Steve Yzerman Still in Charge, Fans Split

And Yzerman talked too. He's 60 now, he knows fans are frustrated. You could tell he wasn't rattled though.

Same kind of message we've heard before.

But man nine years. Nine years without the playoffs. That's forever in hockey time. Fans are tired of patience. They've watched deadline after deadline with nothing big happening, no bold moves, and teams that just kind of exist but don't really scare anybody.

Even Dylan Larkin said not long ago that the roster hasn't always been good enough. And he's the captain. If he's saying it, it means something.

Some fans are still on board with Yzerman. They'll bring up Seider, Raymond, the younger guys. They'll say look, the core is coming, it's just not ready yet. And yeah, I get that. But others?

Totally done with the patience talk. They'll say Yzerman's a legend, but legends don't get a free pass forever.

The Malik Report basically said Yzerman and Ilitch are on the same page with patience. And that's fine for them. But the fans?

A lot of them are not reading that same page anymore. They want wins, real wins, not just talk about a «foundation.»

This season feels like the line in the sand. If the Wings make a real push, if the young guys step up, people will probably relax and buy back in.

If they don't, the noise about firing Yzerman is only going to get louder, no matter what Ilitch says.

At the end of the day, Yzerman's still a legend here. He's respected. But respect doesn't last forever when the team keeps losing. And nine years is a long, long time.