Poll: How is everyone feeling about Derek Lalonde?

[Run the Jewels]

Since the Wings are doing their annual limp towards the finish line of the regular season, I wanted to get a sense of how everyone feels about Lalonde. I have very mixed feelings: the roster will look quite different in 2-3 years and that may be the best time to judge his performance, but I feel like we have enough talent right now to make the playoffs. So I think it's safe to say I'm starting to sour on him a bit. What are your feelings on him as the Red Wings coach?

As far as what "get the job done" means, it's making the Red Wings a consistent playoff team who have a shot at a long playoff run.

Click to read more...

 

[dalem177]

I'm fine with him so far. I've had way more "yay"s than "sad"z this season compared to the last several years so I'm keeping the Primarch jpg around.

 

[lilidk]

Watson is next Red Wings coach till then for couple of seasons we stocked with mediocre team that start loosing at the end of the season, we did it last season also.

 

[Ezekial]

I feel like the two major contributors to our poor stretches this year were lack of top end center ability when Larkin went down and poor goalie play.

The major contributor to our hot stretch was stellar goalie play. The rest has been pretty good, not great, I think.

So I think with some consistent goalie play, a bit more skill in the lineup both offensively and defensively, Lalonde will be fine. I think he fosters a good room and has his players backs.

Edit: I do agree he tries to force some things lineup-wise that are visibly not working for too long.

 

[norrisnick]

I was at option 3 by Thanksgiving of last season. So 4 is probably the best option for me...

He talked a good game at the start but his coaching actions didn't match what he was saying so then the shit he was saying started to become a negative as well....

 

[jaster]

He's fine. It's still a pretty underwhelming roster, and he's managed to squeeze some pretty impressive stretches of success out of it. I have no major problem with him for now.

 

[Larkin2AA]

Team desperately needs a 2C on this team and better defense. Hard to really judge him until that gets figured out.

 

[GMR]

There were seven coaches fired this season. I'm sure Yzerman will keep him next season but Lalonde is lucky to keep his job considering the NHL's propensity to dump coaches.

 

[Run the Jewels]

Watson is next Red Wings coach till then for couple of seasons we stocked with mediocre team that start loosing at the end of the season, we did it last season also.

Watson is a good comparison. I remember some people being quite unhappy with him at the beginning of the season, and my take was that I was going to give him until November IIRC to see how the team looked before passing judgment on him. The team is obviously looking much better.

Two straight seasons of limping towards the finish line doesn't exactly fill me with confidence when it comes to Derek Lalonde.

 

[19 for president]

I think skill is still this teams biggest problem. They desperately need a 2C that can occasionally fill in as a 1C if Larkin is out. Right now our 2Cs are top end 2s at best and really better suited as 3Cs.

With that said I'm not a huge Lalonde fan. He is very bad when it comes to helping a team stop a momentum shift. How often have we seen him not pull a goalie or use a timeout to help settle this team down? We've seen way to many huge moment shifts where we don't just scramble and let in 1 goal but often 2 or 3. There are things that a coach can do to settle his team and Lalonde never uses those tools.

My other big gripe is that he is very slow on the uptake when it comes to identifying players/parings that aren't working. It took us almost half a season last year to see the Seider/ Chiarot paring split up when it was an absolute disaster. Husso hung onto the starter role a solid 10 games too long, and only lost his job because he was injured. A guy like DBC who has gone through some long terrible stretches should have benched at some point. Not long term benching but a wakeup game or two (A Scotty Bowman classic). Copp and Ras also probably deserved a benching or two throughout the year due to some abysmal stretches.

Lalonde is a fairly good systems coach, but he doesn't seem like a guy that is very good at inspiring his team or making adjustments.

 

[OgeeOgelthorpe]

My skepticism is starting to grow more due to the fact that he tries line combos/defensive pairs/goalie tandems that don't work for too long before making adjustments.

I think his system is fine. I have a real problem with how slow he is to adjust to failing chemistry.

 

[JediOrderPizza]

Probably skeptical, the things for me are they still look bad defensively two years under him now. Is that personnel or the system? Probably both, feel like other teams with less do better.

How this team just never has that desperation gear, where they look flat and just don't give a damn. Losing to certain teams and expecting them to then jump all over the next opponent but then to just looking disinterested yet again. Having these guys prepared is def a coaching thing.

Yzerman isn't a reactionary GM, so I know Lalonde will be back. I'm ok with it, but if next season is the same tune then well adios.

 

[Lazlo Hollyfeld]

I'm fine with him so far. I've had way more "yay"s than "sad"z this season compared to the last several years so I'm keeping the Primarch jpg around.

That's pretty much where I'm at. There's been a lot of improvements but he can be frustrating at times. Like never using a timeout when there's been a huge momentum shift and the team is scrambling.

And as much as I defend Copp's role here I was pleasantly surprised to hear Lalonde call him out on that faceoff mistake. Partly because I'm sick of his eternally optimistic takes on things, but also because it showed some frustration with the veterans.

This team is still thin on talent but one of the upsides of having all these vets is experience and stability. In the first half of the season you could feel that in their confidence to come back in games but then Larkin's out and the sky is falling.

 

[Hen Kolland]

My skepticism is starting to grow more due to the fact that he tries line combos/defensive pairs/goalie tandems that don't work for too long before making adjustments.

I think his system is fine. I have a real problem with how slow he is to adjust to failing chemistry.

You would think that people would eventually settle in on a happy balance, but no. Blashill was too quick to mix and match lines when things weren't working or when one line was having success. Lalonde is too slow to react when a line isn't working because the only solution is to throw things in a blender.

I have complaints about this team and doubts about Lalonde, but we can't do this f***ing Goldilocks routine on lineup decisions with every single coach.

 

[SoupGuru]

I get the sense that Lalonde wants the players to take ownership. It's why he doesn't mess with lines or pairings unless it's a last resort. Same with timeouts.

"You are playing like crap lately. Do you want me to come in here and fiddle with things so we can pretend like 'chemistry' or 'momentum' are the real culprit? Or how about you figure out how to complete a pass or win a faceoff. You were playing well last week and you can play well this week if you pull your head out. Let's go."

If that's what it is, I can respect that.

 

[norrisnick]

You would think that people would eventually settle in on a happy balance, but no. Blashill was too quick to mix and match lines when things weren't working or when one line was having success. Lalonde is too slow to react when a line isn't working because the only solution is to throw things in a blender.

I have complaints about this team and doubts about Lalonde, but we can't do this f***ing Goldilocks routine on lineup decisions with every single coach.

Right. Because it's wholly unreasonable to hold the belief that one coach did something poorly in one manner and that another coach did something poorly in the opposite manner. The Wings have only had 2 coaches over the last 9 seasons. I think it's ok to have such complaints...

Goldilocks is a good thing. You should want what works and fits best.

 

[The Zermanator]

Mixed bag with him. Great stretches and terrible stretches. His seeming lack of ability to shake the team out of the bad stretches is concerning. My main gripe with him is that the worst parts of the team's overall performance this season don't reflect particularly well on him. The most damaging one being a consistent lack of preparation for games. A handful of guys are slow-starters, that's one thing. The entire team consistently coming out anemic to start games and you have to start looking a bit more critically at the coach.

That said, the roster still has some major holes so I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. But if there's a better roster next season and the team still struggles with the same issues that's a problem.

 

[Rzombo4 prez]

Watson is a good comparison. I remember some people being quite unhappy with him at the beginning of the season, and my take was that I was going to give him until November IIRC to see how the team looked before passing judgment on him. The team is obviously looking much better.

Two straight seasons of limping towards the finish line doesn't exactly fill me with confidence when it comes to Derek Lalonde.

Why are we limping towards the finish line exactly? Find your answer and ask if that is something that coach controls. Hell, I didn't think we played awful against Washington. We made some costly mistakes but we weren't blown out.

Cliff notes: the injury to our top line center was the proximate cause of our recent skid. You don't need to be Scotty Bowman to figure that out.

 

[Geezer WC]

I wonder if he has as long of a leash as some think. We all know Kostin was slow but Yzerman got him for a reason. The guy went out and did exactly what he was supposed to do for 8-10 minutes a night on the 4th line and Lalonde wouldn't play the guy.

 

[Hen Kolland]

Right. Because it's wholly unreasonable to hold the belief that one coach did something poorly in one manner and that another coach did something poorly in the opposite manner. The Wings have only had 2 coaches over the last 9 seasons. I think it's ok to have such complaints...

Goldilocks is a good thing. You should want what works and fits best.

Your comment is pretty asinine because this is an imperfect science. We are talking about identifying a four 3-man combinations and three 2-man combinations with typically 13 or 14 individual player options. And it's not like the viral "build a 6 man lineup with $25" exercises that go around social media. Between injuries and situation management and the time for players to get on an unspoken wavelength, there are way too many variables to say that you even have a remote chance of being able to find "what works best."

As soon as Lalonde starts making changes because it's obvious when something isn't working is the same time people start complaining because he's going to break up a line that is playing well because he's looking to generate a spark and have someone carry a line. That is the overall concept I was trying to allude to. You can't have your cake and eat it, too.

 

[14ari13]

Mixed bag with him. Great stretches and terrible stretches. His seeming lack of ability to shake the team out of the bad stretches is concerning. My main gripe with him is that the worst parts of the

Mixed bag with him. Great stretches and terrible stretches. His seeming lack of ability to shake the team out of the bad stretches is concerning. My main gripe with him is that the worst parts of the team's overall performance this season don't reflect particularly well on him. The most damaging one being a consistent lack of preparation for games. A handful of guys are slow-starters, that's one thing. The entire team consistently coming out anemic to start games and you have to start looking a bit more critically at the coach.

That said, the roster still has some major holes so I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. But if there's a better roster next season and the team still struggles with the same issues that's a problem.

team's overall performance this season don't reflect particularly well on him. The most damaging one being a consistent lack of preparation for games. A handful of guys are slow-starters, that's one thing. The entire team consistently coming out anemic to start games and you have to start looking a bit more critically at the coach.

That said, the roster still has some major holes so I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. But if there's a better roster next seasontnd the team still struggles with the same issues that's a problem.

The slow starts but also a terrible start of the 3rd vs Caps last game where they score in the 1st min.
The team played great games vs Vegas and Nashville and lost both, but in the same stretch they lost to Arizona twice and they lost to the Caps despite having the 2-1 lead starting the 3rd.
There is no structured forechecking nor defence. The players seem out of position all the time. They pretend like they try to help each others and then they are out of position and cheat so the result is easy goals. It is obvious that the opposition scores easy goals, they don't have to work hard and earn goals.
Perron taking bad penalties, DeBrincat a turnover machine, Fabbri completely invisible in 26 games (3rd of the season) and he has no balls to bench them. Playing Lyon who is 0-9 over Reimer who is 7-2 (6-1), playing Larkin with Perron and Raymond instead of DeBrincat and Kane. Larkin with DeBrincat and Kane 13 goals and +7, with Perron and Raymond 7 goals -6.
Raymond was red hot. Now?
Larkin should play with DeBrincat and Kane to cover for DeBrincat, but also to balance out offense.
Raymond could do more damage cause the opponents would focus on Larkin line.

 

[norrisnick]

Your comment is pretty asinine because this is an imperfect science. We are talking about identifying a four 3-man combinations and three 2-man combinations with typically 13 or 14 individual player options. And it's not like the viral "build a 6 man lineup with $25" exercises that go around social media. Between injuries and situation management and the time for players to get on an unspoken wavelength, there are way too many variables to say that you even have a remote chance of being able to find "what works best."

As soon as Lalonde starts making changes because it's obvious when something isn't working is the same time people start complaining because he's going to break up a line that is playing well because he's looking to generate a spark and have someone carry a line. That is the overall concept I was trying to allude to. You can't have your cake and eat it, too.

Only asinine under the assumption that coach knows best.

As for the bottom bit, it's coach's inability to find working solutions that is the problem. And defaulting to "solutions" that didn't work in the past but are sure to now is asinine.

Walman is out and ChiaPet just had the 2nd worst game of the season. Time for Benny on the top pairing as if Maatta isn't right there. Defense was in shambles for weeks and it didn't occur to him that maybe sticking Olli with Mo and swapping Holl for Ghost might help stop the bleeding.

And if a line is working, you don't have to blow it up to fix the other three. There are 9+ moving parts up front (counting scratches and GR) to fix things.

If you can't jot down
DBC - Larkin - Ray
Fischer - Copp - Ras
And then make two other functional lines how and why are you even in coaching?

 

[FMichael]

Alex I’ll take…”I’d rather see what takes place these last 10 games before I answer the poll” for 250 please.

 

[Rzombo4 prez]

He is fine. He does some things I like, does others that I don't. He won't be our coach when we are relevant again, but he has done no worse than average with this crew. As always, our performance is mostly a function of our collective talent level.

 

[FMichael]

Why are we limping towards the finish line exactly? Find your answer and ask if that is something that coach controls. Hell, I didn't think we played awful against Washington. We made some costly mistakes but we weren't blown out.

Cliff notes: the injury to our top line center was the proximate cause of our recent skid. You don't need to be Scotty Bowman to figure that out.

Was it Larkin getting injured alone the root cause for the recent skid, or was it the inability of Larkins’ teammates to pull it together and play like an NHL club ?