Then, as the review happened and was going on for a long time I said, “the longer this takes, the better it is for us!”.
I made the comparison to a murder trial, the longer it goes on, the better the chance of a not guilty verdict.
Wasn’t it the NBC crew who got it wrong as well earlier in the season with a Koivu play?
I vaguely remember.
I’m not totally convinced that Coyle stopped the puck at the point where everyone claimed he did. I think his stick appears to change direction because he did it, not because the puck hit it. Until the intermission I was convinced it was offside. But during the intermission they played an angle that showed 2 frames.
1 where Parise was offside and the puck may have touched Coyles stick.
The next frame clearly showed BOTH of Parise skates on the line and the puck on Coyles stick.
To me that says inconclusive an I truly believe it.
I’m not totally convinced that Coyle stopped the puck at the point where everyone claimed he did. I think his stick appears to change direction because he did it, not because the puck hit it. Until the intermission I was convinced it was offside. But during the intermission they played an angle that showed 2 frames.
Agree with this! When you watch it at game speed you can actually see Coyle look down the line as the puck is being passed toward him from Granlund to see where everyone is. I also don’t believe the puck is touched at the point Parise is offsides, but when you watch all those replays from different camera angles and slowed down it looked “obviously” offsides, but I think it is deceiving.
Watch the first 10 seconds of that clip over and over and you can see what I am talking about.
Awww. Look what happened to the Texass Team Rustlers–errr, I mean “Dallas Stars” last night. Oh the shame of it!
#bringthenorthstarhome
Is Lindy the next to get the ax?
Grouse
I love it!!! 
Spurgeon was less than two inches from having his career ended. Yes, there is a rule that a player has to have vision in both eyes.
Aaaaaaaand a blatant interference by Mantha who through a leg or hip out as Zucker went around him sends Zucker to the dressing room.
And where was Chris Stewart? Mantha should have been dealt with as soon as the 3rd period started…and why didn’t anybody step up for Spurgeon when Brendan Smith cheap shot him after the whistle? Detroit was then taking liberties the rest of the game because there was no answer from the Wild…and to those who argue “we answered on the scoreboard” you wouldn’t be saying that had Zucker’s injury turned out serious…
Great victory, but we got lucky nobody got hurt with nonsense hits…
Good win for the Wild and the best retribution is laying down an ass whipping by running up the score and keeping the pedal to the metal.
I’d have liked to see Nyquist pay the price for the face-spearing on Spurgeon, but it was pretty obvious to me that Bruce said don’t do it so it didn’t happen. I actually think the Wild sent a harder message by not retaliating: The Wings are irrelvant and not worth it.
The NBC announces surprised me by taking a decidedly pro-Wild line in this incident. Bottom line is it’s not worth risking an injury or suspension against a down and out team like Detoilet. Maybe if Gabriel is in the lineup sometime in the future, but now’s just not the time.
I was at the game Friday against Tampa and I turned to Mrs. Grouse in the 2nd and said, “Get ready for overtime.” And so it was. I have to give Tampa credit, they were really doing a great job at denying us clean entry and keeping the netfront chaos to a minimum.
But in the end, the cagey old Captain Koivu and Super Doob put an end to the pretenders. Doobs put on a How to Win a Shootout master class in the net, that was a goaltending work of art. This is a goaltender that deserves the Vezina.
The Wild are doing everything right. Focus on winning each game and keeping the pedal to the metal with no distractions. Put the screws to Chicago and make everyone else in the division kill themselves for second place.
Big game tomorrow against the Ducks. This it the kind of team that the Wild need to be able to beat. To me this is like a playoff game because of the confidence factor it produces. Even though the Wild lost to Chicago last game, I belive they know they can beat the Hawks in an even footing game. They need the same confidence against the Ducks.
Grouse
I was quite surprised that there was no retaliation for the Spurg spearing also then the Zucker incident. I have to agree with Grouse, I think Bruce put the “don’t even think about” clause in affect.
I do have a question though. What the heck happen to Staal? He was on fire in the first half of the year and haven’t seen or heard much from him. I know he’s still out there and did get an assist yesterday, but he just seems to have slipped into the background. Is he hurt?
I do have a question though. What the heck happen to Staal? He was on fire in the first half of the year and haven’t seen or heard much from him. I know he’s still out there and did get an assist yesterday, but he just seems to have slipped into the background. Is he hurt?
I’ve been thinking the same thing.
I will have to disagree that any of the next games are “big”. I guess maybe that comes from the last couple seasons of must win games in feb-apr. No must wins in sight in my opinion. Big games I guess in the sense of seeing how you match up.
I see pomminville got #1 star of the week… 
I’m just glad that even though Staal has cooled, you don’t notice because of the balance we have.
It’s also nice to see Zucker, Koivu and Granlund being consistent and having career years. That line is the glue of this team now.
Face spearing perp Gustav Nyquist has waived his option to make a personal appearance before the NHL player safety committee. So essentially he’s pleading guilty and throwing himself on the mercy of the court. I’d like to say he’s facing an almost certain 5-6 game suspension, but then again the 4 guys officiating the game all somehow missed an incident that happened 3 feet from the puck, so…
Thankfully, it’s not as bad as it could have been.
In good news, Jonas Brodin has been practicing with the team and may be close to returning this week or next. There’s no reason at this point to rush him in and a reinjury would be disastrous so I hope they hold him out as long as needed. We’ve been very luck this season with injuries or the relative lack thereof.
Grouse
Gustav Nyquist said in one video, I didn’t mean for it to happen, my stick got caught up and then it came free. That’s complete BS. I watched several videos and his stick was a free as Grouse’s opinions 
Brodin was put on injured reserve yesterday, so it looks like we won’t see him for a while. I agree, keep him on the DL until we need him. Get him some rest so he is fresh for the play offs.
Gustav Nyquist said in one video, I didn’t mean for it to happen, my stick got caught up and then it came free. That’s complete BS.
I saw that. All I can say is that id the definition of grasping at straws. He might be able to shave off a game if he just came out and said, “Yeah, I momentarily lost it and did something dangerous”.
Brodin was put on injured reserve yesterday, so it looks like we won’t see him for a while.
Don’t they have to move a player who has been on the DL to the IR list before activating him? I think there’s a process here because of the limit on how many active roster players a team can have.
Anyone going to the game tonight against the Ducks? I think these games are big for the Wild not in terms of standings, but as confidence builders. When you play the best teams in the league and beat them, it HAS to increase a team’s confidence. Honestly, I think that’s what’s behind our 7 for 8 streak against the Blackhawks, it’s confidence and knowing that they are beatable if we play the right way.
Keep focusing on one game at a time. It will be really interesting to see how the playoff picture starts taking shape in March, but the goal has to be for the Wild to just drive off with first place and leave everyone else scrambling in the dust.
Grouse
I read that they moved him to IR so they had another roster spot, but I don’t even begin to think I understand all that.
Agreed, each time we beat one of the top teams it only makes the wild that much more confident.
I am looking for Staal to start having some serious affect again. Not saying we need it, but I like to see him get back into stride as the season wraps up and the play offs approach. I agree though Pug, it’s great that he can have some down time and it’s hardly noticed.
We’re also approaching the trade deadline and there are some interesting moves pending.
Shattenkirk, Duchene, and Landeskog are said to be getting shopped hard and one of the leading teams mentioned that’s looking to acquire is… Pittsburgh.
What I’d like to know is HOW? How could a team like the Pens possibly have cap space to afford a player like Shattenkirk? Even on a rental.
There must be some funny math that goes on with a trade deadline UFA acquisition that makes teams with limited cap space be able to afford rentals. And if that’s the case, why can’t we do it? Hell, Shattenkirk would be a nice little add on for the playoffs for us too. And yes, Duchene and Landeskog are both tremendous jackasses, but if they were OUR jackasses…
Grouse
Really surprised Graovac slipped through waivers…6’4″ Centers who can skate don’t grow on trees, would have sucked to loose him to a waiver claim…now he can hopefully figure things out in the minors…bigtime wakeup call for him…
I don’t see the Wild doing anything at the trade deadline other than maybe a 4th line center who’s good a faceoffs or a Vet defenseman who can replace Prosser/Olafson fill-in opportunities…
Nothing is worth giving up top round draft picks or any of our young prospect studs for…The worst thing that could happen would be an injury to our top 2 centers as that would throw the entire lineup into flux…but you can probably say that about any good team..
One thing to consider is that they receiving team only has to eat about 1/5th of the salary so that makes these deadline deals more palatable. It still doesn’t completely answer your question because teams like the Hawks who are always near the Cap seem to pull off a deal every year. Somehow they shuffle things around, waive other guys, etc to make it work.
Nothing is worth giving up top round draft picks or any of our young prospect studs for…The worst thing that could happen would be an injury to our top 2 centers as that would throw the entire lineup into flux…but you can probably say that about any good team..
This is very true, but from what I have heard this year’s draft is the weakest in a long time. Ideally the Wild are drafting at the END of the first round, so a #1 pick isn’t really worth that much. Couple that with the fact of a few of our young guys have really been developing and should be ready to come up next year or the year after losing a #1 THIS year may not hurt us that much.
Not saying it will happen, but if it were going to happen IMO this year is the year to do it all things considered.
This is very true, but from what I have heard this year’s draft is the weakest in a long time. Ideally the Wild are drafting at the END of the first round, so a #1 pick isn’t really worth that much.
I’d have to take a different view. While drafting high in the first round can offer better odds of a high-performing player, once you get to the middle of the first round and beyond, it becomes much more of a game of chance. You’re not going to get a Taylor Hall late in the first round, but given the age makeup of the Wild team, I’m not in favor of giving up any more first round picks regardless of our position in the draft.
IMO given the fact that we have essentially been “punished” in the draft by being a playoff team for a number of years now, I think we have to be even more careful with our R1 and R2 picks because we are not going to be able to do it the way Chichago and Edmonton have done it by being the bottom of the barrel and then capturing multiple first overall and high R1 picks to build a team on.
Fletcher has been drafting well. Perhaps he looks even better after the disastrous Reisborough years where we squandered pick after pick, but regardless we seem to have upped our game in this regard so I’m in favor of keeping on the course we’re on now and see how the picks play out.
Grouse
Chicago and Pittsburg seem to be able to do what they do because they have a solid core of stars. They can cycle in and out decent players as they go. Detroit used to be the same way.
Duchene and Landeskog have 2 and 4 years left on their contract. I don’t see how Pitt or any cap tight team can acquire them.
How about Iginla? Sounds like the Blackhawks are pursuing him. We have about the same cap space as the Hawks. I imagine Chuck has been inquiring. He’d be a nice rental, a guy who can play on any line and the PP. How about a Stewart-Haula-Iginla 4th line?
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>CaptainMusky wrote:</div>
This is very true, but from what I have heard this year’s draft is the weakest in a long time. Ideally the Wild are drafting at the END of the first round, so a #1 pick isn’t really worth that much.I’d have to take a different view. While drafting high in the first round can offer better odds of a high-performing player, once you get to the middle of the first round and beyond, it becomes much more of a game of chance. You’re not going to get a Taylor Hall late in the first round, but given the age makeup of the Wild team, I’m not in favor of giving up any more first round picks regardless of our position in the draft.
IMO given the fact that we have essentially been “punished” in the draft by being a playoff team for a number of years now, I think we have to be even more careful with our R1 and R2 picks because we are not going to be able to do it the way Chichago and Edmonton have done it by being the bottom of the barrel and then capturing multiple first overall and high R1 picks to build a team on.
Fletcher has been drafting well. Perhaps he looks even better after the disastrous Reisborough years where we squandered pick after pick, but regardless we seem to have upped our game in this regard so I’m in favor of keeping on the course we’re on now and see how the picks play out.
Grouse
True, a first round pick is important regardless of where it is, but my point is this draft is shaping up to be a very poor one from top to bottom so “losing” a first round pick this year in favor of bringing in someone to give us a serious chance at winning the Cup this year isn’t probably as big of a deal. I’m not saying I am for it, in fact, I would actually be hesitant to change the mojo in the room with how they have been performing, but if you could add a guy with serious cred at this stage an give up a 1st rounder this year, I would at least listen. I would be more apt to do that then give up someone like Coyle, Nino, Scandella, Dumba, etc. Although, just as I say that we may need to lose one of those guys anyway considering their contract status and where we will be Cap wise in a year or two.
What a crazy game. At times I felt like I was watching an EA Sports NHL video game, including that odd goal Doobs gave up. I’ve never seen a puck fly up into the air and remain in play so much. Sometimes I thought they were playing with a racquet ball, not a puck.
Vermette is in big trouble.
Tuch is having a hard time adjusting, he looks slow to react and needs to adjust to the speed of the game.
Wow, what a horrible game by Staal. He better get out of that funk soon.
Man, they just could not get one past Gibson last night. It wasn’t for a lack of effort though. Tough loss for sure, but I don’t see it hurting them.
I like that Bruce is changing up lines once in a while, but maybe he went overboard last night. Almost seemed like guys didn’t know how to react or play with their line mates at times. Zucker and Granny always know where each other are at which is a huge benefit. There were a couple scrambles last night where it seemed like no one knew where they were supposed to be which resulted in a turn over.
I think when they got to the 3rd, the Wild were just as tired as the Ducks. I think I am not alone when I say I had a feeling after the first the game was going to end 1-0.
The Wild have been shutout 3 times this year and I believe at least one other game was 1-0. That is almost unheard of.
They certainly had chances and the puck was indeed bouncing everywhere, but just didn’t go our way. There were some prime opportunities with Spurgeon, Coyle, etc to name just a couple. That game could have easily been 5-1.
A simple defensive zone lapse led to the Ducks only goal.
I thought Olofsson looked pretty good. To me Tuch played OK. He had a couple chances and one just had his stick tied up or he would have had a great shot.
He had a couple chances and one just had his stick tied up or he would have had a great shot.
Those were some of the chances I was alluding to. He didn’t react or decide fast enough.
It doesn’t concern me at all though, since bigger, “slower” guys take longer to adapt.
OK, we got beat by a hot goaltender. It happens.
But man, the real story is the weird sh!t that keeps happening on the ice at Wild games.
WHAT the freak was Vermette doing???? Slashing a ref with his stick? What the hell was he thinking?
And the really weird thing was that it wasn’t in the middle of a scrum after the whistle when a ref broke up a fight. You know the kind of heat of the moment thing. Slashing a ref because you didn’t like the faceoff drop? That’s a new one, for me at least. This could be a 10 game suspension for Vermette, the league in the past has come down hard on anything directed at an official.
Coming up at the next Wild game: James Bohen gets crosschecked by Jamie Benn after Benn takes issue with his rendition of the national anthem. After the incident, Benn will be heard to say, “You don’t hit the high note, then I hit you! That’s the way it works.”
And we have our first Canadien “ien” swap of the season. Julien is in, Therrien is out. I’d have thought Julien would have wanted to at least collect ONE unemployment check, just to urine off the Bruins ownership, but there you go.
Grouse
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