Poll: Who/What do you blame for missing the playoffs?

[ArGarBarGar]

Thank you.

I kind of hate how if the Caps had lost to Philly in a shootout all would be "fine" but now we have to give out a bunch of blame and discuss who should be fired.

The goal of the season was to play meaningful games for most of the season. We ended up being eliminated literally AFTER regulation time in Game 82.

We overachieved (based on all pre-season predictions, all analytical models, most reasonable assessments of roster talent, and even based on eye test). What's to blame for that?

I don’t see an overachieving team, I see a team that landed in roughly the spot I predicted when the season started.

The disappointment for me is they put themselves in a great position then pissed it away down the stretch.

 

[JediOrderPizza]

December and March. They gotta learn to not let those big slides go on for so long.

 

[bov]

I still think Yzerman is a great GM but he brought in some mediocre players over the years that seemed like questionable fits.

The goaltending tandem is obviously at the lower end of the league.

This team on paper finished right about where they should have, and in fairness, they are better than last year.

Lalonde deserves to stay and Yzerman needs to make 1 or 2 impact moves, and the Wings will be poised for success for years to come.

 

[Steve Yzerlland]

Kelly Sutherland.

 

[Snuggs]

In true leadership the guy at the top is always to blame, only inexperienced weak individuals blame those below them...so SYs roster composition, and failing to address any weakness(goaltending) at the TDL is where any "blame" should land..

Man, I was going to say Yzerman at the TDL.

Too cheap with his picks but didn't mind spending on guys in the summer like Holl/Compher/Gostisbehere trying to achieve the same goal. (playoff appearance). But... also didn't sell. Had to be one way or the other imo.

Nothing will make it ok for me that he didn't make one trade at the TDL this year.

I'm also very worried next year they'll take significant steps backwards.

 

[TheOtherOne]

Did we not learn anything from the COVID pandemic?

Correct.

 

[nbwingsfan]

The team came close to claiming the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, but it wasn't to be. I'd like to get a sense of what the fans think was the primary culprit for coming up short.

It’s really a mix of everything, but you’ve got to put most of it on Lalonde.

Having a skid like we did and changing absolutely nothing is a fireable offense. No I game or even game to game adjustments whatsoever.

Never taking timeouts and running Lyon into the ground on a guy who’s never been a starter.

Worst of all though is the damn comments every game alluding to they’re doing their best or we aren’t even supposed to be in the playoffs so who cares. Just absolutely no emotion outside of trying to be a nice guy. Clearly that wasn’t working, so start calling players out and see if it motivates them.

Look at what happened with Nashville. Playing like garbage and the front office rips them a new one, punishes them by cancelling a trip, and suddenly they’re a top team after having some damn accountability.


The only accountability we held was to the rookies who made a single bad play and were either sent down or benched. Who cares how many mistakes the vets made.

The utter tipping point, even though there were many other instances, was “Vet” ZAR being called up (for some reason) accomplishing absolutely nothing outside of taking a bad penalty at a key moment and instead of being held accountable he’s actually output back in the lineup the next game

A better coach and we’re watching playoff hockey this season

 

[RED WINGS STOMP]

Critical analysis is the only way you move an organization forward. Sorry to say in a society that is trying to become blameless.

Dude, you are totally right, I just feel like this can turn into a viper pit(not that any of this matters really)

But for discussion sake, case in point, I, like many do not like Andrew Copp, isn't worth his contract, we all know the deal.

The guy had a bad game last night, another crap performance. Could he take some blame? Maybe so.

But at the same time, I look at it another way, the guy could of checked out, but instead he came back and was playing with a literal broken face.

The cynical fan would say, we would of been better off without him, but the alternative is Zach Aston Reese. I would take my chances with broken faced Copp. I have respect for his efforts, even if they weren't good ones.

The Wings ended the season giving heroic effort, the results just didn't add up. It hurts, but blame shifting isn't going to make that pain go away.

 

[Retire91]

the reason we missed the playoffs this season is the organization prioritized the streak 2012-2017. It was like the NHL equivalent of paying off a credit card with another credit card.

 

[Steve Yzerlland]

We have more overall wins than two teams that made the playoffs. It should be points, then wins period THEN regulation wins. Why is regulation wins more valuable than actual wins? The point is you ended up battling to win the game and should be rewarded for doing so. Regulation wins should only come into play if you have the same TOTAL wins imo....

 

[better Red than Dead]

if you compare where the Wings are versus their peers in the rebuilding phases, teams like Montreal, Ottawa, New Jersey, then it was a successful season.

 

[ArGarBarGar]

We have more overall wins than two teams that made the playoffs. It should be points, then wins period THEN regulation wins. Why is regulation wins more valuable than actual wins? The point is you ended up battling to win the game and should be rewarded for doing so. Regulation wins should only come into play if you have the same TOTAL wins imo....

The NHL likely wanted to make 5v5 victories more valuable than 3v3 ones.

The logic makes sense, even if one may not agree with it.

 

[RRhoads]

If we are throwing blame then the #1 reason for missing by 1 point is 100% caused by subpar and inconsistent goaltending. No question a healthy Husso would have found his game and got us an extra 1 point.

You can say that, but the truth is that goaltending kept us in games we had no point winning in the first place.

 

[LongTimeDRWF]

This season was what I would call bubble year 1, making the playoffs was a lofty goal with the team that was iced, the focus was on growth of kids to see what it takes and what they really have. From Mo trying to be Atlas to the step change since the New Year in Raymond and I am sure we will hear some absolutely horrible stories from the flu bug that went around. I am of course disappointed they didn't reach the stretch goal given how they did up until March, but the learning that this league is pretty even and you cannot take games off, or even parts of the game should hit home.

So in a windy way of saying it, the wings did not make the playoffs as SY as stated at the outset, he wanted a team that was playing for the playoffs in March, he got one that competed until the last game. It is the kids that will carry the wings to a cup in the future, and they will be winning it for D-Boss.

 

[cvaicunas]

Blame Kelly Sutherland.



This Flyers goal should never been disallowed.

Flyers having the lead at end of the game.... Empty-netter on Capitals goal... = Red Wings at the playoffs.

I hope somebody will create "History will be made" -video about this crap.

This makes it even more gut wrenching what happened last night

 

[RedHawkDown]

A run of 3-12 like in mid to late March is on coaching

 

[Big Poppa Puck]

They did about what I expected going into the season, improving but just missing the playoffs. But man it stings being 8 points up at the end of February and missing out. That losing 7 straight stretch killed us. Even if you just lose one of those games in OT and we're in the playoffs.

We're still a couple players away. Edvinsson took a big step and is a full time player next year. Hopefully Kane is back. We just need probably 1 more D and a Goalie. Petry shouldn't be in the Top 6 next year.

 

[Lazlo Hollyfeld]

What do you mean by lack of protocol to prevent the spread of viruses? Do you have an example of what the Red Wings did specifically? You can't realistically prevent that type of thing all the time.

Agreed. I felt that way about protocol initially but a lot of these guys have kids. They're basically petri dishes with hands. There's really only so much you can do not to get sick.

 

[Big Poppa Puck]

The NHL likely wanted to make 5v5 victories more valuable than 3v3 ones.

The logic makes sense, even if one may not agree with it.

I kinda agree with the logic, but in that case either go to the 3-2-1 point system or 2 points for a win, 1 for an OT/SO win, 0 for loss.

 

[Steve Yzerlland]

The NHL likely wanted to make 5v5 victories more valuable than 3v3 ones.

The logic makes sense, even if one may not agree with it.

Yes I understand that but OVERALL wins total should be the most valuable. At the end of the season we have more wins total than two playoff teams and came tied in points with one of them. The system is flawed when a team has to pull their goalie in a TIED game. You should never have to do this imo...

 

[cvaicunas]

I'm going with coaching and goaltending here.
Coaching: Far too often the team started with no jump, and the defensive system does not seem to be working. That said the amount of times our D got caught pinching was egregious, and one the players themselves. Too often they get caught running around in the D zone, perhaps that is because our players do not have the ability to play within the system. But, regardless, the coaching staff needs to be able adjust, and as we have discussed already; that does not seem to be a strength of Lalonde's.
Goaltending: It obviously did not help that Husso went down for the season, but he had been objectively bad for a calendar year at that point anyways. However his injury forced us to, I believe, over rely on Lyon down the stretch. 26 of 28 games is too much. And the team has done this the last three years. Goalie starts of well, we over play them, they crash and burn. First Ned, Husso, then Lyon.

All that said, this has been the most enjoyable season we have had in years, and I'm walking away not completely satisfied, but encouraged. @Bench put up a great little post detailing the pts per season, and goal differential. That alone shows the improvement, and in turn, that ability to enjoy watching the games. Down the stretch, watching Raymond excel, and start taking a leadership position on the ice is exactly what we need to see. We all know most of the team are plugs, and won't be here when we are competing, so we can't ask for anything better than what we witnessed there.

 

[Steve Yzerlland]

I still think Yzerman is a great GM but he brought in some mediocre players over the years that seemed like questionable fits.

The goaltending tandem is obviously at the lower end of the league.

This team on paper finished right about where they should have, and in fairness, they are better than last year.

Lalonde deserves to stay and Yzerman needs to make 1 or 2 impact moves, and the Wings will be poised for success from years to come.

The Copp and Holl deals are inexcusable. Literally knew these deals were shit on July 1! That's Seider's raise covered that we could use elsewhere now...

 

[Lazlo Hollyfeld]

Other: The trash jersey advertisement.

They angered the ghost of Mr. Hockey and paid the price.

Gordie had a word with Babcock when he saw Wings players laughing on the bench near the end of the game of a regular season loss. How do you think he'd feel about an advertisement on his sweater?

 

[One Horse Town]

How about not taking care of your own business when it was most important. Like EVERY game. When you're a fringe team you can't ever take a night off.

Examples:

vs Washington 2-0 (yes i know 2-1)
vs the Pens 6-3
vs Arizona 4-1
vs Buffalo 7-3
vs Arizona at home 4-0

Pick one. Essentially 5 nights of no shows and here we sit complaining about Philly pulling their goalie while tied.

 

[Henkka]

With all respect Henkka, from one homer to another, your rankings are not a great metric for what the hockey world at large thought about the team.

Many people thought we would be closer to 8th in the division than playoffs.

I had a different opinion, yeah.

But when the season is now completed, I have to ask afterwards, were those "many people" right?