After a brutal 8-1 loss to the Florida Panthers, Detroit Red Wings head coach Todd McLellan didn't mince words.
"Are you embarrassed?" a reporter asked McLellan. "Yeah," he replied. "I think we all should be."
McLellan is no stranger to shooting from the hip. His comments following the Red Wings' tenth consecutive playoff elimination said what most fans had been thinking for quite some time. This team, simply put, isn't good enough to contend.
McLellan's entire post-game interview was the cherry on top to a frustrating season.
McLellan clearly frustrated with Red Wings
Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press began the interview by asking if McLellan saw the loss as a fitting end to a disappointing season. "I don't even know if I'll answer your question," McLellan said, "but both teams came in with nothing on the line. You can see [Florida's] championship pedigree. They came and played and it meant something to them."
Florida entered the game without 15 of their 24 roster players. Despite this, they managed to demolish the Red Wings in an 8-1 beatdown. Their desire to win eclipsed Detroit's passive play, running John Gibson from the net and shelling Cam Talbot shortly after.
Another reporter asked McLellan if the ending to the season hurt a little bit.
"Yep."
The third question brought visible frustration to McLellan's face. The reporter began by asking how McLellan measures the team's progress. Before he could finish his question, McLellan cut him off and shook his head. "I'm not even gonna talk about that," he said flatly. "Not gonna go there."
This isn't the first time McLellan's made his frustrations vocal. "This is Hockeytown, they're not even clamoring for a Cup," McLellan said when fans booed the Red Wings off the ice in their final home game. "They just want a group to give them something to cheer for. We earned that reaction."
The future for McLellan and the Red Wings
Still, one lingering question continues to nag at fans: why don't the Red Wings respond to this frustration? Why aren't they seem angry as McLellan? McLellan is the third head coach in the Steve Yzerman era. The first, Jeff Blashill, remained with the organization post-Ken Holland. Derek Lalonde left after just two and a half seasons. Under Lalonde, players looked disengaged and checked out.
In McLellan's tenure, similar problems have begun to manifest.
The season started with creative passing plays and ended in passive dump and chase hockey. It wasn't enough that the team played bad: they were downright boring. The Red Wings became too predictable for their own good. There were, of course, occasions where the team appeared dialed in. The Red Wings looked like they'd answered the call against the Philadelphia Flyers. But, since the Olympic break, they coudln't establish momentum at any level.
Putting that blame squarely on the coach is unfair. There are several days where it looked like McLellan was the only one that cared. Still, is he the long-term answer in the coaching department? Or has he already lost the locker room?
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