{"id":531662,"date":"2026-03-30T20:56:04","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T20:56:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/531662\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T20:56:04","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T20:56:04","slug":"detroit-red-wings-somewhat-embarrassed-as-coach-renews-criticism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/531662\/","title":{"rendered":"Detroit Red Wings ‘somewhat embarrassed’ as coach renews criticism"},"content":{"rendered":"

Over the past few weeks, Todd McLellan has described some Detroit Red Wings<\/a> as being “just jerseys,” and most recently, some as working neither hard nor smart. He’s also wondered why there’s even a need to have to “extract competitiveness” from a team this late in the season.<\/p>\n

Those are pretty damning comments, especially towards a team that has gone from owning a 12-point cushion in the playoff chase on Jan. 24 to being two points outside with nine games to play. The next opportunity to make inroads comes when the Wings begin a three-game trip with a stop at the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday, March 31 (7 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network Detroit).<\/p>\n

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The Wings will need to play much better than their lackluster effort against the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday, which spurred McLellan’s latest criticism. <\/a>Those comments were made to reporters, and that is what players fastened onto when they were asked for their reaction.<\/p>\n

\"Feb<\/p>\n

Feb 28, 2026; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; Detroit Red Wings head coach Todd McLellan looks on against the Carolina Hurricanes during the third period at Lenovo Center. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

THE TABLE: Detroit Red Wings playoff picture, NHL wild-card standings<\/a><\/p>\n

“I think you can say what you want in the media, the message has always been\u00a0more important from what’s coming inside the locker room,” Patrick Kane said Monday. “As far as what the message\u00a0is from the coaches to us in here, I don’t know if we’ve heard those comments directly\u00a0to our face or whatever it is, but I mean, it is what it is.<\/p>\n

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“As a player, you can use that any way you like, but I think we’re kind of focused on what’s going on in this room and not really any outside noise. What II would say is we’re fighting for a playoff spot and we have nine\u00a0games left to prove it.\u00a0Obviously, the last game wasn’t good enough.\u00a0I think we’re all somewhat embarrassed by the way that game started off.”<\/p>\n

McLellan is known as a straight shooter, and he certainly had cause for criticism when he made the “some guys that are just jerseys” comment after the Wings lost, 5-2, on Feb. 28 at the Carolina Hurricanes. After Saturday’s 5-3 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers \u2013 a team the Wings play again the next two Thursdays \u2013 McLellan said that some Wings were working hard and some smart, “and we had some guys\u00a0that were doing neither.”<\/p>\n

That was after the third straight loss at Little Caesars Arena, and the second straight to an opponent neck-and-neck with the Wings in the standings in the fight for the second wild-card berth.<\/p>\n

“I think you guys kind of run with those,” Andrew Copp said of the comments. “For us as a team,\u00a0we have faith in all 20 guys \u2013 all 20 guys, plus the guys that are out maybe night to night. We have faith in each other. We’ve got faith in the process. We’ve got\u00a0faith in our system. So, I think those kind of get taken and ran with in the media. Who’s he\u00a0talking about? I mean, we’re, we’re 22 guys together in here and that’s all that matters.”<\/p>\n

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The Wings (39-26-8) should be focused on themselves, but the lack of emotion and energy that marred the past two losses \u2013 they fell, 3-2, to the Ottawa Senators on March 24 \u2013 undermine their efforts and leave them open to criticism. It’s not like McLellan’s message to reporters strays from what he says to the players, even if the words are different.<\/p>\n

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Detroit Red Wings hunt playoffs vs Philadelphia Flyers at home<\/p>\n

Detroit Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider (53) skates with the puck in the first period against the Philadelphia Flyers at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Saturday, March 28, 2026.<\/p>\n

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Detroit Red Wings hunt playoffs vs Philadelphia Flyers at home<\/p>\n

Detroit Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider (53) skates with the puck in the first period against the Philadelphia Flyers at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Saturday, March 28, 2026.<\/p>\n

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Detroit Red Wings hunt playoffs vs Philadelphia Flyers at home<\/p>\n

Philadelphia Flyers right wing Matvei Michkov (39) skates with the puck chased by Detroit Red Wings defenseman Justin Faulk (72) in the first period at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Saturday, March 28, 2026.<\/p>\n

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Detroit Red Wings hunt playoffs vs Philadelphia Flyers at home<\/p>\n

Detroit Red Wings goaltender John Gibson (36) makes a save in the first period against the Philadelphia Flyers at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Saturday, March 28, 2026.<\/p>\n

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Detroit Red Wings hunt playoffs vs Philadelphia Flyers at home<\/p>\n

Detroit Red Wings left wing Lucas Raymond (23) skates with the puck defended by Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Travis Sanheim (6) in the second period at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Saturday, March 28, 2026.<\/p>\n

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Detroit Red Wings hunt playoffs vs Philadelphia Flyers at home<\/p>\n

Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen (55) and Detroit Red Wings left wing J.T. Compher (37) fight for position in front of goaltender Dan Vladar (80) in the second period at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Saturday, March 28, 2026.<\/p>\n

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Detroit Red Wings hunt playoffs vs Philadelphia Flyers at home<\/p>\n

Detroit Red Wings goaltender John Gibson (36) makes a save in the first period against the Philadelphia Flyers at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Saturday, March 28, 2026.<\/p>\n

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Detroit Red Wings hunt playoffs vs Philadelphia Flyers at home<\/p>\n

Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Dan Vladar (80) makes a save in front of Detroit Red Wings right wing Patrick Kane (88) in the second period at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Saturday, March 28, 2026.<\/p>\n

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Detroit Red Wings right wing Alex DeBrincat (93) takes a shot on Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Dan Vladar (80) in the second period at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Saturday, March 28, 2026.<\/p>\n

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Detroit Red Wings hunt playoffs vs Philadelphia Flyers at home<\/p>\n

Detroit Red Wings center Mason Appleton (22) skates with the puck defended by Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Travis Sanheim (6) in the second period at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Saturday, March 28, 2026.<\/p>\n

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Detroit Red Wings hunt playoffs vs Philadelphia Flyers at home<\/p>\n

Detroit Red Wings right wing Alex DeBrincat (93) takes a shot on Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Dan Vladar (80) in the second period at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Saturday, March 28, 2026.<\/p>\n

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Detroit Red Wings left wing David Perron (57) and Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Travis Sanheim (6) fight for position in front of goaltender Dan Vladar (80) in the second period at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Saturday, March 28, 2026.<\/p>\n

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Detroit Red Wings hunt playoffs vs Philadelphia Flyers at home<\/p>\n

Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Dan Vladar (80) gets a new skate blade in the second period against the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Saturday, March 28, 2026.<\/p>\n

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Detroit Red Wings hunt playoffs vs Philadelphia Flyers at home<\/p>\n

Detroit Red Wings right wing Patrick Kane (88) skates with the puck in the second period against the Philadelphia Flyers at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Saturday, March 28, 2026.<\/p>\n

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Detroit Red Wings center Dylan Larkin (71) gets set to face off in the second period against the Philadelphia Flyers at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Saturday, March 28, 2026.<\/p>\n

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Detroit Red Wings hunt playoffs vs Philadelphia Flyers at home<\/p>\n

Detroit Red Wings right wing Patrick Kane (88) skates with the puck in the second period against the Philadelphia Flyers at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Saturday, March 28, 2026.<\/p>\n

PHILLY FLOP: Red Wings’ playoff hopes undermined by sloppiness<\/a><\/p>\n

“So a month ago I said ‘just jerseys,'” McLellan said. “That just means like sometimes you’re just taking up space and you’re not, there’s not\u00a0enough \u2013 you’re good enough to play in the league, you’re good enough to play on the\u00a0team, but we’re not getting enough out of you.<\/p>\n

“Last game, I had said that the brain and the legs and the will all\u00a0have to go together.\u00a0If you’re only using one and not the other, it doesn’t work.\u00a0How do we fix it? Well, we address some of it in the video today, which is what we do even when we’re playing\u00a0really well, and then we put it into play and practice. That’s all fine and dandy,\u00a0but we’re going into April, and video and practice should just be polishing things up and away you go.<\/p>\n

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“You shouldn’t be trying to extract competitiveness or heaviness out of the players at this time,\u00a0 but we are. We’re capable of providing it, and we’ll get a chance to do that starting\u00a0tomorrow night.”<\/p>\n

Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com<\/a>. Read more on the Detroit Red Wings<\/a> and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Red Wings ’embarrassed’ as they sit outside playoff cutoff<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Over the past few weeks, Todd McLellan has described some Detroit Red Wings as being “just jerseys,” and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":531663,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5101],"tags":[5339,29,599,93,5137,5,4,25,2821,56,100,3358,5138,4568,1930],"class_list":{"0":"post-531662","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-detroit-red-wings","8":"tag-andrew-copp","9":"tag-carolina-hurricanes","10":"tag-detroit","11":"tag-detroit-red-wings","12":"tag-detroitredwings","13":"tag-hockey","14":"tag-nhl","15":"tag-ottawa-senators","16":"tag-patrick-kane","17":"tag-philadelphia-flyers","18":"tag-pittsburgh-penguins","19":"tag-red-wings","20":"tag-redwings","21":"tag-the-wings","22":"tag-todd-mclellan"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116320129811021188","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531662","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=531662"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531662\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/531663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=531662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=531662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=531662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}