The hype has died down from the Wild Prospect Camp, the Wild Road tour, the release of the 2010-2011 NHL schedule (three weeks early, thank you NHL) and the Free Agent Frenzy of July 1st. So now, we blithely throw this question out for the multitudes to ponder:
OK, Minnesota Wild. What do you guys do for an encore? What little tidbit do you all dream up now, in order to keep the hockey-starved public happy until the start of Training Camp, scheduled for Sept. 17th?
Yes, we who go online regularly know about the 'State of Jääkiekko' Finnish-based hockey quiz, that those of us who actually do WORK while online at work, cannot ever join in. That we know about. We know the sales staff is busy. It's their time of the year to turn some on-the-fence people into 10-and-20 game ticket holders.
But what about the hockey staff? The rest of the organization? Do they all get the month of August off? Or are things being done to make the organization better, top to bottom?
We know the roster will be greatly improved, as much by subtractions (no more Boogaard, Hnidy, Irmen, Sifers, Dubielewicz, as examples) as by additions made thru free agency and the NHL Draft. We also know that the rest of the coaching staff (that is, what didn't change following the departure of Doug Risebrough and Jacques Lemaire after 2008-09) will also change going into this season. Mind you, we don't exactly agree with all the subtractions (Owen Nolan, for example), but the dead weight on the Wild's roster had to be eliminated. And, not all of them will find NHL jobs for next season. For some of the eliminated, the future in hockey looks, at best, very bleak, indeed.
On the other hand, relative newcomers such as Colton Gillies (coming off his 2009-10 year with the Houston Aeros), Casey Wellman, Nate Prosser, Tyler Cuma and Marco Scandella will all be on hand, pushing the established veterans hard enough so that some of them may just become something the Wild have rarely had, in their 10-year history:
Trade bait.
Showing posts with label Frolov. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Frolov. Show all posts
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Crowned: Kings blow out Wild as NYE crowd boos
By Wild Road Tripper
There's no other way to put it, Wild fans. Your team came out tonight and let the air out of your New Year's Eve celebration. Why? They forgot that THEY had to show up for the game.
The Los Angeles Kings, led by Alexander Frolov's two goals and the goal and assist of Michael Handzus, took full advantage of the fact that the Minnesota Wild did not come out ready to play, as the Kings blew out the Wild, 5-2, in a game where the Wild started out flat...and then went straight downhill from there.
Passes were not made at all. The Kings kept the Wild bottled up for shifts at a time, especially in the first period, when they scored the only three goals of that period, while the Wild looked like they were just going thru the motions of playing a pro hockey game. Passes in skates. Passes in shins. Everywhere there were passes, except where they were supposed to be going.
It was an awful evening for the 18,504 who witnessed this less-than-ideal (to say the least) exhibition of shinny, many of whom took the opportunity to boo lustily, curse out their heroes, and then leave early, so as to begin their New Year's Eve celebration before the players left to terrorize the town.
Needless to say, the New Year will not start well for the local sextet tomorrow at practice, as another team who got handed their lunch Thursday night arrives in St. Paul, to exact revenge on his old teammates. His name?
Jacques Lemaire.
Next Game: vs. New Jersey, Saturday, Jan. 2, 2010, 7:00 PM Central (8:00 PM Eastern) Time, Xcel Energy Center. (Wild TV: KSTC-45; Devils' TV: MSG, both feeds in HD; XM Radio, Ch. 209)
There's no other way to put it, Wild fans. Your team came out tonight and let the air out of your New Year's Eve celebration. Why? They forgot that THEY had to show up for the game.
The Los Angeles Kings, led by Alexander Frolov's two goals and the goal and assist of Michael Handzus, took full advantage of the fact that the Minnesota Wild did not come out ready to play, as the Kings blew out the Wild, 5-2, in a game where the Wild started out flat...and then went straight downhill from there.
Passes were not made at all. The Kings kept the Wild bottled up for shifts at a time, especially in the first period, when they scored the only three goals of that period, while the Wild looked like they were just going thru the motions of playing a pro hockey game. Passes in skates. Passes in shins. Everywhere there were passes, except where they were supposed to be going.
It was an awful evening for the 18,504 who witnessed this less-than-ideal (to say the least) exhibition of shinny, many of whom took the opportunity to boo lustily, curse out their heroes, and then leave early, so as to begin their New Year's Eve celebration before the players left to terrorize the town.
Needless to say, the New Year will not start well for the local sextet tomorrow at practice, as another team who got handed their lunch Thursday night arrives in St. Paul, to exact revenge on his old teammates. His name?
Jacques Lemaire.
Next Game: vs. New Jersey, Saturday, Jan. 2, 2010, 7:00 PM Central (8:00 PM Eastern) Time, Xcel Energy Center. (Wild TV: KSTC-45; Devils' TV: MSG, both feeds in HD; XM Radio, Ch. 209)
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