2022 MN WILD/NHL THREAD

This one’s for TFG…

https://twitter.com/Audra_Martin/status/1473361217792131076?s=20

I mean it’s not bad, but it’s not great either…..Still curious as to how they got the network say, yeah I think you two should sing Christmas songs after the game tonight. So random.

mahtofire14 wrote:

I mean it’s not bad, but it’s not great either…..Still curious as to how they got the network say, yeah I think you two should sing Christmas songs after the game tonight. So random.

I think if they had Fiala sing tenor and Greenway bass with them in harmony it would have been better.

Ice Cap wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>mahtofire14 wrote:</div>
I mean it’s not bad, but it’s not great either…..Still curious as to how they got the network say, yeah I think you two should sing Christmas songs after the game tonight. So random.

I think if they had Fiala sing tenor and Greenway bass with them in harmony it would have been better.

I get the feeling Rask would be a good tenor also!

And there it is… Official.

Khusnidinov is captian for team Russia in the WJC, Guerin will be on kfan with Russo at 10:00am…

With the NHL opting out of the Olympics, the NHL will use the time to schedule the makeup games teams missed due to COVID. This should give the Wild alot of downtime (since they only need to makeup 3 games) to help with any injuries.

Guerin on with Russo on KFAN right now.

I almost cancelled a meeting at work so I could listen to him haha. Gonna have to go back and listen because I just love how when Russo asks Guerin a question about a trade and Guerin just slams the door shut on him.

KP wrote:

I almost cancelled a meeting at work so I could listen to him haha. Gonna have to go back and listen because I just love how when Russo asks Guerin a question about a trade and Guerin just slams the door shut on him.

Russo got him going again today! LOL He was pressing him about Ek’s injury and it was getting a little feisty.

KP wrote:

I almost cancelled a meeting at work so I could listen to him haha. Gonna have to go back and listen because I just love how when Russo asks Guerin a question about a trade and Guerin just slams the door shut on him.

Or when he asks about JEEK’s injury status… LOL Billy G pretty much gave Russo a spanking on live radio. Really downplayed the idea of Rossi coming up… guessing we see the 12 regular forwards play with Shaw as the extra.

Guerin also hinting the WPG game may be postponed.

tswoboda wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>KP wrote:</div>
I almost cancelled a meeting at work so I could listen to him haha. Gonna have to go back and listen because I just love how when Russo asks Guerin a question about a trade and Guerin just slams the door shut on him.

Or when he asks about JEEK’s injury status… LOL Billy G pretty much gave Russo a spanking on live radio. Really downplayed the idea of Rossi coming up… guessing we see the 12 regular forwards play with Shaw as the extra.

Guerin also hinting the WPG game may be postponed.

“Come on Mike! You know better than that!”

mahtofire14 wrote:

“Come on Mike! You know better than that!”

BG is such a gem compared to past GMs.

CaptainMusky wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>mahtofire14 wrote:</div>
“Come on Mike! You know better than that!”

BG is such a gem compared to past GMs.

Yep. I love when Russo is filling in on KFAN because you know he’s going to have BG and Bruce on and they are two of the best interviews you’ll get.

mahtofire14 wrote:

Yep. I love when Russo is filling in on KFAN because you know he’s going to have BG and Bruce on and they are two of the best interviews you’ll get.

100%

I would love to have a beer with Bruce and listen to all of his stories. The guy is the best to hear him on an interview.

Khusnidinov vs Wallstedt right now in the WJC opening roundzz

Blues currently have 5 players in covid protocol…4 added today…

JoeMX1825 wrote:

Blues currently have 5 players in covid protocol…4 added today…

Shaping up to be a watered down game with injuries and protocol. Stop testing perfectly healthy young athletes who are not showing symptoms of having anything. Is there a single player who is actually sick and has required treatment? Asking for a friend.

Ice Cap wrote:

Shaping up to be a watered down game with injuries and protocol. Stop testing perfectly healthy young athletes who are not showing symptoms of having anything. doah Is there a single player who is actually sick and has required treatment?

I can’t answer the question on who is actually sick and/or required treatment but I think the pro sports leagues are definitely looking at changing their protocol. I know the NFL recently made an update to theirs. The problem is that these protocols have been agreed upon with the players and union ahead of time so its not easy to just change them as they go.

I do agree that they need to make some updates/changes on protocol.

Ice Cap wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>JoeMX1825 wrote:</div>
Blues currently have 5 players in covid protocol…4 added today…

Shaping up to be a watered down game with injuries and protocol. Stop testing perfectly healthy young athletes who are not showing symptoms of having anything. Is there a single player who is actually sick and has required treatment? Asking for a friend.

They cannot go the route of the NFL because they have to test to cross the US-Canada border… Really can’t hammer that home enough.

Also: Marco Rossi, Alex Stalock, Josh Archibald, Nico Hishier, Jon Toews. Just a few off the top of my head that missed a full season or close to it.

Anybody buy Russo’s comment on BG sounding like he doesn’t like the way Rossi is playing? Or is it BG blowing smoke to cover them for when they don’t bring him up this season?

I believe the comment was “When asked about Rossi’s 22 points in 16 games BG said, yeah the points are great, but we have a way we want our players playing”, also mentioning call ups are earned.

tswoboda wrote:

They cannot go the route of the NFL because they have to test to cross the US-Canada border… Really can’t hammer that home enough.

Great point, I forgot about that. Adds a whole different dimension to the problem when you have international travel.

mahtofire14 wrote:

Anybody buy Russo’s comment on BG sounding like he doesn’t like the way Rossi is playing? Or is it BG blowing smoke to cover them for when they don’t bring him up this season?

I believe the comment was “When asked about Rossi’s 22 points in 16 games BG said, yeah the points are great, but we have a way we want our players playing”, also mentioning call ups are earned.

its all smoke, Rossi is exceeding everyone’s expectations for a 19 year old who missed over a year of hockey, besides his 1 ppg average, he’s also a +3 on a team that has recently lost like 7 of 8 games, so that tells you he’s not cheating defense to get points… he’ll get his 9 games this season, kinda surprised its not right now while Ek is out, but i’m thinking they give the current roster 3-5 games to see how it works out with the new center rotation before they do anything…

mahtofire14 wrote:

Anybody buy Russo’s comment on BG sounding like he doesn’t like the way Rossi is playing? Or is it BG blowing smoke to cover them for when they don’t bring him up this season?

It’s all Russo stirring the pot IMO. If you listened to Billy G, I have no idea how you could think he was saying he doesn’t like the way Rossi is playing. That’s not what he said at all, but that’s how Russo spun it on a later podcast. The “you need to earn it” and “play the right way” lines are just an easy way of deflecting questions Russo asks trying to stir sh!t up.

The reality is they’re going to bring Rossi up when they want to bring him up. Yes Rossi’s a PPG so far, but so is Dewar and Rau with Shaw not far off either. There’s 12 healthy forwards and 6 healthy defensemen and I’m sure those 18 skaters will play in the WC pending CV protocol BS. Either way, I’m not sure an outdoor game on likely marginal ice/conditions is the best NHL debut for a smallish skill player like Rossi.

It’s going to be freaking cold foe the Classic this week. Glad I didn’t get tickets to that game!

mahtofire14 wrote:

Anybody buy Russo’s comment on BG sounding like he doesn’t like the way Rossi is playing? Or is it BG blowing smoke to cover them for when they don’t bring him up this season?

It’s the second option. Rossi isn’t going to be brought up because BG knows we can’t afford to burn a year of his ELC. There’s nothing left to talk about with Rossi, he’s not coming up because of the cap issues it would cause down the road because of the buyouts. We NEED the cap space that these ELCs provide to get beyond the buyouts before having to resign a player like Rossi who is pretty clearly going to get a significant raise after his ELC.

Lots of fans loved the buyouts, get rid of the old guard, etc, etc. Well this is the price you pay, the youth movement’s going to have to play in the B leagues for a while because if we bring them up now, we’ll lose them to cap space down the road.

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

Well this is the price you pay, the youth movement’s going to have to play in the B leagues for a while because if we bring them up now, we’ll lose them to cap space down the road.

For the record, I hated the buyouts… but check your facts Grouse, you’re way off base here. Rossi is the only Iowa player who has a slide eligible contract. Every single other player in Iowa has zero contract ramifications from playing NHL games.

The only other signed players with slide eligible contracts are O’Rourke, Hunt, and Lambos. Are those the guys you’re saying are stuck in B leagues because of the buyouts? That’s a mighty hot take.

tswoboda wrote:

For the record, I hated the buyouts… but check your facts Grouse, you’re way off base here. Rossi is the only Iowa player who has a slide eligible contract. Every single other player in Iowa has zero contract ramifications from playing NHL games.

I thought Russo and others have reported early and often that if Rossi comes up this season for more than 9 games, he will need to be resigned in the 23/24 season because his 3-year ELC would then be over so he will need a new deal starting in 24/25 which is during the last big dead cap year ($14+ million) of the buyouts.

So you’re saying that’s NOT the case slide ELC extends to the last year such that his new deal would be beyond the S/P buyouts?

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

Russo and others have reported early and often that if Rossi comes up this season for more than 9 games, he will need to be resigned because his ELC would then be over before last year of the S/P buyouts. I assumed that to be WITH the slide.

Like I said, Rossi is the ONLY player (close to the NHL) the ELC slide is applicable to. So you’re right that it is likely keeping him in Iowa, but the hyperbole that it’s keeping or going to keep multiple players in the minors is not true. Marco Rossi will be the only case where they keep a player in Iowa to get past the big S/P buyout years… there is no situation where it will happen again.

And regardless of the buyouts, I’m not sure if that’s a bad thing to keep him in Iowa. There’s nothing wrong with him coming up next year when he is 100% ready to rip for a full NHl season and hit the ground running. It’s a big adjustment for a small center going from the OHL into pro hockey. It’s his first time playing against men and he’s already been hurt twice this season from physical/borderline dirty plays. Let him adjust by being a star in the AHL rather than a role player in the NHL.

tswoboda wrote:

So you’re right that it is likely keeping him in Iowa, but the hyperbole that it’s keeping or going to keep multiple players in the minors completely false.

How many players it keeps in the minors depends on how much we are going to need to spend on other needs/wants of current roster players as well. It’s not all about who’s in Iowa, that’s what I meant by the youth movement having to wait.

So what happens when “slow starter” Kevin Fiala gets on track and is pumping in one goal after another? Don’t sign him? We have a lot more bread to cover with the available peanut butter, my point is that somewhere we HAVE to economize and those ELCs are a major source of getting good players on the roster and then keeping them past the dead cap.