Red Wings’ Todd McLellan drops truth bomb on fan reaction after crushing Devils loss

The Detroit Red Wings are officially eliminated from playoff contention. A 5-3 loss to the New Jersey Devils has ensured Detroit’s playoff drought will extend to a 10th season. They now own the league’s longest active postseason drought. And head coach Todd McLellan was in no mood to soften the blow on Saturday.

The Red Wings had the lead late in the contest on home ice. Rookie Emmitt Finnie scored to make it a 3-2 game in the third period. However, New Jersey scored three unanswered to claim the win and end Detroit’s season. Fans rained down the boos after the game ended. After the game, McLellan was candid when talking about his feelings toward the boos.

“This ‘outside noise’ stuff or whatever (the players bring up about media criticism), that’s inside noise. Those are our fans in our building, and they pay to watch us play, and we get paid well to perform for them, and they’re fully entitled to their opinion, and we deserve their opinion. There’s no other way to sugarcoat it. That’s what we earned,” the Red Wings coach said, via NHL.com.

Detroit heads toward an offseason full of question marks. This is the third consecutive season in which Detroit has collapsed late to miss the postseason. However, this year is different. They were first in the Eastern Conference on January 25th. They had an 89% chance to make the playoffs, as well.

Now, the Red Wings have to try to figure out what has gone wrong. They need to figure out how to take the next step forward. And they need to figure everything out sooner rather than later.

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