A lot of the frustration/disappointment/vitriol aimed at Lalonde is at least partly the result of where the Wings were at one point, 13 games over .500 and on pace for a 100-point season. This just reinforced the delusion that the Wings were already a good team. They weren't and aren't. How much credit was ever given to Lalonde for the team out-performing its real level and where they were at that point? A rough guess: next to none. All the stats about their overall performance since then over X number of games overlook the most important part: It's a fragile team with not enough talent to overcome losing their most important player for two weeks, and their second-most important Lyon dropping off from very good to not good enough to erase the d-zone issues which have been present since Game 1.
Lalonde has to be at least a little responsible for poor d-zone play all year. How much depends on the critic. But there are two things often overlooked: 1) The primary emphasis going into the season was on developing secondary scoring. One-dimensional guys like DBC, Ghost, Sprong were added to address that, subsequently Kane. Secondary scoring problem largely solved; 2) Defensive systems are not developed overnight and almost always require both the right personnel and a fair amount of player familiarity with teammates and system responsibilities. The Wings turned over almost half their roster to start the season, many of the newcomers not reliable in their own zone. The loss to Pittsburgh pretty accurately summed up where they are as a team this year: A good effort with enough goals to win 90 per cent of the time, but too loose and irresponsible defensively and not bailed out on this night by goaltending good enough to limit the damage.
Until SY's first-round picks start busting, the rebuild is on track. If it seems to be happening too slowly (and it was unnecessarily slow this season with Ed) it's mostly because you don't realize the journey still has 3-4 years to go.
