Wild 2014/2015 Regular Season

[fishersofmen]

All this team does is win!!!!

[Bryce]

Not too worried about Parise or Pom...they'll produce..just not happening right now..depth is carrying us.

[OnAFly]

Beauty of a shot on the second goal by Pommer. Funny how on the first goal, he didn't even have his stick when the first shot came in. He got knocked down, looked over and "hey, I might need that!" picks the stick up and shoves the puck into the goal

Unfortunately I will be in the air during tomorrow's game. One more set of highlights before I get to watch the games from the comfort of my own couch with the luxury of good American beer!

[Jcup]

To me it looked like the washington d man put it in on his own goalie. I think he was trying to tuck it tight to the pads and ended up just putting it in.

[bbfenatic]

Fletcher.....Dubnyk....Amazed..Stunned...Disbelief....Ecstatic....that is all I can say about the Wild right now.

[solbes]

Dang missed all of that game except for about the last 5 minutes. Gotta love the "Duubs" call from the stands, even in DC.

As much as I hate to see the other tall guy in net, I'd give him the nod tonight. We have to have an option 2 in case of injury. And I'm much prefer to see other tall guy in net against Carolina than for a game in our next back to back (Ducks & Blues).

Hope to mix in some high school hockey tourney tonight also. Fly, we'll keep the Coors Lite cold for you.

[CaptainMusky]

Dubs took a slough foot and could have certainly tweeked something too. There were a lot of non-calls last night.

Pominvilles second goal was an incredible shot. The first one, well, not so much but give him credit for the effort he did direct it back toward the net after losing his stick. The defender certainly slammed it home though LOL.

As much as it scares me to start a different goalie with how well Dubs has been playing, I agree, we need to get someone else in there. Its been a LONG time since either of those other two got any time between the pipes. Good to see Shroeder back out there. Hopefully Nino is good to go and just precautionary.

[yakfisher]

Fletcher.....Dubnyk....Amazed..Stunned...Disbelief....Ecstatic....that is all I can say about the Wild right now.

BB, is that a fork you're holding? I thought you had it buried deep.

I'm glad you're excited by this amazing run. Heck we're only 4 back of Chicago and even on games. I hope they keep driving full speed ahead!

[PierBridge]

Its the system. If Kemp can stop a few shots early I think he will be fine.

Personally I'd start Doobs because we don't have jack locked up yet.

Its what NHL wanted with their OT Shootout loss format and to be honest only 2 teams are totally eliminated from the playoffs right now In the West.

[bbfenatic]

BB, is that a fork you're holding? I thought you had it buried deep.

I'm glad you're excited by this amazing run. Heck we're only 4 back of Chicago and even on games. I hope they keep driving full speed ahead!

Lets just say I did find it but it is still stuck in them I am enjoying this incredible turn around and the play of Dubnyk and the way the team in front of him has responded...plus big time cred to Fletch for pulling this team out of the ashes...it is still wide open...fun fun fun.

[CaptainMusky]

Interesting calculation if the NHL went to a 3 pt for regulation win... My calcs are not 100% accurate because I could only find data for SO record, not record in games ending in OT, but I am sure its relatively close. Anyways, the standings look dramatically different:

Team Div Adjusted Pts

 Nashville C 99

 Anaheim P 94

 Minnesota C 93

 Vancouver P 92

 Calgary P 89

 St. Louis C 88

 San Jose P 88

 Los Angeles P 85

 Chicago C 82

 Dallas C 75

 Winnipeg C 72

 Colorado C 52

 Arizona P 43

 Edmonton P 34

This rewards teams who win in regulation not those that take it to OT and still get a point for losing.

[bbfenatic]

Interesting stuff CM. Personally I like the current format...allows teams to play hard in 3rd, pull goalie late...makes for great excitement in last couple of minutes...if you tie great...you get rewarded. SO at least ends a game that could go on forever and teams have to catch planes to get to a possible back to back. Extra point for SO win is needed of course and gives fans chance to see mano a mano which brings more excitement to the game.

[Bryce]

Dubnyk gets the nod tonite per twitter.

[CaptainMusky]

BB I don't have a problem with shootouts because I agree we need an outcome. What I don't like are OT games are worth 3 pts where regulation games are only 2. Keep the SO but award 3pts regulation win,2pts OT or SO win, 1 pt for OT or shootout loss.

[bbfenatic]

CM...don't quite follow you...to me it is easy..win you get 2pts whether that win comes in regulation, OT, or SO...no "extra" points for winning in OT or SO. Tie in reg then 1pt...rewards getting that tie in regulation. 1pt differential keeps the standings closer, thus keeps the fans interested IMO.

[CaptainMusky]

There are 3 pts awarded for games that go to OT. Games that end in regulation are only worth 2. Internatioal play all games are worth 3 pts.

[PierBridge]

3 points for a regulation win.

2 points for an overtime or shootout win.

1 point for OT or SO Loss.

Trophys for NOBODY unless you win the cup!

[PierBridge]

Or 3 points for a win Regulation or overtime.

No points for a regulation or OT loss.

2 points for a shoot out win and 1 point for a shootout loss.

Again no Trophy unless you win the cup!

[PierBridge]

Im ok with the current setup but it sucks when you lose 3 points to the teams when they get to overtime.. Granted it's the same for everybody but it just doesnt seem fair.

[Bear55]

Shootouts are cute early in the year and when you are fortuneate enough to win them but when the playoffs are on the line I just hate them. The NBA doesn't let slam dunk contests decide games after one OT. I get why the league is ok with it, keep standings super close so it is a little more interesting but as far as who deserves to get in and who doesn't it is a bad system.

This is a hypotheical sisuation on a short 20 game season but you should get the idea.

Current System

Wild 14-5-1 13ROW 29pts

Avs 13-3-4 9 ROW 30pts

Dispite winning 4 fewer games how they should be played the Avs won 4 shootouts.

3 Point System

Wild 14-5-1 13ROW 42pts

Avs 13-3-4 9 ROW 39pts

Things are still pretty tight here but the Wild get rewarded for having extra wins in OT or regulation.

[Bear55]

Im ok with the current setup but it sucks when you lose 3 points to the teams when they get to overtime.. Granted it's the same for everybody but it just doesnt seem fair.

Yep its a killer, take last night for example. Wild make a nice comeback and win the game in regulation to earn 2 point. Calgary and LA win in a shootout and gain the same number of points, Vancouver losing in a SO and picks up a point. Even worse had LA or Calgary beat the Jets or San Jose those are extra points being handing out to the teams chasing us. Same goes for our "win" against Ottowa, you know those teams had to be a little bit sick about it. Especially after all the pipes in that game.

[bbfenatic]

There are good arguments both ways but the "powers to be" put this to be a while back. Here's a good read on the topic....keeps the playoff races tighter which is a good thing IMO.

http://espn.go.com/blog/nhl/post/_/id/15321/three-point-debate-change-the-standings

[yakfisher]

I prefer 2 pts for regulation or OT win. 1 pt each for a tie after 65 min. No points for the shootout because it's dumb and it has nothing to do with the previous 65 minutes.

If a playoff race becomes so tight that games and goals aren't enough to decide it then let the shootout mean something. Otherwise, let's recognize the shootout for what it is, a cutesy marketing ploy for Americans that feel no good sporting event can finish without a clear winner. Frankly, I see nothing clear about it. How many games have the wild lost in the shootout after playing fantastic team defense in front of an average goalie?

[CaptainMusky]

There are good arguments both ways but the "powers to be" put this to be a while back. Here's a good read on the topic....keeps the playoff races tighter which is a good thing IMO.

http://espn.go.com/blog/nhl/post/_/id/15321/three-point-debate-change-the-standings

I think it sums up exactly what I argued, that if every game was worth a total of 3 pts, some of their precious teams wouldn't be sitting so well. Case in point, the blackhawks would right now not even be in wildcard position but as it is now they are 3rd (4th overall) in our division. The NHL wants parity and this trumped up points system where OT games are worth more than a regulation win is ridiculous.

[bbfenatic]

Granted it's the same for everybody but it just doesnt seem fair.

Can you repeat the above statement Now repeat it again Sorry Pier had to go there Your first part makes good sense, how can I help with the latter part of your statement? How about..."so that makes it fair".

Attendance is up so fans must be OK with it and at the end of the day that is what counts to the owners and players.