WILD

[crothmeier]

When is Kurtis Foster going to start playing? I thought he was going to be back by now.

[Bear55]

Speaking of Gabby. . . what sweater will he wear next season? Does it depend on JL returning/retiring?

I'd say he's as good as gone. I just wish we could have made a trade before the season started.

[OnAFly]

Foster played the L.A. game, I thought. I'm sure that Lemaire is going to put him in when he thinks that he won't be a liability. He can only play limited minutes right now so that means they would have to put more pressure on other D-men (more Bergeron is NEVER a good thing). Look for him thursday against Colorado. They are last in the division with a pretty bad GAA. This might be a good chance for Foster to get in some minutes. Him being back to his old self will be a good help to the team. He was pretty solid defensively and has a cannon of a shot and can play physically. All around good defenseman.

[walleyes12]

I thought he looked really good against LA, for being out of hockey for about a year! Hopefully he continues to get his feet wet, we need his shot on the blue line, especially during the Power plays, which is poor at best right now!

[crothmeier]

that would explain it. i didnt get a chance to watch that game. I'm hoping to see him thursday!

[koonie]

I, for one, hope he is not here. That is a lot of money we can be spending on a free agent.

Like we'll spend that money on a free agent. Please.

[OnAFly]

Well, apparently JL is pretty happy with John Scott's play that last few games so he will probably be in for Foster again tonight. I'm looking forward to this one tonight. I'd like to see an easy win here, but they rarely are for us.

Koonie - Hey, one can dream right?

[koonie]

Ya never know. It would sure be nice.

[fishnhuntnboy]

What a crappy game tonight. They had there legs just couldnt handle the puck. They did not deserve the win but atleast we did get a point out of it.

[walleyes12]

that game was ugly, they need to pull their heads out of their [PoorWordUsage] real soon, or they might as well kiss a playoff chance good bye.

[crothmeier]

6 straight powerplay minutes in the 2nd period and 1 shot on goal???????? sloppy puckhandling tonight. Should have been an easy win.

BIG John Scott got some punching in tho! Good to see!

[knoppers]

seems as though we play the division dwellers very bad this year. we beat the good teams, then lose to the teams behind us. its amazing that they still are in a playoff chase this year.

foster played against LA, but did not get a lot of puck action, it seemed as though they avoided passing the puck to him on the blue line.

[knoppers]

another overtime loss, is that like 3 in a row.

[pinkfloyd4ever]

I've enjoyed watching them the last couple weeks, some cool comebacks, but they have got to get more aggresive! Sunday's game was awful, 6 minutes of PP to kill off. I didn't understand why after they got the 1st PP goal it was still 5 on 3.

[pinkfloyd4ever]

Last nights game was awesome! Wish they could play like that each night and you gotta think they could start getting some breaks with getting the puck in the net! Would have been a heartbreaker to lose that game.

Also- Boogaard was an animal last night, I didn't see the replay, but I thought it was a ticky tack call that put him in the box, but the guy was absurd, then in the 3rd period he gets no ice time??? What's the deal?

[solbes]

I just watched from the 3rd period onward. Finally got the much needed deuce!

PMB almost had a Sport Center #1 moment. That goal that tied the game was pretty sweet as well. Great work by Fritche to get the puck to Shultz. I was really suprised we won the shootout after Wolski scored first with very little effort.

[walleyes12]

Great Game, if they play that hard every night they should put themselves in good position to make the playoffs. Why can't they get any lucky bounces, seems like everything is working against them. Makes a big difference when you get some shots on net, I don't understand why the don't keep shooting. Great Game!

[OnAFly]

It seems like the reason they get so many bad bounces against them is because they don't get aggressive for the puck. The first two periods of the game when we were in our own zone, we would knock the puck off an Avs stick and then sit back and let them get control of it again. There was a serious lack of effort in parts of the first two periods. If you give a team a thousand opportunities to get a lucky bounce, they will get one or two.

On another topic, Bergeron is going to be the end of this team. Four different times in the game he had the puck under control and at the slightest bit of pressure from an opposing player, he would just give it away and three of those were in our own zone. Knowing JLs defensive style, I don't know how he can watch that guy. I know everyone rags on Skoula, and rightfully so for last years performance, but Bergeron is a much bigger hole in our armor.

[solbes]

On the subject of Bergeron, I see he takes a lot of heat here. While I agree he's had many scary moments, take a look at the stats for our core blue liners:

Player G Pts +/-

Bergeron 11 28 0

Johnsson 1 21 0

Shultz 2 10 -2

Burns 8 27 -7

Skoula 1 11 -11

Zidlicky 11 34 -15

I know he plays on the P.P. a lot and that probably skews his numbers. But he's statistically the strongest in this group. In the game I went to last Wednesday against SJ, Bergeron was an absolute minutes monster. He was out there seemingly half the game. I will agree that he can melt under the pressure sometimes, but he's still been pretty valuable this year.

Our Dmen are not my concern this year. How 'bout some of them forwards step it up a little?

[OnAFly]

Maybe he is just more visible when he makes mistakes, I don't know. I just seem to see it more often I guess.

I know what you mean about the forwards. Watch their legs when they get into the offensive zone...not moving. Sometimes it looks like we just get out worked. It was good to see Foster again last night. For a second game back, he was pretty good.

[spearchucker]

I cringe every time Zidlicky in in a defensive situation. The guy can shoot the puck, but his defense sucks.

[crothmeier]

ALL of them turn the puck over in the nuetral zone, it seems to happen all game long, and everyone does it.

Glad to see the Boogeyman back out there, as well as Foster getting some minutes. Scrappy game but we got the 2 points. They seem to have been making it a habit to play catch-up the last few games.

[solbes]

Heard on 93X that Gabby may be back for home game with Oilers? I wonder how strong he'll be. We could certainly use some punch. Even if he just draws some defensive attention out there it should help.

[WildCountry]

I heard the same thing about Gabby, im pretty pumped for one because i will be at the game, and 2 it was him that got me into hockey as much as i am now, so lets hope he will be there and HOPE he can help us to the playoffs, pretty much our only hope, and if he doesnt help, well better luck next year, with a new coach and GM haha

[walleyes12]

He will help our offense no question about it, I hope hes stays healthy.