{"id":551071,"date":"2026-04-12T11:24:27","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T11:24:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/551071\/"},"modified":"2026-04-12T11:24:27","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T11:24:27","slug":"mclellan-red-wings-earned-fans-ire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/551071\/","title":{"rendered":"McLellan: Red Wings Earned Fans’ Ire"},"content":{"rendered":"

On fan appreciation night, as is the tradition, the Detroit<\/a> Red Wings gathered at center ice to salute the faithful.<\/p>\n

And they heard boos. Catcalls rained down from on high at Little Caesars Arena.<\/p>\n

Missing the playoffs for an entire decade will have that effect on a fanbase. <\/p>\n

\u201cTo hear that, very difficult,\u201d Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin<\/a> admitted. \u201cYeah, we\u2019re down. I\u2019m down. As down as I could be right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coach Todd McLellan\u2019s<\/a> message to his players about earning the ire of the team\u2019s fans?<\/p>\n

Todd Mcllelan on the boos during the salute<\/p>\n

“This is hockeytown, they’re not even clamoring for a cup\u2026they just want a group to give them something to cheer for. We earned that reaction\u2026” pic.twitter.com\/3mnHXuG6bW<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Stone Cold Steve Yzerman (@McCartyDangles) April 12, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Suck it up. Soak it in. And if you don\u2019t like how it feels, do something about it.<\/p>\n

For the time being, live with it. You\u2019ve earned it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been lucky enough to be on the other side of it when they couldn\u2019t stop cheering for this team,\u201d said McLellan, an assistant coach with the 2007-08 Stanley Cup champion Red Wings. \u201cAnd they\u2019re dying for that. They crave that. That\u2019s what they want. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I don\u2019t even know if they want a Stanley Cup championship anymore. They just want a team that\u2019s going to come and give them something to cheer about.\u201d<\/p>\n

Red Wings Hearing The Inside Noise<\/p>\n

As the playoffs were slipping away, some Detroit players discussed the impact that the outside noise was having on the team. Well, that\u2019s not what this noise was all about.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis outside noise stuff or whatever, that\u2019s inside noise,\u201d McLellan<\/a> said. \u201cThose are our fans in our building, and they pay to watch us play. We get paid well to perform for them, and they\u2019re fully entitled to their opinion, and we deserve their opinion.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no other way to sugarcoat it. That\u2019s what we earned.\u201d<\/p>\n

McLellan was equally certain about another fact. Only one group can pull the team out of this funk and turn the fans back on to Red Wings hockey.<\/p>\n

That would be the Red Wings themselves. The coach cited the Buffalo Sabres<\/a>, who\u2019ve made the playoffs this spring after 14 years on the outside, as a prime example of who the Wings need to emulate.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only way you get out of it is easy, work your way out of it,\u201d McLellan said. \u201cThere\u2019s teams I can use \u2013 one just in Upper New York state here, that was in that exact same situation, and they worked their way out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n