Let's Go Wild!

mojogunter wrote:

Add to our woes. Scandella and Brodin look to have the same virus that is going around the NHL. Most likely mumps. Not good

Mumps???? the Pug curse is moving league wide.

Cherry picking (Buffalo) and horrible defense makes for some fun hockey. I feel less me I am watching a beer league game.

Wild remind me of a engine trying to start with a bad carburator. Glad they won but it didn’t have to go to overtime.

Gundy

i figured with the three soft goals that where let in that they would have lost it in the final minuet of play. glad they won

mplspug wrote:

Cherry picking (Buffalo) and horrible defense makes for some fun hockey. I feel less me I am watching a beer league game.

sounds exactly like you pugsly..see i can read makes my mom proud

I shall call you Ad homimama. SCIENCE!

The curse even effects game start times.

Really? Over an hour late? Wtf?

Inducted Lindros and LeClaire to the Flyers Hall of Fame. Leclaire was one of my favorites and still a gold standard for a power forward.

Lindros wasn’t that bad either.

The wild don’t go away. A balanced attack makes the wild tougher to handle.

Grouse

Did they win? Anybody score?

3-2 Wild won. I listened a little to the end, but I was in transit most of the game. From the stats and what I heard they were outplayed periods 1-2 and outplayed them period 3, although they gave up a late power play goal that tied it. Zucker won it with 45 seconds left in the 3rd.

They actually caught a “break” on the tying goal. Spurgeon broke his skate blade blocking a shot making it essentially a 5 on 3.25.

I also heard Koivu was either hurt or benched?

Update: He was sick, but they don’t think it is the mumps.

Kuemper basically was the only player that kept them in the game in the first. He stood on his head and got help from two metallurgy saves to keep it 0-0 after 1. The Flyers were on a back to back, but it was the Wild that came out flat as 3 day old soda.

The Wild finally got a fire lit under it in the second when they started moving their feet. Finally they got a PP goal on the road.

It was exciting in the third. Again, the Wild got victimized by a lame penalty call that allowed the Flyers to tie it. This was after the refs blatantly ignored 2-3 interference, holding, and after-whistle cheap cross-checks in the in the back. Apparently, it’s now legal in the NHL to knock someone down during play and then just hold them on the ice. It’s only a penalty if they are standing up.

Koivu was obviously sick. He was off the pace notably in the 3rd, he looked out of gas. I think when he left the bench in the third and went down the tunnel, I thought it looked like he was puking. Of course all the Koivu haters went crazy with the “he got benched” conspiracy theories. Be serious. What the hell would he have gotten benched for in the middle of the 3rd? Obviously he stayed dressed in case there was a shootout.

Another great effort, but the Wild made it more exciting than it needed to be. If they play 3 periods it wouldn’t have to be so hard.

In a Wild news update, I saw that Harding is “back” as in his wall-kicking foot is healed enough to get on skates. He was healthy enough to be placed in the Xcel’s window with a For Sale sign on him. Nobody claimed him on waivers, so the Wild could then send him down to Iowa.

Fletcher played the system like fine violin with these moves, it was really impressive. Hopefully the Wild can find something productive to do with Harding.

Grouse

Given the history of our goaltenders, I am glad he was not claimed. If he doesn’t have MS, he’s most certainly claimed. The take was that no other team had experience with managing it, so no one would risk $2M on that and the Wild do have experience.

For the record I am not one of the Koivu haters. Frankly, I don’t understand it. Wait, yes I do. People only appreciate goal scoring floaters who are defensive liabilities.

I’m not a Koivu hater either. He’s just never was a first line center, that’s all.

He also doesn’t SEEM to be an ideal captain either.

Any tickets available for the next two games?

Pug are you at the game tonight? Looks like there are plenty of empty seats.

#quebecwantsateamagain

Grouse

Too far of a drive on a weeknight. I wanted to go to the Tampa game but couldn’t pass up a free condo at the beach. Next year, I guess.

I still want to make it to a Tampa game this year. Thats only about a 2 hour drive.

It was freaking pathetic how empty the arena was last night. Just the seats in the camera shot were at least 50% empty. At the final horn it was easily 80% empty. You wont’ see that at the X even if the Wild are down by 3.

I see lots of empty seats with Phoenix as well, it’s no wonder Hamilton and Quebec City are having kittens every year that passes where they don’t get a franchise. Maybe Floridians should be left to blab about how awesome the college football teams are there and leave the more sophisticated sports to those of us who understand them?

Grouse

And yet hockey is becoming more popular every year. Those teams lose money every year and the league pays for it. Somehow it still make good financial sense.

I’m not the expert so I can’t judge this philosophy.

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

Maybe Floridians should be left to blab about how awesome the college football teams are there and leave the more sophisticated sports to those of us who understand them?

You do realize that literally half the people in Florida are from the rest of the US and Canada?

You do realize that they are averaging more fans per game than the 1990-91 North Stars (the season they went to the finals)?

NS Attendance

Panthers Attendance

You do realize that the last 5 years the Lightning have matched the Wild’s attendance numbers.

Lightning Attendance

You do realize that the Panthers have sucked the last 5 years?

You do realize I just took the bait?

You realize Steven Stamkos >>>>>>> Zack Parise + Granlund

I could also mention that Florida is home to a former Stanley Cup champion, but that just wouldn’t be nice.

These Kings announcers are morons. They keep saying, Minnesota’s own Jeff Carter. I guess if you live in California, Minnesota is the same as Canada?

Oye vay! How my Lightning doing?

They are all just making the wrong plays all over the place.

We need Brodin. It’s not good when 3 of your defensemen are Dumba, Prosser and Ballard. I think Prosser is about done as an NHL. He’s been horrible as of late. I thought he played well last year…when he wasn’t in the press box, but this year? Pee Yoo.

I’m betting on seeing fewer odd man rushes tonight in the old timers league.

Unless Vanek turns it around, what a waste of money. Parrish part 2. He does make some nifty no look passes…even though no one is ever there. He might want to start looking first.

I don’t see a lot of progression with Coyle. I think he might end up being a career 3rd liner. He has no hands and cannot stick handle and loses every stick battle. He needs to learn to use his size and be more physical like Nino.

I kind of wish we had kept Molson over Vanek, but I think Molson wanted to go back to Buffalo, so that isn’t a valid argument.

Lighten up on Vanek. He’s still learning the system. He needs a good 60-70 games to start producing.

That is true. I do see him standing around alot doing nothing. I guess he’s observing the system in game time situations.

Good response to a lackluster 2nd and 3rd period. Not one to model future games after. Good to see Nino, Zucker and Scandella continuing to score.

Oh yeah, Vanek got 1g and 2a. Looked only ok though. Still really slow and had 2 giveaways in about 15 seconds on a pp.

Vanek looks out of place, like he belongs in the AHL. I’m not real comfortable with a 3 year contract. I was never very high on signing him. If this keeps up we are going to end up with a Dany Heatly situation where Yeo doesn’t have he balls to sit him and when he eventually does, the guy responds. He seriously should just sit in front of the net and they should only pass to him there. Sometimes when he attempts a pass I just shake my head and wonder what he was thinking. You think your “lightning sharp” passes can move through bodies? I think wthe best we can hope for is he finds a line mate who can anticipate those no look passes to empty areas. Montreal were right about him last year. Although you’d think now that his dream of playing in Minnesota would give him incentive. At least Heatly seemed interested and tried, but his body wasn’t able to follow through most of the time. I can’t say the same for Vanek.

Ok, I feel better now.

After the first goal I told my brother via text (he loves Nino) that Zucker, Scandella and Nino have not only upped their game but played hard and consistent game in and game out. That’s not to say guys like Suter, Spurgeon, Parise, Granlund, Koivu, etc aren’t playing well, but they have hit their ceiling career wise. These 3 are showing that they will be the core in the future if things keep progressing this way.

Nino is going to be a consistent 40-50 goal scorer, possibly beginning this season. He scored 11 despite not being on the top line and #1 pp unit. Explain that last one to me since he has 4 or the 5 PP goals. And he’s the only Wild player who brings emotion, physicality and skills. I wish I could say the same for Coyle who I think has some of the worst hands and puck control on the team.

I really don’t think it matters which pp unit he is on as long as he’s on one. I’d rather see him on the 2nd pp because he’ll likely be up agains the 2nd pk unit every night. On top of that, I really like the odd mix of line mates. Sometimes putting together random players is the answer to the woes.

About Vanek, it wouldn’t be sports if there wasn’t something to complain about. Deep down I think he’ll find more value than Heatley. He just needs a few dozen more games.

Wasn’t this Vaneks m.o. last season? Isn’t he a streaky player? Nice win tonight against Montreal.

Cripes, here we go with the Vanek bashing already. You guys are aware that he’s third in total points right? And he’s a whole one goal behind Koivu and Grandlund. They haven’t found the combination that works best yet and Vanek, like almost ever other player in the NHL is streaky. Very, very few players score goals at an even pace over the whole season and we have exactly none of the ones that do.

Comparing Vanek to Heatly? Really Pug? Even if Vanek continues exactly as is, he’ll finish very close to, or even above Heatly’s BEST points year ever with the Wild. And then it was a sharp downhill from there.

The Wild still seem very venerable when the opposition pulls their goalie. I don’t know if there’s an easy stat for this, but they just look like they’re struggling.

I have the game Friday against the Ducks. The looked pretty lackluster last week against the Blues, so hopefully they’re better.

Grouse