Yes but he could sit in the press box every night!!!!
- Goalie Dad

Great than the Wings would make 3 teams paying him to NOT play!
(It is funny, eh!)

It would be nice to hire coach before the spring time or summer rush, but also then all the re-treads are let go and available too. Just realized that Claude Julien is available too. He won a Jack Addams, a cup...but had a health scare about 3-4 years ago, but is OK now, almost 65 yo. And I like Boudreau too, he had great regular seasons, but he never got his teams to be as good in the play-offs, he is maybe a year older than Claude.
I liked Gallant too, but some good teams let him go rather early....so that seems like a big red flag. Or does the guy eat a lot of garlic?
- HenryHockey

I’m going to give a spoiler here. Because Grand Rapids is so cool about things like this, I was able to interview coach Watson and Brian Lashoff today. I’ll be doing that post soon. The coach said something that changed my entire outlook. It was something to the degree of, “I had to change the way I approached coaching. Instead of looking at schemes and strategies, our camp was brutal. Every skate is a hard skate, even on off days.” I mentioned that Kasper looks like he can jump over people on the ice (and would) to try and get to a puck. He laughed a bit and confirmed the thought. But it all stemmed from hard work and defensive responsibility. I won’t give it all away but to hear the intensity and how ready he was with that answer had my blood pumping. He’s serious about work ethic and not afraid to run guys hard. Very cool conversation.

I’m going to give a spoiler here. Because Grand Rapids is so cool about things like this, I was able to interview coach Watson and Brian Lashoff today. I’ll be doing that post soon. The coach said something that changed my entire outlook. It was something to the degree of, “I had to change the way I approached coaching. Instead of looking at schemes and strategies, our camp was brutal. Every skate is a hard skate, even on off days.” I mentioned that Kasper looks like he can jump over people on the ice (and would) to try and get to a puck. He laughed a bit and confirmed the thought. But it all stemmed from hard work and defensive responsibility. I won’t give it all away but to hear the intensity and how ready he was with that answer had my blood pumping. He’s serious about work ethic and not afraid to run guys hard. Very cool conversation.
- Jeremy Laura

Kane said that Lalonde worked them very hard in TC training camp. Actually he said he was one of the hardest training camps he attended.

Yzerman is a disaster

If Yzerman does not fire Lalonde before Thursdays game it truly shows how inept he is as GM. He was the greatest Red player of all time but is showing to be a disaster in management. We should have kept Jim Nill. Or bring back Jimmy D
- saintdog19

Yzerman Detroit GOAT over Lidstrom and Howe?

I’m going to give a spoiler here. Because Grand Rapids is so cool about things like this, I was able to interview coach Watson and Brian Lashoff today. I’ll be doing that post soon. The coach said something that changed my entire outlook. It was something to the degree of, “I had to change the way I approached coaching. Instead of looking at schemes and strategies, our camp was brutal. Every skate is a hard skate, even on off days.” I mentioned that Kasper looks like he can jump over people on the ice (and would) to try and get to a puck. He laughed a bit and confirmed the thought. But it all stemmed from hard work and defensive responsibility. I won’t give it all away but to hear the intensity and how ready he was with that answer had my blood pumping. He’s serious about work ethic and not afraid to run guys hard. Very cool conversation.
- Jeremy Laura

SWEET!! Looking forward to hearing his philosophy.

We took a bit of a hit bring Blash up; GR was doing well, then Blash disappeared. I truly think the next guy needs to be an NHL coach to re-establish culture and on-ice responsibility.

Listen, physically demanding training is a must - no one can convince me otherwise. The harder you train, the easier the event is (from 30yrs in the Army to 19yrs playing rugby…. a tried & true axiom). I’ve never gotten past high-level amateur sports so take this with a salt-lick: being a physical specimen is a must, but doesn’t mean jack if there's disorder and chaos on ice (or on the pitch, or in combat….). Watson’s got to have a system that accentuates the capabilities of the players, and works the guys to rise to their true abilities. I don’t see any continuity w/the Wings. Nothing that represents a comprehensive game-plan. If I’m wrong, I’ll own it.

Maybe Watson can spend some time drilling the guys on off days to cure the cranial-anal inversion syndrome…..

We need something to change. Desperately.

Yzerman is a disaster
- Gertner

as GM of this team, yes he is.

Yzerman Detroit GOAT over Lidstrom and Howe?
- jfkst1

Which of the available coaches is strongest with systems and culture?

Which of the available coaches is strongest with systems and culture?
- NC_Scott

For me, Gallant is the best bet. He played with the Wings and was noted as a character guy, strong leadership qualities, etc... NOW, I do worry about some of the rumors about his managerial style, but his relationship with the club and The Captain should help him ensure that he's the guy for instituting change for this club. He's brash and crass, but I think his style is what we need to get the best out of the players currently on the club. I'm open to discussion about this, for sure but we need a sweeping change to have a noticeable change.

EDIT: I'd also consider Montgomery, dude's got what we need minus the time as a Wing (NOT that this is mandatory, but would offer it's helpful to have.....).

For me, Gallant is the best bet. He played with the Wings and was noted as a character guy, strong leadership qualities, etc... NOW, I do worry about some of the rumors about his managerial style, but his relationship with the club and The Captain should help him ensure that he's the guy for instituting change for this club. He's brash and crass, but I think his style is what we need to get the best out of the players currently on the club. I'm open to discussion about this, for sure but we need a sweeping change to have a noticeable change.

EDIT: I'd also consider Montgomery, dude's got what we need minus the time as a Wing (NOT that this is mandatory, but would offer it's helpful to have.....).
- mcmastermike1968

Monty's record is great, but Cassidy got the culture and the successes rolling for him. Monty was changing the lines constantly the past season and this, that is why the B's were highest in the league with "too many men" penalties. It seems the players had a hard time keeping track of where they were assigned with all the mid-game changes.

Monty's record is great, but Cassidy got the culture and the successes rolling for him. Monty was changing the lines constantly the past season and this, that is why the B's were highest in the league with "too many men" penalties. It seems the players had a hard time keeping track of where they were assigned with all the mid-game changes.
- HenryHockey

I'm not sure that the culture is a major issue, there are so many folks in leadership that lived the Wing's culture back in the day (Kronner, The Perfect Human, et. al....), so I don't know that it's going to be a major muscle movement to re-institute the culture. I could be wrong, but the right pipe-hitter can help incentivize the re-establishment. It's never easy, no doubt; we've ALL lived culture change so we know it's never easy. I'd say that if we got a guy in who has a history of success and brings the heat right off the bat (shock effect....), this team won't have to climb a mountain.

Here's the thing; this team has a boat-load of talent despite NOT having had a Top 3 pick in the draft. There's a suitable foundation to build off of with what's on this team and what's in the pipeline.....and who we're losing at the end of the season. We're not in bad shape, we're just not being lead very well. Again, it's not about making the SCF this season, it's about improving from where we were last year.......and we suck compared to last year, royally suck. Show me improvement. If it's Gallant and he's here for 5yrs or less, so be it. If it's Monty, he could potentially build a perennial contender within 2 years. We are *this* close, but there's no comprehensive plan for this team.....we need that.

And, you're right; Cassidy is a BIG culture guy, so he did the leg-work no doubt, but we can't pull him to the Wings.....he's got a good gig now that challenges his ability, so he's pretty happy rolling the dice, so to speak.

Gallant would be the right coach for the red wings at this time as he is able to get the most out of teams with average talent. Yzerman needs to make a move before Thursday game or ownership should fire Yzerman and company. Even if by miracle they win on Thursday, Lalonde must go or if Yzerman refuses. Yzerman and lalonde must go.