I’ve been absent for a couple of days due to dealing with anxiety issues, and it’s not been pleasant…
But I’ve tried my best to “keep watch” from a distance, and I’m not too amused with the level of smarm with which some NHL Insiders and columnists are viewing the Red Wings’ hard decision to make a coaching change.
I get that a 14-18-and-4 record after 36 games is not a playoff-bound trajectory, and that new coach Todd McLellan has one hell of a salvage job on his hands, but I’m trying to look at the remainder of the season as a learning experience for the Red Wings’ younger and older players alike, and possibly, though not probably an opportunity to earn some redemption.
So you’ll have to excuse me for feeling a little aggravated when I read stuff like this from The Athletic’s excellent Shayna Goldman, a superb writer with whom I hold no “beefs”:
NHL coaching changes wait for no one — not even the end of the holiday freeze.
On a quiet day in the NHL, the Detroit Red Wings made noise by firing head coach Derek Lalonde and associate Bob Boughner. The roster may be fundamentally flawed, but the coaches also failed to maximize their talent. The defense underwhelmed, the even-strength offense lacked and the penalty kill has been a disaster. Todd McLellan and Trent Yawney were brought in to give the team a spark.
Lalonde’s is the fourth in-season dismal firing in 2024-25, after a summer of turnover with eight coaching changes. That adds up to 12 changes since the 2023-24 season ended and drops the average tenure of all 32 active coaches to 2.23 years — a slight dip from 2.30 when the season started.
Last month, we looked at how the NHL’s average tenure stacks up to the four other major professional men’s leagues. Hockey trails the NFL, NBA and MLB, who all have more long-term coaches. But that sparked another question: How have NHL coaching tenures changed over the years?
Goldman continues, and she wrote a fine article, but the not-so-subtle digs at the Red Wings being “fundamentally flawed”…
It’s not inaccurate, but it all feels a little bit personal, especially given that The Athletic’s Dom Luszczyszyn predicted gloom and doom for the Wings from the get-go.
I understand that the Red Wings’ roster is flawed and does need a lot of work. I understand that the Red Wings’ players, coaches and management equally shoulder the blame for the situation they’re in–which is not a good situation to be in.
But there’s been a subtle smirk on the faces of too many pundits and podcasters as they perform autopsies on the Red Wings’ 2024-2025 season thus far, the “flawed roster” and the coaches and management’s missteps. It’s just…
Aggravating.
Maybe it’s aggravating because of where the Red Wings really are in the standings. Maybe it’s aggravating because we’re all facing some unpleasant truths about how long this team’s difficult rebuild might take, and maybe that’s the cause of my frustration.
But there’s no doubt that there are those out there who seem to take cheer in the concept that the so-called “Hockeytown” finds itself “in the weeds” under an overrated GM SY and the management team, and it’s hard to not take that personally.
I still believe in this team’s long-term future. I still believe that, someday, sooner than later, we’ll see the Red Wings return to the playoffs. But it’s going to take time, player development, better player performances and better coaching than we’ve seen thus far under the current management team, and better roster management, too.
I just wish that the media types weren’t so bloody gleeful about it, or at least seem so bloody gleeful about it. Constructive criticism is warranted right now, there’s no doubt in that. But critique for the sake of taking joy in the Red Wings’ struggles stings a bit.
