LaLonde Fired. McLellan Hired in DET

[These Are The Days]

Interesting belief considering some of the moves JBB has made recently...

I'll bite. What moves would that be? The Jeannot trade is literally the only blemish on his record and everyone knew it was stupid from the moment it happened

 

[gritdash60]

The biggest problems are in defense, get proper support from there and the offense will look better. Will it be a world beater? Of course not, but better.

I really hope that's the case. Handcuffing offensive minded players like Kane and Raymond will not look good is my fear though.

 

[ShakenNotStirred]

Must be difficult being a Wing’s fan knowing Yzerman will continue as their GM watching the current iteration of the club.

Life is what you make of it and if a sports team is dragging you down, your life basically sucks anyway. Sad.

I guess people were taught cope differently then others....

 

[Ciao]

I think this is a good move by Detroit.

They needed a coaching change, and McLellan is a good hire. Maybe he can help turn things around for them.

He is an experienced NHL head coach with more than 1,100 games over 16 seasons in three organizations, and with an overall winning record. In addition to San Jose, Edmonton and LA, he was also an assistant in Long Island and Detroit. He's been with the Red Wings organization before early in his career.

I wish him and the Red Wings all the best.

As for Lalande, it wasn't going well and I don't things were going to get any better. He pretty much gave what he had to offer, and will have to pick things up as an assistant elsewhere or as a head coach at a different level. Getting fired -- or relieved of your duties -- is one of the few benefits of professional coaching anyway. You get some paid time off, and a chance to rest and reflect. It's not so bad for a while.

 

[Sol]

Mclellan has never had a clue what to do with a talented roster ever, and he’s been a career loser his entire career. This is the first time he’s coaching a bad team so I can’t imagine how much more lost he will be than usual.

 

[Dotter]

I'm with @Czechboy and say they should have just kept Laldone and went full tank.

The time to fire him was 2 months ago.

 

[cvaicunas]

Gotta trust the Yzerplan! Oh wait......

Blashill was not even an Yzerman pick. Come on guys, I know it's fun to rag on the Wings but at little accuracy wouldn't kill you. One coach he picked was a failure, and the other one hasn't even coached his first game.

 

[Ciao]

Damn Yzernan has been brutal for awhile now.

I have confidence in Stevie Y. He's playing the long game and building for the future. I like that.

 

[Oddbob]

He had to get approval from ownership which is what caused the delay.
Christmas was yesterday, get over it.

He didn't have to get approval. That was some fake made up rumour on a nothing news site.

 

[Borlag]

I really hope that's the case. Handcuffing offensive minded players like Kane and Raymond will not look good is my fear though.

If they would get even adequate defense from the bottom two pairings, that would allow the forwards to focus more on the offense and by itself let Kane and Raymond do what they do more openly.

My own fear is that the bottom two pairings will still be too abysmal for that to happen enough.

 

[cvaicunas]

What are Detroit fans expecting after this hire?

Not sure what to expect as far as what Koala truly brings as a coach. But watching the Wings of late, it was clear the team had given up on the coach. Yeah, riding the tank sounds great as a fan watching games petting my dog on a sofa, but the players seem dejected in interviews of late. Not to mention, it seemed players had started, early on in the season I might add, throwing what seemed like 'shade' on to the coaching style. Change probably needed to be made to save our young core. Lalonde was clearly not the guy, and many Wings fans here felt like Lalonde lost the team all the way back to the end of last year. They were in a playoff spot, and Lalonde continually mentioned he felt the team should not be in the position they were in. Not sure I want the leader of a team publicly speaking like that. The team, roster turnover not withstanding, has never played as well since.

 

[FinlandPanther]

But pleb first. I could win a title if I had 30 tries at it too

No you couldn’t.

 

[Nogatco Rd]

* Gets outcoached in the playoffs due to his inability to adapt

Fortunately this shouldn't be an issue in Detroit

 

[Jack Spider]

I have confidence in Stevie Y. He's playing the ong game and building for the future. I like that.

Those 2 games against Montreal were embarrassing. Yzerman had to fire the coach and it shows he still has a head on his shoulders.

 

[Spawn]

Mildly hot take:

This is not a bad move. McLellan knows how to build a team. He got the Oilers into the playoffs and then did the same with LA, both after rebuilds.

His issue is he can’t get teams over the top to take the next step.

But if you’re Detroit you need to make the playoffs first. Worry about the next coach later.

I agree. McLellan was a good hire for those early Oiler McDrai days. If Chia didn't actively work to sabotage the team I think McLellan would have lasted longer. But also agree it seems he's not the guy to get a team to the final goal. But a good stepping stone for a building team.

 

[Space umpire]

I

Weird, considering this is only the second coach Yzerman has picked, yet you make it sound like it's his fifth...

I would think that the limit is 3.
If the GM is on the 4th coach, 3 of which he picked he should be the next one gone.

 

[AlwaysSunnyInDetroit]

The Red Wings have been in "rebuild mode" since 2019 under Yzerman but had top ten picks in 2017 and 2018 as well. They should be on their way to returning to the post-season by now, but Steve has flat out failed to improve the club at all during his time as GM. Part of this is drafting- Detroit has 41 GP outside the first round through all of Yzerman's tenure- part of it is abysmal FA signings and the rest is probably explained by his poor coaching decisions.

Detroit is now on pace to finish bottom five again, but we're supposed to believe he's a management genius of some kind who intended on bottoming out nearly six calendar years into his stint while now having to fire his own hand-picked coach two seasons after the fact. The best he's been able to do is load up the DRW front office with his former teammates and family members and... well that's it really. Otherwise it takes a lot of mental gymnastics to paint what he's done as "success".

bro's too scared to tell us which his team is. probably has a sabres logo on his jammys

 

[gritdash60]

If they would get even adequate defense from the bottom two pairings, that would allow the forwards to focus more on the offense and by itself let Kane and Raymond do what they do more openly.

My own fear is that the bottom two pairings will still be too abysmal for that to happen enough.

Pretty sure the bottom two pairings playing adequate defense is not something coach can fix.

 

[onmygameboi]

The Red Wings have been in "rebuild mode" since 2019 under Yzerman but had top ten picks in 2017 and 2018 as well. They should be on their way to returning to the post-season by now, but Steve has flat out failed to improve the club at all during his time as GM. Part of this is drafting- Detroit has 41 GP outside the first round through all of Yzerman's tenure- part of it is abysmal FA signings and the rest is probably explained by his poor coaching decisions.

Detroit is now on pace to finish bottom five again, but we're supposed to believe he's a management genius of some kind who intended on bottoming out nearly six calendar years into his stint while now having to fire his own hand-picked coach two seasons after the fact. The best he's been able to do is load up the DRW front office with his former teammates and family members and... well that's it really. Otherwise it takes a lot of mental gymnastics to paint what he's done as "success".

Is there a flow chart of the rebuild process? It just sounds like the rebuild is not meeting your expectations.

Did you watch the WJC? A few of the US guys looked good, one of which is Hagens.

He might be worth another year of pain.

 

[Fearnot]

 

[TheNumber4]

If you were gonna get TMac, just get the better, younger version in Woodcroft.

 

[brentashton]

If you were gonna get TMac, just get the better, younger version in Woodcroft.

And fire him quicker. Just speed everything up.

It's always a damned if you do, damned if you dont situation.



I get being critical of him, but the comment is just plain dumb.

The club has improved every season since he bottomed out (and got f***ed out of a top three pick) in 2020, and was a point away from making the Playoffs last season. This is actually the first season under Yzerman that has fallen below expectations and he just fired LaLonde, a big part of the reason why. It'll remain to be seen whether or not hiring McLellan works but I expect the Wings to improve as the the rest of the season plays out, especially if McLellan can get some of the players going who have been very underwhelming so far or if Yzerman can upgrade the defense more considering Seider and Edvinsson have been the only good defensmen on the Wings this season.

Yes. They were awful and out of the play offs when Yzerman came in. Now they are less awful and less closer to the playoffs.

 

[norrisnick]

Pretty sure the bottom two pairings playing adequate defense is not something coach can fix.

Pretty sure good systems can fill in the gaps. If coaches made no difference, there'd be no coaches.

 

[gritdash60]

Pretty sure good systems can fill in the gaps. If coaches made no difference, there'd be no coaches.

Yeah well lets see how Todd makes a roster with Larkin, Raymond, Kane etc. produce more than 30th in the league, im not going to hold my breath waiting tho.

But that's what coaches are for.

 

[Nemesis Prime]

bye uncle fester