I think to a degree, McClellan was giving Yzerman cover arguing the team was good enough to have made it. He harped a lot about game management, but the real problem for the Wings is that even if you make the safe dump to the corner and fall back - the puck is still coming right back at them because most of them still don't fore-check worth a damn and they can't pressure the puck effectively once it gets in their end, and when the other team raises its energy level and start to press, you get 5 wings standing around waving their sticks at passing lanes hoping their goalie can make a stop because they know only way they are getting the puck back is a lucky rebound right back to a Wing. The ability to pressure the puck and take back possession when the game gets competitive is just lacking with this team - has been for years now. The rest is all just noise.