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00:00Well, and again, the goalie play is up and down.
00:02The defense is pathetic.
00:04The goal scoring is evaporated largely
00:06from what they did last year.
00:08They're playing as bad as they did at the end of last year
00:10and even worse, I would argue, to begin this season.
00:14In the last 11 games, they've lost eight of them.
00:16John, it's bad.
00:17So clearly, people are going to point to Lalone today.
00:1914 NHL coaches have been replaced in the last year.
00:2414 in the last year.
00:26What makes Lalone so special?
00:27Some of those teams were playoff teams
00:29that replaced their coaches.
00:31So again, 20 coaches the last two years
00:34if you want to expand the sample size.
00:36And if you say, well, Jim, the talent isn't good enough,
00:39well, that's a bigger indictment on Iserman six years in.
00:41Well, so I'll ask you this question.
00:43You've watched more of it than I have.
00:45You've been to more of it than I have.
00:47I'm going on Thursday.
00:48Maybe they're just saving up for Thursday night.
00:49That's going to be the coming out party.
00:55Does it feel like there is any sense of urgency?
00:59No.
01:00And so obviously, they're last in the Eastern Conference.
01:04Tied for last.
01:05But they're only three points back of the last wild card
01:08spot.
01:08Now, yes, I understand.
01:09That's way too early to be talking about that.
01:11But you don't want to dig yourself a hole
01:12that you can't get out of.
01:13It's just a measuring spot, yeah.
01:14It is.
01:16But the case is, OK, you're only three back.
01:21Where is the sense of urgency to get better?
01:25To play better?
01:26To play with a little bit more juice?
01:27To win some of those games?
01:29To ultimately be in the conversation,
01:31whether it's now, it's halfway through the season,
01:33or the end of the year?
01:34If you don't take care of business now,
01:36you won't have that opportunity at the end of the season.
01:38The season's slipping away.
01:39And you typically get a fired coach bump, OK?
01:42That would be the argument to make the move now,
01:44as opposed to letting it play out or waiting.
01:46Thanksgiving is one of those checkpoints
01:47in a hockey season, right?
01:49New Year's going into January.
01:51Listen, there's clearly enough hockey games for this team
01:53to wake up and play better.
01:54The question is, is it going to happen
01:56with Derek Lalonde as the head coach right now?
01:58I mean, it's openly discussed at the games.
02:00It's openly discussed in Detroit sports.
02:04How long is this guy going to last?
02:06I think it's obvious they're not playing hard for him
02:08right now.
02:09What do you think the reception will be Thursday night
02:10when they take the ice or they announce Lalonde?
02:15I don't think people are going to go out
02:17of their way to boo him or anything like that
02:20to start the game.
02:21But I've been to three games already this season.
02:23And they have been booed off the ice to end periods
02:25and end the game.
02:27If they get down two, three, or even four goals, seen that,
02:33there will be people calling for him to be fired.
02:35It will be loud.
02:36This hockey fan base got a taste last year.
02:39And they feel like they got spit in the face this offseason.
02:41Did they do enough?
02:42They kept the coach.
02:43Did they do enough with the roster?
02:45And do I think firing Lalonde instantly
02:49makes this team a playoff team?
02:50I think that'd be naive.
02:51And I think there's deeper questions and issues
02:53with the way Steve Eizerman has built this team six years in.
02:57But it does feel like keeping Lalonde while your season slips
03:01away is a reflection of Steve Eizerman's lack of urgency,
03:05to use your word.
03:06Right.
03:06Or just not doing enough.
03:08Yeah.
03:09And there's not much you can do with the roster at this point.
03:12You can make some tweaks.
03:13And you can do, depending on where
03:15they are at the trade deadline, sure,
03:16there are moves that you can make.
03:18But this is the here and now.
03:20What is it that's going to create a spark
03:23to get them out of this rut?
03:25So Gerard Gallant is a name that doesn't have
03:27the baggage of Joel Quinville.
03:29But Gerard Gallant's a coach who, way back in the day,
03:32played with Steve Eizerman and has coached an expansion
03:35team to the Stanley Cup.
03:37He's just available.
03:38He's hanging out on his couch.
03:40Do you like what's going on right now?
03:42They are outshot in 14 of the 18 games this season.
03:45They are not competitive.
03:46They played some of the worst teams in hockey out West.
03:48And they lost all of them.
03:50I don't know when the breaking point will be,
03:52but it feels like we're getting pretty close.
03:54Yeah.
03:55I mean, it sure feels that way.
03:56And I just don't know, is it now?
04:00Is it two weeks from now?
04:02Yeah, I mean, is it Thursday?
04:04Yeah, what is it?
04:05Yeah, John, I don't know.
04:06And again, it's because Eizerman's been so patient.
04:09And he's been given carte blanche that there really
04:11isn't that much pressure.
04:12I mean, even today, we bring this up.
04:13Like, it's football season.
04:16People are more interested in the Pistons right now
04:18than the Red Wings.
04:20You really wonder, where is the heat going to come from?
04:23Because it should be internal.
04:25Like, we talk about the Lions, and the pressure to win
04:28is from guys like Dan Campbell and Brad Holmes
04:31and the guys in that locker room.
04:33The pressure should be Steve Eizerman internal.
04:35He should be disgusted.
04:37He should be livid.
04:38He should be the one that's driving change
04:40in the organization.
04:41And yet, here we are.
04:43Well, you also have to think, OK, what's his track record?
04:46Is the team different than it was back in 22
04:50when he finally made the change from Blaschel to Lalonde?
04:54Because he held on to Blaschel for what, seven years?
04:57Six years?
04:58Blaschel's here for a while, yeah.
04:59And so, I mean, like the, again, he wasn't as higher,
05:03but he kept him.
05:04He was very patient.
05:05Was very patient.
05:06Now he's being very patient with Lalonde.
05:08Yeah.
05:09Gator, we didn't do four hours on it.
05:10We did a few minutes to close the show.
05:12You lose to San Jose, three straight blown leads.
05:16Or three different blown leads in the hockey game.
05:18It's just a bad product right now.
05:20Yeah, they're not playing at a high level at this point.
05:24There's so many holes with it.
05:25The penalty kill's been horrible.
05:28They don't really score even strength goals all that often.
05:31No.
05:33It's, they're getting outshot every single game
05:37when they're taking on a team
05:38that also gets outshot every single game.
05:42And then they get outshot by 14 or whatever it was
05:44last night.
05:46It's a problem.
05:46It's, what is it, 18 games in the season at this point.
05:51Outshot 14 times.
05:53What's that?
05:54Outshot 14 times.
05:55So it's, I mean, I'm not ready to pull the trigger
06:00on this yet, but it's getting close.
06:02If you're telling me is the seat hot for Derek Lalonde,
06:04I think the seat is hot.
06:05But, I mean, Steve Eisenman's got to look at himself
06:08in the mirror, too, because he's the one
06:10that assembled this team.
06:11And I thought there would be some bumps in the road
06:14getting to where they need to be.
06:16And I'm not ready to hang up on it.
06:17I do think this team still has potential defensively
06:19to be one of the top half teams in the league.
06:23But they're not playing like it.
06:25They're not getting enough scoring elsewhere.
06:28It was nice that they got four goals last night
06:30in regulation, but it wasn't enough to beat San Jose.
06:33So it's difficult.
06:36Because I don't know, I don't think they have
06:38an in-house solution right now.
06:40Out of house, I mean, everybody's going to say,
06:42oh, Gerard Gallant.
06:44People would say Sergei Fedorov,
06:46because we want to bring people back.
06:47But I think we're getting close to having
06:51to have a discussion about it without question.
06:53Well, because you guys aren't fire the coach radio.
06:56You guys very rarely are quick to do that.
07:00But I wonder.
07:01Usually when we go there, the coach gets fired.
07:03Yeah.
07:04And I wonder, like, 14 coaches have been replaced
07:06in the last year in the NHL.
07:07Like, the NHL more than any other sport,
07:09they're quick to replace those guys.
07:11Well, they replace guys that are in first place.
07:12Yeah, the playoff teams.
07:13We've seen that happen.
07:14Yeah.
07:14Which is crazy.