Wild 2014/2015 Regular Season

[bbfenatic]

He should watch film of Datsyuk, St. Louis, and Spurgeon. All are smaller guys that are very effective in the NHL. Seems like it's an on-ice awareness thing. Just being able to be a step ahead of the guys around them is what allows them to play in a league of bigger guys.

IMO that is innate....you either have it or you don't...and not a skill that can be learned this late into his career....or he would have done so already. For as many times as he gets smacked he also eludes opponents just as many times or makes a great no look pass just before. He'll be a coveted superstar some day.....if he does not get injured too badly

[bobberineyes]

Exactly. ..that's what happened to pmb.when they signed him he was suppose to be this crafty winger that could out skate and think the hits. But we all know what happened to him.

[BuckSutherland]

That was unbelievably horrible. That final minute was tough to watch. Nobody wants to shoot the puck. They just sit and play catch while time expires. They completely dominated that third period and still couldnt come up with one goal. Do other teams run the majority of the PP from the blue line, or do they try to take it low and make something happen??

[fishing tech]

Vanek's setting up goals has been great, but shoot the dang puck!!

[Bear55]

Vanek's setting up goals has been great, but shoot the dang puck!!

YES, he needs to start pulling the trigger!

[Bear55]

Do other teams run the majority of the PP from the blue line, or do they try to take it low and make something happen??

Both, the PP has been horrible this year but it will get better, only way to go is up. Ideally a PP moves the puck around and takes what the other team gives them, there are set plays but players have to think on their feet and be ready expose any weaknesses. We just need to start shooting more, trying to be too cute with the puck. Thanks for an honest question.

[CaptainMusky]

Yeah I agree its often too much passing to get the perfect shot.

Vanek gave up a shooting chance himself twice but one led to Parises goal the other just a nice shot. After seeing the replay these were the right decision in both those cases because his chance to score was slight.

I agree he needs to shoot more but at least genus setting up others.

[OnAFly]

I read an article on the Wild's PP vs the Penguins PP. Basically, it came up with two reasons that we are so bad.

1. Luck. Our shooting percentage is incredibly low. Eventually, this will turn around, but not so much to make our PP great. We are at ~5% while 5v5 we are more like 10%

2. We don't shoot the puck. We thread passes instead of scoring rebounds. Maybe they just see it as lost zone time if you take a shot and don't get the rebound and it gets cleared.

Regardless, we need to be better at taking shots that will create rebounds and then crash the net. We've got one of the best in the game at that in Parise. We have a shooter in Nino. We have a decent shooting D in Scandella and Spurgeon. We have a possession guy in Koivu. We should be able to score PP goals.

[Bear55]

Yeah I agree its often too much passing to get the perfect shot.

Vanek gave up a shooting chance himself twice but one led to Parises goal the other just a nice shot. After seeing the replay these were the right decision in both those cases because his chance to score was slight.

I agree he needs to shoot more but at least genus setting up others.

That is what makes it so hard, that extra move or pass might be the only way to score on that play but not getting any kind of shot off can kill you too. Of course this is all done at NHL speed too which is pretty much impossible for all of us to comprehend.

[PierBridge]

Id say the difference in PP between us and the Pens is Crosby and Malkin.

[walleyeman1]

Zucker had a great game last night. Niederreiter and him have really stepped it up this year!

[bbfenatic]

Zucker had a great game last night. Niederreiter and him have really stepped it up this year!

+1 both are showing signs of being top notch goal scorers...Zucker's 2nd was awesome. Both these younger players go hard every shift and deserve these rewards.

[BuckSutherland]

First two goals were awesome. Can you imagine being the owner of Florida?? I dont think 35% of the stands were full. Watched the riots the rest of the time. Nino very good.

[solbes]

Next year, can we schedule a game against Florida once a week (at the X, of course)?

As far as the stands go, they must have a lot of corporate sponsors or possibly even a subsidy from the city of Miami. No other way to make it a go with attendance that is topped by some big high school hockey games in Mn. Hockey in Miami is...well...really stupid.

[PierBridge]

Good to see Zook bounce back its been a rough road of late for him.

Havent checked but hooefully that gets him back in the plus column in that department..

Backs looked good too..

[OnAFly]

The FLA situation is terrible. They had ~8k people there. The Wild's AHL affiliate had ~9k at a game last night. Yeah, more people went to a minor league hockey game than a Florida NHL game.

My understanding was that they gave away a ton of tickets in the past to try and generate interest, but all they ended up accomplishing was devaluing the product. Now they are ending the ticket give-aways and charging. So, people are now being charged for something they got for free in the past so three isn't a whole lot of incentive to go.

They should move to a better market. There's just not enough interest down there, maybe apart from transplants from other hockey markets. Hey, another Toronto team would rake in cash like no other. Imagine being the lucky guy that gets to move a crumby team like FLA to a market like that. You'd instantly make a couple hundred million dollars.

[Bear55]

That attendance was odd last night, thought I was watching a neutral site college hockey game for a while. Has to be better market out there somewhere.

Nice to see Nino and Zucker potting more goals!

[10,000 Casts]

If you were in Miami right now would you go to a Hockey game? I say move them up to Quebec. The same thing will happen if they put a team in Las Vegas and look what's happening in Phoenix. When you don't have strong youth hockey programs, it's pretty unlikely you'll be able to support an NHL team.

I'd much rather watch a game in Winnipeg or Boston where the stands are full and the fans are going crazy.

[CaptainMusky]

Next year, can we schedule a game against Florida once a week (at the X, of course)?.

the panthers could be a very good team soon. Lots of high enders drafted over the last several years.

[Bear55]

Kings in town, we always play them well but find a way to lose, time to fix that.

[OnAFly]

We play better in town than on the road. Still will be a tight game. Hoping for a win. Tough stretch coming up.

[bobberineyes]

King's record on the road is 1-4-4, that's not going to matter though if we can't get any pucks past quick. If I remember right we out shot the King's by a pretty good margin last time, just couldn't score.

[fishing tech]

L.A. comes out thumping and the Wild are no shows for the first period. Mediocre 2nd. Need at least 4 in the 3rd to make a game of it. I would have pull Kuemper after the 3rd goal if not sooner. He lets in one and you can see his whole posture change.

[BuckSutherland]

I would have pull Kuemper after the 3rd goal if not sooner. He lets in one and you can see his whole posture change.

Especially if its early. When the second one went in he should have been pulled. And when are we gonna start putting some of these slapshots and one-timers ON GOAL!!!!!!!???? My God, they all go sailing 5' from the flippin goalie. Hard to get a cheap rebound when you cant get them long shots on target.

[TomWehler]

Hello!

21 games in and doing mild to fairly well.

Bit above 500 is cool.

Suite #27 is a rocken at Excell and we enjoy it all.

Lots of shots is fun.

No identity as a team yet but getting to be known as a swarming man on man puck hungry mess.

Yeo needs to stop with the glare an do some coaching AND buy a hat.

Vanek dude playing to script an a no show really for the money until maybe mid season.

Still lots of time for him to shine.

Sad about JP Zak'z Pop.

CANCER SUCKS!

Tonight was just a bust.

Kings angry from last nights game an jumped the homeboys an that was that.

so far enjoying this Wild team an season so far.

Come on Boys lets WORK!

Nice drive home...lots of laughs.

My Maple Leafs so so but way better than past seasons.

Fun to watch.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all.

Keep on rocken!

Tommy