2022 MN WILD/NHL THREAD

mahtofire14 wrote:

Do you get ESPN+ if you have Disney+? I always forget there’s a lot more than cartoons on Disney+

no its extra, but bundling them together is cheaper.

IDK if I am going to spring for ESPN+. Arent there games on TNT too?

i’ll try it for the first year, i’m sure ESPN will rethink their strategy if this first year doesn’t go as planned viewership wise…

I have ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN U and ESPN News. Now I need to get ESPN+? I give up chasing this crap around. I’m getting so much ota stuff the only reason I pay for streaming at all is hockey. I could easily transform into just listening to the audio and following the game on game center on the web site and watch the highlights the next day. I miss a lot of games because I’m ice fishing anyhow.

Ice Cap wrote:

I have ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN U and ESPN News. Now I need to get ESPN+? I give up chasing this crap around. I’m getting so much ota stuff the only reason I pay for streaming at all is hockey. I could easily transform into just listening to the audio and following the game on game center on the web site and watch the highlights the next day. I miss a lot of games because I’m ice fishing anyhow.

yeah, I think there will be a large consolidation of services in a year or two as that feedback gets back to the companies…I think the reason they started it this way is to gauge specific content interests allowing them to cut the services people end up not using…

Hearing that Kaprizov has been moved to the strong side boards position on the powerplay (something I begged for all last season) It will be nice to see everything funnel through him (as it should) Obviously he’s our most creative player and putting the puck on his stick will only lead to good things (including 1 timers)…My guess is that Boldy takes either the down low or bumper spot (I think the down low is best for him due to his ability to protect the puck with his body and his passing ability)

I thought they said bumper, isnt that in the middle?

I looked back through Russo’s tweets and he did in fact say wall. Not sure where I read bumper from.

Ek is the PERFECT player for the Bumper spot, he just needs to win faceoffs so we don’t waste 20 seconds of the powerplay retrieving the iced puck time and again…

PP#1 should be:
Boldy down low
Ek as the Bumper
Kaprizov strong side boards
Fiala weak side boards
Brodin or Spurgeon at the point

PP#2 should be
Greenway down low
Foligno as the bumper
Zuccarello on the strong side boards
Dumba & Brodin or Goligoski & Spurgeon at the points

PP#1 is all about skill running the puck through Kaprizov on the strong side boards or getting the puck to Fiala on the weak side blueline skating downhill towards the net with the shoot/pass option.., PP#2 is all about keeping it simple, shots from the point and Greenway and Foligno crashing the net…

I know alot of folks will want Dumba on the PP#1 unit, but there’s not enough pucks to go around and I’d rather have Kaprizov or Fiala shooting the puck, the days of the Dumba 1 timer are over…Brodin or Spurgeon at the point of the PP#1 unit to make good break out passes and distribute the puck at the tip of the umbrella…Dumba can drops bombs on the PP#2 unit with all of the beef in the crease….

Yeah, I agree with those PP sets. Hopefully they dont go on a putrid stretch like they did last year. It will be fun to see what Boldy can do (provided hes on the roster) because he was very good in Iowa his short time there. 3 PPG in only 14 games is pretty dang good if you ask me. I dont know how much PP ice time he had and I am sure he threw in some PP Assists too.

CaptainMusky wrote:

Yeah, I agree with those PP sets. Hopefully they dont go on a putrid stretch like they did last year. It will be fun to see what Boldy can do (provided hes on the roster) because he was very good in Iowa his short time there. 3 PPG in only 14 games is pretty dang good if you ask me. I dont know how much PP ice time he had and I am sure he threw in some PP Assists too.

from what I saw in his time in Iowa he played the strong side boards spot (Kaprizov’s spot) mostly due to the lack of left handed shooting talent in Iowa but when he played at the WJC on the powerplay he played down low and was fantastic! and he adds a great passing option from down low as well…

Plus he’s another “healthy” sized skater out there at 6’2″ close to 200.

CaptainMusky wrote:

Plus he’s another “healthy” sized skater out there at 6’2″ close to 200.

yep and he really knows how to use his frame to protect the puck

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I am so damn excited to watch a PP WITHOUT Suter at the point……

mahtofire14 wrote:

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I am so damn excited to watch a PP WITHOUT Suter at the point……

How could you not miss the snapshot into the defenders shinpads?!?

Or the creative Parise stuff shot attempt into a wall of goalie pads…

I think we’ll see some amazing things with this powerplay, this franchise has NEVER had the offensive talent it does now…

JoeMX1825 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>mahtofire14 wrote:</div>
I don’t know about the rest of you, but I am so damn excited to watch a PP WITHOUT Suter at the point……

How could you not miss the snapshot into the defenders shinpads?!?

Or the creative Parise stuff shot attempt into a wall of goalie pads…

I think we’ll see some amazing things with this powerplay, this franchise has NEVER had the offensive talent it does now…

You forgot about the 2-3 pucks that would hop over his stick at the blue line each pp and how he’d take 30 seconds to get the puck back out from behind his own net afterward.

So if I’m understanding the ESPN deal correctly… I’ll be able to watch like 75 Wild games plus every other NHL game not on TNT/ESPN for $3.50 a month. Found out ESPN+ is included with my Verizon package and a NordVPN account should allow me to watch every wild game not on TNT or ESPN. Almost sounds to good to be true.

tswoboda wrote:

So if I’m understanding the ESPN deal correctly… I’ll be able to watch like 75 Wild games plus every other NHL game not on TNT/ESPN for $3.50 a month. Found out ESPN+ is included with my Verizon package and a NordVPN account should allow me to watch every wild game not on TNT or ESPN. Almost sounds to good to be true.

I think it’s only select games they are covering. The way I read it they will broadcast like 28 games on ESPN and ABC and then another 70 something on ESPN+. Not every single NHL game. But I could’ve read it wrong.

JoeMX1825 wrote:

I know alot of folks will want Dumba on the PP#1 unit, but there’s not enough pucks to go around and I’d rather have Kaprizov or Fiala shooting the puck, the days of the Dumba 1 timer are over…

The main advantage to Dumba bombing away on the #1 unit might be what happens to the juicy rebounds with KK, Fiala, Ek, basically all the high-skill guys on the ice.

Also, we need more shoot-first mentality. There was way too much trying to pass the puck into the back of the net as part of the PP. Predictable passing around the umbrella and looing for cute little tic-tack passes is too predictable, we need some net front chaos.

I agree he doesn’t have to be there, but he’s not the make/break piece of the PP puzzle for the Wild.

It’s basically what NBCSN televised previously, maybe a few more games now though… its not the ultimate solution you want it to be unfortunately…
ESPN+ does open the door to viewing other sports though like college hockey games.

Ballys still owns the local market tv rights…

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>JoeMX1825 wrote:</div>
I know alot of folks will want Dumba on the PP#1 unit, but there’s not enough pucks to go around and I’d rather have Kaprizov or Fiala shooting the puck, the days of the Dumba 1 timer are over…

The main advantage to Dumba bombing away on the #1 unit might be what happens to the juicy rebounds with KK, Fiala, Ek, basically all the high-skill guys on the ice.

Also, we need more shoot-first mentality. There was way too much trying to pass the puck into the back of the net as part of the PP. Predictable passing around the umbrella and looing for cute little tic-tack passes is too predictable, we need some net front chaos.

I agree he doesn’t have to be there, but he’s not the make/break piece of the PP puzzle for the Wild.

I think the skill level of our #1 PP unit will surprise Wild fans so used to the slow passes around the umbrella of teams past. The passing will be lightening quick tape to tape finding the optimal shooter (most likely Kevin or Kirill)
The 2nd unit will be the bomb from the point get rebounds group as they’ll likely only get 45-30 seconds of pp time to do anything.

Watch some of the power plays last year when Kirill moved out to the boards position, it was crazy quick passes finding the open shooter, it was so obviously better I dont know why they didnt permanently put him on the boards late last season, they finally wised up this offseason…

JoeMX1825 wrote:

It’s basically what NBCSN televised previously, maybe a few more games now though… its not the ultimate solution you want it to be unfortunately…
ESPN+ does open the door to viewing other sports though like college hockey games.

Ballys still owns the local market tv rights…

Nah ESPN+ is replacing NHL.TV. You can watch every NHL game that’s not on TNT or ESPN.

They are advertising there will be over 1,000 “out of market” games on ESPN+… the vpn allows you to watch the in market games.

mahtofire14 wrote:

So if I’m understanding the ESPN deal correctly… I’ll be able to watch like 75 Wild games plus every other NHL game not on TNT/ESPN for $3.50 a month. Found out ESPN+ is included with my Verizon package and a NordVPN account should allow me to watch every wild game not on TNT or ESPN. Almost sounds to good to be true.

I think it’s only select games they are covering. The way I read it they will broadcast like 28 games on ESPN and ABC and then another 70 something on ESPN+. Not every single NHL game. But I could’ve read it wrong.

There are only 13 Nationally televised games this year for the Wild. The rest will be on Bally Sports.

Excuse my ignorance here, But what is a NordVPN account?

I ask because we just cut a bunch of streaming services (seemed like we had pretty much everything out there) but I really want to be able to watch the games without paying Bally.. Not sure if its possible. FWIW, we still have Hulu Live & Disney. But pretty sure I don’t have ESPN+

IceNEyes1986 wrote:

Excuse my ignorance here, But what is a NordVPN account?

A VPN hides your IP address and therefore let’s you bypass the local market blackouts. Nord is just a brand.

Basically you can have it tell ESPN+ you’re in Arizona or Florida or wherever, rather than knowing you are in Minnesota. Yes, they are legal and just another form of internet security.

tswoboda wrote:

A VPN hides your IP address and therefore let’s you bypass the local market blackouts. Nord is just a brand.

Basically you can have it tell ESPN+ you’re in Arizona or Florida or wherever, rather than knowing you are in Minnesota. Yes, they are legal and just another form of internet security.

Ok. I have heard of them before, just didn’t know that’s what they were called. Thanks!

Nah ESPN+ is replacing NHL.TV. You can watch every NHL game that’s not on TNT or ESPN.

They are advertising there will be over 1,000 “out of market” games on ESPN+… the vpn allows you to watch the in market games.
[/quote]

so it’s replacing the $150 NHL Center Ice Package? That would be cool! Please verify the VPN workaround works and I’ll be making a software purchase…

It sure was fun last night watching the Oilers vs the Kraken…

Im guessing you guys are going to force me to upgrade my tv to a smart tv because no way I can get my current one to work with a NordVPN or anything like that.

CaptainMusky wrote:

Im guessing you guys are going to force me to upgrade my tv to a smart tv because no way I can get my current one to work with a NordVPN or anything like that.

The VPN client is software based and is setup on your home network/computer, not the TV. You can buy a cheap Apple TV box or pretty much any other type of Media box/USB dongle (Amazon Firestick, Roku, Chromecast) and utilize the ESPN+ app on it…You can also then set it up on your mobile device and stream form there as well…

Does the VPN/home market work around trick work on a mobile phone? I know last night I couldn’t watch the Oilers vs Kraken game UNTIL I enable location services on my iphone…

Oh, that is great then! I have a Roku.

There’s a article up on the Athletic outlining all this tv stuff. You need a subscription of course. If it’s not confusing enough already you will be looking to get HBO Max next year to watch some games.

All this fragmented viewing must be detrimental to trying to grow a fan base. Only the committed fan is going to wade through all this. The casual fan is going to say meh, don’t need to watch it that bad. The potential new fan is going to say screw this I think there’s a Seinfeld rerun on.