Speculation: Lalonde

[19 for president]

He is indeed making quick changes unlike the past 2 seasons. Maybe it has something to do with his contract expiring.


I'd be OK with never seeing Husso again. His propensity to allow at least one soft goal gives both teammates and fans heartburn. If Husso played last night, he would've allowed his usual soft goal and it would've been a 1-1 game at best going into the 3rd period. Outcome would have been completely different.

Nobody will remember what Fester's real name is if the team doesn't make the playoffs, like that guy who coached before Babcock. This will be Fester's last head coaching gig if the team fails.

To be fair to Lalonde, Lewis had a significantly superior team to any that Detroit has iced in the past decade.

Lalonde needs to learn how to make changes faster, figure out a better defensive system, and be a better motivator. All big deals with young teams, and the Wings are only going to get younger with the amount of guys almost/ready to step into an NHL spot.

I feel like the Wings need to go on a bit of a run for him to be re-signed. Like winning at least 1 round in the playoffs. I think him going unsigned after this season is the most likely scenario. Getting fired mid way would surprise me but I also could see some Illitch pressure to get this team into the playoffs for the added revenue. Not enough that we are trading 1sts for 3rd rentals, but enough that if ownership thinks the coach is holding the team back that there is some pressure on Stevie to bring in someone with a proven track record.

If we don't have any 1-9 runs and guys like Ray, Seider, Ed, Aljo, Kasper (if he comes up) look like they are improving I think he'll make it the season.

 

[Reddwit]

I really don’t get the uproar over Lalonde. It’s possible he’s a mediocre coach, but I feel like a lot of the blame Lalonde is receiving is misdirected anger at Yzerman. He gave Lalonde mediocre talent to work with overall. That’s the defining characteristic of almost every UFA he’s signed: mediocrity. I don’t know why people expect good defensive structure to take root when the team itself doesn’t have smart defensive talent, either on the back end or up front, and notably, has had even worse goaltending.

That’s not to say Lalonde doesn’t have flaws, but I think people really underestimate the shit position a coach is in when they have a middle-of-the-road roster. Expectations are always that the coach is somehow going to be the one to find the magic formula that puts the team over the top, ignoring the fact that a coach could say and do all the right things to push players to perform at their best and yet the effort could be futile if the players don’t do their part or maybe even can’t do their part, due to lack of IQ. And this is not a high IQ roster, especially on the back end.

That said, I’m not going to cry if Lalonde is replaced. I just don’t necessarily think that his flaws are what’s really holding this team back. Hell, I think if this team so much as had one above average goaltender playing consistently over Lalonde’s tenure, and the skating roster remained entirely the same, we’d be singing a different tune about Lalonde overall.

 

[lilidk]

We have mediocre team and mediocre coach, so don't expect anything

 

[14ari13]

I really don’t get the uproar over Lalonde. It’s possible he’s a mediocre coach, but I feel like a lot of the blame Lalonde is receiving is misdirected anger at Yzerman. He gave Lalonde mediocre talent to work with overall. That’s the defining characteristic of almost every UFA he’s signed: mediocrity. I don’t know why people expect good defensive structure to take root when the team itself doesn’t have smart defensive talent, either on the back end or up front, and notably, has had even worse goaltending.

That’s not to say Lalonde doesn’t have flaws, but I think people really underestimate the shit position a coach is in when they have a middle-of-the-road roster. Expectations are always that the coach is somehow going to be the one to find the magic formula that puts the team over the top, ignoring the fact that a coach could say and do all the right things to push players to perform at their best and yet the effort could be futile if the players don’t do their part or maybe even can’t do their part, due to lack of IQ. And this is not a high IQ roster, especially on the back end.

That said, I’m not going to cry if Lalonde is replaced. I just don’t necessarily think that his flaws are what’s really holding this team back. Hell, I think if this team so much as had one above average goaltender playing consistently over Lalonde’s tenure, and the skating roster remained entirely the same, we’d be singing a different tune about Lalonde overall.

Lalonde and Husso are this team's major weakness. Husso got waived, I think and hope Lalonde will get fired after 10/20 games. We will see.

 

[Gniwder]

To be fair to Lalonde, Lewis had a significantly superior team to any that Detroit has iced in the past decade.

Lalonde needs to learn how to make changes faster, figure out a better defensive system, and be a better motivator. All big deals with young teams, and the Wings are only going to get younger with the amount of guys almost/ready to step into an NHL spot.

I feel like the Wings need to go on a bit of a run for him to be re-signed. Like winning at least 1 round in the playoffs. I think him going unsigned after this season is the most likely scenario. Getting fired mid way would surprise me but I also could see some Illitch pressure to get this team into the playoffs for the added revenue. Not enough that we are trading 1sts for 3rd rentals, but enough that if ownership thinks the coach is holding the team back that there is some pressure on Stevie to bring in someone with a proven track record.

If we don't have any 1-9 runs and guys like Ray, Seider, Ed, Aljo, Kasper (if he comes up) look like they are improving I think he'll make it the season.

Lewis had a better team by a large margin, my point was that fans will forget about Fester in a decade or two unless he takes the team to the playoffs. It's about doing something significant enough to make fans remember.

So far, Fester is just a fill in coach without a good defensive system or ability to motivate. He hasn't done enough to join the NHL coaching carousel.