Minnesota Wild start 2013 free agency season with a trade and a big Bang
This is almost geeting too eerie, isn't it, folks? Fourth of July weekend, everyone's out celebrating and then...
BOOM! Once again, here comes GM Chuck Fletcher and the Wild, marching across the local media landscape like Sherman thru Georgia, with another 'I can't believe he did THAT'-type of free agency blockbuster.
Well, the master of July hockey fireworks did it again last week, as the Wild, after trading away restricted free agent Cal Clutterbuck to the Islanders for Nino Niederreiter, cleared out veterans Matt Cullen and Pierre-Marc Bouchard, both of whose contracts were expiring, and, via trade with Winnipeg, Devin Setoguchi, then picked up ex-Vancouver Canuck (and Florida Panther) Keith Ballard, and then, shortly after 6:00 PM Friday night, Fletcher turns around and drops 'the Big one' on Wild fans, by signing the NHL's Public Enemy No. 1, uber-pest forward Matt Cooke, who was an unrestricted free agent after not being re-signed by the Pittsburgh Penguins.
What to make of all this movement? Of all this upheaval and change? Of the NHL's all-time cheap-shot king, making Minnesota his in-season home for the next three seasons, at $2.5M per?
The jury has just only begun to deliberate. Not all the facts are in, either.
We just don't know which Matt Cooke will actually show up at the 'X' in September: the one who, supposedly 'reformed', played as a servicable winger on the Penguins' 3rd line for five seasons; or the 'love-to-hate' player, who was along with Jarkko Ruutu (now with Ottawa). Cooke and Ruutu were, at least in their Vancouver years, two of the most despised players in hockey, along with Todd 'Big Bert' Bertuzzi.
Both Fletcher and Head Coach Mike Yeo had Cooke in Pittsburgh during their pre-Wild tenures, and they both swear up and down that Cooke has reformed his game, that he's not all about the cheap hits and the after-the-whistle stickwork anymore. But, for players and fans alike, old habits are hard to break. And there's the images, such as from 2003, when Matt Johnson took a stick butt-end to the groin from Cooke, and then, Cooke ran, precipitating a fight which spilled over into the stands at then-GM Place (now Rogers Centre).
And, there may be even rumblings that the fun hasn't ended yet, as supposedly Zenon Konopka is being shopped around by the Wild before the pre-season has even started.
So what to think?
Just My Opinion, folks, but... Let's actually see what Cooke does bring to the table in the fall. The cheap stuff aside, the guy does hit, does go into the corners and can score. The Wild need every scorer they can get, and if he happens to play the third line, all the better to spread the goals around. If he can keep his nose clean, and stay out of the post-whistle scrums, he can be a reasonable alternative on a 3rd or 4th line.
According to Russo's depth chart on his 'Russo's Rants' blog, Cooke will play one side with Niederreiter on the other side, and Kyle Brodziak at center. This could be a pretty good third line, with the 6'2" Niederreiter, who has shown he can score at every level of hockey except the NHL, learning defensive skills from the likes of Cooke and Brodziak, both of whom are considered defensive specialists; Brodziak has the big winger on his one side he has never really had on his third line; and Cooke, the hitter, gets to ply his trade with two guys that will probably be there all season, unlike in Pittsburgh, when his linemates routinely stepped up to play alongside both Crosby and Malkin at times last season.
There's a lot to think about, as the Wild plods on thru the rest of the summer, looking for the right combination to take this team towards where we all want them to go. The fans want a winning team, Can the Wild hierarchy say that they have all the tools necessary to get them far in the playoffs on a consistent, year-after-year basis?
Only time will tell for sure.
Showing posts with label Cullen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cullen. Show all posts
Sunday, July 7, 2013
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Back to earth...sort of...
February rough start vs. Anaheim believed no reason to panic; Coyle gets his shot at Wild roster
It hasn't been the best of times for the Minnesota Wild lately.
After the Anaheim Ducks did what they normally do to the Wild at Honda Center -- namely, beat them into submission, then turn those mistakes caused by the opposition into goals -- the Wild arrived into Phoenix early Saturday looking at a few days in the Arizona desert, with only practice staring them in the face.
And, according to most observers, including the coaching staff, practice is what they really NEED right now. As the 4-3-1 Wild prepare to face the 3-4-2 Phoenix Coyotes -- soon to be the NHL's version of Nomads, if what is being said around the game is to be believed -- on Monday night at Jobing.com Arena in near-bankrupt Glendale, they have help coming to replace the injured Matt Cullen, who crashed (with help) into the boards on Friday night.
Ladies and Gentlemen, meet the real reason they traded Brent Burns in 2011. Charlie Coyle, welcome to Minnesota. Coyle, who lit up the QMJHL in the half-season he was there after he left Boston College, was called up by the Wild on Saturday afternoon following their off-day practice, to replace the injured Cullen in the line-up for Monday night's tilt. Coyle, who has 14 goals, 10 assists for AHL Houston this season, is called a 'power forward' by the Wild, and his 6-foot-2, 222-lb frame has been called the prototypical size for that position.
Coyle was included with Devin Setoguchi in the NHL Draft night trade in 2011, when the draft was at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. Traded for defenseman Burns, who has been in-and-out of the Sharks' lineup since then, Coyle is in his first full season as a pro, and has played 44 games for the Aeros this season.
Power forward, you say?
The position of power forward -- the guy who is not afraid to mix it up in front of the net, to create as much havoc as possible, in order to get nice juicy rebounds and deflections -- is somewhat a novel concept for the Wild. But, it hasn't been like it hasn't been tried before.
Andrew Brunette, slow as he was, is probably the best example of a power forward the Wild has ever had on their roster. Guillaume Latendresse was supposed to be that next version of that, but his concussion problems last season, and his contract status did not allow that to succeed. Zach Parise has some of that in him, but the fact is, he's better than that (we've already seen it). Others that you could put in that category are LA's Dustin Brown, Anaheim's Ryan Getzlaf, St. Louis' David Backes, Boston's Milan Lucic, Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin, and when healthy, Ryan Kesler of Vancouver.
The combination is one that is tough to get, and one that is even tougher to keep up, as the number of players that who have tried to play the position and have failed are many. Teams that have a good power forward are normally teams that go relatively far in the playoffs. And that is where the Wild want to be on the evening of April 27th. Going relatively far. In the playoffs.
Next 5 games: Key Stretch?
Are the next 5 games a key stretch of the season? With three of those five games on the road -- where the Wild only have one point after three games so far -- the next nine days will tell much about the Wild's real chances to not only make the playoffs, but to gain home ice advantage in the first round.
Two games vs. Vancouver (home and away), and games at Phoenix, at Calgary, and the second (of two) games vs. Nashville at the 'X' round out the next five games on the schedule. Do the Wild have a chance to put some points in their column before the season gets too out of hand? Or will the combination of their brutal travel schedule and the shortened season get the better of the roster?
Will Chuck Fletcher have to pull the trigger on a trade, in order to infuse more offense into what has been an underperforming bottom 2/3rds of the roster? Can the roster even respond without a trade being made? And what would be the best trade to make? Do you look towards the future and effectively 'salary dump' UFA's to be before the April 4 trade deadline? Or is 'the future is now' the prevailing view at 317 Washington St., St. Paul, MN? Do you keep the two primary future UFA's (Cullen and Pierre-Marc Bouchard) or do you move them? Does UFA-to-be goalie Niklas Backstrom remain to see the playoffs, should the Wild make it into the post-season? Or do you 'let it ride', like a shaky poker bet, past the trade deadline?
Like the rest of us fans, I just wait and see what will develop. And worry, like some of you do.
It hasn't been the best of times for the Minnesota Wild lately.
After the Anaheim Ducks did what they normally do to the Wild at Honda Center -- namely, beat them into submission, then turn those mistakes caused by the opposition into goals -- the Wild arrived into Phoenix early Saturday looking at a few days in the Arizona desert, with only practice staring them in the face.
And, according to most observers, including the coaching staff, practice is what they really NEED right now. As the 4-3-1 Wild prepare to face the 3-4-2 Phoenix Coyotes -- soon to be the NHL's version of Nomads, if what is being said around the game is to be believed -- on Monday night at Jobing.com Arena in near-bankrupt Glendale, they have help coming to replace the injured Matt Cullen, who crashed (with help) into the boards on Friday night.
Ladies and Gentlemen, meet the real reason they traded Brent Burns in 2011. Charlie Coyle, welcome to Minnesota. Coyle, who lit up the QMJHL in the half-season he was there after he left Boston College, was called up by the Wild on Saturday afternoon following their off-day practice, to replace the injured Cullen in the line-up for Monday night's tilt. Coyle, who has 14 goals, 10 assists for AHL Houston this season, is called a 'power forward' by the Wild, and his 6-foot-2, 222-lb frame has been called the prototypical size for that position.
Coyle was included with Devin Setoguchi in the NHL Draft night trade in 2011, when the draft was at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. Traded for defenseman Burns, who has been in-and-out of the Sharks' lineup since then, Coyle is in his first full season as a pro, and has played 44 games for the Aeros this season.
Power forward, you say?
The position of power forward -- the guy who is not afraid to mix it up in front of the net, to create as much havoc as possible, in order to get nice juicy rebounds and deflections -- is somewhat a novel concept for the Wild. But, it hasn't been like it hasn't been tried before.
Andrew Brunette, slow as he was, is probably the best example of a power forward the Wild has ever had on their roster. Guillaume Latendresse was supposed to be that next version of that, but his concussion problems last season, and his contract status did not allow that to succeed. Zach Parise has some of that in him, but the fact is, he's better than that (we've already seen it). Others that you could put in that category are LA's Dustin Brown, Anaheim's Ryan Getzlaf, St. Louis' David Backes, Boston's Milan Lucic, Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin, and when healthy, Ryan Kesler of Vancouver.
The combination is one that is tough to get, and one that is even tougher to keep up, as the number of players that who have tried to play the position and have failed are many. Teams that have a good power forward are normally teams that go relatively far in the playoffs. And that is where the Wild want to be on the evening of April 27th. Going relatively far. In the playoffs.
Next 5 games: Key Stretch?
Are the next 5 games a key stretch of the season? With three of those five games on the road -- where the Wild only have one point after three games so far -- the next nine days will tell much about the Wild's real chances to not only make the playoffs, but to gain home ice advantage in the first round.
Two games vs. Vancouver (home and away), and games at Phoenix, at Calgary, and the second (of two) games vs. Nashville at the 'X' round out the next five games on the schedule. Do the Wild have a chance to put some points in their column before the season gets too out of hand? Or will the combination of their brutal travel schedule and the shortened season get the better of the roster?
Will Chuck Fletcher have to pull the trigger on a trade, in order to infuse more offense into what has been an underperforming bottom 2/3rds of the roster? Can the roster even respond without a trade being made? And what would be the best trade to make? Do you look towards the future and effectively 'salary dump' UFA's to be before the April 4 trade deadline? Or is 'the future is now' the prevailing view at 317 Washington St., St. Paul, MN? Do you keep the two primary future UFA's (Cullen and Pierre-Marc Bouchard) or do you move them? Does UFA-to-be goalie Niklas Backstrom remain to see the playoffs, should the Wild make it into the post-season? Or do you 'let it ride', like a shaky poker bet, past the trade deadline?
Like the rest of us fans, I just wait and see what will develop. And worry, like some of you do.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
At long last...'The Six-Pack of Suck', Volume IV
The fourth season of the worst of the Wild features too many 'targets of opportunity', tough to choose
By Wild Road Tripper
For the fourth season, I am only somewhat proud to present 'The Six-Pack of Suck', six games which defined the Minnesota Wild's 2011-2012 season. There were a LOT of choices to choose from this season, with the 5-23-7 stretch between Dec. 13 and March 27, there were too many games for my selection. Way-y-y too many.
But, with that said, let's get to the worst of the worst. The six games which just flat out defined the haplessness of the Minnesota Wild this past season:
1. November 25, 2011. Edmonton 5, Minnesota 2. The traditional 'Black Friday' game really WAS a black friday for the Wild, as the young and speedy Oilers blew the doors off the older, slower Wild as the Oilers ended their 14-game loss skein at the 'X' by crushing the Wild, as the entire Wild first line (Mikko Koivu, Dany Heatley, Devin Setoguchi) wound up a -3 for the afternoon. This must have been the game where the seed was planted for Wild GM Chuck Fletcher to trade Nick Schultz for Tom Gilbert, as the ex-Jefferson star defenseman was one of two Oilers to be a +3 for the afternoon.
2. December 31, 2011. Phoenix 4, Minnesota 2. New Year's Eve, 2011 should have been re-named 'Vrbata's Revenge', as Radim Vrbata scored two goals on consecutive shifts, as the Coyotes proved that they were going to be a playoff team, and the Wild weren't. Despite the penalty shot goal of Matt Cullen, the last 17 minutes of this contest was pretty much all 'Yotes, punctuated by the empty-net goal by the ancient dog, Ray Whitney, with 19 seconds left in the game. Nice way to send your fans out for New Years, boys.
3. January 31, 2012. Nashville 5, Minnesota 4. This game pretty much summed up the Wild season, all in less than one evening, as the Predators scored 4 goals in 10 minutes, 13 seconds, as the Wild watched as their dwindling playoff chances crash and burn, as the season from Hell descended into February, no thanks to the Wild themselves, who forgot in the last 11 minutes of the game what offense even was. The third period of this game was like watching a constant Nashville power play, as the Wild just stopped even trying to shoot against Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne, and the resulting comeback, topped off by two Mike Fisher goals 2:39 apart in the last three minutes of the game, was the most disgusting period of hockey Wild fans had seen in years. Even Josh Harding, the tough-luck losing goalie said, "No way in 100 years we should have lost that game." We agree.
4. February 11, 2012. Columbus 3, Minnesota 1. The theme of this game would become 'play 20 minutes every period, boys.' The Wild didn't, and once again they paid for it, as the lowly Blue Jackets saw that the Wild penchant for taking the last minute of the period off, presented scoring opportunities that even they could take advantage of. With their roster (and their season) in freefall, the Jackets, the worst team in the NHL, with ex-Wild coach Todd Richards running the show, took two R. J. Umberger goals and made them count, as the hapless, offensively-challenged Wild could not get anything going, blowing a 1-0 lead at home with three straight Columbus goals, including yet another empty-net goal in the last minute of the game.
5. Detroit 6, Minnesota 0. Now, we know that traditionally, Joe Louis Arena in Detroit is a house of horrors (6-15-1 all time) for the Wild. Despite winning the first game played in Motown in November, the Wild could have just stopped at Metro Airport, said 'we forfeit', and kept on going. That's how bad this game was. Valteri Flippula made the Wild his personal punching bag, scoring twice and adding an assist as the Wings annhilated the hapless Wild, one night after the Wild put on one of their best periods of the season the previous night in Montreal. Ian White (Detroit defenseman) was a +4, while Dany Heatley was a -4. To make matters worse, the Red Wings drove Josh Harding from the net, as Matt Hackett relieved him for the last 14:30 of the game. Said Wild head coach Mike Yeo: 'We didn't respond well.' No kidding.
6. Colorado 7, Minnesota 1. The Wild, playing the Avs for the second time in three nights, were as flat as Pepsi in a week-old-opened bottle, as the home team scored three times in a 1:56 span, in the second period to drive Hackett from the nets, as the Wild might have hit rock bottom in Denver, in their second-to-last game west of St. Paul. The Avs had seven different scorers, as the lone bright spot for the Wild was a Devin Setoguchi penalty shot, awarded in the third period. The Wild had no way to stop the Avs, who were in their zenith as to their playoff chances that Tuesday evening; the Avs would then fall off the playoff radar soon afterwards.
So, that's it. Six games which defined the haplessness, the hopelessness which was the Wild's season. Will this team improve enough to make the playoffs by next April? We can only hope.
By Wild Road Tripper
For the fourth season, I am only somewhat proud to present 'The Six-Pack of Suck', six games which defined the Minnesota Wild's 2011-2012 season. There were a LOT of choices to choose from this season, with the 5-23-7 stretch between Dec. 13 and March 27, there were too many games for my selection. Way-y-y too many.
But, with that said, let's get to the worst of the worst. The six games which just flat out defined the haplessness of the Minnesota Wild this past season:
1. November 25, 2011. Edmonton 5, Minnesota 2. The traditional 'Black Friday' game really WAS a black friday for the Wild, as the young and speedy Oilers blew the doors off the older, slower Wild as the Oilers ended their 14-game loss skein at the 'X' by crushing the Wild, as the entire Wild first line (Mikko Koivu, Dany Heatley, Devin Setoguchi) wound up a -3 for the afternoon. This must have been the game where the seed was planted for Wild GM Chuck Fletcher to trade Nick Schultz for Tom Gilbert, as the ex-Jefferson star defenseman was one of two Oilers to be a +3 for the afternoon.
2. December 31, 2011. Phoenix 4, Minnesota 2. New Year's Eve, 2011 should have been re-named 'Vrbata's Revenge', as Radim Vrbata scored two goals on consecutive shifts, as the Coyotes proved that they were going to be a playoff team, and the Wild weren't. Despite the penalty shot goal of Matt Cullen, the last 17 minutes of this contest was pretty much all 'Yotes, punctuated by the empty-net goal by the ancient dog, Ray Whitney, with 19 seconds left in the game. Nice way to send your fans out for New Years, boys.
3. January 31, 2012. Nashville 5, Minnesota 4. This game pretty much summed up the Wild season, all in less than one evening, as the Predators scored 4 goals in 10 minutes, 13 seconds, as the Wild watched as their dwindling playoff chances crash and burn, as the season from Hell descended into February, no thanks to the Wild themselves, who forgot in the last 11 minutes of the game what offense even was. The third period of this game was like watching a constant Nashville power play, as the Wild just stopped even trying to shoot against Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne, and the resulting comeback, topped off by two Mike Fisher goals 2:39 apart in the last three minutes of the game, was the most disgusting period of hockey Wild fans had seen in years. Even Josh Harding, the tough-luck losing goalie said, "No way in 100 years we should have lost that game." We agree.
4. February 11, 2012. Columbus 3, Minnesota 1. The theme of this game would become 'play 20 minutes every period, boys.' The Wild didn't, and once again they paid for it, as the lowly Blue Jackets saw that the Wild penchant for taking the last minute of the period off, presented scoring opportunities that even they could take advantage of. With their roster (and their season) in freefall, the Jackets, the worst team in the NHL, with ex-Wild coach Todd Richards running the show, took two R. J. Umberger goals and made them count, as the hapless, offensively-challenged Wild could not get anything going, blowing a 1-0 lead at home with three straight Columbus goals, including yet another empty-net goal in the last minute of the game.
5. Detroit 6, Minnesota 0. Now, we know that traditionally, Joe Louis Arena in Detroit is a house of horrors (6-15-1 all time) for the Wild. Despite winning the first game played in Motown in November, the Wild could have just stopped at Metro Airport, said 'we forfeit', and kept on going. That's how bad this game was. Valteri Flippula made the Wild his personal punching bag, scoring twice and adding an assist as the Wings annhilated the hapless Wild, one night after the Wild put on one of their best periods of the season the previous night in Montreal. Ian White (Detroit defenseman) was a +4, while Dany Heatley was a -4. To make matters worse, the Red Wings drove Josh Harding from the net, as Matt Hackett relieved him for the last 14:30 of the game. Said Wild head coach Mike Yeo: 'We didn't respond well.' No kidding.
6. Colorado 7, Minnesota 1. The Wild, playing the Avs for the second time in three nights, were as flat as Pepsi in a week-old-opened bottle, as the home team scored three times in a 1:56 span, in the second period to drive Hackett from the nets, as the Wild might have hit rock bottom in Denver, in their second-to-last game west of St. Paul. The Avs had seven different scorers, as the lone bright spot for the Wild was a Devin Setoguchi penalty shot, awarded in the third period. The Wild had no way to stop the Avs, who were in their zenith as to their playoff chances that Tuesday evening; the Avs would then fall off the playoff radar soon afterwards.
So, that's it. Six games which defined the haplessness, the hopelessness which was the Wild's season. Will this team improve enough to make the playoffs by next April? We can only hope.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Another game, another loss, another injured Wild player
Well, after Saturday night's latest Minnesota Wild loss, the number of Wild walking wounded now ruled out of the rest of this season-from-hell, is now up to five (Bouchard, Latendresse, Falk, Spurgeon, and now Matt Cullen, who had his right index finger broken, by a Christian Ehrhoff shot) and with five of the team's seven remaining games at home, the question has to be asked: Was the schedule as much a part of the team's problems this season as the concussions, groin problems and general poor play in December, January, February and March? Or was it the failure of the 'Director of Player Safety'?
The fact that the months of November, December and January were very much road-heavy months for the Wild, exasperated an already tenuous situation for the team's paper-thin lineup of talent. After the back-to-back nights of December 13 and 14, when Bouchard was re-concussed by Zack Bogosian of Winnipeg, and Chicago's Viktor Stahlberg rang the bell of Latendresse, respectively, Wild fans knew this team was going nowhere but down, from the lofty first-place heights they had been in, just a few days before.
The fact that without two of their top 6 forwards in the lineup, the offense was going to stall. But no one knew it was going to stall this bad. Then there was the shoulder injury to Mikko (Kaptain) Koivu, the groin troubles of both goaltenders (Niklas Backstrom and Josh Harding), and you had a recipe for trouble. And, you already had tapped the Houston Aeros affiliate for all the talent that they could afford to send.
But nothing prepared Wild fans for the next two months following the All-Star Game, when the Wild were turned into the NHL's version of Alfred, the butler from 'Batman', -- 'At your service, sirs'.
Disasterous loss after disasterous loss. Beating the Wild was almost becoming comical. From the Nashville disaster on January 31, when the Wild blew a 4-1 lead at home in under 13 minutes, through the embarrassing 3-1 home loss to a Columbus team in 'fire sale' mode on February 11, through a embarrassing 7-1 loss to Colorado on March 6 (thank God, that game at least was in Denver), and onto another come-from-ahead loss to lowly Carolina on St. Patrick's Day. That Saturday, as the party raged on outside the 'X', the funeral was being held inside the arena.
And now, in two successive nights, two more add to the list of Wild walking wounded. Don't forget that on Thursday night, Calgary's Alex Tanguay gets away with an elbow shot to Jared Spurgeon, effectively ending the season for the defenseman some call 'the Minnow', for his small size. Surely, Wild fans thought, the NHL would look at this for some supplemental discipline. Right?
Uh, No.
Seems that the Wild don't matter to NHL disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan. 'Sheriff Shanny', as he has been known, turns a blind eye to discipline when it comes to matters involving the Minnesota Wild. They aren't even worth his attention, even when the rules are clearly broken and players are getting concussed needlessly. Shanahan's official title is 'Director of Player Safety'. But, excuse me, if we fans point out that his title means for ALL players, not just those of teams going to this season's playoffs. Shanhan is as hypocritical as his predecessor, Colin Campbell, ever was or could have been. Player safety should be pretty straightforward; either the player involved was concussed, or he was not. If he was, and it was the direct result of an elbow (Tanguay's), then supplemental discipline should be assessed. Simple.
But Wild fans are already accustomed to the NHL not doing anything about incidents involving the Wild. Nothing was done about Bogosian when he ran Bouchard; nothing was done about the beatings in the crease both goalies were taking; nothing will be done about the Tanguay elbow.
Player safety? Contradiction in terms, if you ask me.
The fact that the months of November, December and January were very much road-heavy months for the Wild, exasperated an already tenuous situation for the team's paper-thin lineup of talent. After the back-to-back nights of December 13 and 14, when Bouchard was re-concussed by Zack Bogosian of Winnipeg, and Chicago's Viktor Stahlberg rang the bell of Latendresse, respectively, Wild fans knew this team was going nowhere but down, from the lofty first-place heights they had been in, just a few days before.
The fact that without two of their top 6 forwards in the lineup, the offense was going to stall. But no one knew it was going to stall this bad. Then there was the shoulder injury to Mikko (Kaptain) Koivu, the groin troubles of both goaltenders (Niklas Backstrom and Josh Harding), and you had a recipe for trouble. And, you already had tapped the Houston Aeros affiliate for all the talent that they could afford to send.
But nothing prepared Wild fans for the next two months following the All-Star Game, when the Wild were turned into the NHL's version of Alfred, the butler from 'Batman', -- 'At your service, sirs'.
Disasterous loss after disasterous loss. Beating the Wild was almost becoming comical. From the Nashville disaster on January 31, when the Wild blew a 4-1 lead at home in under 13 minutes, through the embarrassing 3-1 home loss to a Columbus team in 'fire sale' mode on February 11, through a embarrassing 7-1 loss to Colorado on March 6 (thank God, that game at least was in Denver), and onto another come-from-ahead loss to lowly Carolina on St. Patrick's Day. That Saturday, as the party raged on outside the 'X', the funeral was being held inside the arena.
And now, in two successive nights, two more add to the list of Wild walking wounded. Don't forget that on Thursday night, Calgary's Alex Tanguay gets away with an elbow shot to Jared Spurgeon, effectively ending the season for the defenseman some call 'the Minnow', for his small size. Surely, Wild fans thought, the NHL would look at this for some supplemental discipline. Right?
Uh, No.
Seems that the Wild don't matter to NHL disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan. 'Sheriff Shanny', as he has been known, turns a blind eye to discipline when it comes to matters involving the Minnesota Wild. They aren't even worth his attention, even when the rules are clearly broken and players are getting concussed needlessly. Shanahan's official title is 'Director of Player Safety'. But, excuse me, if we fans point out that his title means for ALL players, not just those of teams going to this season's playoffs. Shanhan is as hypocritical as his predecessor, Colin Campbell, ever was or could have been. Player safety should be pretty straightforward; either the player involved was concussed, or he was not. If he was, and it was the direct result of an elbow (Tanguay's), then supplemental discipline should be assessed. Simple.
But Wild fans are already accustomed to the NHL not doing anything about incidents involving the Wild. Nothing was done about Bogosian when he ran Bouchard; nothing was done about the beatings in the crease both goalies were taking; nothing will be done about the Tanguay elbow.
Player safety? Contradiction in terms, if you ask me.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Wild Wild West: NHL media can't deal with Minnesota, ignores them on radio, TV
While still promoting Caps, Flyers, Rangers and Penguins, NHL, accompanying media all but totally ignore Minnesota Wild 2011 season success story
By Wild Road Tripper
Hey, Minnesota! You have a team that's in first place this morning. One small problem, however:
They don't wear purple, and they sure as hell aren'tasking begging for threatening to leave for Los Angeles if they don't get wanting a $1 Billion stadium.
Your Minnesota Wild are in first place in the NHL's Western Conference today. They are one point (as of Sunday morning, Dec. 4) out of first place in the entire National Hockey League. And this is with a talent level which most NHL pundits say are all smoke and mirrors.
Yet, watch NHL-produced programming. Watch 'NHL: On The Fly', the nightly show produced and shown on the NHL Network. Watch 'Hockey Night in Canada'. Watch any NHL-produced program. What do you see?
Sidney Crosby. Sidney Crosby, and Ovechkin. Ovie, and Brandon Dubinsky. Dubinsky, and Scott Hartnell. All Pens, all the time. All Rangers. Caps ad nauseum. And the NBC Sports Channel (soon-to-be-formerly-called Versus) may as well be 'the national channel of your Philadelphia Flyers.'
Yes, the VERSUS schedule has featured the Wild, but only to feature the stars of the opposing team (Tampa Bay, Chicago, San Jose, Washington) or just to fill a time slot (Colorado in January and March, Anaheim in February, LA in February). Not one game against any Western Conference opponent that would actually feature the Wild's up-and-coming stars, as opposed to the likes of Sid The Kid, Vinny 'I got shut out in Minnesota' Lecavalier, Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Joe Thornton, Ovie, et. al.
Even when the league's TV outlets do get around to showing the Wild, it's only as supposed 'cannon fodder' for teams such as Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay, Chicago, San Jose, and Washington, or to fill a late time slot (such as two games in Colorado, and two home games in February against the two Southern California teams) with something that would be palatable to (very few) US hockey fans.
Not even on the NHL's radio outlets do they get any respect. The Wild frequently get trashed on HNIC radio on SIRIUS and get dissed daily on XM's 'NHL Home Ice' channel. They are routinely dismissed as 'the team that still plays the Trap', years after Jacques Lemaire left the organization, after which they move on to such exciting subjects, as what STK had for breakfast, or the latest (false) Bobby Ryan trade-to-Toronto rumor. When they do run out of real NHL news, they may get to the Wild, only after their latest regurgitation of James Reimer's save percentage, Patrick Kaleta's face-off stats, and after a rambling, 15-to-20-minute phone interview with the latest Ranger to get lost en route to their Rye, NY practice complex. Just don't say a word about Niklas Backstrom or Josh Harding, though. That team is playing way-y-y-y over their heads. Never utter a word about Matt Cullen's season, or the kiddie-corps defense in Minnesota. But, we'll be back, right after this Andrei Markov update, live from his surgical suite...
Wild fans will know when this team has been 'accepted' by the NHL media. Just keep winning, guys. Just keep winning, and angering the likes of the uber-Wild-haters, such as E. J. Hradek of NHL Network, and the Denver Post's Adrian Dater. Just keep winning, guys. Because, they all hate you. They hate the fact that the Wild are winning. They hate the fact that statistics don't lie, and that the Wild are at the top of the Western Conference. Sorry, but the Sedins are no longer the be-all-end-all in the Northwest Division.
Maybe, someday, even Gary Bettman will actually like the Wild. (Nah. I doubt that will ever happen.)
By Wild Road Tripper
Hey, Minnesota! You have a team that's in first place this morning. One small problem, however:
They don't wear purple, and they sure as hell aren't
Your Minnesota Wild are in first place in the NHL's Western Conference today. They are one point (as of Sunday morning, Dec. 4) out of first place in the entire National Hockey League. And this is with a talent level which most NHL pundits say are all smoke and mirrors.
Yet, watch NHL-produced programming. Watch 'NHL: On The Fly', the nightly show produced and shown on the NHL Network. Watch 'Hockey Night in Canada'. Watch any NHL-produced program. What do you see?
Sidney Crosby. Sidney Crosby, and Ovechkin. Ovie, and Brandon Dubinsky. Dubinsky, and Scott Hartnell. All Pens, all the time. All Rangers. Caps ad nauseum. And the NBC Sports Channel (soon-to-be-formerly-called Versus) may as well be 'the national channel of your Philadelphia Flyers.'
Yes, the VERSUS schedule has featured the Wild, but only to feature the stars of the opposing team (Tampa Bay, Chicago, San Jose, Washington) or just to fill a time slot (Colorado in January and March, Anaheim in February, LA in February). Not one game against any Western Conference opponent that would actually feature the Wild's up-and-coming stars, as opposed to the likes of Sid The Kid, Vinny 'I got shut out in Minnesota' Lecavalier, Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Joe Thornton, Ovie, et. al.
Even when the league's TV outlets do get around to showing the Wild, it's only as supposed 'cannon fodder' for teams such as Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay, Chicago, San Jose, and Washington, or to fill a late time slot (such as two games in Colorado, and two home games in February against the two Southern California teams) with something that would be palatable to (very few) US hockey fans.
Not even on the NHL's radio outlets do they get any respect. The Wild frequently get trashed on HNIC radio on SIRIUS and get dissed daily on XM's 'NHL Home Ice' channel. They are routinely dismissed as 'the team that still plays the Trap', years after Jacques Lemaire left the organization, after which they move on to such exciting subjects, as what STK had for breakfast, or the latest (false) Bobby Ryan trade-to-Toronto rumor. When they do run out of real NHL news, they may get to the Wild, only after their latest regurgitation of James Reimer's save percentage, Patrick Kaleta's face-off stats, and after a rambling, 15-to-20-minute phone interview with the latest Ranger to get lost en route to their Rye, NY practice complex. Just don't say a word about Niklas Backstrom or Josh Harding, though. That team is playing way-y-y-y over their heads. Never utter a word about Matt Cullen's season, or the kiddie-corps defense in Minnesota. But, we'll be back, right after this Andrei Markov update, live from his surgical suite...
Wild fans will know when this team has been 'accepted' by the NHL media. Just keep winning, guys. Just keep winning, and angering the likes of the uber-Wild-haters, such as E. J. Hradek of NHL Network, and the Denver Post's Adrian Dater. Just keep winning, guys. Because, they all hate you. They hate the fact that the Wild are winning. They hate the fact that statistics don't lie, and that the Wild are at the top of the Western Conference. Sorry, but the Sedins are no longer the be-all-end-all in the Northwest Division.
Maybe, someday, even Gary Bettman will actually like the Wild. (Nah. I doubt that will ever happen.)
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Jed returns to Beverly Hills! (sorta)
Ortmeyer temporary solution at center, as Wild begin two-game SoCal swing; Barker claiming injury, so he doesn't become considered as trade bait?
Yeah, so I'm reaching. Sue me.
OK, so since we last sat down with each other, the following has occurred:
The Wild, achieved a 2-2-1 record in the last five games, five games where they really NEEDED to achieve points in the standings. They even managed to stay even with the Detroit Red Wings in front of a regional (wasn't national, folks; that comes later) NBC TV audience.
Vancouver showed the Wild why they were leading the NHL's Western Conference with a 4-1 thrashing at the Xcel Energy Center, in only the second loss by three goals since the New Year.
Chicago's United Center provided the setting for a bobblehead giveaway (Tony Esposito) but little else, as the Wild basically failed to show up for a 3-1 Blackhawks' loss in the Hawks' first home game in three weeks,
Mikko Koivu managed to break his left index finger while blocking a Todd Marchant shot in last Friday's game against the Anaheim Ducks. The Wild won, 5-1, despite playing one forward short for the final 52 minutes of the game.
Sunday, Todd Bertuzzi, reviled winger and scourge of Wild fans of all ages, played in his 1,000th NHL game, and absolutely NO acknowledgement of that fact to the crowd at the 'X' during the game whatsoever. 'Big Bert', the evil-doer of note, fired the game winner in the shootout, but the fact that the game actually WENT to a shootout gave hope to Wild fans, despite the 2-1 Detroit win.
Tuesday was 'defenseman's offense night', as six separate defensemen accounted for two goals and four assists in the Wild's 4-1 thumping of the Edmonton Oilers, the 15th straight time the Wild has defeated the Grease in St. Paul. Included in the blue line salvos was a rare goal by ex-Wild defenseman Kurtis Foster, with his first goal since Dec. 1, and the first goal for the 'Minnow', diminutive rookie Jared Spurgeon, playing against the team the Edmonton native idolized growing up as a child.
So now what? Do they stay with bringing up kids, such as Cody Almond, current call-up from the Houston Aeros? So now what do they do, after the Koivu injury?
One does not think that journeyman center Jed Ortmeyer is the answer, but the ex-Shark, Pred and Ranger will get more ice time with a big NHL club, but for how long? Who knows? Ortmeyer was signed earlier this month to a two-way contract, so he gets one pay rate at the NHL level, and another, lower pay rate at the AHL level. The Wild need centers, as they will criss-cross Southern California in the next three days, with only two of their normal four centers (John Madden, Mark Cullen) available, as they take on as vicious a road trip as the NHL can dream up, with back-to-back games at STAPLES Center vs. the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday, and the Ducks at Honda Center on Friday night.
Now, will the Wild have Cam Barker to kick around after Monday's trade deadline? That's yet another question facing the Wild, as the return to the ice of Marek Zidlicky has created a temporary 'glut' of defensemen, as Barker has now become the odd man out, with the solid play of Spurgeon and Clayton Stoner, another Houston call-up who doesn't miss the seafood and sun of South Texas. Barker now claims an injury, and yes, indeed he was NOT on the ice for most of last night's Edmonton game; but with all the defensive shuffling and high level of play that the Wild defense has become noted for lately, the fact that Barker has played himself into the 'odd man out' role, speaks volumes for what Barker has done...also for what he HAS NOT done.
Now, we all realize that GM Chuck Fletcher is absolutely loathe to trade away draft picks and/or prospects for basically 'rent-a-players', but will his hand be forced to do at least a little of that as the Trade Deadline, of Monday Feb. 28, 3 PM Eastern Time approaches?
Trade speculation: that's why the hockey media exists, isn't it, folks?
Yeah, so I'm reaching. Sue me.
OK, so since we last sat down with each other, the following has occurred:
The Wild, achieved a 2-2-1 record in the last five games, five games where they really NEEDED to achieve points in the standings. They even managed to stay even with the Detroit Red Wings in front of a regional (wasn't national, folks; that comes later) NBC TV audience.
Vancouver showed the Wild why they were leading the NHL's Western Conference with a 4-1 thrashing at the Xcel Energy Center, in only the second loss by three goals since the New Year.
Chicago's United Center provided the setting for a bobblehead giveaway (Tony Esposito) but little else, as the Wild basically failed to show up for a 3-1 Blackhawks' loss in the Hawks' first home game in three weeks,
Mikko Koivu managed to break his left index finger while blocking a Todd Marchant shot in last Friday's game against the Anaheim Ducks. The Wild won, 5-1, despite playing one forward short for the final 52 minutes of the game.
Sunday, Todd Bertuzzi, reviled winger and scourge of Wild fans of all ages, played in his 1,000th NHL game, and absolutely NO acknowledgement of that fact to the crowd at the 'X' during the game whatsoever. 'Big Bert', the evil-doer of note, fired the game winner in the shootout, but the fact that the game actually WENT to a shootout gave hope to Wild fans, despite the 2-1 Detroit win.
Tuesday was 'defenseman's offense night', as six separate defensemen accounted for two goals and four assists in the Wild's 4-1 thumping of the Edmonton Oilers, the 15th straight time the Wild has defeated the Grease in St. Paul. Included in the blue line salvos was a rare goal by ex-Wild defenseman Kurtis Foster, with his first goal since Dec. 1, and the first goal for the 'Minnow', diminutive rookie Jared Spurgeon, playing against the team the Edmonton native idolized growing up as a child.
So now what? Do they stay with bringing up kids, such as Cody Almond, current call-up from the Houston Aeros? So now what do they do, after the Koivu injury?
One does not think that journeyman center Jed Ortmeyer is the answer, but the ex-Shark, Pred and Ranger will get more ice time with a big NHL club, but for how long? Who knows? Ortmeyer was signed earlier this month to a two-way contract, so he gets one pay rate at the NHL level, and another, lower pay rate at the AHL level. The Wild need centers, as they will criss-cross Southern California in the next three days, with only two of their normal four centers (John Madden, Mark Cullen) available, as they take on as vicious a road trip as the NHL can dream up, with back-to-back games at STAPLES Center vs. the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday, and the Ducks at Honda Center on Friday night.
Now, will the Wild have Cam Barker to kick around after Monday's trade deadline? That's yet another question facing the Wild, as the return to the ice of Marek Zidlicky has created a temporary 'glut' of defensemen, as Barker has now become the odd man out, with the solid play of Spurgeon and Clayton Stoner, another Houston call-up who doesn't miss the seafood and sun of South Texas. Barker now claims an injury, and yes, indeed he was NOT on the ice for most of last night's Edmonton game; but with all the defensive shuffling and high level of play that the Wild defense has become noted for lately, the fact that Barker has played himself into the 'odd man out' role, speaks volumes for what Barker has done...also for what he HAS NOT done.
Now, we all realize that GM Chuck Fletcher is absolutely loathe to trade away draft picks and/or prospects for basically 'rent-a-players', but will his hand be forced to do at least a little of that as the Trade Deadline, of Monday Feb. 28, 3 PM Eastern Time approaches?
Trade speculation: that's why the hockey media exists, isn't it, folks?
Sunday, November 7, 2010
If only every week was like this past week...
3-0 week for Wild bodes team well despite injuries, schedule, cap woes
By Wild Road Tripper
If only.
If only every week was like this past week for the Minnesota Wild, they might -- might -- make the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs, for the first time in three seasons. Now, we know that in a long season like this, not every week will be as successful as this past week was. But, you can't sneer at a 3-0 week, where the Wild somewhat returned to the defense-first style of hockey that made this franchise successful in most of the first eight seasons of its' ten-year history. Especially when you consider that the week started off, with the first regulation-time victory over the usually-pesky San Jose Sharks in five seasons.
In fact, the Wild have a record of 7-4-2 overall, and 6-3-1 since returning from the NHL Premiere games in Helsinki. Normally, a 6-3-1 record would mean the pressure is off the coaching staff. That the old adage of, 'open the doors and the people will come', would once again hold sway at the 'X', as the longest home stand of the 2010-2011 season ended on Tuesday, with a very respectable 3-1-1 record, good for 7 points in the standings, as the schedule's treacherous start has finally fallen by the wayside, giving way to a 5-game stretch of opponents who did not qualify for the playoffs in 2010.
If only we fans knew what's wrong? Why aren't the people showing up to sell out the building? Why is there still skepticism amongst Wild fans (myself included) not believing (or not wanting to believe) that this team, despite missing three forwards (Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Guillaume Latendresse, Antti Miettinen) and one of their top four defensemen (Marek Zidlicky) might be as good as they are now? That this is all a mirage, and one day we will all wake up, and find out that this was all a dream?
If only we knew the answers to these questions. Part of the reason for the non-sellouts is, indeed, the fact that the economy still is in the dumper, and will be for some time, tax breaks not withstanding. People don't have the spending cash for pro hockey when they are trying mightily to make ends meet. Of course, the fact that the Wild have failed to make the playoffs (which means, you admit that you are one of the 14 worst teams in the league) for two seasons now hasn't helped things very much, either.
If only the local pro football team wouldn't grab the headlines nearly every single day, with the Peyton Place-esque behind-the-scenes issues facing that club, that the local college football team wasn't firmly entrenched as one of the sport's Bottom 10 teams, and you have a hockey team which is relegated well inside the pages of the local sports sections.
If only we knew that this past week would be what we could expect, Wild fans could prepare themselves for the future, which would be looking pretty good. Think of the future if Brent Burns holds to at least his current level of play. Wild fans know this guy shows up every night with his engine running, then goes out and plays like it. But now, for the first time ever, it really shows where it counts (on the score sheet) and when it counts (late in games, like Saturday night in Columbus, where he basically took over after the Wild got the 3-2 lead).
If only we knew that Martin Havlat would build on the upswing that we have seen over the last week, he wouldn't even need his agent, Allan Walsh, to beg the coaching staff (via Twitter) to play his guy more. Marty, we hoped you had that in you; why did we have to wait so long for this to come out?
If only the Wild had realized earlier that the power play needed real help, and then they went out and got it in Matt Cullen, who is the big difference between a power play which doesn't get shots off at all, and a power play which is top 10 in the NHL.
If only the Wild had put Burns and Nick Schultz earlier as a defensive pairing. The Wild now have two real top-4 pairings (Burns and Schultz, and the fan-dubbed 'ZZ Top' pairing of Zidlicky and Greg Zanon) on the blue line -- something the Wild has long coveted, while other Western Conference teams (Chicago, Detroit, St. Louis, San Jose, Vancouver) have enjoyed this for years.
Now, if only the Wild can stay somewhat healthy while playing in the Southeast this coming weekend, they could come home with a gaudy win streak of 6 games into their next home game vs. Anaheim on Nov. 17th.
If only...
By Wild Road Tripper
If only.
If only every week was like this past week for the Minnesota Wild, they might -- might -- make the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs, for the first time in three seasons. Now, we know that in a long season like this, not every week will be as successful as this past week was. But, you can't sneer at a 3-0 week, where the Wild somewhat returned to the defense-first style of hockey that made this franchise successful in most of the first eight seasons of its' ten-year history. Especially when you consider that the week started off, with the first regulation-time victory over the usually-pesky San Jose Sharks in five seasons.
In fact, the Wild have a record of 7-4-2 overall, and 6-3-1 since returning from the NHL Premiere games in Helsinki. Normally, a 6-3-1 record would mean the pressure is off the coaching staff. That the old adage of, 'open the doors and the people will come', would once again hold sway at the 'X', as the longest home stand of the 2010-2011 season ended on Tuesday, with a very respectable 3-1-1 record, good for 7 points in the standings, as the schedule's treacherous start has finally fallen by the wayside, giving way to a 5-game stretch of opponents who did not qualify for the playoffs in 2010.
If only we fans knew what's wrong? Why aren't the people showing up to sell out the building? Why is there still skepticism amongst Wild fans (myself included) not believing (or not wanting to believe) that this team, despite missing three forwards (Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Guillaume Latendresse, Antti Miettinen) and one of their top four defensemen (Marek Zidlicky) might be as good as they are now? That this is all a mirage, and one day we will all wake up, and find out that this was all a dream?
If only we knew the answers to these questions. Part of the reason for the non-sellouts is, indeed, the fact that the economy still is in the dumper, and will be for some time, tax breaks not withstanding. People don't have the spending cash for pro hockey when they are trying mightily to make ends meet. Of course, the fact that the Wild have failed to make the playoffs (which means, you admit that you are one of the 14 worst teams in the league) for two seasons now hasn't helped things very much, either.
If only the local pro football team wouldn't grab the headlines nearly every single day, with the Peyton Place-esque behind-the-scenes issues facing that club, that the local college football team wasn't firmly entrenched as one of the sport's Bottom 10 teams, and you have a hockey team which is relegated well inside the pages of the local sports sections.
If only we knew that this past week would be what we could expect, Wild fans could prepare themselves for the future, which would be looking pretty good. Think of the future if Brent Burns holds to at least his current level of play. Wild fans know this guy shows up every night with his engine running, then goes out and plays like it. But now, for the first time ever, it really shows where it counts (on the score sheet) and when it counts (late in games, like Saturday night in Columbus, where he basically took over after the Wild got the 3-2 lead).
If only we knew that Martin Havlat would build on the upswing that we have seen over the last week, he wouldn't even need his agent, Allan Walsh, to beg the coaching staff (via Twitter) to play his guy more. Marty, we hoped you had that in you; why did we have to wait so long for this to come out?
If only the Wild had realized earlier that the power play needed real help, and then they went out and got it in Matt Cullen, who is the big difference between a power play which doesn't get shots off at all, and a power play which is top 10 in the NHL.
If only the Wild had put Burns and Nick Schultz earlier as a defensive pairing. The Wild now have two real top-4 pairings (Burns and Schultz, and the fan-dubbed 'ZZ Top' pairing of Zidlicky and Greg Zanon) on the blue line -- something the Wild has long coveted, while other Western Conference teams (Chicago, Detroit, St. Louis, San Jose, Vancouver) have enjoyed this for years.
Now, if only the Wild can stay somewhat healthy while playing in the Southeast this coming weekend, they could come home with a gaudy win streak of 6 games into their next home game vs. Anaheim on Nov. 17th.
If only...
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Consistenly Inconsistent
Minnesota Wild lean on unleanable Havlat, Cullen as up-and-down week ends
By Wild Road Tripper
Hallowe'en is upon us. An evening of little ghosts and goblins and kids dressed up as scary creatures showing up at your door (starting about 5 o'clock, or about the time they carry Brett Favre off in a cart) looking to get paid in candy.
Unfortunately, the Minnesota Wild thought trick-or-treat started a day early. Like, Saturday night against the Chicago Blackhawks. As they Wild went down 3-1 to the defending Stanley Cup champions, the fact that the Wild were so desperate for offense that they leaned on Martin Havlat and Matt Cullen in a version of the Washington Capitals' "all Ovie" offense, whereby Cullen (and Alex Ovechkin on Thursday) stayed out on the ice, pulling double-and-triple shifts while the clock wound down at the end of the game, giving two points was the treat at the end of a trick gone horribly wrong.
The Wild need someone -- anyone -- to come in, kick this team in the collective heine and scream, 'why don't you want to play for 60 minutes?'
The game versus Washington is an example of what can happen when everything is executed properly. You score, you play defense, you win hockey games. The game versus Chicago on Saturday, on the other hand, is an example of what happens when there is no execution. Players stand around, don't chase after loose pucks, allow opponents to get open for wrap-around chances, and so on. Players skate around at half-speed, don't check, don't make plays, until it is too late to do anything, which will affect the outcome of the contest.
And, it's been this way the entire season. That the Wild players have not seen this by now, is the failure of each individual player to face up to the fact that right now, this team just isn't playing all that well. That some players need to look in the mirror, and blame that person for not playing better.
And I'll be honest with you: Martin Havlat is quickly becoming the next version of another player from the Wild past who also had troubles with consistency, who also had troubles with the puck, who also didn't do his job.
Martin Havlat, meet Martin Skoula. Skoula, now relegated to the KHL in Russia, is the all-time poster child for the Wild franchise when it comes to ineptitude. Havlat is starting to turn down this dark, lonely, pothole-filled road as well, with his lack of speed on the rush, his poor shooting, his 'softness' when it comes to puck battles, his amount of puck turnovers (especially in the last week). He may be hiding an injury, although he will never admit it publically.
It's time for the Wild to sit Havlat out, especially if he continues to play like he did on Saturday, when his turnover in the Chicago zone, in the last minute of the game, directly led to Chicago's empty-net goal with 35 seconds left in the contest. Havlat is skating like a man who is nursing a glass groin, kind of like another ex-Wild from that central part of Europe, Marian Gaborik, so I think most Wild fans have seen enough of that to know better. Even though Havlat's agent, Allan Walsh (who also represents several other Wild players) uses Twitter as his personal soapbox, in order to lobby Wild management for more time for Havlat, the fact of the matter is that after last night, Havlat doesn't deserve more playing time. Based on his efforts the last few games, he actually deserves less. A lot less.
It worked for Skoula. It might work again, you never know:
Time to get Martin Havlat qualified to operate the Martin Skoula Memorial Press Box Popcorn Machine.
By Wild Road Tripper
Hallowe'en is upon us. An evening of little ghosts and goblins and kids dressed up as scary creatures showing up at your door (starting about 5 o'clock, or about the time they carry Brett Favre off in a cart) looking to get paid in candy.
Unfortunately, the Minnesota Wild thought trick-or-treat started a day early. Like, Saturday night against the Chicago Blackhawks. As they Wild went down 3-1 to the defending Stanley Cup champions, the fact that the Wild were so desperate for offense that they leaned on Martin Havlat and Matt Cullen in a version of the Washington Capitals' "all Ovie" offense, whereby Cullen (and Alex Ovechkin on Thursday) stayed out on the ice, pulling double-and-triple shifts while the clock wound down at the end of the game, giving two points was the treat at the end of a trick gone horribly wrong.
The Wild need someone -- anyone -- to come in, kick this team in the collective heine and scream, 'why don't you want to play for 60 minutes?'
The game versus Washington is an example of what can happen when everything is executed properly. You score, you play defense, you win hockey games. The game versus Chicago on Saturday, on the other hand, is an example of what happens when there is no execution. Players stand around, don't chase after loose pucks, allow opponents to get open for wrap-around chances, and so on. Players skate around at half-speed, don't check, don't make plays, until it is too late to do anything, which will affect the outcome of the contest.
And, it's been this way the entire season. That the Wild players have not seen this by now, is the failure of each individual player to face up to the fact that right now, this team just isn't playing all that well. That some players need to look in the mirror, and blame that person for not playing better.
And I'll be honest with you: Martin Havlat is quickly becoming the next version of another player from the Wild past who also had troubles with consistency, who also had troubles with the puck, who also didn't do his job.
Martin Havlat, meet Martin Skoula. Skoula, now relegated to the KHL in Russia, is the all-time poster child for the Wild franchise when it comes to ineptitude. Havlat is starting to turn down this dark, lonely, pothole-filled road as well, with his lack of speed on the rush, his poor shooting, his 'softness' when it comes to puck battles, his amount of puck turnovers (especially in the last week). He may be hiding an injury, although he will never admit it publically.
It's time for the Wild to sit Havlat out, especially if he continues to play like he did on Saturday, when his turnover in the Chicago zone, in the last minute of the game, directly led to Chicago's empty-net goal with 35 seconds left in the contest. Havlat is skating like a man who is nursing a glass groin, kind of like another ex-Wild from that central part of Europe, Marian Gaborik, so I think most Wild fans have seen enough of that to know better. Even though Havlat's agent, Allan Walsh (who also represents several other Wild players) uses Twitter as his personal soapbox, in order to lobby Wild management for more time for Havlat, the fact of the matter is that after last night, Havlat doesn't deserve more playing time. Based on his efforts the last few games, he actually deserves less. A lot less.
It worked for Skoula. It might work again, you never know:
Time to get Martin Havlat qualified to operate the Martin Skoula Memorial Press Box Popcorn Machine.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Wild compete level up as Canucks meltdown
Wild spot Vancouver 1st goal, then stomp on Luongo, Canucks as Rypien loses cool; suspension likely
By Wild Road Tripper
You gotta hand it to the Vancouver Canucks. Pacific Canada's favorite team becomes such an easy target, when they revert to their old, familiar, penalty-filled ways. Throw in a sure-to-be-suspended meltdown by the latest in a long line of Canucks you can love to hate, and you have the recipe for a fun evening of puck. Such was the case on Tuesday night, as the Minnesota Wild once again sent Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo to the showers, with a six-pack of goals in a row over the first two periods, as the Wild derailed the Canucks express, 6-2, at Xcel Energy Center. The pre-season overwhelming pick to win the Northwest Division is now a pedestrian 2-3-1, following the ninth all-time loss by 'Bobby Lu' in St. Paul.
There were the two goals by Daniel Sedin for Vancouver. The Canucks can hang their collective hat on that. But, they meant nothing, as what happened in the intervening 58 minutes would attest to, as the Wild rattled six straight on 18 total shots over the first two periods, including one goal and two assists for Marek Zidlicky, a goal and an assist for Guillaume Latendresse, let out of 'Le Chateau Bow-Wow', and placed back on the second line with Martin Havlat and Matt Cullen, that line combining for six points on the evening.
But, that all paled in comparison to the Rick Rypien follies, which occurred late in the second period. Following a scrum in front of the Wild bench in which Rypien, who lost an earlier fight to Brad Staubitz, was restrained from going after Staubitz a second time by the linesmen, Rypien then pushed the linesman, pushed referee Chris Lee and then went after a fan who was mildly taunting Rypien, as he made his way up the tunnel to the Canucks dressing room. Rypien was suspended immediately after the game by the NHL, pending a Friday in-person hearing, which will likely result in a long suspension for the 6th-year goon.
(Since this entry was first started, the fan involved has told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune that he will seek legal representation against Rypien and the Canucks.)
The victory, coupled with the blowout loss by the Canucks, now vaults the Wild into 3rd place in the Northwest Division, three points behind division-leading Colorado, who did not play Tuesday night. Vancouver faces off against the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center on Wednesday evening, before returning home to face the Wild at Rogers Centre (formerly GM Place) on Friday. (A little 'must-see' viewing, anyone?)
The Wild now vacate the 'X' for the remainder of the Minnesota Teachers' Weekend, as their two-game road trip begins with the Next Game: at Edmonton, Thursday, Oct. 21, 8:30 PM Central (7:30 PM Mountain) Time, Rexall Place. (TV: FSNorth, FSWisconsin, Rogers SportsNet-Edmonton, all feeds in HD)
By Wild Road Tripper
You gotta hand it to the Vancouver Canucks. Pacific Canada's favorite team becomes such an easy target, when they revert to their old, familiar, penalty-filled ways. Throw in a sure-to-be-suspended meltdown by the latest in a long line of Canucks you can love to hate, and you have the recipe for a fun evening of puck. Such was the case on Tuesday night, as the Minnesota Wild once again sent Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo to the showers, with a six-pack of goals in a row over the first two periods, as the Wild derailed the Canucks express, 6-2, at Xcel Energy Center. The pre-season overwhelming pick to win the Northwest Division is now a pedestrian 2-3-1, following the ninth all-time loss by 'Bobby Lu' in St. Paul.
There were the two goals by Daniel Sedin for Vancouver. The Canucks can hang their collective hat on that. But, they meant nothing, as what happened in the intervening 58 minutes would attest to, as the Wild rattled six straight on 18 total shots over the first two periods, including one goal and two assists for Marek Zidlicky, a goal and an assist for Guillaume Latendresse, let out of 'Le Chateau Bow-Wow', and placed back on the second line with Martin Havlat and Matt Cullen, that line combining for six points on the evening.
But, that all paled in comparison to the Rick Rypien follies, which occurred late in the second period. Following a scrum in front of the Wild bench in which Rypien, who lost an earlier fight to Brad Staubitz, was restrained from going after Staubitz a second time by the linesmen, Rypien then pushed the linesman, pushed referee Chris Lee and then went after a fan who was mildly taunting Rypien, as he made his way up the tunnel to the Canucks dressing room. Rypien was suspended immediately after the game by the NHL, pending a Friday in-person hearing, which will likely result in a long suspension for the 6th-year goon.
(Since this entry was first started, the fan involved has told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune that he will seek legal representation against Rypien and the Canucks.)
The victory, coupled with the blowout loss by the Canucks, now vaults the Wild into 3rd place in the Northwest Division, three points behind division-leading Colorado, who did not play Tuesday night. Vancouver faces off against the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center on Wednesday evening, before returning home to face the Wild at Rogers Centre (formerly GM Place) on Friday. (A little 'must-see' viewing, anyone?)
The Wild now vacate the 'X' for the remainder of the Minnesota Teachers' Weekend, as their two-game road trip begins with the Next Game: at Edmonton, Thursday, Oct. 21, 8:30 PM Central (7:30 PM Mountain) Time, Rexall Place. (TV: FSNorth, FSWisconsin, Rogers SportsNet-Edmonton, all feeds in HD)
Friday, October 15, 2010
It's a start...but now what do they do for an encore?
As Wild perform PP lube job, Oilers fall for 14th straight in St. Paul
By Wild Road Tripper
Would the sellout crowd of 18,449 Thursday night at Xcel Energy Center believe, that the Minnesota Wild team they saw win 4-2 against the Edmonton Oilers, was a harbinger of things to come? Or would they say that this game was just a fluke, an aberration, another step in the development of the young, baby Grease, and the Wild were just there for the ride?
Whatever the point of view you take towards the Wild's North American home opener, it was a chance for the three Finns on the Wild roster -- Mikko Koivu (2 goals, 1 assist), Antti Miettinen (1 goal, 1 assist) and Niklas Backstrom (26 saves) -- to make up for their team's lack of scoring punch in Helsinki last week. Throw in the efforts of Matt Cullen (1 goal, 1 assist) and Andrew Brunette's two assists, and you have finally enough scoring punch to get some goals. Granted, all 4 were with the man advantage, but considering the last two games were about as interesting as watching reindeer graze, well, you get the idea.
Now, the question: What will they do for an encore? They will play a Columbus Blue Jackets team who will be on the second half of a back-to-back (the Jackets face off Friday night, against the Chicago Blackhawks at Nationwide Arena) while facing their own offensive demons (but at least the Jackets won one of their two games vs. San Jose in Stockholm, Sweden, last weekend, despite scoring only five goals in the two Swedish games).
Indeed, the coffin destined for the career of Wild Head Coach Todd Richards has halted upholstery, at least for now. Two of the next three games are against teams the Wild should be able to beat, if they put the same amount of effort into the next game, as into this last one.
But, as Wild fans saw as they chowed down while watching from Finland, with this club, that's always a big, BIG 'IF'.
Best moment: Greg Zanon's crushing cross-check on Gilbert Brule. Instant highlight.
Worst moment: In-arena Emcee Jim Cunningham introducing a new, even dumber in-arena intermission activity. At what point do fans throw their hands up (or, just throw up)? To watch another 'great Zamboni race' on the scoreboard, driven by fan noise? Sounds like 'Section 303' Nashville stuff to me. What's next? 'Face-Off Live' from FSNorth?
Where were you, Mikko Koivu? Now that the Finnish press isn't hounding the Captain constantly, he can concentrate on scoring goals, winning games...you know, the stuff the folks back home WANTED to see from Mikko.
Need a new barn picture: Antti Miettinen missed twice from point-blank range. So what else is new?
Next Game: vs. Columbus, Saturday, Oct. 16, 7:00 PM Central Time, Xcel Energy Center. (TV: KSTC-45, FSOhio (both feeds in HD)
By Wild Road Tripper
Would the sellout crowd of 18,449 Thursday night at Xcel Energy Center believe, that the Minnesota Wild team they saw win 4-2 against the Edmonton Oilers, was a harbinger of things to come? Or would they say that this game was just a fluke, an aberration, another step in the development of the young, baby Grease, and the Wild were just there for the ride?
Whatever the point of view you take towards the Wild's North American home opener, it was a chance for the three Finns on the Wild roster -- Mikko Koivu (2 goals, 1 assist), Antti Miettinen (1 goal, 1 assist) and Niklas Backstrom (26 saves) -- to make up for their team's lack of scoring punch in Helsinki last week. Throw in the efforts of Matt Cullen (1 goal, 1 assist) and Andrew Brunette's two assists, and you have finally enough scoring punch to get some goals. Granted, all 4 were with the man advantage, but considering the last two games were about as interesting as watching reindeer graze, well, you get the idea.
Now, the question: What will they do for an encore? They will play a Columbus Blue Jackets team who will be on the second half of a back-to-back (the Jackets face off Friday night, against the Chicago Blackhawks at Nationwide Arena) while facing their own offensive demons (but at least the Jackets won one of their two games vs. San Jose in Stockholm, Sweden, last weekend, despite scoring only five goals in the two Swedish games).
Indeed, the coffin destined for the career of Wild Head Coach Todd Richards has halted upholstery, at least for now. Two of the next three games are against teams the Wild should be able to beat, if they put the same amount of effort into the next game, as into this last one.
But, as Wild fans saw as they chowed down while watching from Finland, with this club, that's always a big, BIG 'IF'.
Best moment: Greg Zanon's crushing cross-check on Gilbert Brule. Instant highlight.
Worst moment: In-arena Emcee Jim Cunningham introducing a new, even dumber in-arena intermission activity. At what point do fans throw their hands up (or, just throw up)? To watch another 'great Zamboni race' on the scoreboard, driven by fan noise? Sounds like 'Section 303' Nashville stuff to me. What's next? 'Face-Off Live' from FSNorth?
Where were you, Mikko Koivu? Now that the Finnish press isn't hounding the Captain constantly, he can concentrate on scoring goals, winning games...you know, the stuff the folks back home WANTED to see from Mikko.
Need a new barn picture: Antti Miettinen missed twice from point-blank range. So what else is new?
Next Game: vs. Columbus, Saturday, Oct. 16, 7:00 PM Central Time, Xcel Energy Center. (TV: KSTC-45, FSOhio (both feeds in HD)
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Finland VII: Anticipation...it's making me wait...
(In this seventh installment of my blog series leading up to NHL Premiere 2010, featuring the Minnesota Wild in Helsinki, Finland, we look at the season ahead, and also a few updates on other items, from earlier installments of this series.)
Well, folks, in less than three weeks the Great Adventure will indeed begin. And, there is a calm optimism in the WRT household. I am optimistic that all the planning, the research, the investigating, the hours at the computer will have all been worth it. My wife continues to say that she hopes her husband will come back to her, after the Great Adventure is over.
Her husband does, too, let me tell you. After this, all other road trips will seem extremely tame. Even the one to Detroit later this season. Tame, tame, tame, almost to the point of being boring. But, let's look ahead to the question of the day:
Where will the Minnesota Wild end up this season?
Wild fans are a hopelessly optimistic bunch, especially after the free agent signings of Moorhead native Matt Cullen, ex-Blackhawk (and NJ Devil) John Madden, and the second-generation grit of Eric Nystrom show the way to an upgraded roster, where a lot of the dead weight that ex-GM Doug Risebrough saddled the franchise with has now been swept away, and shown the door.
Granted, two fan favorites -- Owen Nolan, a.k.a. 'Cowboy' and 'the Irish God of War', or 'IGoW', and enforcer extraordinare Derek Boogaard -- were released; Boogaard winding up with DR in Gotham with the NY Rangers, Nolan still waiting for a call from one of the California clubs (he lives in San Jose, where he co-owns a restaurant) as his career winds down. Ex-SJ Shark Brad Staubitz now fills the 'enforcer' role with the Wild, but at least he can score a goal now and then, something which finally caught up with the likeable Boogaard, as no one was willing to even fight him, making his roster spot even more vulnerable. Boogaard's new $1.65M/season contract was too much for the Wild, who are now within $2.9 million of the NHL's salary cap, and that's including the contract of Pierre-Marc Bouchard, who will attempt to return from his concussion first suffered March 25, 2009 at Nassau Coliseum, in a 6-3 victory against the lowly Islanders.
The right shoulder and right knee of captain Mikko Koivu, both of which required surgery following the season are both at 100%, and the young man who some Wild fans have dubbed, 'the Franchise', is ready for a return to his homeland next month, with about 23 of his closest friends, including new Wild assistant coach Darby Hendrickson, who leaves the Fox Sports North studios (where he was in-studio co-host, on Wild and Gopher hockey telecasts) for the bench, where he will be a 'younger influence' on the roster, a different voice that has recently played the game in this modern era. How this will sit with some of the more tenured players on the Wild roster, such as Andrew Brunette, Nick Schultz and Brent Burns, who actually played with Darby when he was a grinder with the Wild, is yet to be determined.
Optimism runs high amongst Minnesota hockey fans right now, But there has yet to be played even a pre-season game, and not even an official practice has been held. Of course, optimism runs high...as nothing has been decided, save for the fact that James Sheppard, the favorite whipping boy for many Wild fans, will not be playing hockey until after the New Year, due to an ill-advised turn on an ATV in Colorado, during a break in pre-season workouts. Most Wild fans see this unfortunate turn of events for the former first-round pick, as another reason he should be shown the door, as soon as they can find a taker for his 'services'.
My view: After the Finland trip, 8 of their next 10 games will be at home. They must rack up regulation-time wins early, to get a leg up on the rest of the West, as 13 of the following 21 (and 22 of the following 37 games) will be on the road.
This team cannot afford another disasterous start, like last season's losing eight of their first nine debacle. Should they survive the first half of the season, the second half should be an easier half, with all but 5 games played after the All-Star game being within the Western Conference.
This team cannot afford to have long losing streaks. Their talent level is not that of even the now-gutted Chicago Blackhawks, nor San Jose, nor even Detroit, as elderly as that roster looks on paper. Vancouver, everyone's darling pick for the top spot in the West? Nah. Not even close. Maybe not even Calgary or Colorado, who surprised many in hockey and made the playoffs last season, a season which was supposedly a 'rebuilding' year.
They need to score more, especially in regulation. They need to not give up multiple goals in short defensive lapses, especially on the road against divisional opponents (games in Calgary come to mind when I say that). The synergy that was the Guillaume Latendresse-Martin Havlat pairing from last season, needs to be fed from the center position this season. Often. And in bunches.
Had the Wild been able to start the season in December last season, instead of October, they might have just made the playoffs, as banged up as the roster was going into the last weeks of the season, had they not had the disasterous start that this team did last year. This cannot happen again, and the club's hierarchy KNOWS it. The hockey minds know it.
Again, optimism reigns supreme. With that, in my opinion, the Wild will wind up as a playoff team in April. Probably no better than a No. 7 seed, which will probably mean a first round match-up against either of the top two teams in the West (San Jose or Vancouver), neither of which will allow the Wild to go farther than the first round in the playoffs.
But, considering the fact that less than two years ago, this team was totally in shambles, the first round is an achieveable goal, I believe, for this group of Wild players. You have to walk before you can run, and running with the big boys in the West is the immediate goal of this franchise. Reserving the right to change my mind...
...let's see what they can do.
As promised, some updates from earlier in the series:
Seems we've booked onto the 'party cruise' from Stockholm to Turku. The Viking Line ferry boat is known throughout Scandinavia as a 'booze cruise' (those of you who've sailed on the Duluth harbor tours know what I speak of; only this one is a LOT longer). The competing Silja Line ferry, as I said in Part IV of this series, is booked out on a charter that night, as a fund-raiser (presumably) for the Stockholm Symphony Orchestra. Several people have come to me telling me they can't even remember their crossing, due to all the liquor consumed on the ships.
(And, of course, there will be us, still trying to get over jet lag...)
Laundry update: There is no guest laundry at the hotel in Helsinki, so now our question is: Do we get laundry done professionally in Helsinki, Russo-style, by sending out the wet wash? Or, do we ship a box of clean clothes over to Finland, and that same box (with dirty clothes and some papers) back to the USA? Or, do we take some laundry soap with us, and rinse the stuff out in the bathroom sink? What do we do? (We don't want to offend anyone while in Europe...)
(to be continued)
Well, folks, in less than three weeks the Great Adventure will indeed begin. And, there is a calm optimism in the WRT household. I am optimistic that all the planning, the research, the investigating, the hours at the computer will have all been worth it. My wife continues to say that she hopes her husband will come back to her, after the Great Adventure is over.
Her husband does, too, let me tell you. After this, all other road trips will seem extremely tame. Even the one to Detroit later this season. Tame, tame, tame, almost to the point of being boring. But, let's look ahead to the question of the day:
Where will the Minnesota Wild end up this season?
Wild fans are a hopelessly optimistic bunch, especially after the free agent signings of Moorhead native Matt Cullen, ex-Blackhawk (and NJ Devil) John Madden, and the second-generation grit of Eric Nystrom show the way to an upgraded roster, where a lot of the dead weight that ex-GM Doug Risebrough saddled the franchise with has now been swept away, and shown the door.
Granted, two fan favorites -- Owen Nolan, a.k.a. 'Cowboy' and 'the Irish God of War', or 'IGoW', and enforcer extraordinare Derek Boogaard -- were released; Boogaard winding up with DR in Gotham with the NY Rangers, Nolan still waiting for a call from one of the California clubs (he lives in San Jose, where he co-owns a restaurant) as his career winds down. Ex-SJ Shark Brad Staubitz now fills the 'enforcer' role with the Wild, but at least he can score a goal now and then, something which finally caught up with the likeable Boogaard, as no one was willing to even fight him, making his roster spot even more vulnerable. Boogaard's new $1.65M/season contract was too much for the Wild, who are now within $2.9 million of the NHL's salary cap, and that's including the contract of Pierre-Marc Bouchard, who will attempt to return from his concussion first suffered March 25, 2009 at Nassau Coliseum, in a 6-3 victory against the lowly Islanders.
The right shoulder and right knee of captain Mikko Koivu, both of which required surgery following the season are both at 100%, and the young man who some Wild fans have dubbed, 'the Franchise', is ready for a return to his homeland next month, with about 23 of his closest friends, including new Wild assistant coach Darby Hendrickson, who leaves the Fox Sports North studios (where he was in-studio co-host, on Wild and Gopher hockey telecasts) for the bench, where he will be a 'younger influence' on the roster, a different voice that has recently played the game in this modern era. How this will sit with some of the more tenured players on the Wild roster, such as Andrew Brunette, Nick Schultz and Brent Burns, who actually played with Darby when he was a grinder with the Wild, is yet to be determined.
Optimism runs high amongst Minnesota hockey fans right now, But there has yet to be played even a pre-season game, and not even an official practice has been held. Of course, optimism runs high...as nothing has been decided, save for the fact that James Sheppard, the favorite whipping boy for many Wild fans, will not be playing hockey until after the New Year, due to an ill-advised turn on an ATV in Colorado, during a break in pre-season workouts. Most Wild fans see this unfortunate turn of events for the former first-round pick, as another reason he should be shown the door, as soon as they can find a taker for his 'services'.
My view: After the Finland trip, 8 of their next 10 games will be at home. They must rack up regulation-time wins early, to get a leg up on the rest of the West, as 13 of the following 21 (and 22 of the following 37 games) will be on the road.
This team cannot afford another disasterous start, like last season's losing eight of their first nine debacle. Should they survive the first half of the season, the second half should be an easier half, with all but 5 games played after the All-Star game being within the Western Conference.
This team cannot afford to have long losing streaks. Their talent level is not that of even the now-gutted Chicago Blackhawks, nor San Jose, nor even Detroit, as elderly as that roster looks on paper. Vancouver, everyone's darling pick for the top spot in the West? Nah. Not even close. Maybe not even Calgary or Colorado, who surprised many in hockey and made the playoffs last season, a season which was supposedly a 'rebuilding' year.
They need to score more, especially in regulation. They need to not give up multiple goals in short defensive lapses, especially on the road against divisional opponents (games in Calgary come to mind when I say that). The synergy that was the Guillaume Latendresse-Martin Havlat pairing from last season, needs to be fed from the center position this season. Often. And in bunches.
Had the Wild been able to start the season in December last season, instead of October, they might have just made the playoffs, as banged up as the roster was going into the last weeks of the season, had they not had the disasterous start that this team did last year. This cannot happen again, and the club's hierarchy KNOWS it. The hockey minds know it.
Again, optimism reigns supreme. With that, in my opinion, the Wild will wind up as a playoff team in April. Probably no better than a No. 7 seed, which will probably mean a first round match-up against either of the top two teams in the West (San Jose or Vancouver), neither of which will allow the Wild to go farther than the first round in the playoffs.
But, considering the fact that less than two years ago, this team was totally in shambles, the first round is an achieveable goal, I believe, for this group of Wild players. You have to walk before you can run, and running with the big boys in the West is the immediate goal of this franchise. Reserving the right to change my mind...
...let's see what they can do.
As promised, some updates from earlier in the series:
Seems we've booked onto the 'party cruise' from Stockholm to Turku. The Viking Line ferry boat is known throughout Scandinavia as a 'booze cruise' (those of you who've sailed on the Duluth harbor tours know what I speak of; only this one is a LOT longer). The competing Silja Line ferry, as I said in Part IV of this series, is booked out on a charter that night, as a fund-raiser (presumably) for the Stockholm Symphony Orchestra. Several people have come to me telling me they can't even remember their crossing, due to all the liquor consumed on the ships.
(And, of course, there will be us, still trying to get over jet lag...)
Laundry update: There is no guest laundry at the hotel in Helsinki, so now our question is: Do we get laundry done professionally in Helsinki, Russo-style, by sending out the wet wash? Or, do we ship a box of clean clothes over to Finland, and that same box (with dirty clothes and some papers) back to the USA? Or, do we take some laundry soap with us, and rinse the stuff out in the bathroom sink? What do we do? (We don't want to offend anyone while in Europe...)
(to be continued)
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Finland III: The Bankers step in and say, 'No!'
(In this third installment of my blog series leading up to NHL Premiere 2010, featuring the Minnesota Wild in Helsinki, Finland, we look at some of the obstacles preparing for a trip like this can mean, especially when you do it yourself, and how to avoid them.)
It is the morning of July 1st. The 'Free-Agent Frenzy' is gearing up on TSN, and I am bound and determined to not only sit thru that, but get most all of this trip booked before I sit down and watch the rest of the NHL get better, while the Minnesota Wild just sit there, like they always have, never content enough in free agency to do anything early in the first day. (Not that they don't ever do anything day 1; it's just that they never get it done 'til early evening, or later.)
It's 8:30 AM. I start with the easiest segment, the one which has been on sale for 30 days already, the Eurostar train from London St. Pancras (departing at 5:25 AM) to Paris Gare du Nord. Easy. Standard class booking (at 1/3rd of the cost of First Class) at a £39/seat rate. Easy. Get the seats I want, easy. Everything about Eurostar seems almost too easy. We'll see. But onwards...
Next, to book Thalys from Paris to Cologne. Since they are both members of Railteam (Europe's association of high-speed rail operators) they are bound by similar policies in booking, etc., so they, also, have had seats on sale for 30 days, and feature a very easy process to book. I can't resist a €69 each rate for first class so we book two seats ('Club duo') on a late afternoon departure.
While I was taking a break after those two were completed to get set up for the rest of the day, I get a very strange call from my credit card company. It went something like this:
Me: "Hello."
Other end: "Uh, sir, this is the fraud division of (credit card) and we would like to discuss your account with you."
Me: "What about?"
They: "Uh, we think there are some fraudulent charges on your account."
Me: "Like what?"
They: "Well, there's this one from Thalys..."
Me: "You mean the one I just made less than 30 minutes ago?"
They: "Yes, that one. We'd like to know the reason that charge was made."
Mind you, I am getting really annoyed at this point. Everything that I have planned might just go straight to hell at this point...or worse.
Me: "Maybe I'm travelling in Europe, or maybe it's none of your business."
They: "Sir, you don't understand..."
Me: "And, I don't have to, either. As long as the charge is legitimate, I sure as hell don't need YOU to tell me how to spend my money."
They: "So this charge is something you actually did?"
Me: "Yes, but I still don't know why it's any business of YOURS."
They: "This is the fraud division, sir. We're just trying to stop any fraudulent charges on your account."
Me: "Believe me, this is a legitimate charge. I'm trying to plan a trip to Europe, but some credit card company calls me, and interrupts me, while I am trying to get this done, and keeps trying to stop me from using my card, for my own legitimate purposes."
(Think I'm irritated at this point, folks?)
They: "We're sorry to have bothered you, sir. Could we have your e-mail address?"
Me: "No, you already have it on file. You certainly don't need it again, unless you are going to SPAM me to death, which you're going to do, aren't you?"
They: "No, we just want it..."
Me: "...and it's already on the account. Good-bye."
(Hang up.)
I need to take a break and re-focus, so I sit down just in time to see TSN's Bob McKenzie working his BlackBerry for the first of many, many times that day. As I sat there, I became so irritated at the credit card company for what they did, that I was absolutely seething as the Wild were NOT involved in signing after signing. I took the rest of the afternoon off from trip planning (it was getting harder to do anyhow, as we were also having a new furnace installed that day) and watched, as some of the best players in hockey passed on being appreciated by myself and other Wild fans (and, some of the former Wild be signed away by other teams as well). It was getting to be a long, hot afternoon (we hadn't air conditioning for four days in mid-summer) but the new furnace was finally installed, tested, and deemed done. Finally, we could turn on the air conditioning and cool the house down, for the first time in days. Meanwhile, the Wild were busy signing the ex-Moorhead Spud, St. Cloud State Husky, and Carolina Hurricane, Matt Cullen, to a 3-year contract. The house was cooling down, and fortunately, so was I, after the 'credit card follies' of the morning.
The next train to book was a key train: Deutsche Bahn's 'CityNightLine' train from Cologne to Copenhagen, the third step of the process, en route to Helsinki. Again, another advance purchase, deeply discounted fare saves the Euros, as the two of us book into a deluxe bedroom for only €298 for this overnight segment. I'm feeling better about this trip as the day ends, the Cullen signing is announced, and I think all is right with the world. At least for now.
The next day, I find out while shopping that I need cash, so I go to my bank's ATM. My card will not work, no matter what I do. So, I think back and find that yet another card issuer has shut down my account, due to supposedly 'fraudulent activity' on my account. This time I am, to say the least, incensed. Another round of 'We think you have some fraudulent activity on your account' and this time, they want me to go to a 'banking store' (their phrase, not mine) and see a banker to verify my identity and that of my card! Unbelievably, I actually go thru this farce, only to be asked again 'why are you making these charges?' and the whole demeaning process is repeated, for a second time, with a different credit card company.
Moral of the story: Call your credit card company (or e-mail them), before you make ANY charges from overseas companies of ANY kind. Since most overseas charges don't fit their 'profile' (since, of course, it's not purchased in the USA), they will not hesitate to shut your card down, if you do not call them before the charges hit your account.
(to be continued)
It is the morning of July 1st. The 'Free-Agent Frenzy' is gearing up on TSN, and I am bound and determined to not only sit thru that, but get most all of this trip booked before I sit down and watch the rest of the NHL get better, while the Minnesota Wild just sit there, like they always have, never content enough in free agency to do anything early in the first day. (Not that they don't ever do anything day 1; it's just that they never get it done 'til early evening, or later.)
It's 8:30 AM. I start with the easiest segment, the one which has been on sale for 30 days already, the Eurostar train from London St. Pancras (departing at 5:25 AM) to Paris Gare du Nord. Easy. Standard class booking (at 1/3rd of the cost of First Class) at a £39/seat rate. Easy. Get the seats I want, easy. Everything about Eurostar seems almost too easy. We'll see. But onwards...
Next, to book Thalys from Paris to Cologne. Since they are both members of Railteam (Europe's association of high-speed rail operators) they are bound by similar policies in booking, etc., so they, also, have had seats on sale for 30 days, and feature a very easy process to book. I can't resist a €69 each rate for first class so we book two seats ('Club duo') on a late afternoon departure.
While I was taking a break after those two were completed to get set up for the rest of the day, I get a very strange call from my credit card company. It went something like this:
Me: "Hello."
Other end: "Uh, sir, this is the fraud division of (credit card) and we would like to discuss your account with you."
Me: "What about?"
They: "Uh, we think there are some fraudulent charges on your account."
Me: "Like what?"
They: "Well, there's this one from Thalys..."
Me: "You mean the one I just made less than 30 minutes ago?"
They: "Yes, that one. We'd like to know the reason that charge was made."
Mind you, I am getting really annoyed at this point. Everything that I have planned might just go straight to hell at this point...or worse.
Me: "Maybe I'm travelling in Europe, or maybe it's none of your business."
They: "Sir, you don't understand..."
Me: "And, I don't have to, either. As long as the charge is legitimate, I sure as hell don't need YOU to tell me how to spend my money."
They: "So this charge is something you actually did?"
Me: "Yes, but I still don't know why it's any business of YOURS."
They: "This is the fraud division, sir. We're just trying to stop any fraudulent charges on your account."
Me: "Believe me, this is a legitimate charge. I'm trying to plan a trip to Europe, but some credit card company calls me, and interrupts me, while I am trying to get this done, and keeps trying to stop me from using my card, for my own legitimate purposes."
(Think I'm irritated at this point, folks?)
They: "We're sorry to have bothered you, sir. Could we have your e-mail address?"
Me: "No, you already have it on file. You certainly don't need it again, unless you are going to SPAM me to death, which you're going to do, aren't you?"
They: "No, we just want it..."
Me: "...and it's already on the account. Good-bye."
(Hang up.)
I need to take a break and re-focus, so I sit down just in time to see TSN's Bob McKenzie working his BlackBerry for the first of many, many times that day. As I sat there, I became so irritated at the credit card company for what they did, that I was absolutely seething as the Wild were NOT involved in signing after signing. I took the rest of the afternoon off from trip planning (it was getting harder to do anyhow, as we were also having a new furnace installed that day) and watched, as some of the best players in hockey passed on being appreciated by myself and other Wild fans (and, some of the former Wild be signed away by other teams as well). It was getting to be a long, hot afternoon (we hadn't air conditioning for four days in mid-summer) but the new furnace was finally installed, tested, and deemed done. Finally, we could turn on the air conditioning and cool the house down, for the first time in days. Meanwhile, the Wild were busy signing the ex-Moorhead Spud, St. Cloud State Husky, and Carolina Hurricane, Matt Cullen, to a 3-year contract. The house was cooling down, and fortunately, so was I, after the 'credit card follies' of the morning.
The next train to book was a key train: Deutsche Bahn's 'CityNightLine' train from Cologne to Copenhagen, the third step of the process, en route to Helsinki. Again, another advance purchase, deeply discounted fare saves the Euros, as the two of us book into a deluxe bedroom for only €298 for this overnight segment. I'm feeling better about this trip as the day ends, the Cullen signing is announced, and I think all is right with the world. At least for now.
The next day, I find out while shopping that I need cash, so I go to my bank's ATM. My card will not work, no matter what I do. So, I think back and find that yet another card issuer has shut down my account, due to supposedly 'fraudulent activity' on my account. This time I am, to say the least, incensed. Another round of 'We think you have some fraudulent activity on your account' and this time, they want me to go to a 'banking store' (their phrase, not mine) and see a banker to verify my identity and that of my card! Unbelievably, I actually go thru this farce, only to be asked again 'why are you making these charges?' and the whole demeaning process is repeated, for a second time, with a different credit card company.
Moral of the story: Call your credit card company (or e-mail them), before you make ANY charges from overseas companies of ANY kind. Since most overseas charges don't fit their 'profile' (since, of course, it's not purchased in the USA), they will not hesitate to shut your card down, if you do not call them before the charges hit your account.
(to be continued)
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Centers of attention
Well, folks, Chuck Fletcher and the Minnesota Wild staff said they would go out and get some help at center, the on-ice position of greatest need. The result after two days of free agency:
Mission. Accomplished.
The signing of ex-Ottawa Senator Matt Cullen (who actually won the Stanley Cup when he was with the Carolina Hurricanes, in 2007) and ex-Texas Star Warren Peters (for depth) signify that the further erosion of the center position will not be allowed to happen.
(Sorry about that, Doug Risebrough.)
And for those of you that feel that the Wild lacked 'grit' at the end of last season, let's introduce some second-generation 'grit', namely Eric Nystrom, the son of ex-NY Islander great Bob Nystrom, he of the four Stanley Cup winning Islander teams of the 1970's. Nystrom was signed as a 'depth forward', hopefully to play alongside Cal Clutterbuck and, hopefully, rookie Casey Wellman at fourth line center (although some, including Michael Russo, hockey scribe extraordinaire at the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, think that James Sheppard will be the fourth-line center coming out of training camp.)
(And before some of you complain, I do apologize in advance for putting the names of 'Russo' and 'Sheppard' in the same sentence. One is no way in the league of the other. We all know that.)
Granted, some of the best Wild 'additions' were, in fact, 'additions by subtraction', as a good deal of the Wild's accumulated 'dead weight' are no longer on the roster, as Derek Boogaard now can honestly say, 'I am a Ranger', no thanks to his greedy, selfish ol' buddy, Marian Gaborik, who helped lure Boogaard to Manhattan after the Rangers' previous goon, Jody Shelley, signed a multi-year contract with the Philadelphia Flyers, who are indeed re-creating the 'Broad Street Bullies' of the mid-1970's at the south end of SEPTA's Broad Street Subway.
For those of you who participated last season in the 'Big John Scott' drinking game, we hope you enjoyed yourselves, as Scott signed a two-year deal with the Chicago Blackhawks on Day 1 of free agency.
Owen Nolan? Still out there, but rumor has it he may go to the Washington Capitals or any of the three California teams (Nolan just built a new house near San Jose, where he has business interests; Nolan was a Shark for 11 seasons).
Andrew Ebbett signed with the Phoenix Coyotes, so now Ed Jovanovski now owes Ebbett dinner for butt-ending Ebbett last season during a Wild-Coyotes game in Glendale. Just make sure the dinner isn't at Whataburger, OK?
Robbie Earl? Still available. Don't hesitate, don't everyone push all at once, now...
Granted, most Wild fans are waiting for the first-round draft choice of this season, 18-year-old Finnish SM-liiga wunderkind Mikael Granlund, already playing at the top level of one of Europe's top leagues, to start paying dividends after 2010-11, where he will remain with his Finnish Helsinki team for one more season, then come across the North Atlantic and probably compete right away for the third center position (unless the Wild manage to trade way one or both of their top centers.)
And then, there's the Pierre Marc-Bouchard saga to deal with. Will he be able to return from a severe concussion which has kept him out for all (except one game) of last season and the last three weeks of 2008-09? Even if he comes back, at what level will he be able to safely operate at? He will always have the fear of one more good bell ringing ending certainly his hockey career, and possibly his life. You have to ask yourself: at what point is it really WORTH it to continue playing hockey?
PMB comes with a very hefty $4.08M cap hit. The only way the Wild get out from under that permanently is for PMB to voluntarily retire. We know he really doesn't want to do that. He may, however, have no choice if his concussion symptoms continue. There is a long-term injured reserve exception to the salary cap, but the minute PMB steps back on the ice in a game situation, the LTIR is lifted, and the Wild are that much more over the salary cap.
So how are the Wild doing? Like all NHL teams, July is the time your team gets better. But, so does everyone else. The amount of dead weight around the League in general you would think would push those on the lower end of the scales to get better faster. Some will retire (Keith Tkaczuk, as example); some will play elsewhere (Martin Skoula signing with the KHL Avangard Omsk, for one. There are others. I'm just happy that Skoula will not be over here anymore) and some will just sit at home, waiting for the phone to ring...
--WRT
Mission. Accomplished.
The signing of ex-Ottawa Senator Matt Cullen (who actually won the Stanley Cup when he was with the Carolina Hurricanes, in 2007) and ex-Texas Star Warren Peters (for depth) signify that the further erosion of the center position will not be allowed to happen.
(Sorry about that, Doug Risebrough.)
And for those of you that feel that the Wild lacked 'grit' at the end of last season, let's introduce some second-generation 'grit', namely Eric Nystrom, the son of ex-NY Islander great Bob Nystrom, he of the four Stanley Cup winning Islander teams of the 1970's. Nystrom was signed as a 'depth forward', hopefully to play alongside Cal Clutterbuck and, hopefully, rookie Casey Wellman at fourth line center (although some, including Michael Russo, hockey scribe extraordinaire at the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, think that James Sheppard will be the fourth-line center coming out of training camp.)
(And before some of you complain, I do apologize in advance for putting the names of 'Russo' and 'Sheppard' in the same sentence. One is no way in the league of the other. We all know that.)
Granted, some of the best Wild 'additions' were, in fact, 'additions by subtraction', as a good deal of the Wild's accumulated 'dead weight' are no longer on the roster, as Derek Boogaard now can honestly say, 'I am a Ranger', no thanks to his greedy, selfish ol' buddy, Marian Gaborik, who helped lure Boogaard to Manhattan after the Rangers' previous goon, Jody Shelley, signed a multi-year contract with the Philadelphia Flyers, who are indeed re-creating the 'Broad Street Bullies' of the mid-1970's at the south end of SEPTA's Broad Street Subway.
For those of you who participated last season in the 'Big John Scott' drinking game, we hope you enjoyed yourselves, as Scott signed a two-year deal with the Chicago Blackhawks on Day 1 of free agency.
Owen Nolan? Still out there, but rumor has it he may go to the Washington Capitals or any of the three California teams (Nolan just built a new house near San Jose, where he has business interests; Nolan was a Shark for 11 seasons).
Andrew Ebbett signed with the Phoenix Coyotes, so now Ed Jovanovski now owes Ebbett dinner for butt-ending Ebbett last season during a Wild-Coyotes game in Glendale. Just make sure the dinner isn't at Whataburger, OK?
Robbie Earl? Still available. Don't hesitate, don't everyone push all at once, now...
Granted, most Wild fans are waiting for the first-round draft choice of this season, 18-year-old Finnish SM-liiga wunderkind Mikael Granlund, already playing at the top level of one of Europe's top leagues, to start paying dividends after 2010-11, where he will remain with his Finnish Helsinki team for one more season, then come across the North Atlantic and probably compete right away for the third center position (unless the Wild manage to trade way one or both of their top centers.)
And then, there's the Pierre Marc-Bouchard saga to deal with. Will he be able to return from a severe concussion which has kept him out for all (except one game) of last season and the last three weeks of 2008-09? Even if he comes back, at what level will he be able to safely operate at? He will always have the fear of one more good bell ringing ending certainly his hockey career, and possibly his life. You have to ask yourself: at what point is it really WORTH it to continue playing hockey?
PMB comes with a very hefty $4.08M cap hit. The only way the Wild get out from under that permanently is for PMB to voluntarily retire. We know he really doesn't want to do that. He may, however, have no choice if his concussion symptoms continue. There is a long-term injured reserve exception to the salary cap, but the minute PMB steps back on the ice in a game situation, the LTIR is lifted, and the Wild are that much more over the salary cap.
So how are the Wild doing? Like all NHL teams, July is the time your team gets better. But, so does everyone else. The amount of dead weight around the League in general you would think would push those on the lower end of the scales to get better faster. Some will retire (Keith Tkaczuk, as example); some will play elsewhere (Martin Skoula signing with the KHL Avangard Omsk, for one. There are others. I'm just happy that Skoula will not be over here anymore) and some will just sit at home, waiting for the phone to ring...
--WRT
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