2023/2024 NHL/WILD Offseason-Season-Postseason Thread

The leg is a long way from the neck

stay home save lives

Ripjiggen wrote:

Update tried to order shirts from bauer and Warroad both OOS.

The Warroad ones have been out of stock since when I looked after Larson died I think.

I think both Warroad and Bauer are new models coming out and only available for pre-sale

Oh that could be too. I know I checked the website right away when I heard Oshie talk about them I was curious what they looked like and cost.

Check out this small company, they make a great product https://duzter.com/

They ship out in February

tswoboda wrote:

The leg is a long way from the neck

Thought you were channeling Herb for a sec there…”Bruise on the leg is a helluva long way from the heart”

JoeMX1825 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>tswoboda wrote:</div>
The leg is a long way from the neck

Thought you were channeling Herb for a sec there…”Bruise on the leg is a helluva long way from the heart”

lol that’s exactly what I was going for.

If I were feeling snarky I would have said it sure is a shame he wasn’t wearing a neck guard

tswoboda wrote:

The leg is a long way from the neck

stay home save lives

Yeah sorry my kid won’t wear the dog collar type.
Honestly can’t blame him either.

Interesting/confusing that Vancouver traded for Lindholm… If he’s just a rental, that’s very expensive…

Ripjiggen wrote:

Yeah sorry my kid won’t wear the dog collar type.
Honestly can’t blame him either.

I wore those back in the day and they were terrible.

Having the guard integrated into the collar of an undershirt is the way to go…my kid is super picky about what he wears and to my surprise he’s had ZERO problems wearing the neck guard undershirts. He started with a Bauer model and switched to the Duzter and loves wearing them…

When I was a kid my dad forced me to wear the White Easton donut neck guard after the Clint Melarchuck incident, it felt like I was in a choke hold the entire time…these newer designs have eliminated that issue, the fabric is also way thinner and more protective now too…

Russo says Wild may get Marat Khusnutdinov over here sooner rather than later. His KHL Season likely ends Feb. 25. Can’t see any downside to burning a rookie contract year, at this point the Wild need to get him here and on the team.

Now that would be exciting to be able to quit talking about how awesome the Wild prospect pool is and actually see something of it. He’s already a professional player so it’s time.

CaptainMusky wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Ripjiggen wrote:</div>
Yeah sorry my kid won’t wear the dog collar type.
Honestly can’t blame him either.

I wore those back in the day and they were terrible.

100% agree with you both. However when it’s 10x cheaper that’s the option we’ll see majority of kids wearing. This is basically people walking around the grocery store with a buff on during covid. Stay home save lives.

It looks like the KHL Contract offer details to Danila Yurov have been released, Mettulberg is offering around $300k and some silly incentive bonuses… so I’d expect his agent to tell him to sign with the Wild next year for the $900+K ELC deal…now if we can AVOID burning the 1st year with him that would likely be preferred, this is likely as his KHL team is a contender for the title and hopefully still playing in April…

Im sure those neck collars are much better now than when I wore them. The velcro always cut into my neck. These type neck collars like T said are really the most feasible for the vast majority of families as uncomfortable as they may be the others are just stupid expensive if you can even find them.
What does a pair of skates cost these days $500? $1000? I know sticks are ridiculous.

tswoboda wrote:

However when it’s 10x cheaper that’s the option we’ll see majority of kids wearing.

The price differences are typically $25 vs $75, of course there will be more expensive options to prey on those who absolutely have to buy the best, but $75 for a protective neck undershirt is pretty standard across the brands…The Duzter brand models with neck and wrist protection are $85 but they have a $10 coupon on their homepage…

Once other brands hit the market, the prices should drop a bit, but right now they will likely (sadly) profit on the mad rush for everyone to get one for next season…

CaptainMusky wrote:

What does a pair of skates cost these days $500? $1000? I know sticks are ridiculous.

Bauer Hyperlite skates are $1,000+, CCM Jetspeeds top out at $1,150…Typical adult 1 piece sticks are around $200-$250, the top of the line ones are $350+

My 7 year old still gets outfitted from cousin hand me downs and Play it Again Sports, you can find like new youth hockey gear already broken in for cheap, they grow so fast it’s silly to buy new gear imo…some pieces like shin pads it makes sense to spend $20 more and buy new though…

I know this won’t last long and i’ll pay the piper when he gets older…

CaptainMusky wrote:

Im sure those neck collars are much better now than when I wore them. The velcro always cut into my neck. These type neck collars like T said are really the most feasible for the vast majority of families as uncomfortable as they may be the others are just stupid expensive if you can even find them.
What does a pair of skates cost these days $500? $1000? I know sticks are ridiculous.

The collar I posted is $11 from Bauer’s website. Youth shirts seem to range from $75-$200. Little kid skates are like $60, sticks are like $50, basically every piece of equipment for little kids starting hockey is $50 or less. Used equipment is also widely available for about $20 a piece because kids that age grow out of it so fast and don’t really wear it out.

I’m viewing this through the lens of families just starting hockey, because #1 that’s my current situation, and #2 that’s the age we can grow participation in youth hockey. It’s the age we need to make hockey as cheap and accessible as possible if we want the best athletes in hockey. The vast majority of youth hockey players start between the ages of 4 and 7. Once they get into squirts and start travelling and equipment gets more expensive, I agree the cost of a shirt is a drop in the bucket.

Hockey will always be expensive, but there are ways to help with the gear cost (extended family hand me downs, FBMP/C-List, asking your association for help as most get used gear donations, I even think USA hockey offers aid programs) $100-$150 can get a 5 year old decked out in used gear at Play it Again, the USA Hockey Approved/not expired helmet is probably the most expensive piece…

it’s the hour of ice expense that you can’t get around other than putting as many kids on at once that you can, that can be good & bad… I believe our associations Cub level registration fee (Jersey, Socks and Icetime) is around $250 per kid (There are aid programs available if needed to help with that)

The other killer is the lack of “free” outdoor ice due to Climate changes…we had a 2 week window last year for outdoor ice, just 1 week this year…

Compare that with Youth Baseball, Soccer & Football (probably $50-$75 to get started with used gear) and negligible field usage fee’s and it will always put hockey behind the others…

I do find it funny that these other sports still jack up their registration fees though, tell me where the $250 registration fee dollars for Coach Pitch Baseball goes? All the coaches are parents volunteering their time, the kids get a $10 T-Shirt “Jersey” and the cheapest damn hat you’ve ever seen…Do the city parks actually charge the league to use the public fields? I get older levels require Umpire fees…

You guys see the Yurov offer? No way he takes that right? Like $300k to stay on his current team (with incentives to hit 900k).

CaptainMusky wrote:

You guys see the Yurov offer? No way he takes that right? Like $300k to stay on his current team (with incentives to hit 900k).

I posted about it earlier…I don’t think he takes that offer UNLESS he wants to remain at home another year…it adds a bit more context to his coaches quote a week or so ago stating he expects him to leave for the NHL…

They also disclosed he was only paid $110k for this season…The very top KHL players make just over $1 million US per season…

JoeMX1825 wrote:

Compare that with Youth Baseball, Soccer & Football (probably $50-$75 to get started with used gear) and negligible field usage fee’s and it will always put hockey behind the others…

What’s hurting all youth sports has changed. Equipment costs used to be the big strike against hockey, but now with all sports, the costs have skyrocketed as has the pressure to specialize.

With baseball, soccer, football, and volleyball there is NO off-season. The major cost here is the skyrocketing cost of the clubs and traveling leagues. Soccer clubs in the Twin Cities are freaking money extraction machines, it now costs over $2k for just the winter season with some of these clubs. Then there’s the summer league, traveling league, etc. Not hard for parents to drop $5k on soccer anymore.

Girls volleyball has gone the same way but there are also so many national tournaments. Friends of ours took their daughter to a tournament last year, 8 days, airline tickets, food, fees, transport, etc. Almost $4k for one tournament.

No joke, my kid’s spring sport is the cheap one: Trapshooting. My oldest just stepped up to a dedicated trap gun that was not cheap, but even with the cost of shells and travel to the regional and national tournament, it doesn’t look particularly expensive by comparison to what friends are shelling out for other sports.

no discussion around the Lindholm trade to Vancouver? Seems like Vancouver overpaid for a rental imo…if he’s not a rental, how do they afford to extend him at the likely $8.5+aav when they need to back up the Brinks truck for Pettersson’s extension and the Oliver Ekman Larson buyout starts getting real…

I still think Yurov comes down to whether or not he’s willing to play in Iowa and/or the team will let him play in Minnesota. $330k being a star in the top league at home sounds a lot better than $175k riding a bus around the midwest where no one speaks your language. Lots of Russians don’t do AHL, we’ve seen 3 wash out of Iowa in the last couple years.

tswoboda wrote:

Lots of Russians don’t do AHL, we’ve seen 3 wash out of Iowa in the last couple years.

I dont think any of them are even in the league anymore are they?

Firstov is doing really well in the KHL, Sokolov I think is playing in the KHL and meh, and Khovanov I’m not sure if he’s even still playing hockey. Not a great track record for Russians in Iowa! And while Yurov might be good enough to play in MN next year, that doesn’t really follow the track record of how they handle prospects. Kirill and Faber are the only ones to forgo Iowa, and both were older than Yurov will be next year.

Sokolov was the one with the poor work ethic and out of shape problem right?

CaptainMusky wrote:

Sokolov was the one with the poor work ethic and out of shape problem right?

Sokolov and Khovanov both. They had really good CHL careers and then bounced between AHL and ECHL a year or two before heading back to Russia. Firstov took off for Russia after like 1 game in Iowa and is still technically on his ELC.

tswoboda wrote:

Firstov is doing really well in the KHL, Sokolov I think is playing in the KHL and meh, and Khovanov I’m not sure if he’s even still playing hockey. Not a great track record for Russians in Iowa! And while Yurov might be good enough to play in MN next year, that doesn’t really follow the track record of how they handle prospects. Kirill and Faber are the only ones to forgo Iowa, and both were older than Yurov will be next year.

I agree with you on the Russian “AHL Phobia” although I’ve read some travel horror stories for KHL players in Russia vs the AHL bus rides…
My question is do the Wild feel another year in the KHL is = to a year in the AHL? So they would then be fine with him coming over from the KHL after next season and immediately playing for the Wild vs Iowa? What else does he need to show in the KHL from a development standpoint? The kid is about the break all of the KHL scoring records for a 20 year old…he’s technically been playing in the KHL for 3 years now (more practicing the first 2 years)

Kind of interesting that Danila Yurov will have actually played in more KHL games 163 vs Marat Khusnudinov’s 162 (granted Marat played on KHL’s top team) after this regular season is over with. Yes, the actual minutes played will be much more for Marat….

Does the team really think Jojo provides more than what Yurov could do as a 2nd line winger? Show Kirill another talent we have for him to play with to hopefully entice him to re-sign in 2 years…

JoeMX1825 wrote:

Does the team really think Jojo provides more than what Yurov could do as a 2nd line winger?

Get Jojo out of your head when it comes to what they do with Yurov. We’ve been over this before last year when you were crying about Freddy or Hartman or whoever vs. Marco. It’s not about rookie prospect vs. vet and who is better. The team will handle the prospect differently and do whatever they think will make Yurov reach his top potential.

JoeMX1825 wrote:

Show Kirill another talent we have for him to play with to hopefully entice him to re-sign in 2 years…

17 months from now is when Kirill is eligible to sign an extension. And they’ll want to know that summer, otherwise he ends up on the trade block. So remainder of this season and next season is their chance to sell him on the infamous Billy G 5 year plan for world domination.