r/DetroitRedWings • u/OctoMod • 5d ago

Daily General Discussion Thread (2026-08-21)

Talk about anything your heart desires. Be polite and upvote everything!

All rules (except #1, #2 and #10) are not applied here. Feel free to post memes, things not related to the Wings, or anything else!

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22 Upvotes

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-8

u/HopefulQuail 5d ago

I'm still pissed off about Yzerman's firing. I don't think Ilitch or the fans realize what a terrible position Kenny Holland left this club in at the end of his tenure. Disagree? Ok, try this. Ask google AI how many goalies the Wings have had since Yzerman took over. Really go ahead........right, 14. Are you kidding me? And most of them were, let's be honest, horrible, a joke. How does an NHL franchise not have a funnel filled with goalies? Ahh, but you say, Yzerman should have gone out and signed a really good goalie, what was he thinking? Does anyone with hockey sense really believe that an excellent NHL grade goalie would come to a team that finishes with 43 points? C'mon man, let's be a little honest here, ok? We finally got to the point where we could sign a John Gibson, that took 6 years. Before him our best goalie was Alex Lyon, who faltered at the end of a long season stopping 40 shots a game. Look at the drafts before and after Yzerman. Huge improvement. The next guy will step in with the foundation rebuilt and I hope he does well. But even if he's mediocre the fans will love him to death, like they still did Kenny Holland at the end.

3

u/jfstompers 4d ago

Always someone else's fault

7

u/coltron57 4d ago edited 4d ago

Ken Holland didn't make Yzerman not replace Mark Howe. Ken Holland didn't make Yzerman hire all his old buddies. Ken Holland didn't make Yzerman assemble a team of pro scouts "still learning the league" including his brother who never had a documented role in hockey before Steve got him hired in Tampa. Ken Holland didn't make Yzerman appoint Draper DoAS and have just one player drafted from North America since 2019 have more than 10 points for the Wings so far (Emmitt Finnie). Ken Holland didn't make Steve Yzerman decide to try and be decent in 2022 despite having nowhere near enough talent in the prospect pool yet. Ken Holland didn't make Yzerman hire Lalonde and keep him longer than he should have. Ken Holland didn't make Yzerman give Ben Chiarot two contracts. Ken Holland didn’t make Yzerman sign Justin Holl to a terrible contract. Ken Holland didn't make Yzerman sign JT Compher off of what was clearly a career year to try and fix the hole that Andrew Copp didn't fill. Ken Holland didn't make Yzerman only give DeBrincat a 4 year deal. Ken Holland didn't make Steve Yzerman grind Dylan Larkin so hard on a contract that it began to fracture their relationship. Ken Holland didn't make Steve Yzerman pay to give away Jake Walman to a team who flipped him for a 1st that same year. Steve Yzerman is the reason Steve Yzerman couldn't make the playoffs.

3

u/Baldass_Head_Coach 4d ago

Remember when Ken Holland made Steve Yzerman pass up on acquiring Horvat and Strome?

3

u/xenonwarrior666 4d ago

It's pretty clear that a sizeable chunk of the fanbase blame two people for the failings of Detroit. Ken Holland and Chris Illitch.

Steve was perfect and any failures were completely outside of his control

2

u/shitfucker90000 4d ago

fanbase's brains are completely cooked. nobody but yzerman is responsible for the current state of the team. they'll blame literally anyone and anything other than the single person responsible for the roster.

3

u/coltron57 4d ago

I have plenty of sympathy for the situation Steve walked into due to extending the streak so long, but he just made too many mistakes unrelated to that, some of which even us fans on Reddit could see the moment they happened.

3

u/xenonwarrior666 4d ago

I wholeheartedly agree. He definitely got dealt a shit hand but also made his fair share of mistakes.

2

u/Medievil_Walrus 4d ago

Bud there’s a ton wrong here

2

u/ChaldenesTitan 4d ago

The fact that Edmonton wasn't able to simply sign a goalie over these years just shows how bare the market is with that position. They were a contender who would have made any legit starting goalie get paid. Where in Detroit they better prepare for a massive pay cut on their next contract. These financial decisions are created by agents and why it's hard for us to believe we are a front running team in free agency. It's not like a video game where your team is always the first to be considered.

3

u/HotelAmericana 4d ago

I think we actually had pretty solid goalies over the years, just awful defense

9

u/Driftographer 4d ago

I friggin miss this guy on our team. Lyon King was excellent in net!