Pre/Post Game Minnesota Wild Banter

[spearchucker]

I have always like Wellman. I think he will be good for us. Lots of speed and a decent shot. Brodziak, Havlat, Bruno, and Butch were good.

[10,000 Casts]

I like Wellman too. They said last night that since they moved him to center that he is alot more comfortable. I guess he was a little lost playing Wing in the big league at the end of last year.

[scsavre]

How about that pass Havlat gave to Bouchard on that goal.

I thought Havlat looked real good the second half of the game. The Wild too looked pretty good at times. With Backstrom we would have lost 4-3

[spearchucker]

I like Wellman too. They said last night that since they moved him to center that he is alot more comfortable. I guess he was a little lost playing Wing in the big league at the end of last year.

I think he played center in college for UMASS if I remember right.

[solbes]

Well close game tonight. First Wild game of the year for me. I liked how we moved the puck in the 2nd half of the 1st and through the 2nd.

We weren't ready to play in the first minute of play as a zing, zoom, score passing got by us right away. Burnsie let Stafford walk all over him to score in OT. But we got a point, and it was a fun game to attend.

[spearchucker]

Burns and Shultz need to step up their defense. They also allowed the OT goal. All burns had to do was lift the stick or play the body, but he quit skating.

[JimBuck]

With how big Burns is, he's gotta take the body and keep that from happening. That goal should have never gone in. Schultz and Burns had a few errors and giveaways last night that resulted in opportunities for Buffalo. We had flashes of brilliance but just couldn't get it done. Pretty painful to see the press box full of our starting lineup.

[schmitty3]

Burns gave that one away last night. First he turns it over in the zone then can't decide whether to take the puck or the body and ends up letting the guy go right by. One little shove woulda put the guy behind the net. Oh well at least we got one point.

Great news though Koivu and Latendresse could both be back on this next 4 game road trip. They will both travel with the team. Latendresse even has a possiblility of playing tomorrow, but thats probably not gonna happen. Still it'll be nice once those two are back on the ice! On a bad note Brunette has caught the sick bug thats been going around and may miss tomorrow's game, and Clutterbuck didn't practice today.

[spearchucker]

I would say there is no way that Latendresse plays tomorrow.

[schmitty3]

Ya there is probably no way he plays. Im just relaying the news. Still good to hear he's close.

http://wildlighthouse.wordpress.com/2011/03/07/koivu-practices-latendresse-a-maybe/

[scsavre]

I thought ltd said today that he is still unhappy with his progress. I was think ing another week at least

[spearchucker]

He is going to be pretty rusty when he finally does come back.

[walleyes12]

Must win tonight!!! They cant loose anymore ground

[schmitty3]

Wow! It's looking like Latendresse is gonna play tonight. It's not definite yet but its looking like he'll return tonight against the Av's. Hopefully he can stay healthy and get back to last years form, and help get us in the playoffs. None the less great news!

[Bear55]

Must win tonight!!! They cant loose anymore ground

I think its safe to say every game for the rest of the season is a must win for us.

[spearchucker]

Wow! It's looking like Latendresse is gonna play tonight. It's not definite yet but its looking like he'll return tonight against the Av's. Hopefully he can stay healthy and get back to last years form, and help get us in the playoffs. None the less great news!

I saw that. Surprised me. He says he is going to decide if he will play after warm-ups.

[solbes]

Com on Tenderness. We need ya.

[10,000 Casts]

Quote:

Hopefully he can stay healthy and get back to last years form

Hopefully, but after 2 periods tonight, he has a loooong way to go. I have only seen a few of his shifts but he looks like a bigger slower James Sheppard.. I just hope that his injury didn't turn him into a 1 year wonder... remember, this guy came out of nowhere to have a huge season last year. Time will tell but I'm hoping he can be back to form by next year..

[schmitty3]

Hopefully, but after 2 periods tonight, he has a loooong way to go. I have only seen a few of his shifts but he looks like a bigger slower James Sheppard.. I just hope that his injury didn't turn him into a 1 year wonder... remember, this guy came out of nowhere to have a huge season last year. Time will tell but I'm hoping he can be back to form by next year..

Agree 100% he still has a long way to go. He just looks slooooow.

But still great to have him out ther on the ice!

[walleyes12]

I dont think we should be judging his future or game because of one game off a major injury. LOL Give him a few games to get confidence in his hip and get his feet wet!!! He will be fine.

[spearchucker]

Agree 100% he still has a long way to go. He just looks slooooow.

But still great to have him out ther on the ice!

His game never was speed anyway. He is big and can srive the net and shoot. That is what we need. He never was that fast. He was on the 4th line last night and helped screen for the Spurgeon goal, so I guess he did better than I was expecting for his first game back.

[10,000 Casts]

He never was that fast. He was on the 4th line last night and helped screen for the Spurgeon goal, so I guess he did better than I was expecting for his first game back.

was that before of after he fell to his knees on that play?he just happened to be infront of the net there.. He's 240lbs, of course his game was never speed, he was rusty, he also drew a penalty after clumsily falling on Budai and getting his noggan rubbed into the ice in the 3rd.. He has a long way to go to ever get back to his last years form..

[spearchucker]

He never was that fast. He was on the 4th line last night and helped screen for the Spurgeon goal, so I guess he did better than I was expecting for his first game back.

was that before of after he fell to his knees on that play?he just happened to be infront of the net there.. He's 240lbs, of course his game was never speed, he was rusty, he also drew a penalty after clumsily falling on Budai and getting his noggan rubbed into the ice in the 3rd.. He has a long way to go to ever get back to his last years form..

Don't have much good to say about anything do you? Did anyone ever think he would come off of 3 surgeries and 3 months of no workouts and look like he did at the end of last year?

I was surprised he was able to play 10 minutes.

[Bear55]

Don't have much good to say about anything do you?

Not that I have seen.

Anything Lats does this year is a bonus, who knows if we make the playoffs he might just have time to find his form again. I think we were all a little concerned about him having one big year and fading but he looked decent at the start of the season. The good news for us is he is signed to a very fair contract next year so we have some time to assess the situation.

[10,000 Casts]

Ok, then I will say some positive things..

1. Richards is a very good coach and if we can build him a team, the Wild have a very bright future.

2. Havlat has has a very good couple of weeks and has really stepped up his game when we needed him to.

3. We have one of the best Goalie tandems in the league if not the best.

4. Spugeon has looked really good

5. We are in a playoff race, it looked pretty bleek last offseason and I would have bet the farm that they wouldn't be where they are right now, and here we are..

6. Clutterbuck is leading the league in checks again..