Derek Lalonde gets real about Red Wings playoff chances

Detroit Red Wings head coach Derek Lalonde is entering his second year behind the bench since being hired from the Tampa Bay Lightning, where he certainly got accustomed to winning with two Stanley Cup victories in a row followed by a third trip to the Final.

It was a bit of a reality check to join the Red Wings, who haven't boasted the kind of superstar power that the Lightning have with the likes of Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov, Victor Hedman, Brayden Point and Andrei Vasilevskiy. And while this year's version of the Red Wings is far deeper than last year, Lalonde is still well aware of the grim predictions being shared by the experts - almost none of which have the Red Wings making the postseason.

"Obviously, no one has us making the playoffs,” Lalonde said. “I don’t necessarily have that as a knock on our guys. There’s really nowhere to go in the division. … I saw an article, ‘The 10 Hopeless Teams.’ I scrolled through and we’re the first hopeless team. It’s up to us to change that narrative.

“Playing the right way and establishing an identity, creating a little bit of a process will give us a chance to talk about (playoffs). Last year through three-quarters of the season, we were right there because we were playing the right way. Now we have to get there again.”

The Red Wings are going to have to prove a lot of people wrong this year if they want to start making believers out of the experts and pundits.

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