Wild 2015-2016 Season

[BartmanMN]

Fun team to watch again.

[bottomdweller]

Was at the game!  great to see.  Was not expecting the total domination we pulled off.  Dubs was great, d was great and the off well lets just say freaking awesome.  Really like what Im seeing.  Hope zuker is o.k  bad hit!!

[CaptainMusky]

The guys are starting to believe...

Haula is NHL #2 star of the week. I don't remember anyone besides Dubnyk last year getting NHL Star of the week. That is pretty impressive.

He had a tough matchup going against the Kane line yesterday and they excelled. Sure was a fun game to watch. At any moment though I was thinking the Hawks would pump one in, they are just explosive. This game meant far more to us than them, but I think they have been exposed a bit lately. They were destroyed on home ice by Dallas not that long ago. There seem to be some chinks in the armor, but no team wants to face them in the playoffs.

1 Pt back of the playoffs, 2 Pts back of #1 wildcard with games in hand. They won 4 in a row and didn't gain all that much ground, but are right in the conversation now.

[leechlake]

Pominville was interviewed after second period and he said all the right things when asked about the coaching change but if you heard it he was certainly happy Yeo isn't the coach anymore and I assumed it meant from a playing style perspective.  At the end Pom said "I don't have to think anymore" I can just play.  Obviously he didn't literally mean that but it made sense.  The game goes too fast to have to stop for 1/10th of a second and think and that's what Yeo's philosophy made happen.  

[lungdeflator]

Well basically back to square one after firing Yeo.  

It is frustrating to watch and hear about other teams making trades this time of year, teams like the Blackhawks are getting players like Ladd and some other names from Montreal.  They were already poised to make another great run at the cup without those additions.  

Meanwhile the Wild feel content with what they have as they are fighting to get INTO the playoffs, let alone make a legitimate run.  How long do we have to wait for our centers to "mature" and see what they have?  When 2 of the 4 centers have less than 10 goals, and the 3rd only has 12, time to move on.  There is really no glimmer of hope in the future.  Coyle might be the only somewhat bright spot, but even that is pretty dim.  

I can only imagine what the offseason will be, Fletcher will have a quote somewhat similar to this "We hired a new coach, we have a young team, we need to give those young guys a chance to adjust to the new system."    2016-2017--Another year of mediocrity.  

[fishersofmen]

The Caps pretty much let us do what we wanted for 2 periods knowing they would only have to show up in the 3rd to put us away. It was pretty embarrassing the way they just toyed with us. The previous loss to Philly really showed me that this team isn't even a playoff team at this point. Definitely can't blame the loss on Parise being out since he has been a non-factor for what seems like forever. It doesn't look good and the next 2 games will not be easy. Even if they were to somehow squeeze into the playoffs they would get destroyed in the first round. Yeo has to be chuckling a little bit right now.  

[knoppers]

I still think it would be hard for the wild to make any trades due to the salary cap. we are paying a lot for the players on the ice, and still paying backstrom plenty to not even play at all.

[CaptainMusky]

There is money available to make the trade, trouble is, we don't have much for other assets that others covet or we don't want to give them up.

Our depth is at D, so that is where they need to thin out. Our weakness is at Center, but there are not many available centers that would really help us. Most of the guys being thrown around are wings and I am not sure its worth considering them.

I certainly wouldn't give up much to get Drouin. Eriksson is intriguing, but he is going to want a big contract in the off season and no way we can do that unless we dump salary IN the trade (Brodin). IDK, I like Brodin's game, I think he is a pretty solid young defenseman, but looking at our depth we have a glut of left-shot D men so someone is on the hotseat.

[Bear55]

So David Jones for Backs & a 6th, good enough for me, a little depth without giving up much of anything. Team is going to have to pull it together big time, not impossible but I'm certainly not feeling the mojo we had going into last years playoffs.

With the point system I'm not sure Nashville is catchable outside a big time hot streak so it's down to us and the Avs for that last wildcard spot so that should be interested. Oh and we just happen to play them tomorrow.

[CaptainMusky]

Avs made some moves and improved their team. Wild improved by subtracting Backstrom and now have some roster flexibility rather than having 3 goalies on roster.

I agree, I don't think that Nashville is catchable right now. That skid we went in last week set us way back. Big game tonight. We need this one. If we lose, it isn't over, but really really close.

[Bear55]

We own the Avs, I hope. They still look pretty weak on D.

[bbfenatic]

37 minutes ago, Bear55 said:

We own the Avs, I hope. They still look pretty weak on D.

Emphasis on the "hope".  IMO we don't own any team at this point and tonight's game is as close to playoff hockey as it can get...we will get a good glimpse of what is to come IMO. I am still ticked off that we A - Didn't have enough picks to give up to make a decent pick up and B - We really don't have coveted players other teams were willing to go hard after 

Just gets more discouraging when you consider teams like Tampa Bay, Dallas, Carolina, Anaheim, LA, Edmonton have all won cups and here we are again, scraping to get into the playoffs with another sub-par team.

 

[hoppe56307]

Well we took the 2 road games against a couple of the worst teams in the NHL.  Then on the back end of the back to back we started Dubs again. WHY. 

[bbfenatic]

Agree, Kemps should have been in the net against the Blues and going forward need to give Dubs a rest here and there. Being off till Thursday should give everyone the much needed rest....and then it's time for the run to the playoffs, at first glance we have an easier schedule than the Avs to finish the season but who knows, both teams are a little bit Jeckyl & Hyde at this point.

[CaptainMusky]

That offsides non-call was ridiculous. So what constitutes possession then? If the guy can cover over the line without it on his stick and be considered on-sides? I don't get it. You could clearly tell he even hesitated to touch the puck since he thought he was offsides.

Regardless, Dubyk cannot have a mental breakdown OR the D ease up on the play. That should have been stopped regardless.

They poured it on in the 3rd, but too many turnovers early one led to the loss. That Reilly turnover was terrible, but the kid can play and has honestly made very few mistakes. Im actually a bit surprised he hasn't been more noticeable with errors. Dumba turns the puck over far more often than Reilly.

[bottomdweller]

Totally agree about the dubs in net.  Come on!  huge mistake.  Back to back you got to go with kemps.

[hoppe56307]

The Avs have a tough matchup tonight against the Ducks, and we have a very winnable game against the Oilers, almost a must win if the Avs lose.  We need some separation before we head back East for a 3 game road trip.

Edited March 9, 2016 by hoppe56307

[Bear55]

Still in the drivers with a game in hand on the Avs but the next one needs to be a win because they have one more ROW and that is the tie breaker.

[hoppe56307]

What an embarrASSment the last couple of games.  Give up the game tying goal in the last 30 sec of the game and lose in OT. Then give up 7 goals to a team that has only scored more than 3 goals in a handful of games all year.

What happened to the fire this team had when we fired the coach.  Torchetti is not the answer.

[bbfenatic]

Agree Hoppe....when your talent level is average at best you have to give 110% every shift to be competitive and that effort is not there.  They appear mentally/physically shot and unless they find another gear coming down the home stretch it will be difficult to make the playoffs.  IMO and like I have said before, this was not Yeo's problem it was and remains to be Fletcher's problem and it will take a miracle for him to turn this around within the next couple of years...if he keeps his job.  We are going nowhere fast other than a bubble team or 1 and done at best IMO....what a frickin shame and embarrASSment like you stated. 

[fishersofmen]

Yup this club is in trouble. Short term and possibly long term as well. Disappointing to say the least.

[Bear55]

Yep, despite the 2 points today the team is doing their best to try and miss the playoffs. Hate to say this but our worst fears might be coming true, the vets look old and well past their prime, the kids shows flashes but not enough to carry the team anywhere significant. Not feeling the mojo this year that is for sure, maybe one more season before you have to re-tool the team and shake things up. I'd love to see a turnaround and it's very reasonable that we inch out the Avs to make the playoffs but this seems like a team that will get stepped on in the first round.

[hoppe56307]

Well we took 4 points this weekend, there is still a glimmer of hope that we make the playoffs.  

About the only positives to come from firing Yeo are Nino and Hula are playing really well.

[bbfenatic]

The other positive is that the Avs appear to have a much tougher schedule down the home stretch than the Wild, game against them this coming Saturday is huge; if the Vets can get going we have a good chance to squeak into the Playoffs IMO....just a matter of who shows up on a given night...Jekyll or Hyde.

[hoppe56307]

40 minutes ago, bbfenatic said:

The other positive is that the Avs appear to have a much tougher schedule down the home stretch than the Wild, game against them this coming Saturday is huge; if the Vets can get going we have a good chance to squeak into the Playoffs IMO....just a matter of who shows up on a given night...Jekyll or Hyde.

Just as long as the team that showed up against the Devils never shows up again.