2024/2025 NHL/WILD Offseason-Season-Postseason Thread

Unreal that Calgary came back in the 3rd to beat the Avs, playoff lead down to just 6 points with the Flames having 2 games in hand and play the Wild in Calgary as well….

Judd’s Hockey Show had Jesse Pierce (Wild NHL.com reporter) on today and she confirmed that Kirill had Sports Hernia surgery and it was done by the same NY doctor Yanne Gourde used for his surgery…as I said…

So apparently Kirill is a slow healer or the Wild are overly cautious…

But did she say when he would be back in the lineup?!

tswoboda wrote:

But did she say when he would be back in the lineup?!

(warning – i’m not 100% accurate on the exact verbiage she used on the podcast)
she said something to the effect that she wouldn’t be surprised if he’d try to get himself into the Islanders game or then the homestand games, obviously he wants to play…

JoeMX1825 wrote:

Unreal that Calgary came back in the 3rd to beat the Avs, playoff lead down to just 6 points with the Flames having 2 games in hand and play the Wild in Calgary as well….

Apparently 2 of the final 3 games are against the Flames and Canucks, both on the road.

Those 2 games may honestly determine who makes or misses the playoffs.

Blues tie the game with 29 seconds left and win it in OT for 10 in a row! Unreal!

gim wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>JoeMX1825 wrote:</div>
Unreal that Calgary came back in the 3rd to beat the Avs, playoff lead down to just 6 points with the Flames having 2 games in hand and play the Wild in Calgary as well….

Apparently 2 of the final 3 games are against the Flames and Canucks, both on the road.

Those 2 games may honestly determine who makes or misses the playoffs.

back to back nights even!

No worries, we’re guaranteed to make the playoffs though…

Wild signed a college free agent with one of the greatest hockey names in the history of the sport “Gunnarwolfe Fontaine”

The kid scored 40 points in 40 games for Ohio State this season…He’ll help in Iowa but a likely long shot to ever get to the NHL…but that name though!

JoeMX1825 wrote:

No worries, we’re guaranteed to make the playoffs though…

Still at the same 90%+ chance of making playoffs after playing like absolute ass for a month. Finally an intelligent post from you

Playoff teams calgary has on the schedule:
Vegas x2
Kings
Wild

Playoff teams Van has on the schedule:
Vegas x2
Dallas
Colorado
Wild

Playoff teams the Wild have on the schedule:
Dallas

The shitty part here is Dallas is going to take the #1 seed from the Jets, the Wild are falling into the WC2 spot…… and we’re going to end up with freaking Dallas in the first round anyway

new episode of Beyond our Ice, deals with the trade deadline, some good insight…planting the seeds for the Buium hype train…

tswoboda wrote:

The shitty part here is Dallas is going to take the #1 seed from the Jets, the Wild are falling into the WC2 spot…… and we’re going to end up with freaking Dallas in the first round anyway

Is it really going to matter? I’m as optimistic as they come, but Dallas, Winnipeg, or Colorado will outplay us. Even if the Golden boy(s) do come back. I hope I’m wrong and somehow this team turns back into the team they were back in November. But I’m definitely not holding my breath.

On a side note, Ovi is 3 away from tying the goal record with 8 games to go. Does he break it this season!?

The Chimpanzee just passed his driving permit test and he’s getting hungry for some Taco Bell… he needs to polish up his driving skills before he heads out, maybe in a couple of weeks…

IceNEyes1986 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>tswoboda wrote:</div>
The shitty part here is Dallas is going to take the #1 seed from the Jets, the Wild are falling into the WC2 spot…… and we’re going to end up with freaking Dallas in the first round anyway

Is it really going to matter? I’m as optimistic as they come, but Dallas, Winnipeg, or Colorado will outplay us. Even if the Golden boy(s) do come back. I hope I’m wrong and somehow this team turns back into the team they were back in November. But I’m definitely not holding my breath.

On a side note, Ovi is 3 away from tying the goal record with 8 games to go. Does he break it this season!?

Yes, they will be big underdogs against whomever they play, but ANYTHING can happen in the playoffs… Gus could play out of his mind and steal a couple of games, we sneak out of round 1 and maybe other teams sustain important injuries in their 1st round series and it evens out the teams a bit…you never know once you get in, you just gotta get in…

IceNEyes1986 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>tswoboda wrote:</div>
The shitty part here is Dallas is going to take the #1 seed from the Jets, the Wild are falling into the WC2 spot…… and we’re going to end up with freaking Dallas in the first round anyway

Is it really going to matter? I’m as optimistic as they come, but Dallas, Winnipeg, or Colorado will outplay us. Even if the Golden boy(s) do come back. I hope I’m wrong and somehow this team turns back into the team they were back in November. But I’m definitely not holding my breath.

Maybe not but of those 3 teams I’d absolutely choose the Jets. Preferably none of them though and they keep the WC1 and move over to the awful Pacific.

If the Wild have their full roster they could absolutely be dangerous in the playoffs. I mean why wouldn’t they be? Good goaltending, good D core, and hope the offense gets hot.

Interesting how when Vegas limped into the playoffs with a bunch of injuries last year, everyone said it was unfair and called them cheaters. Assuming all will be fine and dandy in the playoffs I guess. Well now the Wild are in the same position and everyone says F-it they have zero chance, let’s throw in the towel.

Gus could certainly steal a couple games. He’s got the talent. That’s as long as he can hold up. Is Fleury low key hurt? Why isn’t he getting any games down the stretch?

JoeMX1825 wrote:

The Chimpanzee just passed his driving permit test and he’s getting hungry for some Taco Bell… he needs to polish up his driving skills before he heads out, maybe in a couple of weeks…

Hey I’m absolutely still willing to put a friendly wager on it

IceNEyes1986 wrote:

Gus could certainly steal a couple games. He’s got the talent. That’s as long as he can hold up. Is Fleury low key hurt? Why isn’t he getting any games down the stretch?

because Gus has been good and they are riding him…

Plus the schedule has them playing games every other day for like 8 games in a row, all with pretty easy travel so it’s easier to ride Gus. Fleury may only get 1 more game if they don’t get some breathing room in the standings

tswoboda wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>JoeMX1825 wrote:</div>
The Chimpanzee just passed his driving permit test and he’s getting hungry for some Taco Bell… he needs to polish up his driving skills before he heads out, maybe in a couple of weeks…

Hey I’m absolutely still willing to put a friendly wager on it

nah, I know the math and the teams chasing us schedules, just making you sweat because its getting alot tighter that most expected…Kirill hopefully coming back in the next few games will likely boost their confidence the last 4-5 games…

Russo just reported that Kirill’s Doctor gave him the thumbs up to progress towards getting back into playing games & taking full contact. No return date given by Hynes, but i’d guess Kirill will push for asap…

Hynes also confirmed Ek’s injury had a 6-8 week return timeline and this is currently week 6…this brings back nightmares of Ek taking a single 15 second shift in his first game back and leaving the game for the rest of the playoffs…

That 2023 Ek injury was also like 6-8 week injury and he closer to day 6 than week 6. Obviously I’m exaggerating but he was waaayyyyy ahead of schedule. Still can’t believe they let him do that.

I doubt we will ever see the same EK we were used to seeing. If he wants to stay playing in games he is going to have to take some of the edge off his game. If he doesn’t I see a significantly shortened career for him. Then again sometimes these injuries take the edge off your game for you.

tswoboda wrote:

That 2023 Ek injury was also like 6-8 week injury and he closer to day 6 than week 6. Obviously I’m exaggerating but he was waaayyyyy ahead of schedule. Still can’t believe they let him do that.

crazy thing is, you’re not that far off… He fractured it on April 6th, and tried to play on April 21st, he was “Medically cleared” by the team doctor

that doctor:

I want the boys back as bad as anyone. But I highly doubt they will be able to move the needle much in the short term. I’d imagine they’ll need some game time to get ramped up to peak performance and we are running out of time.

Having said that, I hope they make the playoffs and make a run.

lindyrig79 wrote:

I’d imagine they’ll need some game time to get ramped up to peak performance and we are running out of time.

That’s why they are trying to get them back asap in the regular season… it is what it is…

IceNEyes1986 wrote:

Gus could certainly steal a couple games. He’s got the talent

You dont think their gonna give the playoffs to Fleury cause hes got more experience like the last few times. Give Gus a chance when its to late.

If you look at games played around the league, Gus is right on track and actually below some of the top goalies. I wouldn’t worry about his time in the net. I think it just feels weird to us because we’re not used to a true starter when comparing the last few seasons.

He’s played 52

Hellebuyck 58
Vasi 58
Otter 53
Bob 49
Igor 55
Sorokin 56

Nothing to worry about here. He has stolen what like 9 games this year? Take half of those wins away and we’re out. Ride him, it’s all we got right now.

JEREMY wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>IceNEyes1986 wrote:</div>
Gus could certainly steal a couple games. He’s got the talent

You dont think their gonna give the playoffs to Fleury cause hes got more experience like the last few times. Give Gus a chance when its to late.

huh? Flower won’t see the net in the playoffs unless Gus completely falls apart in the first 3 games or gets hurt…

The only hope for Flower playing again is the 2nd night of the Vancouver/Calgary back to back or the team secures a playoff spot sometime in the next 6 games and can’t gain anything from the last game of the year at home and Flower starts it…

JEREMY wrote:

You dont think their gonna give the playoffs to Fleury cause hes got more experience like the last few times. Give Gus a chance when its to late.

It’s almost like there’s a big difference between 40 year old Flower and Gus. And there wasn’t much difference between 37 year old Flower and Cam freaking Talbot

I’d say we came out pretty good on that Talbot for Gustavsson trade