Brutal comments from Todd McLellan in response to boos from fans.

The Detroit Red Wings will be dealing with the fallout of their loss to the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night for weeks and months to come. The loss officially eliminated the Red Wings from contention in the Stanley Cup playoffs for a National Hockey League leading 10th consecutive season, and it was evident from the tone coming from within the team that they are feeling the weight of what that truly means.

The night would end in ugly fashion for the Red Wings who were booed off home ice in what was their final home game of the season, although it is clear that some believe that reaction was warranted.

Following the conclusion of the game, Red Wings head coach Todd McLellan was asked about the reaction from the hometown fans and his response is one that will likely echo in the minds of both fans and players in the coming days. McLellan's comments were scathing, leaving no doubt in anyone's mind about how he feels about this current predicament.

"This is Detroit, this is Hockeytown," said McLellan. "I've been lucky enough to be on the other side of it when they couldn't stop cheering for this team. They are dying for that, they crave that, that's what they want."

McLellan's comments would only get worse from there. The Red Wings head coach pointed out that fans had very reasonable expectations, expectations that the Red Wings of course failed to meet.

"I don't even know if they want a Stanley Cup championship anymore," said McLellan. "They just want a team that's gonna come and give them something to cheer about,"

McLellan also dismissed the notion that the pressure from fans was outside noise, suggesting that the fan base is part of the fabric that makes up the organization.

"This outside noise stuff or whatever that's inside noise," said McLellan. "Those are our fans in our building. They pay to watch us play and we get paid well to perform for them. They are fully entitled to their opinion and we deserve their opinion. There is no other way to sugar coat it, that's what we earned."

I suspect that McLellan's comments will resonate with a Red Wings fan base that is understandably very upset with the performance of their team this season.