Wild 2016-17 Regular Season

[Bryce]

Been having trouble staying awake during games but really want to watch Dumba away from the puck. Seems to come flying into the play a lot barely able to stay out of the way let alone contribute to it.

[10,000 Casts]

Not exactly playing the top tier teams on that road trip but hopefully it gives them momentum. Ek looks like he belongs out there and that shot he had last night was rediculous, what a snipe. Dubnyk looks solid too which is nice to see. Sabres outshot and outplayed them last night but wild took advantage of their chances and Dubnyk got the shutout. 

 

Anyone notice that the oilers are 6-1??? After all these years of sucking and having high draft picks.. Are they the real deal?

[Bear55]

Ya we need to start beating better teams before I get excited but lots of guys looking good this year. Hard to say with the oilers, eventually they had to get a little better, McD is only going to get better so eventually we will have to watch out for them.

[CaptainMusky]

Yeah, its really early. I believe the Wild have scored the most goals in the NHL right now. When was the last time we could say that? LOL

Ek appears ready and we really need to keep him with the big club. They cut Pulkkinen today so with Haula coming back that means Ek will still be around for the foreseeable future.

At this point I really don't see what good it would be to send him back to Sweden. Yeah, we burn a year of the ELC, but this kid is doing everything right. He deserves to be in the lineup. I hope we don't regret it later, but he has earned the spot and we need every guy to contribute because we cannot always count on our highest paid guys.

Here is an interesting stat:

Zucker and Folin lead the Wild in +/- +8, never thought that would happen.

[10,000 Casts]

Top in the league for goals but almost last for shots. Dubnyk is up there for GAA too. Nice to see them put a beating on Dallas tonight. Graovak just scored his first goal, Suter has 10 pts, Staal has 4 goals, 17 people have scored goals now? There's lots of positives right now.  

[Bear55]

Great start, I knew BB was a good coach but didn't expect this so soon. I said he might be are biggest move in the off season, the big test will be staying consistent all year, there are going to be slumps, we just need to avoid the swoons. We clearly don't have the high end talent that other teams do but we are a very deep team and that can help make up for the lack of star power. It also helps when a lot of guys are stepping up at one time and a few surprises (Ek) and Folin has looked very solid.

I kind of like the Suter/Dumba pairing, if Suter can balance Dumba out a bit and he keeps playing well we can put Scandella and Spurge back together. A Brodin and well playing Folin is a top 4 pair on most teams. We are probably going to lose one D with expansion but have Reilly waiting to step in, great depth on the back end.

[hoppe56307]

We really need the young guys to step up now, not they have not already, I saw Parise did not play on Saturday and is now listed at week-to-week.

[CaptainMusky]

Injuries are mounting and the Cap-strapped Wild are in a bind already. So much so that they are considering playing Prosser at wing because they cannot afford callups.

 

There is a possibility that someone gets placed on IR and then the team can get an exemption to go over the Cap, but once the player is ready to play they have to come back into compliance. Not a great way to start out the season. Should probably put Scandella on IR. I believe since he makes the biggest salary that might provide some assistance, but not 100% sure how it all works.

[CaptainMusky]

Injuries continue to mount. Dalpe had knee surgery, out 4 to 6 weeks. Parise is out "week to week", Haula could be another 10 days. Scandella unknown at this time.

 

This isn't good, but thank goodness to this point we have been getting scoring from all over the lineup so we hadn't been so dependent on Parise now that he is out.

[Bear55]

Tough schedule in Nov, we will know a lot more about this team by Dec 1. Hopefully guys can heal up and we can keep up the good play.

[CaptainMusky]

Well, the scoring from all over the lineup fizzled the last couple games. Dubnyk is still playing some good hockey. Thankfully the scheduler has them playing so few games recently so they can hopefully heal up, but their schedule gets a lot busier in the next couple weeks.

[bbfenatic]

Now that was a typical Boudreau win last night....get in a track meet and hope your goalie saves more than the opponent's. Dubnyk is hot and we had 3 excellent goals.

[bbfenatic]

How about these stats I just read.  Dubnyk has stopped 186 of last 191 shots, 0.84 GAA and 4-2 in last 6 games, .974 SV% and 3 shutouts in that span....WOW!

[hoppe56307]

Parise is expected back tonight.

[CaptainMusky]

Well, that balanced scoring that I was bragging about has dried up. Who would have thought the Dubnyk would allow 1 goal in each of 2 games (Avs/Flames) and we would lose them both.

They certainly had chances. They are getting shots, but I guess I liked it better when they were getting under 20 shots a game and scoring 4 or 5 times. Since the uptick in shots they have been scoring less.

That flurry in the first couple minutes they could have been up by 2 early.

I tend to think that if things don't go well when they are pressuring then they seem to allow the wheels to come off. Thankfully Dubnyk is playing well and gives them a shot regardless.

[Bryce]

Ek on his way back to Europe.

[bbfenatic]

2 hours ago, Bryce said:

Ek on his way back to Europe.

 

I heard that.  Well with a team as heavily laden with highly skilled players as the Wild we just had no room for him ...not to mention they get to delay his entry level contract since he did not play the 10 games....and delay his eligibility for free agency...plus he missed his mommy. I don't think we can call him back when we get hit with the injury bug again....I believe we are stuck with the Iowa bunch if need be.

[10,000 Casts]

Hey guess what! We're in the 8th spot in the west! The mediocrity of this franchise is unbelievable. 

[Bear55]

BB's greatest challenge, turning on the Wild offense when we forget how to score.

[CaptainMusky]

2 hours ago, Bear55 said:

BB's greatest challenge, turning on the Wild offense when we forget how to score.

This was Yeo's demise too.

The team has played pretty well, but just cannot score. Same song and dance for stretches of time in several of the last few seasons.

The Coyle, Nino, Staal line at times looks unstoppable, but they haven't been getting the goals lately. I would almost like to see Granlund on the left side on that line and move Nino where Granlund is playing. Certainly would be worth a look.

Pominville is still terrible. That is probably the one signing that is going to burn this franchise for the longest time. You could say Heatley was bad, or disapprove of the Vanek deal, but look at the term difference. Pominville is killing this team right now.

He had 3 or 4 grade A chances last night and nothing to show for it. That is a typical night for him.

[Bear55]

Ya Pominville just isn't aging well, the money was fine at the time (30 goal season) but these terms are killing us in the long run. With two years after this season he might be prime for a buyout but then we get dinged with a smaller caphit for future years. I guess the good news about vegas is they probably take a guy with some salary so we get some cap relief there.

[knoppers]

I think the wild are starting to win a record. How many times we can lose at home against last place teams.

[CaptainMusky]

On ‎11‎/‎18‎/‎2016 at 10:25 AM, Bear55 said:

Ya Pominville just isn't aging well, the money was fine at the time (30 goal season) but these terms are killing us in the long run. With two years after this season he might be prime for a buyout but then we get dinged with a smaller caphit for future years. I guess the good news about vegas is they probably take a guy with some salary so we get some cap relief there.

Pominville hit 2 pipes on 2 consecutive shots last night. Thankfully Haula was there to actually finish.

I hope Fletcher can swing a deal parting ways with a D man for some scoring. Would have been nice to do a deal for Hall this summer, but apparently that wasn't in the cards.

We have solid D from top to bottom. They are expendable.

I have found the panic button and placed it within arm's reach...

[Bear55]

The problem is if we trade a D we also could lose a D in the expansion draft, suddenly we are down 2 top 4 d-men and our back end depth is gone. Any other time I would be all for it but we might have to stand pat and see what happens this off season.

[bbfenatic]

It is obvious Boudreau has realized we are who I thought they were ...stating he was working with "4 checking lines". I thought he was literally going to tell Pom "go take your $hit off and grab me a hot dog from the concession stands". I'm just hoping he has the gonads to convince Leipold this team is going nowhere with this bunch....Fletch will go to his grave supporting his horse$hit signings, moves, and lack of moves. We are cash strapped and IMO everyone on this team should be considered expendable......and it's not like they are not working hard out there. They. Just. Don't. Have. It.