Lalonde’s Tenure

The Detroit Red Wings seem to have mastered the knack of saying Derek Lalonde wasn’t doing a very good job of coaching them without coming right out and saying Lalonde wasn’t doing a very good job of coaching them.

While they weren’t directly critical of the job their ousted head coach was doing, their words were conveying a message suggesting that change was definitely necessary.

“(It) felt like something needed to happen,” Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin said. “We’re missing something.”

Some of the words being uttered by players, staff and even incoming head coach Todd McLellan were damning indictments of how far the team had fallen off the path to success in the final season of Lalonde’s tutelage.

Without a practice to instill any of his own systems prior to Friday’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, McLellan was requesting his team deliver on a few simple missions.

Todd McLellan said he asked the Red Wings to play smarter, harder, and faster — and to improve the spirit of the team.

He said there is no magic wand right away, so tonight they’ll “play hockey.” pic.twitter.com/MkX8mr0dtm

— Brad Galli (@BradGalli) December 27, 2024

“What we’ve asked the players to do is to play harder, to play faster and a little bit smarter,” McLellan said.

The assessment of the performance of his 13-17-4 club thus far this season from Detroit GM Steve Yzerman was also damning.

“If you just want to look at this very broadly, we need to score more, we need to be better defensively,” Yzerman said. “We need to keep the puck out of our net, whether it’s defensively or goaltending.

“We just need to, very obvious answer, we need to get better. I look at all the areas of our team. We need to be better in every aspect of it.”

Red Wings Looking To Rekindle Team Spirit

Over the last couple of weeks, Yzerman saw a team drowning in frustration. He was witnessing the spirit steadily being zapped from the players.

Even from afar, McLellan was spotting this absence of any joie de vivre in the wearers of the winged wheel. He knows among his first tasks will be to recharge their collective batteries for the battle that lay ahead.

Dylan Larkin spoke about the Red Wings coaching change, and their slow start to the season.

"We were missing something, and obviously Steve (Yzerman) made the decision. That's something you don't want to happen," he said. "But I feel like something needed to happen." pic.twitter.com/un4t3FveZ5

— Brad Galli (@BradGalli) December 27, 2024

“The spirit of the team has to improve,” McLellan said. “When something like this happens, obviously the spirit of the team is at a low and we’re going to work hard to build that back up.”

In the three tasks he’s assigning them for tonight, the Detroit players are believing that McLellan may be on the right track.

“I think we’re all good hockey players,” defenseman Moritz Seider said. “We just need maybe a different approach or something and maybe he hit the triggers already.”

McLellan A Demanding Coach

McLellan strikes a powerful pose. He comes with a resume of NHL success. And he’s not afraid to call his team out when he feels they aren’t delivering the goods.

That’s a concept the players also are willing to embrace. They welcome the thought that someone will be holding their feet to the fire.

“Just from the first day and this morning, I think you can definitely feel his presence,” forward Patrick Kane said. “Like he has a presence when he’s in the room. The way he speaks, just his voice, his voice on the ice.

“He seems like he’s going to be a coach that’s demanding and I think that’s a good thing for our group. Demand more from us and then hopefully we can put out more for him, too.”