from John Niyo of the Detroit News,

They said all the right things when it was finally over. But that was only after they’d done so few of the right things.

Or as Niklas Kronwall, the Red Wings’ elder statesman, put it, “We had nothing, simple as that.”

And maybe it really was that simple. But if you’re a frustrated hockey fan in Detroit, Tuesday night’s 8-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens wasn’t merely an ugly reminder of how far the Wings have fallen. No, this was the sort of effort – the franchise’s worst home loss since a 10-3 loss to St. Louis in 2011 – that leaves you with all kinds of questions about the state of this so-called rebuild.

A day after the front office capped another trade deadline as a reluctant vendor, it was hard to buy what anyone was selling at Little Caesars Arena, from the general manager's vision to the head coach's voice to all of the young players' promise.

Jeff Blashill called Tuesday’s showing “stupid” and a “joke,” and he wasn't in a laughing mood. Dylan Larkin used the word “embarrassing” a handful of times while apologizing to the paying customers. (“They deserve better, the city of Detroit deserves better,” he said.) And Kronwall, a 15-year veteran who could’ve been in Columbus or somewhere else playing for another team Tuesday if he’d wanted one more shot at the playoffs, couldn’t hide his disgust, either, saying at one point in a blistering postgame rant, “We’re not even trying out there.”

“No heart whatsoever,” Kronwall added. “No pride out there.”

And no defense, for that matter. During the game, or after.

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from Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press,