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

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

I can remember youth hockey coaches in the 1970s and 80s telling me to “buzz the ear” of the goaltender, especially on the blocker side when he went down. I’m sure it goes back way further than that, it is very difficult to stop shot that’s blocker side and at ear level.

We even had training aids that attached to the front of the goal, and more than one of them I can recall featured a target hole on either side of the goalie’s head.

Shortside high is different from banking off the backside of the helmet from below the goal line…if your coach was truly trying to teach the below the goal line bank shot then he was a time traveler

Ripjiggen wrote:

Who cares? I mean a full page of how thick the foam is in the back of a goalie helmet for a hypothetical scenario.
Slow day for sure.

half the posts were replies suggesting I said to outlaw the shot, once it got on the actual subject around is the backplate designed for the direct shot attempts we’re seeing more and more of the past 1-2 seasons (Crosby is one of if not the first to do it on purpose years ago, thanks Wiz) and if not will it be updated so it is? We had one good reply from Anyfish2 that pointed out alot of the traditional thinking and why the backplate probably wasn’t paid much attention to from a protection standpoint and then the Wiz interjected with his superspeed internet knowledge…

My only hope is that more attention to goals like Reinhardt’s gets the question asked to NHL goalies on their thoughts of the shot and are they properly protected from it? I’d love to hear the answers…Maybe Lundquist gets asked about it on TNT tomorrow, i’ll be watching….

Ripjiggen wrote:

Who cares? I mean a full page of how thick the foam is in the back of a goalie helmet for a hypothetical scenario.
Slow day for sure.

We could be talking about drones.

I got a solution turn your head and watch the puck and you won’t get hit in the back of it. Or don’t stick your head out past your post to be exposed to that shot.

Dudes are not even wearing full face mask and we are worried about a flip shot to the back of a goalies head.

You are trying to find a solution to a problem that does not exist.

Ripjiggen wrote:

You are trying to find a solution to a problem that does not exist.

The frequency of the play happening is increasing every season in recent years with Kirill trying it many times in games I’ve watched, the Reinhart goal last night was the first time seeing the goalie appear to be in some pain afterwards. I’d just love to hear an NHL goalie’s feelings about it, if they say its not an issue, then its not an issue. The speed of the shot also seems to be increasing with it no longer being just a quick chip shot attempt from in close and more of a full snap shot from a bit farther out…The times he hasn’t scored on it the goalie immediately turns back and appeared to have words for Kirill, I specifically remember Merzlinkins doing that, but that was a rocket of a shot attempt…I think Binnington was another? not sure though…Are they just pissed off because it hurts or mad they could get injured? I don’t know…

So you’re big point here is that goalies don’t like getting hit in the head with a puck – No sh!t, eh

Someone please make this stop, we’re at an all time low

tswoboda wrote:

Someone please make this stop, we’re at an all time low

Then leave the f’ing thread you Karen! good lord…

2026 St Paul WJC tickets went on sale today, the Cheapest option is $1,400, average seats are in the $2,500 range and you must buy the full slate of games….i’m guessing single game tickets eventually go on sale closer to the event, but I now understand why you see so many empty seats for every game besides USA vs Canada…

Unreal…

tswoboda wrote:

So you’re big point here is that goalies don’t like getting hit in the head with a puck – No sh!t, eh

Yep I’m more worried about the lower back crosschecks that never gets called than a shot off the head of a goalie. One happens 10 times or more a game the maybe a couple times in several days and it’s rarely if ever a hard shot.

Wow that’s steep for world junior tickets. I know it’s a popular event, but that’s ridiculous.

gimruis wrote:

Wow that’s steep for world junior tickets. I know it’s a popular event, but that’s ridiculous.

That’s every game.

Oh. How many games are there?

gimruis wrote:

Oh. How many games are there?

I dont know the exact number but alot (it probably includes the pre-lim games too) but they are split between the X and Marriucci to see them all.

Canada vs USA game ticket prices will probably be insane…

$10 prorated Sports Package fee on Comcast for the duration of the tournament gets you all the games too

gimruis wrote:

Oh. How many games are there?

30

So it would come out to about 47 bucks for each game if you paid 1400.

Whole lot more reasonable than what I thought initially.

Thanks

gimruis wrote:

So it would come out to about 47 bucks for each game if you paid 1400.

Whole lot more reasonable than what I thought initially.

Thanks

keep in mind those are for the worst seats in the arena and you’ll really only want to watch games from the top 5-6 countries… Latvia vs Lithuania at 9:00am on a Wednesday morning sounds like a religious experience

but you’ll get the big games that typically live upto the hype so take the good with the bad…

and you’ll get to watch Zeev Buium & Gavin McKenna live!

Lots of smoke around former #2 overall pick NY Ranger Kaapo Kakko as a possible trade target for the Wild…I guess I can see the immediate fit replacing Jojo (young power forward with size) IF the Wild thinks he has alot more untapped offensive potential than what he’s shown sofar in NY, I question where he would fit on the roster in 2-3 years? likely not in the top6 and Foligno and Trenin are signed for 3 more years….His press interview yesterday adds gas to the he’s gonna get traded fire…

of course all of the NY fans think Rossi would be the return, no friggin chance…We would need to clear $2.4 in capspace going back to the Rangers to make it work capwise, that puts Jojo and Freddy as the only contracts that would fit (Jojo has the NTC but they could play the waivers threat game with him) I wouldn’t mind one of our Iowa Defenseman not named Jiricek going as well…

we’ll see, I have my doubts as it requires Jojo or Freddy going back (does Drury even want them?) and the long term Kakko fit is foggy with top prospects coming and existing contracts already in place…..

Stealing Kakko right now would be great – kinda like the Jiricek trade but older. Plug him right into the middle 6 and into Ohgren’s projected future spot. Could see a young forward like Ohgren or Khusnutdinov used in the trade too. Rangers have a lot of cap space this year so hypothetically they could retain to make it work

JoeMX1825 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>tswoboda wrote:</div>
Someone please make this stop, we’re at an all time low

Then leave the f’ing thread you Karen! good lord…

And leave you unsupervised in here?! No chance

Giving up Ohgren might be too much given how well he’s been playing in Iowa (He scored 2 more goals last night and has 10 goals in 13 games) scoring goals has never been his super power so not sure if its just a flash of scoring luck or legit skill, but he’s been consistent sofar in Iowa…

I could see Marat as part of a package going back as we have plenty of guys who could be a 4th liner and I don’t see Marat getting a top 9 slot in the future, I just don’t like Kappo’s top 6 long term projection with guys like Yurov, Ohgren, Heidt likely coming up in the next 1-2 years…He would be a nice 3rd liner/Hartman replacement though…Kakko’s also 1 year away from Free Agency, so they need to make sure he’s somebody they are going to want to sign to an extension and his NHL resume doesn’t scream a big aav…

Blackhawks are also mentioned as having alot of interest and they have tons of picks and assets to trade, my guess is he goes there to give Bedard some help…

Crazy he’s almost UFA, seems like he was just drafted. I think he’d fill a very similar middle 6 winger role to what they expect of Ohgren. Just he’s ready to do it now and be at his prime the next 5 years with 97, 7, 12, 14, 23, etc compared to Ohgren who’s still developing and not a sure thing to get there at all.

Seeing a theme here with wild thinking other teams messed up the development of high picks by putting them in the NHL too early

I really like that whenever these guys come available the Wild are always mentioned as in the conversation. Been that way all of BG’s tenure, all the way back to the Eichel sweepstakes. If nothing else it shows management is at least active and working hard doing their jobs. Colorado, Vegas, Carolina are some other teams I think of that always seem to be mentioned when a big name comes available the last 5 or so years.

agreed, he’s a high reward/low risk type of player as he could always be an effective 3rd line checker role if his scoring doesn’t pan out, then its all about what aav you can extend him for (is he paid as a scorer or a checker)…

Those factors are also what will drive up the offers from other teams with alot more assets to offer (like Chicago, Buffalo or San Jose)

I agree its fun to see/hear the Wild always being in the mix for desired players, especially the past few years with the caphit penalties completely hamstringing them…

Ha, Russo just killed the Kakko rumors…

I’m 100% convinced he’ll get traded very soon, just to a team who will pay alot more than the Wild could…

This dollar for dollar trade scenario the wild are in make it almost impossible to get a top six guy to replace jojo right now.

Rangers are a complete dumpster fire. Drury as GM seems to want to make sure everyone knows that the blame resides with a group of senior players like Trouba and Kreider. The players seem to have taken Drury’s trade-baiting of Kreider as the last straw. It’s now become a keep him (Drury) and we never win scenario.

It’s gotten so bad that sources inside the Rangers front office are telling ever reporter that the problem is NOT Peter Laviolette and there will not be another HC change.

So that leaves either a total selloff of every player Drury has labeled a troublemaker–and that list seems long and deep–or ownership hitting the eject button on Drury.

Some afternoon hockey porn for ya’ll… this sure would have looked nice on our powerplay… he had a PPG hat trick last night…

https://x.com/byronmbader/status/1869427542408745156?s=46&t=uoRWUp28rKzoSODmtmr3Lw

Ripjiggen wrote:

This dollar for dollar trade scenario the wild are in make it almost impossible to get a top six guy to replace jojo right now.

If you consider Kakko a top6 guy, Jojo’s $2 million would get it close enough ($400k) to where they could also put Merril in Iowa and hopefully free enough space, now it would take a good kicker piece(s) (Ohgren or Marat + a pick) for Drury to take Jojo and complete the trade, but there’s a trade for a potential top6 piece that could work…

Russo killed the idea though…

Russo should stick to pimping onX Mapping lol if I ever meet him my only question will be if he has any idea what that is

Nobody wanted to mention the change of time for the game tonight. What a bunch of crap now I have to sit inside the X until 11pm that’s way past my bed time.

What ever happened to Russo being done covering the wild?? That was short lived.

Charlie W wrote:

What ever happened to Russo being done covering the wild?? That was short lived.

yeah, that was me, he kept complaining that he’s covered the same team for 20+ years and needed a change of scenery, then he started to do stories and coverage for the rest of the league and TSN and then they brought in Joe Smith from Tampa bay to tag-team 1 NHL team? I thought he was moving on… I guess not… Although their partnership is a strange one, they rarely collaborate and seem to fight over who has to do things like the Mailbag series and then Joe Smith goes on paternity leave for like 5 months…