Todd McLellan gives unfiltered message to his Red Wings group after ugly loss to the Canadiens
Photo credit: NHL.com
The Detroit Red Wings head coach Todd McLellan gave his unfiltered thoughts about his group after a very ugly loss to the Montreal Canadiens last night.
It's safe to say that the Detroit Red Wings Centennial season home opener didn't go the way the organization and the fans expected.
Following a promising training camp and several changes to the lineup compared to last year, the Wings were in a great position to start the year on a high note.
However, they met a tough opponent who had a lot to prove after a 5-2 loss against the Toronto Maple Leafs the night before in the Montreal Canadiens.
Martin St-Louis' group came to Detroit ready to compete hard, and that's what they did.
After allowing the first goal of the game less than five minutes into the first period, the Habs went on to score five unanswered goals to leave Detroit with their first points of the season.
In his post-game press conference, Todd McLellan had a lot to say about his team.
Todd McLellan Provides Unfiltered Thoughts On Ugly 5-1 Loss To Montreal
McLellan is starting his first full season as the Wings' head coach, and if there are high expectations on the players, the same can be said about him.
According to him, the team didn't play to win, and the Montreal Canadiens were better at managing scoring opportunities.
"We just played the game. We didn't play to win the game."
"You can be as tough as you want mentally, but if you're doing very disruptive things to your own game, you're going to break down real quick. We saw that time and time again in the game It was clearly one team that managed it well and took advantage of the chances they had, and another team that created multiple opportunities for the opposition."
"There were six or seven odd-numbered rushes in the first period from the 10-minute mark on. That's unacceptable."
"You can be as tough as you want mentally, but if you're doing very disruptive things to your own game, you're going to break down real quick. We saw that time and time again in the game It was clearly one team that managed it well and took advantage of the chances they had, and another team that created multiple opportunities for the opposition."
"There were six or seven odd-numbered rushes in the first period from the 10-minute mark on. That's unacceptable."
Wings captain Dylan Larkin was also disappointed. He wanted to come out strong for the special game and couldn't get it done. He added that he and his teammates will work to fix that for the next games.
"It is even more disappointing because it was such a special night. The crowd was so good, and we had three guys playing in their first NHL games."
"You always want to make that special, but there wasn't much going on out there that was special. It's our first game. We got a chance to fix all that. A lot of that is on us, and I just thought it was such a special night. The crowd was unbelievable, and we kind of wasted that one. We got 81 more to get back to our game. We got to figure it out fast and I believe it's in this room."
"You always want to make that special, but there wasn't much going on out there that was special. It's our first game. We got a chance to fix all that. A lot of that is on us, and I just thought it was such a special night. The crowd was unbelievable, and we kind of wasted that one. We got 81 more to get back to our game. We got to figure it out fast and I believe it's in this room."
So the mentality is: learn from the loss and bounce back tomorrow against the Toronto Maple Leafs. But there is still another concern to think about: John Gibson's horrible Wings debut.
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