Wild 2014/2015 Regular Season

[10,000 Casts]

Tonight will be a good indicator of where this team stands. They are hyping the 2 wins but they were against weak teams and Columbus is no power house. If they hang with Detroit then I think they'll be ok.

[leechlake]

I think there is a lot of accurate and mostly unbiased information in this thread. I also read too much inaccurate "hope" in some posts. This team is consistently playing poorly and I couldn't guess anything realistic that will change that. If we an equal or higher skilled team we're going to lose 75% of the time and when we play inferior talent we're going to win 75% of the time. We've got a lot more equal or higher skilled teams on the remaining schedule.

Suter? Who knows. Somedays most people don't want to go to work and perform as such. Whether you're making $40k a year of $25 million a year. Maybe he's got a bee in his bonnet over something, maybe he's just worn out, maybe it's a mental thing. No matter what it is I would think a change of pace of playing less will help him and help the team. Maybe after a few weeks of that he can go back to playing mega minutes and perform better. I guess if we all knew the guy like his teammates and coaches do we'd have a better idea of what he needs. Doing the same thing isn't the answer.

[CaptainMusky]

I would rather see Scandella on the #1 PP unit that Suter. He has a big shot, isnt a liability defensively either.

Suter's ice time needs to be reduced by a 3 or 4 minutes per game. He was probably out there for 3 minutes of that 4 minute PP. That is ridiculous.

There is definitely some merit to what Stoner was saying a few weeks back when he basically blasted the Wild and Yeo for caving to "one guy" and playing him all the time.

Well, he was partially right, he wasnt going to get a ton more minutes anyway because overall he sucked, but still Suter needs less ice time.

[bbfenatic]

I think there is a lot of accurate and mostly unbiased information in this thread. I also read too much inaccurate "hope" in some posts.

I agree Leech...might be more interesting to get some discussion on players and possible moves, as far as the team a "new goalie" was never the answer to propel us to the playoffs....we are toast...not a good enough overall lineup and that gets proven on a weekly basis...plus the teams ahead of us chasing that 8th spot are good teams playing better than the Wild. Personally I am hoping Granlund comes back strong and can be trade bait, if Dumba plays well he might bring some good interest, Folin could go in a trade and Brodin could possibly bring good interest IMO. I'd rather keep Nino, Zucker, Sprg, Scandella ...other than that we really don't have much to trade that would bring us much in return and unfortunately our Vets are either terrible or have no-trade clauses. Can't trade them all I know but this team needs to be re-built with some size/toughness to compete at a higher level IMO.

[CaptainMusky]

Trading Brodin would be completely nuts IMO. The kid makes the fewest mistakes of any of our D men out there. He may not have the bomb of a shot that Scandella has, but Brodin is extremely valuable to our team an in all honesty that would be a bonehead move. Considering how depleted our D has been all year, especially left shot D men, we would be WORSE off without him.

At his age and how he has played no way would I even consider trading him.

Granlund is someone that could be a potential trade bait with the sole focus to find another center man, but with size.

I wish we werent over the barrel with Koivu. I am so sick and tired of watching him out there. My frustration level with him far exceeds any frustration level ever reached with Heatley. This is a guy with the C on his sweater. They play him far too many minutes for his production now. Contract is triple what it should be for his production.

This team is not that far away from being a serious contender. Obviously not this year anymore. If we had average goal tending to this point this year we wouldnt be vying for 8th spot in a pipe dream. Goal tending killed us. Its a fact.

Are there other problems? Absolutely. But that one single glaring issue cost us far more games than anything else.

We could have made the playoffs this year with this lineup and just average goal tending.

[bbfenatic]

We could have made the playoffs this year with this lineup and just average goal tending.

I guess we'll see where we end with avg tending. As far as Brodin...he's good but too light..is it you CM I have already gone around with him? He's only 180lbs on a skinny frame and if we could get bigger it would be smart IMO, plus we have to put someone like Brodin out there that has value to get value...duh. It is easy to say trade Koivu, Cooke, Fontaine, Brodz, Cooke, Prosser, Falk, etc, etc but you'd need to package them all to get a real chance at upgrading. Fletch is going to earn his keep over the next 6-8 months or we'll be bottom dwellers again IMO. And I am tiring of Yeo....after going to bat for him....after I called for his ousting . If his system is so good it will take other players to make it work or maybe he needs to change it with these "busy little bees" in order to put more pucks in the net cuz puck control, trying to cycle out of the corners, and trying to jam the puck under pads is not working.

[bobberineyes]

Remember back when Bogaard was running around hitting everything in sight and pretty much opening up the ice for the game. Look at his minutes he spent on the ice a game, what 5 minutes if he was lucky. Back then our team still had smaller guy's on it but we seemed to have more physical d and 2 goalies that Lemaire went back and forth with. This team sure could use some friggen back bone.

[bbfenatic]

Amen to that!

[fishing tech]

Yoe's system is good I think except for the no checking part. We can skate with most teams until they decide to play the body. We have no answer for that. It is a system that if you finish your check you are taking yourself out of the play. Our HS coach doesn't allow much checking in practice and then complains when the kids get knocked off of the puck so easily.

[bbfenatic]

Yoe's system is good I think except for the no checking part. We can skate with most teams until they decide to play the body. We have no answer for that. It is a system that if you finish your check you are taking yourself out of the play. Our HS coach doesn't allow much checking in practice and then complains when the kids get knocked off of the puck so easily.

I agree and that is the main issue/problem for this bunch IMO. Yeo's system is built for small/skilled and the league is now huge/skilled. We have to play an A+ game and catch opponent on a B or C night and then when our goaltending is bad (often) they can beat us even when they are not at their best. We need to get bigger/tougher in key positions to be in the top 4 or 5 or maybe even top 8 in the Conference IMO.

[CaptainMusky]

I guess we'll see where we end with avg tending. As far as Brodin...he's good but too light..is it you CM I have already gone around with him? He's only 180lbs on a skinny frame and if we could get bigger it would be smart IMO, plus we have to put someone like Brodin out there that has value to get value...duh. It is easy to say trade Koivu, Cooke, Fontaine, Brodz, Cooke, Prosser, Falk, etc, etc but you'd need to package them all to get a real chance at upgrading.

I said if we started the season with avg tending we would be at least in the 8th spot. You don't think we would've picked up 4 more wins thus far? I certainly do.

there is nothing wrong with Brodin's size. He isn't a physical defenseman. Doesn't need to be. He plays excellent sound hockey and at his young age rarely makes mistakes. Yes we need more physicality back there but not from him.

Next, I never suggested trading those guys aside from koivu. Prosser should have never been signed and hopefully won't be next year. Guys on this roster who have value that I would look to move are topped by pominville. Only what 5 goals this year but a ton of assists. He certainly has value and I would propose dealing him at the deadline for a big center to play on the top two lines.

Many of the other guys you listed are on single year or last year of their deals. Good riddance.

[fishing tech]

The sad part about Prosser is that it seems he is the only one that will stick up for his teammates.

[CaptainMusky]

Nice comeback by the guys last night. Those 4 goals weren't on Dubnyk, lots of lackluster tie ups in front led to easy tip shots. Kuemper actually didnt look bad. He was grossly out of position once but the Brodin bailed him out with a clearing. Otherwise looked decent until the shootout came. Sheesh.

Yeo shouldnt have put Parise first. He was gassed.

That guy simply amazes me with his work ethic. Knocking the puck down in front of the net and then scoring, that was a pure effort play there.

Suter didnt look good again.

Overall the last 4 games havent been awful. 5 out of a possible 8 pts. At least they are playing a bit better, but need to be more consistent for long stretches. Last night really got away from them in a hurry.

[bbfenatic]

You are right about Parise...that was unbelievable hand-eye coordination and then pure tenacity...man that guy is a gamer. Overall very impressed they came out of there with a point; time to get some rest, clear the head, and then give it a go for another 38 games or so.

[CaptainMusky]

Overall very impressed they came out of there with a point; time to get some rest, clear the head, and then give it a go for another 38 games or so.

Right, I was so depressed after the second period. I almost turned the channel.

This season isnt going to end like we all would hope I am sure, but as long as they are competitive and work hard and make it interesting I will be happy. If they mail it in then I will want wholesale changes.

I still believe we are only a couple pieces away from being a top 5 western conference team, but out depth has been exposed this year.

[schmitty3]

Great comeback last night, but they needed to finish it off with a W. They're in no position for moral victories.

Parise was unbelievable, why he doesn't wear the C on this team is beyond me, and why he was put right out there to shoot first in the shootout is beyond me. He was completely out of energy and you could see it in his attempt.

Vanek also played a good game, he had a lot of chances, and that goal is why we brought him in here...that was pretty.

Time to get some rest, and make a run after the break. We have everyone healthy so no excuses anymore. Wish Suter wasn't in the allstar game, he needs the rest more than anyone.

[OnAFly]

I've thrown the towel in on this season. We have 5 points to 8th, but 4 teams to jump and with a loser point going on all the time, that's going to be very difficult to do. We have to rely on all 4 teams playing poorly, which I doubt is going to happen.

At this point, I'd rather lose out and get a solid draft pick and move on to next year with a better goalie from the start.

[leechlake]

I may have made this suggestion already. Time to bag the Wild. You want to watch some fun hockey with a lot of effort put forth? Go to your local hockey rink and watch any youth game Squirts-Junior Gold. I'm not kidding.

Easy for me to say since my kid still plays but last night we went way early to watch a random Bantam game, tons of fun, little heartache.

[bbfenatic]

I've thrown the towel in on this season. We have 5 points to 8th, but 4 teams to jump and with a loser point going on all the time, that's going to be very difficult to do. We have to rely on all 4 teams playing poorly, which I doubt is going to happen.

At this point, I'd rather lose out and get a solid draft pick and move on to next year with a better goalie from the start.

Glad someone else has the math figured the way I do...so much would have to fall into place for them to make it....very unreasonable to think it will happen especially with how they have been playing. Too bad cuz expectations were high. I am looking forward to all the changes about to take place in the next 6-8 months. My NYI are on a roll but not ready to shove all in with them........yet.

[bbfenatic]

And actually it is 7 points to 8th and 6 pts to 9th.

[CaptainMusky]

Ive been saying that for weeks. 7 pts while not insurmountable, the 4 other teams is.

I don't want to see them tank. I don't think there is any benefit in that since they couldn't possibly tank bad enough to get a top two pick and those are the ones that are really worth going after. The 5-10 picks will be all about the same in quality.

I want to see this team play better, win, lose or draw. Last night was not a good night for 40 minutes, but the last 20 they played some of the best hockey of the year. That has been their problem. Not consistent enough. That is what separates the teams.

Like I said before and I will say it again, if we even had AVERAGE goal tending from the beginning of this season we would certainly have 4 more wins to this point and where would we be? 8th spot. So much rides on that position. Even considering all the other issues we have had and poor play, yada yada, we could have been right in this yet. We have been playing guys ranked 53 and 60 in goal. That means there are 20 plus backups playing better than our "starter", that's really sad.

[solbes]

Forks make an early appearance this year

I admit it seems very unlikely they can get back in this thing. But I'm holding onto my fork. If we could start beating some good teams that would be a good start, and would make watching fun again.

Chuck's in a tough spot. Trend or Mirage for this season? Sure looked like he had the right pieces at the end of last season, some of which were developing well. I don't think we can discount the confidence issues it causes in skaters when the guy in net is a complete sieve. And we surely didn't have any good luck with player health this year. I'm not convinced that sweeping changes are needed, though clearly we have a few weaknesses that need to be addressed.

[bobberineyes]

I'm not sure what to make if this organization anymore. This franchise has been around for what 14 or 15 seasons and still hasn't really hit a home run on draft picks since Gaborik, and that wasn't a solid pick either. Even if they finished dead last we'll get our goalie but we need way more than that. From top to bottom we definitely need some size, not only on defense but having a tall lanky young Modano skating like the wind would be awesome. Our draft picks haven't even come close to anything that resembles that.

[bbfenatic]

Forks make an early appearance this year

I admit it seems very unlikely they can get back in this thing. But I'm holding onto my fork. If we could start beating some good teams that would be a good start, and would make watching fun again.

Chuck's in a tough spot. Trend or Mirage for this season? Sure looked like he had the right pieces at the end of last season, some of which were developing well. I don't think we can discount the confidence issues it causes in skaters when the guy in net is a complete sieve. And we surely didn't have any good luck with player health this year. I'm not convinced that sweeping changes are needed, though clearly we have a few weaknesses that need to be addressed.

I agree, it did look like we had the right pieces, but as the season went on I noticed our lack of strength up front and at D, losing the little battles, not getting good shots to the net, not clearing guys in front of our net, and then I remembered why I picked the Kings last year...they had both size and high skill level. Look around the league and see who is excelling....not small teams.

I will say our play seems to have improved lately along with better tending (maybe) but IMO even at our best we can't break into the top 5 with this bunch and "Yeo's System". Parise has put this team on his back and is so close to calling out players publicly it isn't even funny. Sweeping changes probably not needed but I can see 5 or 6 new faces....just going to be interesting to see who goes and who stays and that will depend on who the coach is....Yeo...my guess is no.

[crothmeier]

We need to get bigger. I don't see why Graovac isn't up here more. He played well when he was here. He has size and skill. I get the development aspect of him playing in Iowa (Look what it did to Zucker, and look how its hurting Darcy not being able to go back) but I'd like to see him have a few more chances up with the club.

In response to the comment about when Boogard was swooping around the ice, Cooke brought some of that last year, not to the extent of Boogie, but guys had to keep their heads up when Matt was on the ice. Same thing with Ballard. We missed both of them for a large chunk of this season, and no-one filled that role.

The "enforcer" role is dwindling in the NHL, which is trending more towards size & skill. But on a team that's small with skill, we need someone circling the other team ready to hit.