On Friday, the Detroit Red Wings officially introduced Derek Lalonde as their next head coach but that did not stop reporters from asking owner Chris Ilitch about the 2022 Detroit Tigers.
A day earlier, Ilitch had the following to say about the hiring of Lalonde:
“On behalf of the entire organization, I'd like to welcome Derek, his wife, Melissa, and their three children – Alex, Luke, and Abby – into our Red Wings family,” said Christopher Ilitch, Detroit Red Wings Governor, President and CEO. “Derek has an impressive resume, particularly the work he's done with young players and prospects throughout his career. We're excited to have him leading the charge behind the Red Wings bench. I'd also like to commend Steve and his staff for conducting a very thorough and detailed search process. We have the greatest fans in hockey, and they deserve a team that consistently competes for Stanley Cup championships. We'll continue to work diligently towards that goal under the leadership of Steve and Derek.”
When asked about the Tigers during Friday's presser, Ilitch gave an answer that made many people do a double-take.
“I'm very pleased with the progress,” Ilitch said. “Despite a very slow start this season, there's actually some good progress happening with some of the young guys that have come up and developed and so on and so forth.”
Christopher Ilitch on the #Tigers at Derek Lalonde's news conference:
"I'm very pleased with the progress. Despite a very slow start this season, there's actually some good progress happening with some of the young guys that have come up and developed and so on and so forth."
— Evan Petzold (@EvanPetzold) July 1, 2022
Fans bash Chris Ilitch for comments made at Derek Lalonde presser
Following that comment from Chris Ilitch, fans took to Twitter to bash him.
Here are some of the highlights.
https://twitter.com/donniekellybaby/status/1542904443737440257?s=20&t=ITWlGY0aKQfM99GNB9RWdg
So… “We suck, but look at that Riley Greene guy, huh?”
— Christopher Crowe (@ccrowe82) July 1, 2022
WE HIT 12 HOME RUNS IN JUNE WTF ARE YOU WATCHING
— 🍪 (@AndrewPrykucki) July 1, 2022
Tell me you don’t watch the games without telling me you don’t watch the games
— Ferris Kadri (@BuellerKadri) July 1, 2022
Eloquently spoken. Inspiring and so on and so forth.
— PatrickSanford (@PatrickSanford1) July 1, 2022
— DiehardDetroit (@DiehardDet) July 1, 2022
Does Chris watch the games? We have a historically bad offense
— Francois Corpel 🇺🇦💚🩶 (@FrancoisCorpel) July 1, 2022
"and so on and so forth" is something people say in this sort of setting when they have absolutely no idea what they're talking about. pic.twitter.com/y1CsmbMZWj
— 〽️❗K 🎯 (@mkzzn) July 1, 2022
"and so on and so forth" is something people say in this sort of setting when they have absolutely no idea what they're talking about. pic.twitter.com/y1CsmbMZWj
— 〽️❗K 🎯 (@mkzzn) July 1, 2022
— Nate B (@natedog_906) July 1, 2022
https://twitter.com/JeffCavanaugh12/status/1542908144027934723?s=20&t=ITWlGY0aKQfM99GNB9RWdg
This is how you answered questions when the teacher called on you in class and you had done none of the homework the night before.
— Kyle Pollock (@kmpollock22) July 1, 2022
