Torts’s comment here about whether they should be there or not really stands out compared to what Lalonde had said
Tortorella today. Just great stuff. pic.twitter.com/oKHT68f9R9
— Kevin Kurz (@KKurzNHL) April 3, 2024
by boogiemen
@Detroit Red Wings
16 Comments
I’ll take a coach like Torts over Lalonde every single day, no matter what. His statement cannot be justified enough. And the Wings need that same mindset. You’re this close when you weren’t really supposed to be. Tough shit! Now go out there and be better.
I’ll also take the -24 downvotes I’m going to get from this comment.
Ive said it before and ill say it again. I lost confidence in lalonde with his comment. I want a coach to say fuck the doubters and we belong and lets stick it to those people The golly gee we dont belong and aww shucks we’re not supposed to be here is such a deflator. Being complacent isnt going to get you far in this league
Edit: forgot to add i like Torts said bullshit and we need to be better. As a player how can you not get behind that
Man how refreshing that must be. Best we get is “we’re outperforming our skill level”
When and what did Lalonde say?
Lalonde seems like a decent Xs and Os guy, but he doesn’t seem to know how to motivate a locker room, which IMO is evident by how the team absolutely deflated when DBoss was out.
Lalonde may not be the guy but that’s also the difference between a head coach with 20+ years of NHL experience and one with a shade under 2.
It just blows my mind how much stock people put and what goes into the media. On one hand we’ll champion a guy like Yzerman for keeping everything close to his vest and handling it privately with his coach, his teammates etc. Then on the other hand we got guys out here banging the drum for loudmouths like torts and chastising Yzerman’s staff for not being more emotional. Despite working for a guy who’s Hallmark is a poker face and obfuscating strategy. But suddenly we’re speaking all sorts of hyperbole about a guy like tortorella.
If you look back, there’s not one formula for hyperbole or style that gets things done. Scotty Bowman wasn’t off barking about expectations to the media everyday about how our Hall of Fame roster should win every single night and is a failure otherwise for not doing so because they’re objectively more talented than the whole league. Phil Jackson didn’t get on his podium with pedantic rhetoric about Michael Jordan’s domination. Jim harbaugh pretty much sidesteps every question known to man and tries to defer to his players to get a chance to have the spotlight.
There are many different good formulas for coaching. There are also many different ways in which various formulas manifest. Sometimes that looks differently in the media than other times. And team context is important. To be clear, I have no problem with torts saying what he said in these quotes. If you look at the context and reality of things, Philadelphia was absolutely not even supposed to be close to the playoffs this year. Some people had them as a bottom feeding low 3 to low 5 team in the league. The only chance going for him is to make these players feel like they are playing over their heads and that they’re outsiders and that they’re motivated by that because frankly, from a talent level alone, they’re not a playoff team. If he chooses to do that through the media, so be it. There’s plenty of other stuff in the past that Tortorella has done through the media that have completely backfired and led to his demise. Just look at basically anything he did in Vancouver for example.
I think it’s best if we stop being so reductive about media responses from coaches and pretending as if somehow their mindset in one organization in one context would somehow magically make things better in ours. It’s short-sighted and misleading.
I still don’t get all the hype around Torts. He hasn’t won a cup in the salary cap era and can never last more than a couple/few years with any team he coaches. He’s solid at getting more production out of his players but his coaching style tends to make a negative impact after a certain amount of time. The players get sick of it and things fall off the rails.
He is a polar opposite of Newsy and I do respect torts’ honesty but I wouldn’t want him to be our next coach. IMO he hasn’t proven he can be a cup winning coach in the modern NHL
He is always quick to call out his players who he believes aren’t giving their full effort but I can’t recall him ever placing the blame on himself (this isn’t necessarily an accusation against him, just recalling my memory).
Craig Berube, welcome to the Detroit Louis Blues
Absolutely shocked how many people I’ve seen here arguing in defense of Lalonde’s comments
I guess everyone here knows everything about what happens behind the scenes, lol. Lalonde is a terrible coach because he spoke honestly. Everyone here can do his job, no problem.
Torts’ philosophy doesn’t really work long term though. It’s like Jose Mourinho in European football, he can come in and fire up the room but he can’t develop them. Firing up the room will give a boost but if the room isn’t already developed enough no amount of rah rah is gonna get them to be championship caliber.
I’m not saying lalonde is or isn’t the right guy. I have my opinion but that isn’t the point. What I am saying is that philosophy will not work for a team who is where we are right now. Detroit (and Philly, frankly) are teams that need their young players developed right now.
What did LaLonde say?
Torts is also an asshole. Lalonde is in over his head, but I don’t want a coach that will ruin the psyche of the young guys on the team
When an organization plays stone faced to the media from the GM down, fans used to a sound byte get antsy and start developing their own narrative.
And if it’s doing that to the fans, you have to wonder what it does to an opponent’s mindset.
One of the biggest human fears is the unknown; Yzerman is deliberately cultivating a smokescreen that doesn’t give away any unnecessary details.
Recall also the playoff-style information drought; if a guy was beheaded the coach would say he had an upper body injury and was day to day. Any amount of concealment we can grab is a good thing.
Sprong would never suit up again with Torts coaching this team.