Head coach Todd McLellan blasts "useless" defensive effort of Red Wings

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Jack Sutherland
January 19, 2025 (6:10 PM)

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It's refreshing to see a coach holding players accountable and who isn't afraid to step on toes as Todd McLellan has done since taking over from Derek Lalonde.

The Detroit Red Wings were beaten 5-1 by the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night, sending them to their 2nd regulation loss in their last 3 games.

And while the Red Wings had no problem putting pucks on goaltender Andre Vasilevskiy, it was their lack of defense that ultimately did them in.

While the Lightning barely cracked the 20-shot mark, they made them count by putting 5 pucks past goaltender Cam Talbot, who was replaced after 40 minutes by Alex Lyon.

McLellan's message to his team afterward was blunt and to the point - if you're not putting in the work, then you're useless.

I thought we were in position a lot of times to prevent, and we just didn't do our work. Say you're at your desk but you're not working, then you're useless. It's one thing being there, it's the other thing getting the job done.

I don't go in too often after a game. I think sometimes you can be too high or too low and you say things that you can't take back. I'd like to think it through, talk to the rest of the coaches, and watch it again.

McLellan has brought a new level of accountability to the Red Wings that was lacking under the passive Derek Lalonde, who was let go on December 26 along with assistant Bob Boughner.

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