2022 MN WILD/NHL THREAD

Ripjiggen wrote:

So I wouldn’t say they were destroyed considering they are a 4th line going against a 1B line.

Ok so “destroyed” may have been a bit strong

What I should have said is they played most shifts in their own end and gave up a lot of really good looks. In fairness they did start a lot of shifts on key D-zone draws… I remember that because I was yelling NO at my TV on each one of them. Realistically I probably have too high of expectations for them after how they started the season. I was hoping they could become like the GREEF line of last year, but they’ve gone the other way. Lots of games left to find their role. The effort is still clearly there, I love watching that line skate… they just seem to give up a lot of chances lately.

That line is fun to watch, but those guys are 4th liners for a reason. They likely wont be able to keep up the pace they had for a lot of games, but when you get it its a bonus. I agree they are fun to watch because they always play with pace.

Hey I get it. It is a lot more fun nitpicking this team that is in first place than destroying everyone on the team and in the organization like the Vikings thread.
Have a pretty tough schedule coming up this month, should be fun.

Ripjiggen wrote:

Have a pretty meaty

schedule coming up this month, should be fun.

I didnt realize Russo was a member of IDO.
Yes, this roadtrip is going to be a good one. Hopefully they come out of it on the positive end.

There I fixed it.

Ripjiggen wrote:

There I fixed it.

LMAO

JoeMX1825 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>tswoboda wrote:</div>
The Sturm/Duhaime line was great to start the season but they have been pretty terrible for a little while now.

I have noticed this too and thought about posting about it but didn’t want to sound so negative during a 6 game win streak…for as well as Bjugstad played the first 18 or so games, he’s looked really bad the last 4-5…Sturm has taken about 15 slapshots to the boot the last 10 or so games so maybe he gets a small pass, Duhaime has looked like a typical rookie who hits the 20+ game funk and needs a kick in the arse to get going again, perhaps he sits a game in the press box as a wake up call??

I think the Wild are about playing at the top of their skill level right now and have been pretty much since the start. There is going to be a drop off at some point. Some players are just going to cool off. The only way we get any better right now is if Fiala explodes.

Ice Cap wrote:

I think the Wild are about playing at the top of their skill level right now and have been pretty much since the start. There is going to be a drop off at some point. Some players are just going to cool off. The only way we get any better right now is if Fiala explodes.

And they score on the freaking PP!

And they get their best defensemen back.

mahtofire14 wrote:

And they get their best defensemen back.

Some guy on Twitter said since they are winning he should just sit in the Pressbox because why break what isnt broken. LOL

CaptainMusky wrote:

Ripjiggen wrote:
“Have a pretty meaty schedule coming up this month, should be fun.”
I didnt realize Russo was a member of IDO.

Savage.

Ripjiggen wrote:

Hey I get it. It is a lot more fun nitpicking this team that is in first place…

Honestly it’s been too much sunshine and rainbows in here since everyone quit ripping on Fiala and Dumba. It makes me uncomfortable.

CaptainMusky wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>mahtofire14 wrote:</div>
And they get their best defensemen back.

Some guy on Twitter said since they are winning he should just sit in the Pressbox because why break what isnt broken. LOL

After 2 days of seeing Maple Leafs fans on Twitter, I’m convinced all of Twitter should be shut down for the greater good.

Lol…they were going absolutely crazy last night. It was great comedy.

Boudreau gets the Canucks job. Glad to see him coaching again. Interesting finish with the Wild to say the least but always seemed like a fun guy and an awful good coach. Also has the best GIF in history with the “Darn” GIF he’s in. Kills me every time I see it.

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

Are you going to the NordVPN website and then watching ESPN+ on the Amazon web browser? Or are you side-loading the ESPN+ app and somehow pointing it through the VPN?

Appreciate the help, all this streaming service crap where there are all these can/can’t do rules drives me crazy. I THINK ESPN+ may be my solution if I can figure out how to get it to the big screen because watching games on my phone is BS.

No its super simple on firestick, i bought one specifically to watch the wild this season. Just download the NordVPN app on your firestick, connect to a VPN, and then it runs in the background. You can then use the ESPN app like normal but the wild games won’t be blacked out. I’ve been connected to the same VPN 24/7 since the start of the season. It says it’s from St. Louis but I can watch the Blues and LA/Anaheim games are blacked out so not sure what’s going on there. I will say it took me a couple preseason games to get a reliable VPN# dialed in but since then it’s been smooth sailing.

mahtofire14 wrote:

Boudreau gets the Canucks job. Glad to see him coaching again. Interesting finish with the Wild to say the least but always seemed like a fun guy and an awful good coach. Also has the best GIF in history with the “Darn” GIF he’s in. Kills me every time I see it.

Took him all of 1 press conference to remind everyone why we love him and why the NHL needs him. What a 24 hours for Bruce and the Canucks.

Bruce! Good ole Gabby. If you guys havent read/listened to some of the stuff he has done with Russo over the years, Russo retweeted several of them. They are gems.

Tonight’s game will be won or lost in the box.

If they can contain the first line and stay out of the box, they’ll easily coast to a win.

biggill wrote:

Tonight’s game will be won or lost in the box.

If they can contain the first line and stay out of the box, they’ll easily coast to a win.

Agreed. The Oilers are lethal on the PP. Looks like they are splitting up McDavid and Draisatl which will make for tougher matchups for 2 lines instead of just the GREEF line.

CaptainMusky wrote:

Agreed. The Oilers are lethal on the PP. Looks like they are splitting up McDavid and Draisatl which will make for tougher matchups for 2 lines instead of just the GREEF line.

Yeah to start the season they played them together at home and separate on the road. But lately they’ve been on separate lines except for end of period, icing against tired legs, and 3rd period need a goal situations.

It can’t be stated enough they need to stay out of the box. EDM is a bad 5v5 team. KK has more 5v5 points than both Draisaitl and McDavid in 50 less minutes. Hartman has the same 5v5 point total as McDavid.

Side note: JEEK rocks. 30 goal pace, leads league in penalties drawn, 51% on draws.

tswoboda wrote:

Side note: JEEK rocks. 30 goal pace, leads league in penalties drawn, 51% on draws.

A little Stonehands love I see.

It’ll be fun to see how tonight plays out. Edmonton is coming off of two pretty bad losses while the Wild are rolling.

Whether we end up keeping him or not, I hope Fiala gets it together soon. Sucks to see him put up 5 SOG a night with nothing to show for it

He’s playing where he should be now…i’ve always said he’s likely the best 3rd line center in the league and he’s paid like it…I roll my eyes when folks wanted to pencil him in as a 1C/2C…he’ll never be that type of player…

The rate center pay is escalating in the NHL, his salary will likely become a positive in 2-3 years though so kudos to GMBG…

JoeMX1825 wrote:

He’s playing where he should be now…i’ve always said he’s likely the best 3rd line center in the league and he’s paid like it…I roll my eyes when folks wanted to pencil him in as a 1C/2C…he’ll never be that type of player…

I was pushing him for our top 2 center spots because I honestly thought it would be an improvement over Rask. Is he a top 2 Center? Probably not, but he also didnt look out of place there and had some good production with Kaprizov and Zuccs. I would certainly like an upgrade in the top 2 lines, but Hartman is playing extremely well just stop taking stupid penalties. He is a better finisher than Ek has proven to be thus far, but Ek just keeps his upward trajectory which is fantastic.
No word yet that I have seen on Rossi and Boldy.

Rossi probably still has some bruising and swelling on his face/head so they’ll likely just be cautious and rest him until he’s back to 100%, Boldy on the other hand, not sure, it looked like he toe picked and got rolled along the boards, so the dreaded high ankle sprain/fracture is a possibility…best case would be just a bad sprain?

Call JEEK whatever you want, but he has the most time on ice of any forward on the wild, a top 5 team in the NHL. Would be interesting to see how many other 3rd line centers lead their teams in TOI.

All stems back to the silly argument over labelling players and what exactly is a “legit” 1C or a “true” 1C or a “franchise” 1C is or whatever word you want to put in front of it. Personally, I prefer V 1C tor Rask

Boldy got an MRI yesterday, no public news since that.

tswoboda wrote:

Call JEEK whatever you want, but he has the most time on ice of any forward on the wild, a top 5 team in the NHL. Would be interesting to see how many other 3rd line centers lead their teams in TOI.

All stems back to the silly argument over labelling players and what exactly is a “legit” 1C or a “true” 1C or a “franchise” 1C is or whatever word you want to put in front of it. Personally, I prefer V 1C tor Rask

Ek is a dump and chase guy, nothing wrong with that, but it’s who he is…He doesn’t drive the play into the offensive zone or use any creativity to distribute the puck on a line rush or create open space for his wingers…
It’s hard to envision that type of player on the Wild because we’ve never really had one before…maybe the 1 year Staal was good…Koivu showed flashes in his prime, but then his inner defensive positioning DNA kicked in…
Those types of players are typically hard to find in the draft after the top 5 picks and rarely if ever become available as a FA…we all know that too well…

JEEK is getting so much total icetime due to his PP time, and that’s just due to not having better options to put out there right now…He will always be a great penalty killer because he’s a defensive center and has a motor that won’t quit…

JoeMX1825 wrote:

Ek is a dump and chase guy, nothing wrong with that, but it’s who he is…He doesn’t drive the play into the offensive zone or use any creativity to distribute the puck on a line rush or create open space for his wingers…
It’s hard to envision that type of player on the Wild because we’ve never really had one before…maybe the 1 year Staal was good…Koivu showed flashes in his prime, but then his inner defensive positioning DNA kicked in…
Those types of players are typically hard to find in the draft after the top 5 picks and rarely if ever become available as a FA…we all know that too well…

JEEK is getting so much total icetime due to his PP time, and that’s just due to not having better options to put out there right now…He will always be a great penalty killer because he’s a defensive center and has a motor that won’t quit…

So you’re saying he’s a legit 3C or more of true 3C?

Anyone: JEEK is good.
Joe: HE’S NOT BARKOV!!!!

LOL I only had to write 10 positive words about him for you to bust out the same repetitive monologue about him.