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

Surprised how few shots Ek gets his stick on in front of the net on the powerplay…. He needs to watch and learn from Joe Pavelski…

3rd D pair (Goose and Bogo) were -2 tonight, Faber was +2, Hunt was +2 (was that assist his 1st NHL point?

I can’t figure Goose out. Last couple games he was pretty good, then last night just awful. Biggest thing I notice is on retrievals how he’s either getting beat to pucks or the forecheck is on him before he can make a play and then he coughs it up. His feet have slowed down and he’s relied on being a good skater his entire career. Maybe he’s more exposed against fast teams or maybe some nights he’s not as slow as others, IDK.

Thought it was Hunt’s best game, he’s looking more and more like an NHL player.

If this turns out to be a down season for Kaprizov, Wild probably won’t make the playoffs. He had a chance to be the difference last night.

Geez, stay out of the box and we win that game…….

T you nailed the Goose take as I have seen the exact same thing from him. He was good for a couple games in a row there and was just awful last night.

I think some of Goose’s exposure is road games vs home games and the opposing teams getting the matchup they want and putting speed out against him and his cement feet…His skating just isn’t there anymore, especially after the 1st period, so he no longer has the extra 1/2 second to make a decision when he gets the puck and he’s coughing it up…I agree with Hunt playing well and we’ll probably see him replace Goose or Merril when Brodin and Spurgeon get back…Bogo has been skating well all things considered, but his decision making has been questionable at best…he had a bad pinch that left Goose out to dry on one of the goals last night and has been taking dumb penalties lately (That’s kind of his thing though)

unless I missed it, how about nobody mentioning Hunt’s 1st NHL point last night on the broadcast? It didn’t look like any of the players got the puck as well?

tswoboda wrote:

If this turns out to be a down season for Kaprizov, Wild probably won’t make the playoffs. He had a chance to be the difference last night.

The scary part is that he’s typically not even close to finishing…so his confidence is friggin shot…couple of recent game shot attempts I noticed when he’s trying to pick the short side top corner and he puts the puck right into the goalies chest emblem, so he’s not even close to what he’s aiming at…his shootout attempts are telling as well, its like he has no plan at all and sort of improvises when he gets in on the goalie…his last one was a backhander 2′ over the net… lastly it seems like he’s getting way too many shots blocked this season…either defenders have figured out his shooting stick position and he’s telegraphing it or he’s not making an effort to change the angle at all…You’de think he would have figured it out by now, but were at like game 30 of the season? Kind of hard to believe for somebody as talented as Kirill…

I’m not one to blame refs and I’ve always liked Letang but the two penalties he drew were honestly insane. He initiated contact on both and then flopped like he was playing soccer. Then Hartman play was so weird, but I *think* they got that one right ?? When he went down the tunnel immediately I thought for sure he was faking it and never got touched. Maybe that’s actually true and they just have red cotton waiting for Hartman in the tunnel

Sounds like Yurov staying in Russia next year.

Russians don’t do AHL

tswoboda wrote:

I’m not one to blame refs and I’ve always liked Letang but the two penalties he drew were honestly insane. He initiated contact on both and then flopped like he was playing soccer. Then Hartman play was so weird, but I *think* they got that one right ??

Thought the exact same thing, Letang would have fallen over if you’d have hit him with a feather duster last night. Flopping like an Italian soccer player, the only thing missing was the holding of the leg and the writhing in pain.

If the Hartman call was interference, it was the softest call ever. The miss on that call was not giving Letang an extra 2 for embellishment on top of the high sticking, but in the history of hockey have they ever called an embellishment on top of a double minor? I guarantee you the Wild would never be the benefactor of THAT call and it’d never be against the Pens.

With that said, Hartman has to smarten up. He’s a known offender and he’s got a target on his back as far as the refs watching him every second regardless of where the puck is.

And hey, we didn’t break a stick during the PK last night. That breaks our 6 game stick-breaking PK streak. Of course, it didn’t matter because we got lit up for 2 PP goals, but…

tswoboda wrote:

Then Hartman play was so weird, but I *think* they got that one right ?? When he went down the tunnel immediately I thought for sure he was faking it and never got touched. Maybe that’s actually true and they just have red cotton waiting for Hartman in the tunnel

I too thought he was faking to get the extra 2 minutes, it was funny because the Refs were trying to catch him to see if he was bleeding before he skated off…He skated right into the player’s path and that’s why he got the interference, it was totally a Hartman thing to do…

Ripjiggen wrote:

Sounds like Yurov staying in Russia next year.

Disappointing for sure, but he’ll only turn 20 next week and honestly the only top 6 spot he could play for the Wild next year would be if they buyout JoJo…I guess if its just another 1 year deal its not the worst thing in the world…I’d be curious to see what his 1 year KHL contract pays compared to an NHL ELC year

as expected, Liam Ohgren is the captain of the Sweden WJC team, he should dominate this year…

I’m convinced that this team is full of idiots. They make the same dumb mistakes and the same dumb penalties every game.

mahtofire14 wrote:

I’m convinced that this team is full of idiots. They make the same dumb mistakes and the same dumb penalties every game.

Please elaborate? Every team takes penalties, the penalty on Kirill last night was a joke call and the following goal was a pass that deflected like 5 times in front of the net. Bogosian’s penalties you can gripe about because they weren’t necessary, but that’s just part of his game and we’re forced to play him more right now with 2 of our top 4 Defensman out injured…does this team take too many penalties? probably…but alot of that blame falls on our bottom guys just getting beat and forced to take a penalty…

Bogo, Maroon, Foligno, Merrill, and Hartman all have well established track records of taking stupid penalties. In Hartman’s defense he is the best at often taking the other guy with him. He’s been the referees’ enemy number 1 the last couple years, as was painfully obvious last night.

tswoboda wrote:

Bogo, Maroon, Foligno, Merrill, and Hartman all have well established track records of taking stupid penalties. In Hartman’s defense he is the best at often taking the other guy with him. He’s been the referees’ enemy number 1 the last couple years, as was painfully obvious last night.

Bogo’s penalties are mostly just dumb, the roughing penalty 2 games ago is a perfect example, it was pointless and done in front of 2 refs…Merrill’s penalties are due to getting beaten on the play, Maroon typically takes penalties to stir things up (you accept it) or his lack of footspeed results in hooking or tripping calls…Foligno we know all about and he’s a marked man by the Refs, he appears to be better this year sofar…Hartman runs hot & cold, but always plays right on the edge so it typically comes down to the mood of the refs if he’s called or not…Middleton’s numbers have jumped up a bit, mostly related to getting outworked for netfront positioning…

Do I really need to elaborate? Would’ve figured you’d watched every game over the last few seasons Joe? 7th most penalized team in the league. Does Hartman or Foligno not get goated into a stupid penalty every week or even every other game? Come on Joe. It’s not a new thing for this team.

mahtofire14 wrote:

Do I really need to elaborate? Would’ve figured you’d watched every game over the last few seasons Joe? 7th most penalized team in the league. Does Hartman or Foligno not get goated into a stupid penalty every week or even every other game? Come on Joe. It’s not a new thing for this team.

when was the last time Hartman or Foligno were goated into a stupid penalty? (Maybe the Kane penalty in Edmonton after Brodin got smoked by him? There needed to be an answer for that hit though) I think Maroon got one for going into a scrum and punching somebody?? other than those two examples, I cant think of another time this season? (I agree, Last season Foligno was a mess)

In terms of making the “same mistakes” I’ll agree if that’s referencing the penalty kill, but otherwise most of the mistakes being made are by bad players we’re forced to play due to cap constraints or injuries…

Hartman’s penalty last night was stupid. Crossed right into him to make contact when it wasn’t needed. So yeah, it’s still happening. Foligno got away with one the other night too after someone pissed him off.

The Hartman play resulted in a Wild powerplay and Foligno “got away with it” according to you… so they aren’t being goated into penalties then?

This team has tons of problems this season and now add longterm injuries to key players, but the self inflicted pain has been more limited sofar this season at least, that’s all i’m getting at…

mahtofire14 wrote:

Hartman’s penalty last night was stupid. Crossed right into him to make contact when it wasn’t needed.

You know the Wild got a powerplay out of that, right?

Opponents know the players that are likely to take unnecessary penalties. They know before the game who has a short fuse. Pretty much every team has a couple players like that. It’s a matter of control and restraint.

Reaves was known to be a player like this most of his career but he was actually more restrained while he was here than I expected.

I think it’s good to play with an edge but there’s a fine line between going over the edge and using it as an advantage.

gimruis wrote:

Opponents know the players that are likely to take unnecessary penalties. They know before the game who has a short fuse. Pretty much every team has a couple players like that. It’s a matter of control and restraint.

Reaves was known to be a player like this most of his career but he was actually more restrained while he was here than I expected.

I think it’s good to play with an edge but there’s a fine between going over the edge and using it as an advantage.

100% agreed and its why Hartman got benched last year… he went over the line and it cost us…

I mean they’re still 7-3 the past 10 games. So there is noticeable improvement.

Good luck in B town tonight.

Kinda funny…

https://x.com/heybarber/status/1737224692338200692?s=46&t=uoRWUp28rKzoSODmtmr3Lw

Foligno just smoked Gryzlk…

I rip Freddy alot but that was a sweet pump fake shot pass to Jojo who finally gets on the board…

Jojo can score?!