What's The Expiration Date On Derek Lalonde?

WXYT-FM / 97.1 The Ticket

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00:00Well, and again, the goalie play is up and down.

00:02The defense is pathetic.

00:04The goal scoring is evaporated largely

00:06from what they did last year.

00:08They're playing as bad as they did at the end of last year

00:10and even worse, I would argue, to begin this season.

00:14In the last 11 games, they've lost eight of them.

00:16John, it's bad.

00:17So clearly, people are going to point to Lalone today.

00:1914 NHL coaches have been replaced in the last year.

00:2414 in the last year.

00:26What makes Lalone so special?

00:27Some of those teams were playoff teams

00:29that replaced their coaches.

00:31So again, 20 coaches the last two years

00:34if you want to expand the sample size.

00:36And if you say, well, Jim, the talent isn't good enough,

00:39well, that's a bigger indictment on Iserman six years in.

00:41Well, so I'll ask you this question.

00:43You've watched more of it than I have.

00:45You've been to more of it than I have.

00:47I'm going on Thursday.

00:48Maybe they're just saving up for Thursday night.

00:49That's going to be the coming out party.

00:55Does it feel like there is any sense of urgency?

00:59No.

01:00And so obviously, they're last in the Eastern Conference.

01:04Tied for last.

01:05But they're only three points back of the last wild card

01:08spot.

01:08Now, yes, I understand.

01:09That's way too early to be talking about that.

01:11But you don't want to dig yourself a hole

01:12that you can't get out of.

01:13It's just a measuring spot, yeah.

01:14It is.

01:16But the case is, OK, you're only three back.

01:21Where is the sense of urgency to get better?

01:25To play better?

01:26To play with a little bit more juice?

01:27To win some of those games?

01:29To ultimately be in the conversation,

01:31whether it's now, it's halfway through the season,

01:33or the end of the year?

01:34If you don't take care of business now,

01:36you won't have that opportunity at the end of the season.

01:38The season's slipping away.

01:39And you typically get a fired coach bump, OK?

01:42That would be the argument to make the move now,

01:44as opposed to letting it play out or waiting.

01:46Thanksgiving is one of those checkpoints

01:47in a hockey season, right?

01:49New Year's going into January.

01:51Listen, there's clearly enough hockey games for this team

01:53to wake up and play better.

01:54The question is, is it going to happen

01:56with Derek Lalonde as the head coach right now?

01:58I mean, it's openly discussed at the games.

02:00It's openly discussed in Detroit sports.

02:04How long is this guy going to last?

02:06I think it's obvious they're not playing hard for him

02:08right now.

02:09What do you think the reception will be Thursday night

02:10when they take the ice or they announce Lalonde?

02:15I don't think people are going to go out

02:17of their way to boo him or anything like that

02:20to start the game.

02:21But I've been to three games already this season.

02:23And they have been booed off the ice to end periods

02:25and end the game.

02:27If they get down two, three, or even four goals, seen that,

02:33there will be people calling for him to be fired.

02:35It will be loud.

02:36This hockey fan base got a taste last year.

02:39And they feel like they got spit in the face this offseason.

02:41Did they do enough?

02:42They kept the coach.

02:43Did they do enough with the roster?

02:45And do I think firing Lalonde instantly

02:49makes this team a playoff team?

02:50I think that'd be naive.

02:51And I think there's deeper questions and issues

02:53with the way Steve Eizerman has built this team six years in.

02:57But it does feel like keeping Lalonde while your season slips

03:01away is a reflection of Steve Eizerman's lack of urgency,

03:05to use your word.

03:06Right.

03:06Or just not doing enough.

03:08Yeah.

03:09And there's not much you can do with the roster at this point.

03:12You can make some tweaks.

03:13And you can do, depending on where

03:15they are at the trade deadline, sure,

03:16there are moves that you can make.

03:18But this is the here and now.

03:20What is it that's going to create a spark

03:23to get them out of this rut?

03:25So Gerard Gallant is a name that doesn't have

03:27the baggage of Joel Quinville.

03:29But Gerard Gallant's a coach who, way back in the day,

03:32played with Steve Eizerman and has coached an expansion

03:35team to the Stanley Cup.

03:37He's just available.

03:38He's hanging out on his couch.

03:40Do you like what's going on right now?

03:42They are outshot in 14 of the 18 games this season.

03:45They are not competitive.

03:46They played some of the worst teams in hockey out West.

03:48And they lost all of them.

03:50I don't know when the breaking point will be,

03:52but it feels like we're getting pretty close.

03:54Yeah.

03:55I mean, it sure feels that way.

03:56And I just don't know, is it now?

04:00Is it two weeks from now?

04:02Yeah, I mean, is it Thursday?

04:04Yeah, what is it?

04:05Yeah, John, I don't know.

04:06And again, it's because Eizerman's been so patient.

04:09And he's been given carte blanche that there really

04:11isn't that much pressure.

04:12I mean, even today, we bring this up.

04:13Like, it's football season.

04:16People are more interested in the Pistons right now

04:18than the Red Wings.

04:20You really wonder, where is the heat going to come from?

04:23Because it should be internal.

04:25Like, we talk about the Lions, and the pressure to win

04:28is from guys like Dan Campbell and Brad Holmes

04:31and the guys in that locker room.

04:33The pressure should be Steve Eizerman internal.

04:35He should be disgusted.

04:37He should be livid.

04:38He should be the one that's driving change

04:40in the organization.

04:41And yet, here we are.

04:43Well, you also have to think, OK, what's his track record?

04:46Is the team different than it was back in 22

04:50when he finally made the change from Blaschel to Lalonde?

04:54Because he held on to Blaschel for what, seven years?

04:57Six years?

04:58Blaschel's here for a while, yeah.

04:59And so, I mean, like the, again, he wasn't as higher,

05:03but he kept him.

05:04He was very patient.

05:05Was very patient.

05:06Now he's being very patient with Lalonde.

05:08Yeah.

05:09Gator, we didn't do four hours on it.

05:10We did a few minutes to close the show.

05:12You lose to San Jose, three straight blown leads.

05:16Or three different blown leads in the hockey game.

05:18It's just a bad product right now.

05:20Yeah, they're not playing at a high level at this point.

05:24There's so many holes with it.

05:25The penalty kill's been horrible.

05:28They don't really score even strength goals all that often.

05:31No.

05:33It's, they're getting outshot every single game

05:37when they're taking on a team

05:38that also gets outshot every single game.

05:42And then they get outshot by 14 or whatever it was

05:44last night.

05:46It's a problem.

05:46It's, what is it, 18 games in the season at this point.

05:51Outshot 14 times.

05:53What's that?

05:54Outshot 14 times.

05:55So it's, I mean, I'm not ready to pull the trigger

06:00on this yet, but it's getting close.

06:02If you're telling me is the seat hot for Derek Lalonde,

06:04I think the seat is hot.

06:05But, I mean, Steve Eisenman's got to look at himself

06:08in the mirror, too, because he's the one

06:10that assembled this team.

06:11And I thought there would be some bumps in the road

06:14getting to where they need to be.

06:16And I'm not ready to hang up on it.

06:17I do think this team still has potential defensively

06:19to be one of the top half teams in the league.

06:23But they're not playing like it.

06:25They're not getting enough scoring elsewhere.

06:28It was nice that they got four goals last night

06:30in regulation, but it wasn't enough to beat San Jose.

06:33So it's difficult.

06:36Because I don't know, I don't think they have

06:38an in-house solution right now.

06:40Out of house, I mean, everybody's going to say,

06:42oh, Gerard Gallant.

06:44People would say Sergei Fedorov,

06:46because we want to bring people back.

06:47But I think we're getting close to having

06:51to have a discussion about it without question.

06:53Well, because you guys aren't fire the coach radio.

06:56You guys very rarely are quick to do that.

07:00But I wonder.

07:01Usually when we go there, the coach gets fired.

07:03Yeah.

07:04And I wonder, like, 14 coaches have been replaced

07:06in the last year in the NHL.

07:07Like, the NHL more than any other sport,

07:09they're quick to replace those guys.

07:11Well, they replace guys that are in first place.

07:12Yeah, the playoff teams.

07:13We've seen that happen.

07:14Yeah.

07:14Which is crazy.

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