2022 MN WILD/NHL THREAD

This team could be real dangerous if Fleury still has it and Talbot keeps playing this good.

My gawd Hartman is a rat. Impressive after all that he ended up not taking any and drawing 1.

tswoboda wrote:

My gawd Hartman is a rat

I mean that with love

For the opponent he has to be the one guy on that line you don’t want scoring because he will probably tell you about it all night.

This has been Zuccarello’s worst game of the year… just off on every shift

For the opponent he has to be the one guy on that line you don’t want scoring because he will probably tell you about it all night.

“You are going to be fing embarrassed tomorrow”

They shoulda had Hartman ISO cam for those 2 minutes. The lip reading from the bench was great. You Effing little schit! You effing little schit

Hope this isn’t a jinx but I like their chances against a Bruce coached team in OT. Expecting a healthy dose of OEL and Tyler Myers

Blues lost and Vegas up 2-0 on Predators tonight

Stone hands silky…

I didnt think Ek had that move in him! Bravo stonehands!

STONE HANDS

JT Miller hit that post right in the di**. Literally could not have hit it more square.

JoeMX1825 wrote:

I didnt think Ek had the move in him! Bravo stonehands!

Watch his WJC highlights where he undresses Thomas Chabot.

Flower is probably out there thanking the post for Cam.

Don’t know how close wild actually were on JT Miller but I’d take him.

Cam ties career high for consecutive wins.

gim wrote:

JT Miller hit that post right in the di**. Literally could not have hit it more square.

One of the loudest posts I’ve ever heard on TV.

Dadonov goal in Vegas. Him getting hot and leading them into the playoffs would be the most VGK thing ever.

Nashville might be thanking the wild for getting hot. Crossing over in the playoffs might not be to bad.

Some great eastern conference matchups at the moment.

Pt wise TSW…

mahtofire14 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>gimruis wrote:</div>
JT Miller hit that post right in the di**. Literally could not have hit it more square.

One of the loudest posts I’ve ever heard on TV.

El Nino game 7 winner was the one for me.

All is right and natural in the standings again. Aves way out front Wild #2 Blues #3 Nash #4 Dallas #5 and I’d guess that’s how we go into playoffs. Vegas needs to make up about 7 points to catch one of Dallas, Edmonton, or LAKings (Kings back in the playoffs?!?!?!). I wouldn’t bet against Vegas, but that’s a very steep hill to climb with ~15 games left.

There’s exactly 8 really good teams in the east and exactly 8 dogsh!t teams. The East is so stacked and even across all 8 teams making the playoffs. There will be some 1st round upsets for sure, but I don’t think you can even call them upsets.

tswoboda wrote:

Aves way out front Wild #2 Blues #3 Nash #4 Dallas #5 and I’d guess that’s how we go into playoffs. Vegas needs to make up about 7 points to catch one of Dallas, Edmonton, or LAKings (Kings back in the playoffs?!?!?!).

The Wild desperately need to avoid a wild card spot IMO. Being one of those two teams means Colorado or Calgary in the first round. They got worked by the Flames this season, and no one wants to play the Avalanche right away.

I don’t think Dallas is a threat to take the 3 seed in the Central. I thought St Louis would very likely be the first round matchup for the Wild, but I think Nashville could be that team too. I don’t think being the 2 or 3 seed makes that much of a difference to be honest. Minnesota’s track record against the Blues in the playoffs is abysmal but those teams featured Parise, Suter, and Dubnyk in goal. I am not that familiar with how the Blues are compared to what they looked like years ago when they won their Cup to be honest.

The Central is better than the Pacific. I guess the one positive is if you are the top wild card seed, you would go through 2 Pacific teams first. Of course, its a moot point if you don’t beat the Flames in the first round.

tswoboda wrote:

Watch his WJC highlights where he undresses Thomas Chabot.

Meh, no idea what Chabot was doing on that play, but it was basically Ek 1-1 with the goalie…

gim wrote:

I don’t think being the 2 or 3 seed makes that much of a difference to be honest.

You sure?

Wild 21 wins and 8 losses at home
Wild 17 wins and 16 losses on the road

JoeMX1825 wrote:

Meh, no idea what Chabot was doing on that play, but it was basically Ek 1-1 with the goalie…

Fair enough, it was the goalie he undressed and Chabot made himself look silly. I just remembered Chabot being right there

I can’t find his U20 WJC highlights anymore, maybe they were taken down. But you watch Ek’s highlights and it’s pretty obvious he has skill. It’s taken awhile to translate to his NHL game, but the hands have always been there. Russo even brought up in the presser how Ek won shootout competitions in practice.

The legitimate deficiency in JEEK’s game is his vision and passing, and it’ll probably always be that way.

tswoboda wrote:

You sure?

Wild 21 wins and 8 losses at home
Wild 17 wins and 16 losses on the road

I would MUCH rather be the 2 than the 3 for this obvious reason.

tswoboda wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>JoeMX1825 wrote:</div>
Meh, no idea what Chabot was doing on that play, but it was basically Ek 1-1 with the goalie…

Fair enough, it was the goalie he undressed and Chabot made himself look silly. I just remembered Chabot being right there

I can’t find his U20 WJC highlights anymore, maybe they were taken down. But you watch Ek’s highlights and it’s pretty obvious he has skill. It’s taken awhile to translate to his NHL game, but the hands have always been there. Russo even brought up in the presser how Ek won shootout competitions in practice.

The legitimate deficiency in JEEK’s game is his vision and passing, and it’ll probably always be that way.

I like getting the Ek fanclub worked up

The kid does have some offensive skill that has FINALLY started to come out in the NHL, my guess is his brain is programmed like Koivu’s and primarily thinks Defense first (which is fine)

He ABSOLUTELY needs to get alot better on draws though, with his size and strength he should be bullying opposing centers, but he’s just been terrible…he’s already projecting to pass career highs in pretty much all offensive categories year 1 of his 8 year contract, that’s all GMBG and staff could have asked for…

JoeMX1825 wrote:

I like getting the Ek fanclub worked up

What is there to not be a fan about regarding Ek? He never has an off night, works his butt off and gets under the skin of every opponent. Sure he could be better on FO, but we have discussed this ad nauseum. He has far more skill that he showcases. I wish he would shoot more.

tswoboda wrote:

You sure?

Wild 21 wins and 8 losses at home
Wild 17 wins and 16 losses on the road

Maybe I wasn’t clear on my previous post, but I was specifically speaking in terms of playing the Blues or Preds. They’re 0-1 versus St Louis (Winter Classic which is technically a home game), and 0-2 versus Nashville, both at home this season for a combined 0-3 so far. So ya, it doesn’t matter at this point against those two teams because its 3 regulation losses combined.

They still have 3 games remaining against them, 1 versus the Preds and 2 versus the Blues, all on the road.

Comparatively, the two likely first round opponents:
St Louis 20-8-4 home, 15-11-5 road
Nashville 19-11-0 home, 18-13-4 road

gim wrote:

They’re 0-1 versus St Louis (Winter Classic which is technically a home game), and 0-2 versus Nashville, both at home this season for a combined 0-3 so far. So ya, it doesn’t matter at this point against those two teams because its 3 regulation losses combined.

The Wild are obviously a better team at home. But your point is they’re just magically not better against Nashville at home? You also drag an outdoor game into it. Never heard of the term small sample size have you.

gim wrote:

Comparatively, the two likely first round opponents:
St Louis 20-8-4 home, 15-11-5 road
Nashville 19-11-0 home, 18-13-4 road

I think you just mic dropped yourself

JoeMX1825 wrote:

I like getting the Ek fanclub worked up

I’m just legitimately impressed you took the time to find that highlight and then actually watch it and acknowledge he has skill. You’ve come a long way Joe, we’re so proud of you