You can't underestimate Detroit Red Wings' head coach Todd McLellan's intensity. And following their big loss to the Montreal Canadiens, McLellan got brutally honest with some of his veteran players after he gave a short take with reporters following that contest.
In an article from Nicholas Cotsonika from NHL.com, McLellan recalled telling his players, “Are we tired of this yet?" He then clarified that, "They were longtime Red Wings. They didn’t come from other organizations. Just, ‘When is enough enough to play sloppy like that?’ And I wasn’t blaming those players. I wasn’t saying, ‘Hey, it’s your fault.’ But it has to have an impact on those guys. They’ve got to be sitting in there going, ‘OK, enough already.’ But if those four start, or five start, and make a difference, then the rest will follow.”
The Red Wings took Todd McLellan's call-out to heart
The Red Wings have more than made a difference following McLellan's brutally honest chat with his players. Since that debacle vs. the Montreal Canadiens, the Wings have since went 5-0, putting up 19 goals and allowing just nine.
They amassed a perfect 10 for 10 on the penalty kill in that span, which is amazing when you factor in that the Wings had a historically bad PK unit in 2024-25. As for their power play, it has been solid, scoring three times in 14 attempts, for a 21.4 percent conversion rate.
The sense of urgency has been way higher, and it's something the Red Wings didn't have in 2024-25 when they ended up backsliding starting in March. That backslide led to the Wings missing the playoffs for a ninth straight season, following a year when a tiebreaker kept them out of the postseason, and you can chalk that up to a backslide, too.
Red Wings still have a lot to overcome
Former head coach Derek Lalonde was there for the 2024 collapse, which began when star forward Dylan Larkin went down with an injury. But McLellan oversaw the 2025 collapse and, in classic Todd McLellan fashion, he wasn't going to stand there and watch a team he knew was capable of winning start off the 2025-26 season stumbling out of the gate more than they had against the Canadiens.
And the Red Wings had every excuse to play subpar hockey, with three rookies in the lineup plus second-year players who don't have the most NHL experience. But McLellan knew this team was better than what they showed the NHL universe on opening night, and they drove that point home.
Now, it's up to the Red Wings to keep this momentum going as they're slated to play some of the weaker units in the league. If they can get through that stretch of games the way they did against what were some tough opponents, then the 2025-26 outlook is more than promising if they prove they can play consistent hockey.