Pre/Post Game Minnesota Wild Banter

[LundProAngler]

The Wild did not look very good at all Friday night against the Canucks. I think they were still tired from the win in the previous game againt the Oliers. Theodore was in net for the first time and he looked just OK, not great.

I hope we can continue to win 2, loose 1 ...etc. (or better) if not, it could be another long season.

Go Wild!

[spearchucker]

They need to quit all the penalties. You can't kill 10 penalties against a good team all the time. The PK kills the legs of our good players. I didn't see much of the Fri. Vancouver game, but it sounded like we had trouble getting the puck out of Vancouver's zone. Can't fault Theodore completely on that.

[JimBuck]

I thought Theodore looked pretty good out there. He was absolutely peppered by shots the first 2 periods and the Sedins can be pretty dangerous on awkward angle shots. We really need to stay out of the box to have a fighting chance this year.

[spearchucker]

The Wild p##### another one away last night with a march to the penalty box again. Just stupid penalties that skating instead of reaching will fix.

[JimBuck]

Yes, we have got to stay out of the box. This is getting ridiculous. Didn't Koivu have 2 penalties last night? It's gonna be a tough home stay if we keep getting these penalties. On the positive side, Schultz put one on the board and has now tied his last season goal record. It also sounds like Bouchard has been given the go ahead for contact by the doctors....hopefully he can contribute on offense this season.

Also, I missed the hit on Antti Miettinen. Any idea on how he's doing? Did he miss the rest of the game?

[schmitty3]

Kouivu is a hack. He is way to aggressive trying to get the puck on defense.

[wormdunker]

Ok too many emotional swings in these boards. First of all if I would have told you 2 months ago our record woudl be what it is woudl you have been satisfied? Secondly, I woudl be willing to bet that a majority (90%) of all Wild fans polled last year would have responded with something along the lines of: I want to see more effort or I want to see more emotion.

The personnel changes made for this team have turned out thus far to be spot on. The team is playing with more passion however they are slightly inconsistent at this point. That should be expected of a team with at least 25% turnover.

I like Koivu's passion it is proven that it rubs of on the other players. Do they need to reduce penalties? yes can you have the perfect balance between effort and penalties yes it will jsut take some time. Right now there are players puttin gout more effort than I can ever recall. That should satisfy us all at this point.

[spearchucker]

Also, I missed the hit on Antti Miettinen. Any idea on how he's doing? Did he miss the rest of the game?

He never missed a shift.

All the penalties are just lazy not moving the feet penalties (hook, trip, interference).

[genegodawa]

I may be mistaken, but if "moving the feet" are lazy penalties, wouldn't it require more effort to reduce those?

So then I say it isn't just that there is more effort this year, but it is maximum effort we as fans would like to see.

[JimBuck]

I think your referring to the term "not moving your feet" which is typically associated with hooking/slashing penalties. I do agree, maximum effort is what I'd like to see out of any pro team. There's a reason I don't watch NBA Basketball.

I know the Wild have been guilty of quite a few of these calls but I feel like they are really clamping down on penalties during the regular season....i.e. interrupting scraps and calling the most marginal infractions. Let em' play.

[spearchucker]

I may be mistaken, but if "moving the feet" are lazy penalties, wouldn't it require more effort to reduce those?

So then I say it isn't just that there is more effort this year, but it is maximum effort we as fans would like to see.

Of course it requires more effort to play harder and move your feet instead of reaching with the stick! We get our top guys worn out on the PK all night and they never get a chance to play hard in the offensive zone which is how you win hockey games. We shouldn't have Bruno with 15 min of ice time.

[spearchucker]

Latendresse had an MRI on his groin that showed damage so it sounds like they are going to hold him out a while, but don't know how long. This isn't good.

[scsavre]

The Wild 3-3-2, I think that is better then most of you would have predicted. Obviously if we turn the 2 ties into wins we would be looking pretty good.

I am still predicting playoffs for us, if we can get healthy.

[schmitty3]

Big win tonight. Backstrom was amazing the net!

[LundProAngler]

Yep, Backstrom was huge.

It's a tough job shutting down Ovie and the boys and he did it!

[spearchucker]

Big win tonight. Backstrom was amazing the net!

Backstrom played great, but it was the whole team around him that played well. The D shut them down before they got into the offensive zone. Ovi was offsides all night. We also only took 2 penalties all night instead of 10 which is what has killed us all year.

[spearchucker]

Mittens is out indefinitely with a concussion from the Dustin Brown hit the other night.

[schmitty3]

Another great game by backstrom. He seems to be seeing the puck really good so far this yr. They needed him tonight as they got out shot 36-16. But a wins a win.

[Bear55]

Nice to see Backstrom start to earn that big paycheck he gets. Although the team better pick it up a little because he can't win every game for us.

[spearchucker]

Nice to see Backstrom start to earn that big paycheck he gets. Although the team better pick it up a little because he can't win every game for us.

The difference is that the Defense is clearing the puck a lot better and not running all over leaving the area in front of the net open.

[Bear55]

Good to hear, I have been in the woods so I haven't seen many games and just going off highlights.

[OnAFly]

Well, I might be the only guy on here not deer hunting this weekend. First time since I was about 10 that I've missed it.

We came out ok. Good to get on the board a bit after the Flames started the scoring. TERRIBLE second period. Lots of dumping the puck out of our zone, no offensive pressure. Best chance was by Staubitz. That's never good.

So far the third is looking ok. Got one more on the Flames at least. Now lets keep it that way.

[OnAFly]

So, the Wild last year at this time at 6 points, this year we have 14. Maybe we'll wind up slipping into that 8th spot for the playoff this year after all.

[spearchucker]

I will reiterate my get rid of Barker theme. The D looks good, but I think he was on the ice for every goal scored against us. He just quits skating and looks like he doesn't know what the heck he is doing.

[JimBuck]

Good to see Havlat get a goal for once. Defense did look pretty solid against the flames. It sucks we win 3 in a row and now have to wait until Thursday. Hopefully we can keep that momentum.

Any word on Latendresse?