Five things to be thankful for this Minnesota Wild season...and a couple that we're having second thoughts about...
Let us try and be thankful for what NHL hockey fans in Minnesota have right now. Because, it could be much, much worse...
1. The play of Zach Parise is certainly worth the price of admission, if you're a Wild fan. He actually gets it, that it's the play EVERY night that determines how a team does. Practices the same way as he plays. Overcomes adversity like few the game has seen in a long, long time.
2. Ryan Suter has actually become a better player with less overall time on ice this season. Until recently, when 3 of the top 4 defensemen went out with injury and/or illness at the same time, Suter was on his way to less time on ice on a game-by-game basis. And, he was becoming a better defenseman for it. But, help is on the way, as his 'little buddy', Jonas Brodin, seems to have overcome the mumps and may be back for duty this weekend, vs. St. Louis on Saturday night.
3. The offense that is coming from the second line, with Nino Niederreiter as the team's leading scorer, is a welcome relief for what could have been a really stagnant line otherwise. Nino, indeed, knows how to put the 'biscuit in the basket'. Now, if he could only get Charlie Coyle going again...
4. Marco Scandella's maturation and development is a sight to behold. The No. 3 defenseman for the Wild right now, the fact that he is moving the puck and not just playing steady defense right now, speaks volumes as to his versatility and development. Scandella's play has inspired others to do the same, also.
5. The two-headed goalie tandem is back. Niklas Backstrom rolled over the Florida Panthers like a storm front Monday night; the only goal scored was a disputed high-stick call. Darcy Kuemper came back from a disastrous game on Nov. 16 vs. Winnipeg, to shut down the Philadelphia Flyers in Philly on Thursday night.
OK. That was the good stuff. Now, the bad stuff:
1. The power play is as abysmal as ever. If ever there was an option for not accepting a penalty against your opponent, the Wild could use that option about now. A wretched 1-for the season power play on the road does not make for happy coaches, players, or fans. Which leads me to Item No. 2...
2. Thomas Vanek. This isn't snakebit, folks. The snake would die of embarrassment if he bit Vanek, whose steadfast refusal to skate, hit or (especially) shoot the puck makes his $6.5M contract even a bigger albatross for Wild management than the two contracts that were vanquished from the books (Dany Heatley, Robert Parrish) and the one who got away (Clayton Stoner) who were cleared out to sign the ex-Gopher. Vanek thinks that every goal he scores should be a tip-in from in front of the net. Sadly, not every goal will be that way. But, don't tell Vanek that.
I'd rather have Jason Zucker and Erik Haula on the power play than Vanek, which makes the last 1:17 of Saturday night's 2-1 loss at Tampa even more puzzling. The coaching staff knows how little Vanek produces, yet they still put him out there. Anyone else would have been more productive.
Oh, yes, we'll still see Vanek out there, trying to cherry-pick at the red line, unable to help out on defense or the power play. And, he's into the Wild for about $19 million more the next three seasons. Happy, happy, joy, joy.
Let's see what happens the next five games, with four of the five teams in last season's playoffs. Then we'll be past the quarter mark, and four of the next five games at home. Let's all see what happens.
Together.
Showing posts with label Parise. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Parise. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 26, 2014
Friday, May 23, 2014
'The Six-Pack of Suck', Volume VII: Six that got away (literally)
I know, Minnesota Wild faithful. I'm looking at the glass and saying it's half-empty. But, in the words of the bard himself, William Shakespeare, 'Those who do not remember from history, are thereby doomed to repeat it.'
And so it goes for the seventh edition of 'The Six-Pack of Suck', six games that really should have gone the Wild's way, but the hockey gods (along with some really bad defense from the local six,) conspired to think otherwise. The lack of offense didn't help things, especially in the crucial holiday period, where visions of sugarplums danced in their heads, instead of visions of victories.
Oh, well...here we go...
1. October 5, 2013. Anaheim 4 at Minnesota 3 (OT). In this, Anaheim's only regular-season appearance in St. Paul, the Wild managed to lose in the last five seconds of the OT period after Mathieu Perrault (who the Ducks had just acquired from Washington) went in on Niklas Backstrom, and just like in the (supposedly) upcoming shootout, five-holed Minnesota's opening-season starter after both Marco Scandella and Jared Spurgeon failed to stop the Anaheim rush. Not even the lack of Teemu Selanne (held out by Anaheim coach Bruce Boudreau, as the next night Selanne would be feted in Winnpeg, where Selanne started his career) held back the Ducks, who started their season on a 3-game road trip.
2. November 27, 2013. Phoenix 3 at Minnesota 1. The Thanksgiving season has traditionally not been a good one for the Wild, and 2013's Thanksgiving Eve game was yet another served-up turkey, as the Wild basically stopped skating against the hungrier Coyotes. Zach Parise had been injured the previous game in St. Louis, taking a shot off his left instep; Mikael Granlund joined him on the IR after the first shift of the game, when he took a head shot and gained a concussion. This really started the Wild's downward spiral, which lasted most of the next six weeks.
3. November 29, 2013. Colorado 3 at Minnesota 1. 'Black Friday' took on a whole new meaning for the Wild, as the hottest team in the NHL in the first 60 days of the season -- the Avs -- rolled into the 'X' and basically laid down the law, as old Wild nemesis J. S. Giguere moved onto an easy victory, as the Wild went 2-2 on Black Friday in the last 4 full seasons. Matt Duchene, Nathan McKinnon, and an empty-net goal made sure the Wild would have rather gone shopping, than play hockey.
4. December 29, 2013. NY Islanders 5 at Minnesota 4. The Wild jumped out to a 3-goal lead on the Islanders, then sat back and watched as Cal Clutterbuck, Kyle Okposo (two goals) and Thomas Vanek (two assists) brought the Isles all the way back, in this Sunday night stinker. Wasted in this snooze-fest was Mikko Koivu's two-assist night and Nino Niederreiter's goal and assist. The Isles would win their third straight in a eight-win-in-nine-game stretch, to propel themselves onto the cusp of the Eastern Conference playoff race. The Wild, at this point, lost their fifth straight, and the future of Mike Yeo as Wild head coach was in jeopardy after this one.
5. January 14, 2014. Ottawa 3 at Minnesota 0. Following the Islanders game (listed above), the Wild went out and won five of the first six in 2014, and then were soundly brought back to Mother Earth, by a Senators' squad in a game which was exciting as watching paint dry. The Wild only managed three shots on goal in the first period, allowing Ottawa goalie Robin Lehner a virtual night off as the Sens went home victorious. 'We weren't moving our feet', said Mike Yeo after the game. No kidding, Mike.
6. March 11, 2014. Edmonton 4 at Minnesota 3 (SO). In the midst of a four-game homestand, with every point crucial in the Western Conference playoff race, one would think that a three-goal lead after 16 minutes would be a good thing for the home team, right? Think again, as the Oilers came back to tie the game, then win it in the shootout as the Oilers went 3-for-4 in the deciding session, sending Darcy Kuemper and the Wild off with an in-your-face, four round shootout loss. Despite Edmonton drawing a penalty with :09 left in regulation, the Wild fumbled, bumbled and blew a 2-goal lead in the last 8:54 of regulation time. Ugly loss, especially after blowing the big lead.
So, there it is. Six games, 10 points blown, and all home games! If the Wild want more noise and more fans in the seats, they cannot come up with games like these against inferior quality opponents. Only two of the six opponents listed even made the Stanley Cup Playoffs; and, no thanks to this group of lousy games, the Wild were relegated to wild-card status. If the Wild wish to take their coming of age seriously, they cannot have games like this affect their season. Two points are two points, regardless of when you get them. November points are just as good as March points.
I really hope the Wild gets the point when it comes to letting inferior teams off the hook. Next season, you can't do that. Just play better. Every night.
And so it goes for the seventh edition of 'The Six-Pack of Suck', six games that really should have gone the Wild's way, but the hockey gods (along with some really bad defense from the local six,) conspired to think otherwise. The lack of offense didn't help things, especially in the crucial holiday period, where visions of sugarplums danced in their heads, instead of visions of victories.
Oh, well...here we go...
1. October 5, 2013. Anaheim 4 at Minnesota 3 (OT). In this, Anaheim's only regular-season appearance in St. Paul, the Wild managed to lose in the last five seconds of the OT period after Mathieu Perrault (who the Ducks had just acquired from Washington) went in on Niklas Backstrom, and just like in the (supposedly) upcoming shootout, five-holed Minnesota's opening-season starter after both Marco Scandella and Jared Spurgeon failed to stop the Anaheim rush. Not even the lack of Teemu Selanne (held out by Anaheim coach Bruce Boudreau, as the next night Selanne would be feted in Winnpeg, where Selanne started his career) held back the Ducks, who started their season on a 3-game road trip.
2. November 27, 2013. Phoenix 3 at Minnesota 1. The Thanksgiving season has traditionally not been a good one for the Wild, and 2013's Thanksgiving Eve game was yet another served-up turkey, as the Wild basically stopped skating against the hungrier Coyotes. Zach Parise had been injured the previous game in St. Louis, taking a shot off his left instep; Mikael Granlund joined him on the IR after the first shift of the game, when he took a head shot and gained a concussion. This really started the Wild's downward spiral, which lasted most of the next six weeks.
3. November 29, 2013. Colorado 3 at Minnesota 1. 'Black Friday' took on a whole new meaning for the Wild, as the hottest team in the NHL in the first 60 days of the season -- the Avs -- rolled into the 'X' and basically laid down the law, as old Wild nemesis J. S. Giguere moved onto an easy victory, as the Wild went 2-2 on Black Friday in the last 4 full seasons. Matt Duchene, Nathan McKinnon, and an empty-net goal made sure the Wild would have rather gone shopping, than play hockey.
4. December 29, 2013. NY Islanders 5 at Minnesota 4. The Wild jumped out to a 3-goal lead on the Islanders, then sat back and watched as Cal Clutterbuck, Kyle Okposo (two goals) and Thomas Vanek (two assists) brought the Isles all the way back, in this Sunday night stinker. Wasted in this snooze-fest was Mikko Koivu's two-assist night and Nino Niederreiter's goal and assist. The Isles would win their third straight in a eight-win-in-nine-game stretch, to propel themselves onto the cusp of the Eastern Conference playoff race. The Wild, at this point, lost their fifth straight, and the future of Mike Yeo as Wild head coach was in jeopardy after this one.
5. January 14, 2014. Ottawa 3 at Minnesota 0. Following the Islanders game (listed above), the Wild went out and won five of the first six in 2014, and then were soundly brought back to Mother Earth, by a Senators' squad in a game which was exciting as watching paint dry. The Wild only managed three shots on goal in the first period, allowing Ottawa goalie Robin Lehner a virtual night off as the Sens went home victorious. 'We weren't moving our feet', said Mike Yeo after the game. No kidding, Mike.
6. March 11, 2014. Edmonton 4 at Minnesota 3 (SO). In the midst of a four-game homestand, with every point crucial in the Western Conference playoff race, one would think that a three-goal lead after 16 minutes would be a good thing for the home team, right? Think again, as the Oilers came back to tie the game, then win it in the shootout as the Oilers went 3-for-4 in the deciding session, sending Darcy Kuemper and the Wild off with an in-your-face, four round shootout loss. Despite Edmonton drawing a penalty with :09 left in regulation, the Wild fumbled, bumbled and blew a 2-goal lead in the last 8:54 of regulation time. Ugly loss, especially after blowing the big lead.
So, there it is. Six games, 10 points blown, and all home games! If the Wild want more noise and more fans in the seats, they cannot come up with games like these against inferior quality opponents. Only two of the six opponents listed even made the Stanley Cup Playoffs; and, no thanks to this group of lousy games, the Wild were relegated to wild-card status. If the Wild wish to take their coming of age seriously, they cannot have games like this affect their season. Two points are two points, regardless of when you get them. November points are just as good as March points.
I really hope the Wild gets the point when it comes to letting inferior teams off the hook. Next season, you can't do that. Just play better. Every night.
Monday, March 11, 2013
Don't look now, North America; Wild are in 1st
Yes, it's fleeting, but it's still the truth as shortened schedule passes half-way mark
Sorry, North America, but we really hate to break this news to all of you:
The Minnesota Wild are in third place in the NHL's Western Conference, and lead the Northwest Division this Monday morning. Now, granted, it might not be that way for long, but for now, the Wild have the most wins of any team in the division, and that tie-breaker (with Vancouver) means the Wild are No. 1. For now.
With a 7-2-1 record in their last 10 games, the Wild have pretty much proven the naysayers wrong, despite the overwhelming feeling about the offseason signings of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter by the Wild. Yes, it's taken time, and a lot of Wild fan angst, but it looks like the Wild may -- MAY -- have just possibly found themselves in time to salvage the season and possibly break away from a lot of the 9-team middle-of-Conference pack that currently exists in the West. The Wild may also have a hand in the deciding of the Pacific Division as well; they have 10 games remaining against the Pacific, starting with Tuesday night's season-series finale with the current Pacific Division leaders, the Anaheim Ducks.
In fact, Anaheim will be only the second team in the conference the Wild will finish with (Nashville the other) before the Wild go on their next road trip, a 3-game trek to Colorado, Vancouver and Detroit, starting with the game Saturday afternoon in Denver. On the other hand, the Wild have yet to face either of the other two California teams, the San Jose Sharks and the defending Stanley Cup champion LA Kings. In fact, on the NHL Trade Deadline day (April 3) the Wild will conveinently be in San Jose, so if Wild GM Chuck Fletcher makes a move, any player that can be moved can be easily dispatched to whatever point on the NHL compass the trade winds take them.
But, between now and then, there's 11 games (6 home, 5 road) to be played, another nearly 1/4 of the season. So there's time for players to play themselves into, or out of, the day-to-day lineup. Or, should the so choose, all the way off the roster. But the fact is starting to stare at all 30 NHL teams, that the last chance to dump salary (of potential UFA's to be), or get anything of value for players whose welcome has worn thin (or totally out) is coming upon them like a bad storm across the prairie.
Especially this season, this shortened season, this last season before divisional re-alignment, the Trade Deadline day should, in my honest opinion, yield a few surprises along with a couple of shocker moves; the number of medium-level free agents-to-be almost demands that some blockbuster trades happen.
The Wild need to dump salary. They would like to do so and actually get something in return. The franchise is finally getting out of the Risebrough era, albeit slower than most Wild fans would like them to; this summer should finally close the books on the DR reign of the Wild. Now, some of that will be tough (how do you give up on Niklas Backstrom, for example, the way he has played for most of the season so far?) and some of it will be easy (Pierre-Marc Bouchard), and some others will be tough to swallow for some (if Matt Cullen is moved, as example) but the fact is that the Wild are positioned to get younger, bigger and even more talented than they are now. And most followers agree, that this is already the most talented Wild roster in their history.
So what to do? This team needs to make the playoffs -- THIS season -- in order to show Minnesota hockey fans progress towards the success that this market has for so long craved. Even if the end result this season is a one-series 'one-and-done', even that would be considered progress. Then, and only then, would this season be worth it for Wild fans.
Sorry, North America, but we really hate to break this news to all of you:
The Minnesota Wild are in third place in the NHL's Western Conference, and lead the Northwest Division this Monday morning. Now, granted, it might not be that way for long, but for now, the Wild have the most wins of any team in the division, and that tie-breaker (with Vancouver) means the Wild are No. 1. For now.
With a 7-2-1 record in their last 10 games, the Wild have pretty much proven the naysayers wrong, despite the overwhelming feeling about the offseason signings of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter by the Wild. Yes, it's taken time, and a lot of Wild fan angst, but it looks like the Wild may -- MAY -- have just possibly found themselves in time to salvage the season and possibly break away from a lot of the 9-team middle-of-Conference pack that currently exists in the West. The Wild may also have a hand in the deciding of the Pacific Division as well; they have 10 games remaining against the Pacific, starting with Tuesday night's season-series finale with the current Pacific Division leaders, the Anaheim Ducks.
In fact, Anaheim will be only the second team in the conference the Wild will finish with (Nashville the other) before the Wild go on their next road trip, a 3-game trek to Colorado, Vancouver and Detroit, starting with the game Saturday afternoon in Denver. On the other hand, the Wild have yet to face either of the other two California teams, the San Jose Sharks and the defending Stanley Cup champion LA Kings. In fact, on the NHL Trade Deadline day (April 3) the Wild will conveinently be in San Jose, so if Wild GM Chuck Fletcher makes a move, any player that can be moved can be easily dispatched to whatever point on the NHL compass the trade winds take them.
But, between now and then, there's 11 games (6 home, 5 road) to be played, another nearly 1/4 of the season. So there's time for players to play themselves into, or out of, the day-to-day lineup. Or, should the so choose, all the way off the roster. But the fact is starting to stare at all 30 NHL teams, that the last chance to dump salary (of potential UFA's to be), or get anything of value for players whose welcome has worn thin (or totally out) is coming upon them like a bad storm across the prairie.
Especially this season, this shortened season, this last season before divisional re-alignment, the Trade Deadline day should, in my honest opinion, yield a few surprises along with a couple of shocker moves; the number of medium-level free agents-to-be almost demands that some blockbuster trades happen.
The Wild need to dump salary. They would like to do so and actually get something in return. The franchise is finally getting out of the Risebrough era, albeit slower than most Wild fans would like them to; this summer should finally close the books on the DR reign of the Wild. Now, some of that will be tough (how do you give up on Niklas Backstrom, for example, the way he has played for most of the season so far?) and some of it will be easy (Pierre-Marc Bouchard), and some others will be tough to swallow for some (if Matt Cullen is moved, as example) but the fact is that the Wild are positioned to get younger, bigger and even more talented than they are now. And most followers agree, that this is already the most talented Wild roster in their history.
So what to do? This team needs to make the playoffs -- THIS season -- in order to show Minnesota hockey fans progress towards the success that this market has for so long craved. Even if the end result this season is a one-series 'one-and-done', even that would be considered progress. Then, and only then, would this season be worth it for Wild fans.
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, September 2, 2012
Thirteen days...and counting...
Despite growing public condemnation, owners, Bettman adamant about regressing NHL hockey despite record profits, revenues
Thirteen days to go. Thirteen days.
On Saturday, Sept. 15th, the owners and their representative, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, will lock the players out for the third time in Bettman's 19-year tenure.
There will be no NHL hockey. Players will be left to fend for themselves, while the owners will squirrel away cash to tide their franchises over until a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) is agreed to. Meanwhile, Bettman still gets paid his reportedly $8,000,000 million annual salary. (By contrast, Donald Fehr, the ex-MLBPA head now running the NHLPA, gets no salary until -- and, unless -- a new CBA is agreed to. This is the way most lawyers work, on contingency.)
Meanwhile, thousands of part-time NHL team employees, and employees of businesses who depend on hockey -- bars, restuarants, hotels, even transit authorities and airlines (who charter planes for NHL team travel) -- are laid-off or have their hours sharply reduced. The fans are disillusioned yet again, for the third time in a generation. All for the unbridled greed of a few owners (who don't want to revenue share) and the mis-steps of Bettman himself (whose 'Southern Strategy' has been proven to be an unqualified failure).
Marginal players -- not the superstars, who have provisions built into their contracts so they will get paid (or, already have) regardless whether they play or not -- will suffer. Despite the NHLPA's two-year warning to squirrel away cash for a long lockout, some may have not done so. Now, it just may be too late.
No one on one side wants to listen to the other side. Talks broke off last Friday, with no new sessions scheduled. Compromise? With the owner who already has engulfed, and devoured, more than half the cable TV industry in the USA? With the owner who feeds more people in stadiums and arenas, than any other? With the owner, who is still playing with Union Pacific Railroad money? With the de facto owner of the Phoenix franchise? Hell no, they won't compromise. No one wants to compromise on the owners side. They all seem united to keep hockey from the fans, after a 2011-2012 season which was one of the best, start-to-finish, in the history of the League.
As has been pointed out many, many times...the current, expiring CBA is the one that the owners wanted IN THE FIRST PLACE. The players already gave back 24% of their salaries. Now they're being asked to give back nearly the same amount...again. Since the loopholes in the current CBA have been exploited (yes, including signing Ryan Suter and Zach Parise by the Minnesota Wild), now you're trying to put the proverbial horse back in the barn, not by the carrot, but soley by the (hockey) stick?
Sorry, NHL owners, but this time, you lose the biggest court battle of all, that of the court of public opinion. And you lose it not for what the other side has done, but what your own side has not done. On one hand, your teams are going along, trying to sell tickets, merchandise, etc., like absolutely nothing is wrong. On the other hand, your personnel departments are ready to hand out lay-off notices and pink slips like a post-war parade. If you would face the reality of the situation, stop the subterfuge and negotiate in good faith, this could all be stopped, dead in its' tracks. And the hockey season could be saved for the fans, fans whom the Commissioner said were, 'the best fans in the world.'
Well, aren't we?
Thirteen days to go. Thirteen days.
On Saturday, Sept. 15th, the owners and their representative, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, will lock the players out for the third time in Bettman's 19-year tenure.
There will be no NHL hockey. Players will be left to fend for themselves, while the owners will squirrel away cash to tide their franchises over until a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) is agreed to. Meanwhile, Bettman still gets paid his reportedly $8,000,000 million annual salary. (By contrast, Donald Fehr, the ex-MLBPA head now running the NHLPA, gets no salary until -- and, unless -- a new CBA is agreed to. This is the way most lawyers work, on contingency.)
Meanwhile, thousands of part-time NHL team employees, and employees of businesses who depend on hockey -- bars, restuarants, hotels, even transit authorities and airlines (who charter planes for NHL team travel) -- are laid-off or have their hours sharply reduced. The fans are disillusioned yet again, for the third time in a generation. All for the unbridled greed of a few owners (who don't want to revenue share) and the mis-steps of Bettman himself (whose 'Southern Strategy' has been proven to be an unqualified failure).
Marginal players -- not the superstars, who have provisions built into their contracts so they will get paid (or, already have) regardless whether they play or not -- will suffer. Despite the NHLPA's two-year warning to squirrel away cash for a long lockout, some may have not done so. Now, it just may be too late.
No one on one side wants to listen to the other side. Talks broke off last Friday, with no new sessions scheduled. Compromise? With the owner who already has engulfed, and devoured, more than half the cable TV industry in the USA? With the owner who feeds more people in stadiums and arenas, than any other? With the owner, who is still playing with Union Pacific Railroad money? With the de facto owner of the Phoenix franchise? Hell no, they won't compromise. No one wants to compromise on the owners side. They all seem united to keep hockey from the fans, after a 2011-2012 season which was one of the best, start-to-finish, in the history of the League.
As has been pointed out many, many times...the current, expiring CBA is the one that the owners wanted IN THE FIRST PLACE. The players already gave back 24% of their salaries. Now they're being asked to give back nearly the same amount...again. Since the loopholes in the current CBA have been exploited (yes, including signing Ryan Suter and Zach Parise by the Minnesota Wild), now you're trying to put the proverbial horse back in the barn, not by the carrot, but soley by the (hockey) stick?
Sorry, NHL owners, but this time, you lose the biggest court battle of all, that of the court of public opinion. And you lose it not for what the other side has done, but what your own side has not done. On one hand, your teams are going along, trying to sell tickets, merchandise, etc., like absolutely nothing is wrong. On the other hand, your personnel departments are ready to hand out lay-off notices and pink slips like a post-war parade. If you would face the reality of the situation, stop the subterfuge and negotiate in good faith, this could all be stopped, dead in its' tracks. And the hockey season could be saved for the fans, fans whom the Commissioner said were, 'the best fans in the world.'
Well, aren't we?
Saturday, July 28, 2012
This 'n' That
(We haven't done 'This 'n' That in a while. Just my thoughts on various Minnesota Wild-related stuff. Charge on, dear reader...)
Free Agent signings of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter: Face it, Wild fans. This isn't supposed to happen to a Minnesota pro sports franchise. Minnesota isn't supposed to be able to outbid the likes of Philadelphia and the Rangers for players like these. The fact that both former unrestricted free agents are from this part of the world helped, but when you make enough money to live anywhere in the world, this just isn't supposed to happen. I'm still in shock, and I still won't believe it, until I see both in Wild sweaters, on the ice, at Xcel Energy Center.
Yes, it IS a lot of money. But isn't it refreshing, that one organization in this town had the wherewithal to actually use the rules, as they currently agreed to, in order to improve themselves this dramatically? Like a lot of you, my Twitter account was being constantly refreshed on July 3 & 4, as the saga played out online.
Other Wild signings (Zenon Konopka, Torrey Mitchell, Brian Campbell) during free agency: Not a lot of Wild fans see any of these signings as improving the franchise a whole lot. I say: not so! The signing of Mitchell, a first-class frustrator and a favorite of San Jose Sharks fans, will fill a definite need in the penalty kill department, taking some of the load off of the likes of Mikko Koivu and Darroll Powe. Konopka assures that we have four true centers in our top four center slots; also, who wants to take liberties with Mikael Granlund, Parise, Koivu, etc., when you have both Konopka and Matt Kassian available for pugilistic duty?
Campbell, who came over from Calgary, hopefully will have signed up for Delta SkyMiles by the start of the season, as his lot with this team will be on the shuttle between Houston and MSP.
The kids are alright: After attending both scrimmages during prospect camp earlier this month, the future of the Wild organization has never looked this good. The last vestiges of the old Doug Risebrough regime have been totally swept away. The Wild are truly Chuck Fletcher's team now. And, it shows, as the quailty and quantity of talent have been markedly improved, both at the NHL level (and how!) and at the AHL level, as fans of the Houston Aeros can actually think that their team may just stay together long enough, to possibly make a Calder Cup run. Matt Dumba, the Wild's first-round draft choice, is the real deal, as is Jonas Brodin, Charlie Coyle, Nate Prosser, and all the other young guns that Fletcher & Co., have manged to stockpile thru four gruelling (for fans, at least) non-playoff seasons in St. Paul.
The coaching staff has an invaluable season of NHL experience under their collective belts together: another start like last season, and avoiding the injury plague which disabled the team in mid-December, will go a long way as to where this Wild team will actually wind up. Landing a spot in the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs is not a possibility with this team. With the way the Wild has acted this summer, it has become an expectation, for which failure will not be an option.
But, will we even HAVE a 2013 playoffs? Or a 2012-2013 regular season? Will the NHL and the Players Association come together, for the good of the game and the fans, to ensure labor peace? Will Gary Bettman and Don Fehr, two skilled negotiators, come to an agreement to save the start of training camp (Sept. 21 for the Wild), or will the dispute over hockey-related revenues escalate, to the point of the sport's second lockout in less than a decade? With one franchise (Phoenix) on life support, costing both sides (owners AND players) millions of dollars, and several others getting perilously close, what will happen for the League in the next few years financially? Will we have meaningful re-alignment? Franchise stability, or several more Atlanta Thrashers-style post-season moves?
Yes, they are talking. Issues and proposals have been passed across tables in both New York and Toronto. But will it all be done in time to prevent the owners to lock the players (and, fans) out?
The 800-pound gorilla in the room needs attention. And soon. Otherwise, we will have the unfortunate result of Lockout No. 2...much to the dismay of the Wild faithful. Just when we had momentum, will the Wild have lost it going into Fall, 2012?
Only Craig Leipold knows for sure, and he isn't talking ('cuz he'll get fined, substantially, if he does.)
Free Agent signings of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter: Face it, Wild fans. This isn't supposed to happen to a Minnesota pro sports franchise. Minnesota isn't supposed to be able to outbid the likes of Philadelphia and the Rangers for players like these. The fact that both former unrestricted free agents are from this part of the world helped, but when you make enough money to live anywhere in the world, this just isn't supposed to happen. I'm still in shock, and I still won't believe it, until I see both in Wild sweaters, on the ice, at Xcel Energy Center.
Yes, it IS a lot of money. But isn't it refreshing, that one organization in this town had the wherewithal to actually use the rules, as they currently agreed to, in order to improve themselves this dramatically? Like a lot of you, my Twitter account was being constantly refreshed on July 3 & 4, as the saga played out online.
Other Wild signings (Zenon Konopka, Torrey Mitchell, Brian Campbell) during free agency: Not a lot of Wild fans see any of these signings as improving the franchise a whole lot. I say: not so! The signing of Mitchell, a first-class frustrator and a favorite of San Jose Sharks fans, will fill a definite need in the penalty kill department, taking some of the load off of the likes of Mikko Koivu and Darroll Powe. Konopka assures that we have four true centers in our top four center slots; also, who wants to take liberties with Mikael Granlund, Parise, Koivu, etc., when you have both Konopka and Matt Kassian available for pugilistic duty?
Campbell, who came over from Calgary, hopefully will have signed up for Delta SkyMiles by the start of the season, as his lot with this team will be on the shuttle between Houston and MSP.
The kids are alright: After attending both scrimmages during prospect camp earlier this month, the future of the Wild organization has never looked this good. The last vestiges of the old Doug Risebrough regime have been totally swept away. The Wild are truly Chuck Fletcher's team now. And, it shows, as the quailty and quantity of talent have been markedly improved, both at the NHL level (and how!) and at the AHL level, as fans of the Houston Aeros can actually think that their team may just stay together long enough, to possibly make a Calder Cup run. Matt Dumba, the Wild's first-round draft choice, is the real deal, as is Jonas Brodin, Charlie Coyle, Nate Prosser, and all the other young guns that Fletcher & Co., have manged to stockpile thru four gruelling (for fans, at least) non-playoff seasons in St. Paul.
The coaching staff has an invaluable season of NHL experience under their collective belts together: another start like last season, and avoiding the injury plague which disabled the team in mid-December, will go a long way as to where this Wild team will actually wind up. Landing a spot in the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs is not a possibility with this team. With the way the Wild has acted this summer, it has become an expectation, for which failure will not be an option.
But, will we even HAVE a 2013 playoffs? Or a 2012-2013 regular season? Will the NHL and the Players Association come together, for the good of the game and the fans, to ensure labor peace? Will Gary Bettman and Don Fehr, two skilled negotiators, come to an agreement to save the start of training camp (Sept. 21 for the Wild), or will the dispute over hockey-related revenues escalate, to the point of the sport's second lockout in less than a decade? With one franchise (Phoenix) on life support, costing both sides (owners AND players) millions of dollars, and several others getting perilously close, what will happen for the League in the next few years financially? Will we have meaningful re-alignment? Franchise stability, or several more Atlanta Thrashers-style post-season moves?
Yes, they are talking. Issues and proposals have been passed across tables in both New York and Toronto. But will it all be done in time to prevent the owners to lock the players (and, fans) out?
The 800-pound gorilla in the room needs attention. And soon. Otherwise, we will have the unfortunate result of Lockout No. 2...much to the dismay of the Wild faithful. Just when we had momentum, will the Wild have lost it going into Fall, 2012?
Only Craig Leipold knows for sure, and he isn't talking ('cuz he'll get fined, substantially, if he does.)
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Wild, 2012-13: 'A special place for a long time'
Signings of Parise, Suter overwhelm Wild, fans as memorable day unfolds
By Wild Road Tripper
And most Minnesota Wild fans didn't believe it couldn't get done. Yes, even including this blogger.
But, they did it. The Independence Day signings of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter, the two most sought-after NHL free agents, now propels the Wild into the realm of the NHL's elite franchises. The Twitter hashtags of #Parisewatch, and #Suterwatch, will forever hold special place in the hearts of the Wild faithful, as the three-day watch held Minnesota sports fans and media in mesmerizing suspense, as word kept reaching the hockey-crazed masses that both were available, IF...the Price was Right.
At $98 million each, over 13 seasons, front-loaded to receive $24 million in the next 13 months, the fact that they took less money to sign in Minnesota than, say, Detroit or Pittsburgh, the fact that the Wild won this multi-dimensional, multi-directional battle, despite digging out from their dismal finish in 2011-12, and jettisoning enough salary in the last three seasons to make this fit under the NHL's salary cap (at least, the current version), took a masterful stroke by GM Chuck Fletcher and his staff, especially as the negotiations dragged on past the first day of free agency.
Needless to say, the buzz generated by the signings blew up the phone lines at the Wild sales offices, where eight representatives were on duty this morning in advance of the signings...just in case. By mid-day, all sales employees were asked to report, in order to answer the phalanx of calls, as hold times reached 30 minutes-plus in the early afternoon.
Even KFAN, the team's flagship radio station, had to scrap their scheduled 'best of' programming for the afternoon, for six hours of all-Wild-hockey, all-the-time talk, with numerous Wild 'personalities' sprinkled throughout the day. Into the evening, the station ran the first three hours of the afternoon's events (from 6-9 PM, Central Time).
You need to sit back now, dear Wild fan, and just dream...of a NHL Winter Classic (Minnesota in 2014? Craig Leipold says it just may happen...now), a trip back into the playoffs, for the first time in four seasons...and remember, it WAS the number 8 seed that went to the Stanley Cup finals from the Western Conference last month...and won it all...
Good things yet to come? Ya, sure, you betcha there. And I'm still on board for the ride. You?
By Wild Road Tripper
And most Minnesota Wild fans didn't believe it couldn't get done. Yes, even including this blogger.
But, they did it. The Independence Day signings of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter, the two most sought-after NHL free agents, now propels the Wild into the realm of the NHL's elite franchises. The Twitter hashtags of #Parisewatch, and #Suterwatch, will forever hold special place in the hearts of the Wild faithful, as the three-day watch held Minnesota sports fans and media in mesmerizing suspense, as word kept reaching the hockey-crazed masses that both were available, IF...the Price was Right.
At $98 million each, over 13 seasons, front-loaded to receive $24 million in the next 13 months, the fact that they took less money to sign in Minnesota than, say, Detroit or Pittsburgh, the fact that the Wild won this multi-dimensional, multi-directional battle, despite digging out from their dismal finish in 2011-12, and jettisoning enough salary in the last three seasons to make this fit under the NHL's salary cap (at least, the current version), took a masterful stroke by GM Chuck Fletcher and his staff, especially as the negotiations dragged on past the first day of free agency.
Needless to say, the buzz generated by the signings blew up the phone lines at the Wild sales offices, where eight representatives were on duty this morning in advance of the signings...just in case. By mid-day, all sales employees were asked to report, in order to answer the phalanx of calls, as hold times reached 30 minutes-plus in the early afternoon.
Even KFAN, the team's flagship radio station, had to scrap their scheduled 'best of' programming for the afternoon, for six hours of all-Wild-hockey, all-the-time talk, with numerous Wild 'personalities' sprinkled throughout the day. Into the evening, the station ran the first three hours of the afternoon's events (from 6-9 PM, Central Time).
You need to sit back now, dear Wild fan, and just dream...of a NHL Winter Classic (Minnesota in 2014? Craig Leipold says it just may happen...now), a trip back into the playoffs, for the first time in four seasons...and remember, it WAS the number 8 seed that went to the Stanley Cup finals from the Western Conference last month...and won it all...
Good things yet to come? Ya, sure, you betcha there. And I'm still on board for the ride. You?
Sunday, May 27, 2012
OK, Granlund's finally signed. Now what?
After biggest rookie signing in team history, Wild fans now ask: What will team do for an encore?
The angst was, indeed, for naught.
The Tuesday signing of Mikael Granlund to his first NHL contract -- an event which was scheduled, announced, but still not believed by most Minnesota Wild fans until the ink was on the paper -- closed the latest chapter on GM Chuck Fletcher's master rebuilding plan, as the IIHF World Championships in Helsinki ended, and, as scheduled, Granlund didn't bail out on Minnesota. He did exactly what he had said he would do. Now, then, the next question for Wild fans:
What do the Wild do for an encore?
The NHL Draft is less than four weeks away, at CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh, on June 22 & 23. Will that be the next big acquisition day? Will the Draft bring another big trade, such as last season's Brent Burns - Devin Setoguchi swap, announced at Xcel Energy Center during the first round of the 2011 Draft?
Or will the trade embargo lift, 48 hours after the last game of the upcoming Devils-Kings Stanley Cup Finals, to a crescendo of trade activity which might give the Wild an inside shot at a number of players who might just help dramatically improve the roster?
Or, will we all just sit back and wait until Free Agency Day, and watch the NHL Network (who will, once again, carry the TSN feed), as player after player changes teams for greener pastures, while the Wild sit idly by, and take the best remaining leftover?
Rumors abound about a myriad of players, especially about the two biggest potential free agents -- Devils winger Zach Parise, and Predators defenseman Ryan Suter. Everything so far is just that -- a rumor -- but the fact is that these two players, and many, many more, are about to get paid, and some serious amount of coin will slide across Fletcher's table, as well as the tables of the 29 other NHL clubs. The buzz will amp up the week before, as the Wild Summer Bash road trip (also known as the start of the Anthony Lapanta as Wild play-by-play announcer sell-job) trudges across Minnesota in the height of the mosquito season. The fact that the tour ends up at the John Rose Oval in Roseville, instead of the X, is also indicative of this being less about the current Wild team than normal.
No conspiracy theories here, folks. Just some thought, that the Wild need to do a better sell job on their current ticket holders, and that this may be (or may NOT be, we'll see) a way to start the summer sales campaign off. With the Twins tanking, the Vikings stadium woes finally behind the state, and the Timberwolves doing no better than the Wild, this is the time the Wild sales staff need to step up their efforts to sell hope to the masses.
Of course, the hockey operations staff could make life a lot easier for the sales department, by signing a couple of the big name players rumored to be hitting the market, to help out the bumper crop of rookies and second-year players, who are expected to make the Wild roster on Opening Day, 2012 (whenever THAT may be), CBA negotiations not withstanding.
Oh, snap! I forgot to acknowledge the 800-pound gorilla in the room. The CBA negotiations, which have not even begun yet, between the owners and players, with the two sides gearing up to act like an episode of, 'the Bickersons', across a table in Toronto.
Maybe we don't have to worry about a season after all...
The angst was, indeed, for naught.
The Tuesday signing of Mikael Granlund to his first NHL contract -- an event which was scheduled, announced, but still not believed by most Minnesota Wild fans until the ink was on the paper -- closed the latest chapter on GM Chuck Fletcher's master rebuilding plan, as the IIHF World Championships in Helsinki ended, and, as scheduled, Granlund didn't bail out on Minnesota. He did exactly what he had said he would do. Now, then, the next question for Wild fans:
What do the Wild do for an encore?
The NHL Draft is less than four weeks away, at CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh, on June 22 & 23. Will that be the next big acquisition day? Will the Draft bring another big trade, such as last season's Brent Burns - Devin Setoguchi swap, announced at Xcel Energy Center during the first round of the 2011 Draft?
Or will the trade embargo lift, 48 hours after the last game of the upcoming Devils-Kings Stanley Cup Finals, to a crescendo of trade activity which might give the Wild an inside shot at a number of players who might just help dramatically improve the roster?
Or, will we all just sit back and wait until Free Agency Day, and watch the NHL Network (who will, once again, carry the TSN feed), as player after player changes teams for greener pastures, while the Wild sit idly by, and take the best remaining leftover?
Rumors abound about a myriad of players, especially about the two biggest potential free agents -- Devils winger Zach Parise, and Predators defenseman Ryan Suter. Everything so far is just that -- a rumor -- but the fact is that these two players, and many, many more, are about to get paid, and some serious amount of coin will slide across Fletcher's table, as well as the tables of the 29 other NHL clubs. The buzz will amp up the week before, as the Wild Summer Bash road trip (also known as the start of the Anthony Lapanta as Wild play-by-play announcer sell-job) trudges across Minnesota in the height of the mosquito season. The fact that the tour ends up at the John Rose Oval in Roseville, instead of the X, is also indicative of this being less about the current Wild team than normal.
No conspiracy theories here, folks. Just some thought, that the Wild need to do a better sell job on their current ticket holders, and that this may be (or may NOT be, we'll see) a way to start the summer sales campaign off. With the Twins tanking, the Vikings stadium woes finally behind the state, and the Timberwolves doing no better than the Wild, this is the time the Wild sales staff need to step up their efforts to sell hope to the masses.
Of course, the hockey operations staff could make life a lot easier for the sales department, by signing a couple of the big name players rumored to be hitting the market, to help out the bumper crop of rookies and second-year players, who are expected to make the Wild roster on Opening Day, 2012 (whenever THAT may be), CBA negotiations not withstanding.
Oh, snap! I forgot to acknowledge the 800-pound gorilla in the room. The CBA negotiations, which have not even begun yet, between the owners and players, with the two sides gearing up to act like an episode of, 'the Bickersons', across a table in Toronto.
Maybe we don't have to worry about a season after all...
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Forty Days and 40 Nights
'To-Do' list for Minnesota Wild is long, daunting as Granlund signing, June draft, free agency approach
As the Stanley Cup Playoffs near their end, and yet another season is finally in the record books, the Minnesota Wild turn their eyes towards the future, both in the short and long-term, as there are four major dates to consider in the next 40 days:
1. June 1st. The date by which GM Chuck Fletcher must have his prized first-round pick of 2010, Mikael Granlund, signed to an NHL contract, or he goes back into the draft pool to be chosen again. The Wild have repeatedly assured fans and media that he will sign, after Finland's final game in the IIHF World Championships. That game is being played as I write this at Helsinki's Hartwall Areena, which became a house of horrors for the Wild in October, 2010 during the NHL Premiere series vs. the Carolina Hurricanes. Hopefully this time, the Wild will actually get it right and pull out a 'W' from the granite-walled edifice, by getting Granlund in the fold, once and for all.
2. June 22 -- 23. NHL Draft, CONSOL Energy Center, Pittsburgh. OK, most Wild fans were frustrated after last season's epic crash-and-burn. This is where they begin to make up for all that losing, all that spent angst, all the injuries and patched-up line-ups. Fletcher and the scouting staff need to score big here, to continue to upgrade an organization, which is still suffering the effects of the Doug Risebrough years, of trading away draft picks for washed-up vets, and marginal third-and-fourth-line players. (Bill Muckault, anyone?)
3. July 1. NHL Free Agency Day. The day that Fletcher really needs to be at the top of his game, as he has been given the ability to sign the two biggest names in the free agency pool -- Zach Parise and Ryan Suter -- together, which would please most Wild fans no end. But can the staff sell the potential free agents that the Wild are headed in the right direction, for the medium-and-long term? And, if either or both of those sign elsewhere, then who do you go for? Or do you sit back, play the kids next season and hope for even better players to test free agency after the 2012-13 season (if we even have one, which brings me to the next point...)
Sept. 15th. NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement expires. Without a new CBA in place, it is doubtful there will even BE a 2012-13 season, so adamant that both sides are in their positions. Negotiations have, so far, barely begun, and no official negotiating sessions have even taken place, yet all signs point to at least a delay to, if not a total cancellation of, the start of next season. The NHL owners want a 50-50 spilt of all hockey-related revenues; currently, that split is 57-43 in favor of the players. The NFL and NBA currently have similar revenue splits. After what looks to be a classic East Coast-West Coast Stanley Cup Final upcoming, to have this goodwill be crushed like this over a labor dispute is the last thing either side (owners or players) need.
Wild fans just need to wait and see how all this plays out, because for better or for worse, the fact is that for this franchise, the only game that they can play right now, is a waiting game.
As the Stanley Cup Playoffs near their end, and yet another season is finally in the record books, the Minnesota Wild turn their eyes towards the future, both in the short and long-term, as there are four major dates to consider in the next 40 days:
1. June 1st. The date by which GM Chuck Fletcher must have his prized first-round pick of 2010, Mikael Granlund, signed to an NHL contract, or he goes back into the draft pool to be chosen again. The Wild have repeatedly assured fans and media that he will sign, after Finland's final game in the IIHF World Championships. That game is being played as I write this at Helsinki's Hartwall Areena, which became a house of horrors for the Wild in October, 2010 during the NHL Premiere series vs. the Carolina Hurricanes. Hopefully this time, the Wild will actually get it right and pull out a 'W' from the granite-walled edifice, by getting Granlund in the fold, once and for all.
2. June 22 -- 23. NHL Draft, CONSOL Energy Center, Pittsburgh. OK, most Wild fans were frustrated after last season's epic crash-and-burn. This is where they begin to make up for all that losing, all that spent angst, all the injuries and patched-up line-ups. Fletcher and the scouting staff need to score big here, to continue to upgrade an organization, which is still suffering the effects of the Doug Risebrough years, of trading away draft picks for washed-up vets, and marginal third-and-fourth-line players. (Bill Muckault, anyone?)
3. July 1. NHL Free Agency Day. The day that Fletcher really needs to be at the top of his game, as he has been given the ability to sign the two biggest names in the free agency pool -- Zach Parise and Ryan Suter -- together, which would please most Wild fans no end. But can the staff sell the potential free agents that the Wild are headed in the right direction, for the medium-and-long term? And, if either or both of those sign elsewhere, then who do you go for? Or do you sit back, play the kids next season and hope for even better players to test free agency after the 2012-13 season (if we even have one, which brings me to the next point...)
Sept. 15th. NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement expires. Without a new CBA in place, it is doubtful there will even BE a 2012-13 season, so adamant that both sides are in their positions. Negotiations have, so far, barely begun, and no official negotiating sessions have even taken place, yet all signs point to at least a delay to, if not a total cancellation of, the start of next season. The NHL owners want a 50-50 spilt of all hockey-related revenues; currently, that split is 57-43 in favor of the players. The NFL and NBA currently have similar revenue splits. After what looks to be a classic East Coast-West Coast Stanley Cup Final upcoming, to have this goodwill be crushed like this over a labor dispute is the last thing either side (owners or players) need.
Wild fans just need to wait and see how all this plays out, because for better or for worse, the fact is that for this franchise, the only game that they can play right now, is a waiting game.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Random thoughts after the dust has settled...
The dust has finally settled from the pre-Trade Deadline wheeling and dealing for the Minnesota Wild.
And, to the dismay of the fanbase, nothing has really changed. The Wild are still precipitously close to entering the top 5 in the 2012 NHL Draft, due to the club's continued inability to score goals in a timely manner (or, as in Detroit last Friday night, at all). The lack of offensive punch is a major worry to everyone in the organization as well, from GM Chuck Fletcher on down. The Wild, who had everything in place to execute the unbelieveable 3-goal comeback on Thursday night in Montreal, wound up having a Tonya Harding-Nancy Kerrigan-esque moment, when Devin Setoguchi blew his shootout shot attempt, after falling down and losing control of the puck. The only thing missing was Setoguchi crying, 'Why? Why?' after the blown chance.
Yes, Setoguchi did help engineer the comeback, scoring the tying goal and assisting on another in the final few minutes of the third period, but it will be the shootout opportunity lost that will haunt the Wild the rest of the season. Add that to Tuesday's now-strangely-familiar 4-0 blowout loss on national TV to the Los Angeles Kings, and your 0-2-1 week for the boys in Iron Range Red was made.
You trade the longest-tenured Wild player -- Nick Schultz -- for Tom Gilbert, a similar-but-different Minnesota boy (Bloomington Jefferson) who came from the hapless Edmonton Oilers, and what happens? He gives up the game winner vs. LA, and reminds Wild fans how difficult it is to be the steady, stay-at-home defenseman that Schultz actually was.
You trade Marek Zidlicky to the New Jersey Devils, for a boatload of soon-to-be free agent talent (including two former Wild players, Kurtis Foster and Stephane Veilleux) and possibly two draft picks, and what happens? Zidlicky promptly goes -5, and Jersey fans are incensed. The Wild are immediately relieved of over $3M of salary at the end of this season, which means that if the salary cap does NOT go up, the Wild are nearly $20M under the cap...just enough to possibly be in the running, for two of the NHL's premiere free-agents-to-be, Nashville's Ryan Suter and Zach Parise, who just happens to be toiling away currently with...the New Jersey Devils.
You trade Greg Zanon to the Boston Bruins for Steven Kampfer, a 23-year-old ex-Wolverine who no one knows much about. He still hasn't played his first game in a Wild uniform, although that will probably end this evening in tonight's twilighter vs. the Colorado Avalanche. It looks like he will be paired with Gilbert tonight vs. the Avs, so hopefully the lost (Gilbert) won't lead the 'newbie' down the wrong path. Zanon was going to become an unrestricted free agent (UFA) anyhow, so why not get something for him?
So, where do you go from here? Do you actually try to make the playoffs, try to make a last-minute charge for the No. 8 seed (the Wild are seven points behind current No. 8 seed Dallas this Sunday morning) or do you throw in the towel, play as many of the kids as possible, and make the fan base suffer thru the remainder of the fourth consecutive non-playoff season?
Now I know that three of the Wild's top six forwards are unavailable due to various injuries now. They have been for weeks at a time this season, especially after the Dec. 13/14 games where two players suffered concussions in back-to-back games. But the fact is there is no talent in the pool right now. It's been drained.
Reminds me of limbo. 'How LOW can you go?'
How bad into limbo are the Wild right now? And what can be done to pull out of the funk? Or, do you just wait for June and the NHL Entry Draft to try and get better?
I guess we all just wait and see...
And, to the dismay of the fanbase, nothing has really changed. The Wild are still precipitously close to entering the top 5 in the 2012 NHL Draft, due to the club's continued inability to score goals in a timely manner (or, as in Detroit last Friday night, at all). The lack of offensive punch is a major worry to everyone in the organization as well, from GM Chuck Fletcher on down. The Wild, who had everything in place to execute the unbelieveable 3-goal comeback on Thursday night in Montreal, wound up having a Tonya Harding-Nancy Kerrigan-esque moment, when Devin Setoguchi blew his shootout shot attempt, after falling down and losing control of the puck. The only thing missing was Setoguchi crying, 'Why? Why?' after the blown chance.
Yes, Setoguchi did help engineer the comeback, scoring the tying goal and assisting on another in the final few minutes of the third period, but it will be the shootout opportunity lost that will haunt the Wild the rest of the season. Add that to Tuesday's now-strangely-familiar 4-0 blowout loss on national TV to the Los Angeles Kings, and your 0-2-1 week for the boys in Iron Range Red was made.
You trade the longest-tenured Wild player -- Nick Schultz -- for Tom Gilbert, a similar-but-different Minnesota boy (Bloomington Jefferson) who came from the hapless Edmonton Oilers, and what happens? He gives up the game winner vs. LA, and reminds Wild fans how difficult it is to be the steady, stay-at-home defenseman that Schultz actually was.
You trade Marek Zidlicky to the New Jersey Devils, for a boatload of soon-to-be free agent talent (including two former Wild players, Kurtis Foster and Stephane Veilleux) and possibly two draft picks, and what happens? Zidlicky promptly goes -5, and Jersey fans are incensed. The Wild are immediately relieved of over $3M of salary at the end of this season, which means that if the salary cap does NOT go up, the Wild are nearly $20M under the cap...just enough to possibly be in the running, for two of the NHL's premiere free-agents-to-be, Nashville's Ryan Suter and Zach Parise, who just happens to be toiling away currently with...the New Jersey Devils.
You trade Greg Zanon to the Boston Bruins for Steven Kampfer, a 23-year-old ex-Wolverine who no one knows much about. He still hasn't played his first game in a Wild uniform, although that will probably end this evening in tonight's twilighter vs. the Colorado Avalanche. It looks like he will be paired with Gilbert tonight vs. the Avs, so hopefully the lost (Gilbert) won't lead the 'newbie' down the wrong path. Zanon was going to become an unrestricted free agent (UFA) anyhow, so why not get something for him?
So, where do you go from here? Do you actually try to make the playoffs, try to make a last-minute charge for the No. 8 seed (the Wild are seven points behind current No. 8 seed Dallas this Sunday morning) or do you throw in the towel, play as many of the kids as possible, and make the fan base suffer thru the remainder of the fourth consecutive non-playoff season?
Now I know that three of the Wild's top six forwards are unavailable due to various injuries now. They have been for weeks at a time this season, especially after the Dec. 13/14 games where two players suffered concussions in back-to-back games. But the fact is there is no talent in the pool right now. It's been drained.
Reminds me of limbo. 'How LOW can you go?'
How bad into limbo are the Wild right now? And what can be done to pull out of the funk? Or, do you just wait for June and the NHL Entry Draft to try and get better?
I guess we all just wait and see...
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