2022/2023 NHL/Wild Offseason-Season-Postseason Thread

As far as I’m concerned, the west is still wide open. Let’s get after it!

JoeMX1825 wrote:

if you have ESPN +, you should be able to watch all games (except the Wild per NHL blackout rules, but a VPN can get around this) Because there are more games than available main channel TV (ESPN/ABC/TNT) time slots, I beleive all local team affiliates (Ballys for the Wild) gets all of the 1st round games UNLESS its a weekend nationally televised game on ABC?

Thanks for clarifying. As soon as the Wild are done on BSN I’ll be canceling that sub. until next season. I don’t have any “live” tv subscriptions so I’m just trying to make sure I can watch all the games. I guess I’ll figure that out once we reach the second round.

brandmoney wrote:

As far as I’m concerned, the west is still wide open. Let’s get after it!

Absolutely. West is a turtle race to the Cup Finals.

Don’t we usually do predictions? Both for the Wild and the whole playoffs in general? Paging Joe…

tswoboda wrote:

Don’t we usually do predictions? Both for the Wild and the whole playoffs in general?

I fill out a playoff bracket every year but its usually a complete train wreck by round 2.

I will take the Bruins because the math says that after a historically good season, they should win the stanley cup, right?

Bruins over Oilers in 5 games.

gimruis wrote:

I will take the Bruins because the math says that after a historically good season, they should win the stanley cup, right?

Just like Tampa after their historical season in 2019, right? But yeah the B’s are no doubt the runaway favorite

Some interesting Wild stuff from Elliot Friedman… He said Colorado desperately wanted to avoid the Wild first round. Not because they thought the Wild could beat them but because they knew the Wild would beat them *up* in a playoff series. He also said he had no prediction for the Stars/Wild series winner just that both teams would come away with stitches and beat up. When did the Wild get this reputation on a national scale?

tswoboda wrote:

When did the Wild get this reputation on a national scale?

It’s mentioned everytime another team’s coach or player is interviewed regarding them playing against the Wild…

tswoboda wrote:

Just like Tampa after their historical season in 2019, right?

Haha. I had a wager with a co-worker that season. I had “the field” and he took Tampa. That ended quickly in 4 games in my favor.

Boston or “the field” this time around?

Ok, Predictions time…who ya got!

Mine going full homer…

Round 1:
Wild over Dallas in 6
Avs over Kraken in 5
Vegas over Jets in 5
Oilers over Kings in 7

Bruins over Panthers in 6
Canes over Islanders in 7
Rangers over Devils in 5
Lightning over Leafs in 7 (Heart break again!)

Round 2:
Wild over Avs in 7
Oilers over Vegas in 6

Bruins over Lightning in 6 (awesome series)
Rangers over Canes in 7

Round 3:
Wild over Oilers in 6 (because we own them)
Bruins over Rangers in 6

Finals:
Wild over Bruins in 7 (we win it on the road!)

so no Ekker tonight… i’m a bit surprised by this unless the plan is IF the Wild win game #1 he doesn’t play game #2, vice versa if they lose…otherwise why not just keep him home and get maximum rehab time and be ready for game #3 five days from now?

My wild ass guess and yes I am as much of a homer as Joe
Round 1:
Wild over Dallas in 6
Avs over Kraken in 7
Vegas over Jets in 6
Kings over Oilers in 7

Bruins over Panthers in 5
Canes over Islanders in 5
Rangers over Devils in 7
Lightning over Leafs in 7

Round 2:
Wild over Avs in 7
Vegas over Kings in 6

Bruins over Lightning in 6
Devils over Canes in 7

Round 3:
Wild over Oilers in 6
Bruins over Devils in 6

Finals:
Wild over Bruins in 7

Homer brackets FTW! 3 brackets so far and all pretty similar…

There was no option for a 3 game sweep on NHL.com but I wanted to go Avs over Kraks in 3.

Vegas/Winnipeg and Carolina/Islanders are 2 series that scream upset to me. 2 teams I didn’t think would make playoffs and now I’m picking them to upset division winners ha you gotta love my consistency.

And lastly you have to pick The Leafs to lose game 7 every chance you get.

Here we go:

Wild over Dallas in 6

I think that the Wild get this done in 6. I think depth scoring is going to be a big part of this, and I don’t think there’s gonna be a lot go goals scored. Oettinger and Gustavsson will both be great, but the Wild will narrowly outscore Dallas.

Avs over Kraken in 5

Nathan Mackinnon.

Vegas over Jets in 6

The Jets have looked good recently, but Hellebuyck can only carry them so far. Vegas goaltending is iffy, though.

Oilers over Kings in 5

No Fiala or Vilardi in game 1 for the Kings. I fully expect this series being Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl quite literally shredding this kings team.

Bruins over Panthers in 6

Florida steals 2 games against the best team in the NHL.

Islanders over Canes in 7

The Canes don’t have Svechnikov. The Isles have Sorokin. Point shots won’t win a Stanley Cup.

Devils over Rangers in 6

I think the Rangers have been overhyped this entire season. I expect a lot of goals to be scored in this series. If New York pulls it off, it’ll be all because of Shesterkin finding his groove again.

Leafs over Lightning in 6

Leafs win this series as long as it doesn’t go to game 7. If it goes to 7, I expect massive changes to be made in Toronto.

Round 2:
Wild over Avs in 7

I think the Wild physically dominate this matchup. It’ll be a hard-fought 7 game series.

Oilers over Vegas in 6

Vegas has questionable goaltending. Edmonton has Connor McDavid.

Bruins over Leafs in 6

The Bruins win this without too much issue. Toronto gets to win a round at least (maybe)

Devils over Islanders in 6

The Devils vs Ilya Sorokin. I think Sorokin steals 2 games, but New Jersey is simply the better team here.

Round 3:
Wild over Oilers in 6

For some reason the Wild play really well against Edmonton. I have a subtle feeling that Kirill shines here.

Devils over Bruins in 7

Probably the biggest upset I’m calling. If anybody in the east can beat Boston, I think it’s New Jersey. This might be the most entertaining series of the entire playoffs.

Finals:
Wild over Devils in 7

Gustavsson Conn Smythe run concludes here.

I think you guys are sleeping on the Kraken! I dont think they are going to win the series, but I bet its close to 7 games.

Between the hype video and these homer predictions, you guys are getting me fired up! The Minnesotan in me thinks I do not need to dust off the chair for the parade yet, but should be fun to watch! Personally I think the Avs make it back in the West, and the Bruins are the obvious pick in the East but that will be a battle of attrition due to how deep it is.

Bruins over Dallas in 5

I think as long as we don’t have any colossal failures (Kirill can’t score, Nobody else can score, Goalies completely collapse) you know the typical Minnesota Playoff things, this team is built more for the playoffs than any other team we’ve head and they’ll progress through playoffs. We can play rough or skilled, we can adapt to the game that’s needed…Obviously getting Ek back sooner than later is going to be key, other than Kirill, he’s our most important player becaase his hands are in everything. The Boldy line will need to consistently score too, otherwise Kirill will be blanketed..if this team can steal 1 or 2 games at Dallas, it’s over…this team learned last year they can’t take their foot off the gas for 1 period or it can all turnaround in an instant…our previous playoff failures will now start to help this team push through…

It would really be nice to get a friggin 4 game sweep, get every bounce and every break…I think we deserve it as a fanbase! Have Kirill & Boldy cement themselves as playoff studs…

CaptainMusky wrote:

I think you guys are sleeping on the Kraken! I dont think they are going to win the series, but I bet its close to 7 games.

I think the Kraken will be very competitive, but I predict their goalie will get absolutely lit up and it will deflate the team……

Not to be a Debbie Downer on all the homer picks but I think Dallas beats the Wild in 7 games. They way we have played the last few games just does not have me feeling good about them.

KP wrote:

They way we have played the last few games just does not have me feeling good about them.

The one where Reavo led the forwards in ice time or the one where Rossi/Petan/Walker was the 2nd line?

Ha I get what you’re saying but the only time we saw the playoff lineup was against The Jets where they outplayed them in a 2 period melee but the difference was the goalies and Wild started their backup.

Russo has reported that Gustavsson will be the game 1 starter tonight in big D. Not that big of a surprise to me, but given what occurred last year against St Louis, you never know.

tswoboda wrote:

Ha I get what you’re saying but the only time we saw the playoff lineup was against The Jets where they outplayed them in a 2 period melee but the difference was the goalies and Wild started their backup.

The Jets were also playing for their playoff lives and we had clinched already and were pretty much locked in…

You can tell he’s still a little gingerly on that leg… not cutting hard, he’s getting close though! I’d save him for game 3…

JoeMX1825 wrote:

Obviously getting Ek back sooner than later is going to be key, other than Kirill, he’s our most important player because his STONEhands are in everything.

Fixed it for you…

CaptainMusky wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>JoeMX1825 wrote:</div>
Obviously getting Ek back sooner than later is going to be key, other than Kirill, he’s our most important player because his STONEhands are in everything.

Fixed it for you…

lol! I vowed to no longer call him that..he’s all growed up!

How about Faber in the lineup for Game 1 of the Playoffs after 2 NHL games…makes the Fiala sting feel a little better…and Ohgren has looked like a friggin stud all season is only a year away from coming over….

Some rambling thoughts on the series…

Otterberger is getting a lot of hype from last year and especially among Wild fans (especially the media/KFAN) since he is #oneofus but I’m not sold. Yeah his playoffs last year were one of the best single series ever but that was last year as a rookie underdog with absolutely nothing to lose. Now he’s got expectations and 100x the pressure so let’s see him prove it before saying he’s a goalie that can steal a series. He had a nice season, top 10 probably, but for sure not in that elite tier either. Numbers were actually equal or slightly below Colorado’s starter who everyone is skeptical of. Gus has obviously proven nothing but no one is saying he is a goalie that can steal a series either. Gus’s regular season numbers are right there or better than the elite tier goalies.

Feels a lot like the Wild/Blues series last year except the roles are reversed for the Wild. Two teams that are really similar but on paper Stars are a little better in every category. But ff this series is defined by defense and goalies, I’ll take the Wild defense and goalie personnel. Stars definitely have more forward depth. Just saying it’s been a near perfect season for the Stars, basically no key injuries, kinda like how the Wild had last year. Been more of a grind this year for the Wild, faced some injuries, but still only finished a few points back.

Jamie Benn (one of my favorite players) is a bigtime MFer and the whole state of MN is gonna hate him in about 8 hours, myself included. He’s gonna be in the face of Spurgeon/Brodin/whatever center he’s on the ice against from the drop and I’m curious how soon it gets addressed.

What are the refs gonna do? Last year they decided to call a million penalties come playoff time. That’s why I think McDusty and company with the PP cheat-code had a good post-season so I the refs to call it similar again.

I’m drinking the Michelleti kool-aid and buying Faber as the lab-created child of Jonas Brodin and Cale Makar.

I can’t stand Pete DeBoer, seems like such an arrogant a-hole. But he’s a dam good coach and the coaching match-up might be Dallas’s biggest advantage if that’s a real thing.

Boldy is going to be the difference, good or bad. Top lines cancel out, Dallas maybe has the advantage – but they do not have a secondary scorer the level of Boldy. Fiala gets the hate (deserved) from last year but Boldy was every bit as invisible against the Blues and it cost them that series. As a rookie he gets a pass but this year they need him to be the X-factor.

tswoboda wrote:

Jamie Benn (one of my favorite players) is a bigtime MFer and the whole state of MN is gonna hate him in about 8 hours, myself included.

He’s one of my most hated players…his struggles last year were awesome for me to watch, kudos to him for a turnaround season…

He’s a tough sob, but he’s also a cheap sob and he never seems to get called for his BS, my big worry in the series is somebody like Benn doing something cheap on Kirill… I’d like to see Dumba catch him cutting accross the middle with his head down, problem is I think Dumba would get hurt on the hit as well…

I’d bet money that Joe Pavelski gets at least 1 late in the game winning goal via a top of the crease tip, that dude is a magician with his stick..

gimruis wrote:

Russo has reported that Gustavsson will be the game 1 starter tonight in big D. Not that big of a surprise to me, but given what occurred last year against St Louis, you never know.

Still think it is way to easy to second guess the decision after the fact, but I have moved on.

I am already getting pumped and it still 6 hours away.

I say wild in 6. Ek makes an epic comeback and Boldy makes the 7 mill look like the best deal in hockey. LFG

I am also a very jaded/negative MN sports Fan.

I say Dallas in 6 and the Avs play whoever outlasts each other in the east.

Sounds like Klingberg is out. Merril in.

I think Ek still has a chance. I think he is in game 2 regardless.