Wild Regular Season 2017-18

[CaptainMusky]

Yeah, the 5-5 record certainly fooled me, but we have played some pretty good teams in there and our results didn't show the quality of our play in a couple of them. Namely the TB game. That was a 1-0 game late and then 2 empty netters. Florida won 5 in a row starting with the win over us, so the teams we have been playing have been relatively hot. We shut down Nashville here, then lost in Nashville. Nashville is a strong team too.

The standings are pretty interesting now with Chicago on the bottom. When was the last time that happened?

In other fronts Fletcher met with Kaprisov in the last couple days so that is a great development. He was able to meet with he and Svetlikov. Hopefully that leads to those two coming over here in a couple years. Sooner would be nice, but I don't think that is going to happen.

[bbfenatic]

If we are going to make up ground this 4 game stretch is it...one down, 3 to go...we always have a chance the way both tenders have been playing.

[bbfenatic]

2 hours ago, CaptainMusky said:

The standings are pretty interesting now with Chicago on the bottom. When was the last time that happened?

 

As it sits now we are on the outside looking in with Chi only 1 pt behind us, Avs 2 pts behind us, and Calgary 3pts behind us...we are not going to crack the top 3 in the West IMO so we have to get a top 2 in pts against San Jose or Anaheim, Dallas, Chi, Col, and Cal...so that is 6 good teams fighting for the last 2 spots...not saying all heck could break loose and teams above falter and we go on a tremendous win streak but odds are against that...with Col and Calgary on the schedule in the next week we will see where we sit after that. 

We should easily beat Buff tonight at home.

[Duffman]

NHL hockey..........make the playoffs and be playing your best hockey of the year at that point, the Wild can still achieve that. We shall see.

[bear555]

Not sure what to make of this team lately, they have been all over the place winning, losing, score, getting blow out, you name it. Need to get on some kind of winning streak here to make up some ground, feels like we have been treading water all year. 

[hoppe56307]

Sure would be nice to get a good look at a healthy roster.  We get Parise back then Nino goes down.

[hoppe56307]

Looks like the Hawks might be without Crawford the rest of the season.

 

http://nhl.nbcsports.com/2018/01/16/report-blackhawks-concerned-crawford-could-miss-remainder-of-season/

[bear555]

Been thinking for a few years now the hawks are going to take a step backwards, it might actually happen this year. 

[bbfenatic]

2 hours ago, bear555 said:

Been thinking for a few years now the hawks are going to take a step backwards, it might actually happen this year. 

 

Been thinking for a few years now the wild are going to take a step backwards, it might actually happen this year. 

[bear555]

What about last year BB? 2nd in the conference, it can't always just be doom and gloom. Ya we did nothing in the playoffs but it was a fun season. I'm still waiting for this team to figure out what they are this year, signs of breaking out and signs of not making the playoffs, hope they figure it out soon and pick a direction. 

[bbfenatic]

I agree Bear...last yr was OK but not the improvement needed...and it is doom and gloom if you consider our accomplishments over the last 7/8 years and the horrendous cap space situation we are in...I will go out on a limb and say that Leo will stick to his word and consider "anything short of a Cup win this year as a failure" and I 100% agree with that statement and hopefully Fletch will be gone. Personally I would hope they would keep BB as I think he is as good or better a coach as we could find.

 

I would also bet as dismal as Bhawks are playing this season....they will win their 7th Cup before MN win's their 1st.

[bear555]

Take a lesson from the vikes BB, don't pretend there is hope or you are just setting yourself up for a letdown. It will happen when it happens, this anything short of a cup run stuff is just crazy talk.

[bbfenatic]

2 hours ago, bear555 said:

Take a lesson from the vikes BB, don't pretend there is hope or you are just setting yourself up for a letdown. It will happen when it happens, this anything short of a cup run stuff is just crazy talk.

 

I am not a big Football guy but feel sorry for those folks as well.  IMO if you are just wanting to watch some good hockey with no desire to Win the cup then you are just a casual Fan and that is all good....but I see it differently....it all starts with Hope. As far as the crazy talk this is a quote directly from Liepold out of the Pioneer Press at the start of this season “Anything short of winning the Stanley Cup would be a disappointment,” Leipold said.

So my guess is he's getting impatient too, he wants to bring a Cup to MN, he sees we have not been improving, and IMO he's setting the table to give Fletch his walking papers if in fact we don't make a deep run this year.

[bear555]

Lets frame these things for context, we were coming off our best season in MN hockey history, however we have been healthy for exactly 1 game this season and whether you like it or not that is relevant. If you asked him again I doubt you get the same response, or I doubt he said the same thing going into last year. And honestly who even says that? Not even the pens owner is that dumb, they frame it as a goal for the season. Either way its pointless to argue these things, we don't even know if they are in the playoffs let alone going on a deep run. They are playing better as of late so lets hope that sticks around. 

[bbfenatic]

43 minutes ago, bear555 said:

Lets frame these things for context, we were coming off our best season in MN hockey history

 

Bear that's where you and I (and 100% of NHL Players, Coaches, Owners) disagree,  we want a Cup win and you want a good reg season record.  MN N Stars went to a Stanley Cup final and the Wild have made it to the quarters a couple times I believe so last year was not even close to the best season in MN hockey history. Reg Season means NOTHING!

They could make the playoffs this year...lots of hockey left to be played and lots of teams closely fighting for spots at the moment which makes it interesting.

[bear555]

Difference be tween wanting and doing, I am saying Leo said those things because we just had an amazing season, you don't see the bottom dwellers saying those things, then injuries happened because that is part of hockey. Lets just forget this franchise and management stuff and focus on hockey, we will never agree. Granny and Zucker are heating up, hopefully get nino back after the allstar break. Dumba and Spurgie are having nice years, Staal is Staal, Ek even looking better lately and omg Parise scored again. Wild are 6-2-2 in their last 10. The only problem is the central is brutal as ever and somehow the avs have won ten in a row. Have to pass them, Dallas or the Blues to get in. Plenty of time to do it, just keep getting those points. 

[bbfenatic]

6 hours ago, bear555 said:

Difference be tween wanting and doing

 

You finally nailed it there Bear

[bear555]

Also no way to predict who will show up and start doing it, not like a lot of people were picking a Lemaire led wild team to the conference finals, or last years Ottowa or Preds to do what they did. Lots of parity and deep/skilled teams in the league these days, any team can get hot and make some noise, might even be our year, you just never know when things are going to click. It id not like the North Star cup runs were made by great teams, they just got hot at the right time. We have more than enough talent on this team to get on a run, just need to find that spark and have all of them start playing their best at the same time. We saw some of that last year, just had a terrible finish to the seasons and couldn't bounce back in time. 

Edited January 24, 2018 by bear555

[bear555]

We also aren't looking bad in the overall picture, tied for 11th in the NHL in total points, its just that we are 6th in our stupid hard division right now. That is a little crazy. Saw somewhere that the Central was a 100+ goal differential but every other division was in the negatives. 

[CaptainMusky]

Tonight will be a good test for the Wild. The Pens are not playing as well this year, but it would be great for the Wild to go into their building and grab a W before the All Star break.

Ek has quietly been developing quite nicely. He isn't scoring, but he is now playing center more, his faceoff % is respectable when early on he is in the 30% range which is terrible.

He is so strong on the puck and he catches many guys off guard with how hard he hits. He has the makings of a Staal or Koivu which would be a good thing long term.

Having him at Center allows Coyle to play wing. Can you imagine a line with Ek, Coyle and Nino? Or maybe someone like Ennis on the wing with a more dynamic play making ability? I think Ek could start putting in some goals.

I want everyone healthy and Stewart to sit. He has no business on this team and in all honesty he brings down the play when he is out there. Huge liability. I watch him skate through the neutral zone and in the D zone and want to throw something at my TV. Coasting and circles dominate his "skating".

Sounds like he will be in the press box tonight so that is a good thing.

Down the stretch here I would really like to see Kunin come back up. I think he and Ek can really round out the bottom 2 lines. What a difference Prosser has made eh?

Ditching Quincey was the biggest "move" of the season. I had hopes that he would be solid, but man, what a mess. It all started with him refusing to play on his off-side pushing Olofsson or Reilly to play on the off-side which is tough for a younger player.

Zucker is getting hot, Granlund is heating up, Staal is just Mr Consistency. If we get some production out of Parise and Nino comes back healthy this team certainly can do some damage, but there is work to do. Lots of teams battling.

[bear555]

We just suck on the road, great home record but we need to fix those road games. Kings and Ducks just caught us so a 4 way tie for that last playoff spot. It's going to be one heck of a battle down the stretch. 

[knoppers]

if there play picks up, we still can get into the top 3 in our division, not many points away. we just need to play better on the road, and beat the teams we should at home.

[bbfenatic]

Nice road win against a decent team...good to see Coyle get back on the board and Zach's SO goal was sweet too. Start of something or just another mirage? 

[hoppe56307]

I think we will get a good test on Friday when Vegas comes to town.  Luckily we will be getting them on the back end of a back to back, they play the Jets tomorrow.

[bear555]

Its just hard to tell, they show signs of life for 2-3 games and then lay an egg or two. With so many teams so tight in the west it is going to be an interesting end to the regular season.