MN Wild 2016-17 – Official thread.

JoeMX1825 wrote:

if we play them again, why not just stick a player on Ovi and take your chances 4 on 3 with the other players…

That is what I was thinking after the first PP goal.

mplspug wrote:

Who are you quoting, because I am going to have to respectfully call BS on that one. The Wild are 4th in the league in scoring. The Wild needed center depth and one who could play defence.

They then need more “SCORING” or more succinctly a Goal Scorer who can put the puck in the net when no one else is.
They have no leader, they have no go to player, they have no one who can step up their game when needed.
They need a Kirby Puckett, they need a Jack Morris, they need someone with the gonads/skill to carry the team when needed.

Open your eyes they can not compete with the top teams in the leauge.

If the Wild are 4th in the league in scoring, why do you need more? They need better d. Specifically Dubs needs to steal a game once in a while.

You’ll never be successful in the playoffs if your goalie can’t steal 1-2 games per round. For that matter you’ll never be a great regular season team if your goalie doesn’t steal a few games a month.

Dubs needed to steal that one last night.

And what scorer was on the market?

Stalock called up. Doobs to rest. Message sent to Kuemper. Between this and the Ek recall, they are throwing everything at the wall.

I have been waiting for this for a long time. I have to admit, being a fellow SSP goalie, my friends always say that Stalock is my man crush. It will be nice to see Erickson Ek out there as well.
DT

biggill wrote:

You’ll never be successful in the playoffs if your goalie can’t steal 1-2 games per round.

Agreed; at times Dubnyk has been that guy, not sure is that guy now.

mplspug wrote:

And what scorer was on the market?

My piont exactly,they wasted top draft picks for a #4 center.

Boudreau hit the panic button when he yanked dubnyk against the hawks.

Fletcher hit the panic button when he traded the picks

I’ve been holding off on saying anything on here for months.

Every team throughout the season goes into a slump, period. This team needs to play 60 minutes as stated before! Plain and simple. 10 to 15 will not do.

Suter needs to be cut back to 20 minutes max! He slows the whole team down. You can just about bet when he’s on the ice, there’ll be a scoring chance for the other team. He’s slow and never finishes a check! The whole team needs to finish checks!

I’ll be glad when Suter is gone!

I never understood the trade at all. We were one of the best teams on the ice, why mess with anything.

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

mplspug wrote:

And what scorer was on the market?

Stalock called up. Doobs to rest. Message sent to Kuemper. Between this and the Ek recall, they are throwing everything at the wall.

Bout time!! I like Doobs a lot and he can be a great goalie, but something ain’t right with him lately and it isn’t something he can play thru. I have zero confidence in Kuemper, he can be very good, mediocre , or just plain bad. You never know what you are going to get with him.

I remember Stalock well from his high school days and his time with Duluth. I am excited to see how he can do

mplspug wrote:

Because it is an upgrade adding defensive center depth without giving up a prospect. And he is more of a middle 6 (2nd, 3rd line) center. And we added a gritty fourth line winger as well. Hanzel means we hopefully, barring injuries, don’t have to depend on Haula and Graovac as our bottom 6 centers.

This is exactly why the trade made sense. Giving up a first round pick sucks, yes, BUT, this is one of the worst draft classes in recent years, the Wild would certainly be drafting in the bottom 7 or 8 picks which is not a whole lot better than a second round pick.
Hanzal has been playing pretty good. The last several games he and Staal are our leading point getters.
The hope in the playoffs would be matching Hanzal’s line up against a top line from the other team creating a mismatch up top for us. Defensive zone key faceoffs you don’t have to swap lines or put an extra center on the ice to take the draw unlike when Graovac was on the roster. Graovac was terrible in draws. He has more speed certainly, but Hanzal is far and away a better overall player at this stage and it made us a better team top to bottom. White, I can give or take. I like the speed Shroeder brings and now with Ek in the fold White’s time should diminish.
I’m excited to see tonight’s game to see how things unfold.

Anonymous wrote:

I never understood the trade at all. We were one of the best teams on the ice, why mess with anything.

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

and what would the conversation be if Koivu/Stahl/Haula would have gotten hurt sometime after the trade deadline. We would be arguing about how Fletcher was an idiot for only having Graovac as a backup should one of our centers get hurt.

It was a good trade, i’m happy Fletcher at least takes a shot at giving his team the best chance to win now, vs the MN Twins motto of future, future, future…

Anonymous wrote:

I never understood the trade at all. We were one of the best teams on the ice, why mess with anything.

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

ALL teams in contention get rentals.

Having Hanzel and White means you don’t have to play Graovac and Schroeder. It also gives you more options and depth.

Remember once the trade deadline passes, if you get an injury, you are screwed. Because you can’t trade for players and that means replacing them with a player who isn’t as good from your system. The picks are not as important, especially considering the next wave of prospects are looking pretty good.

And no matter how many times Jeff says it, Hanzel is not a 4th line center, he is above that.

White came out flying the first couple games after the trade. I was impressed, but he has slowed down some and kind of lost in the shuffle. I still like having him on the team.

Hanzel looked so lost the first few games. I thought we had Vanek back BUT, he has really been more involved in the play lately. I am starting to like him more and more.

I agree, the trade was a very good thing. We have plenty of prospects already in the works and a so so draft this year. Those pics they traded were not a big deal and we got a couple decent players out of it.

I think it is funny how the Wild recalled Stalock and now Florida has recalled Adam Wilcox. They are cousins and both from South St. Paul. It’s been a good week for SSP goalies. On a side note I was hot last night for my men’s league. I’m also from SSP……
DT

SSP is fine for goalies just never could score goals in a state tourney

coming from an SSP guy also.

Will be nice to see Staylock in net. This was all setup when we signed him to the extension. That was Keumpers walking papers, we had to sign Keumper to a one way contract two years ago if he would of had a two way contract this would of happen way sooner he would of been shipped to Iowa. Now we just sit him

mplspug wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>MNice wrote:</div>
I never understood the trade at all. We were one of the best teams on the ice, why mess with anything.

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

ALL teams in contention get rentals.

Having Hanzel and White means you don’t have to play Graovac and Schroeder. It also gives you more options and depth.

Remember once the trade deadline passes, if you get an injury, you are screwed. Because you can’t trade for players and that means replacing them with a player who isn’t as good from your system. The picks are not as important, especially considering the next wave of prospects are looking pretty good.

And no matter how many times Jeff says it, Hanzel is not a 4th line center, he is above that.

No other team gave up so much for a “4TH LINE CENTER” No other team has completely tanked it since aquiring anyone else.

Someone tell me who was the last Stanley cup champion that went into playoffs after tanking the last 20 games of the regular season.
This team will not make it past the first round.
Fletcher went all in with a pair of dueces.

Have the playoffs started yet?

I guess with Stalock playing tonight I’ll try and catch the first period before I’m off to hockey. Brandon Mileski just said on the radio that he thinks Kuemper has seen his final game in a Wild jersey. Bold prediction but he’s probably not far off.

[/quote]
Someone tell me who was the last Stanley cup champion that went into playoffs after tanking the last 20 games of the regular season.
[/quote]
Here’s a putrid final 17 games of the New Jersey Devil’s season, looks an awful lot like the Wild:

Late in the 1999–2000 season, Devil’s GM Lou Lamoriello made the decision to fire Robbie Ftorek and replace him with Assistant Coach Larry Robinson. Lamoriello reacted to a stretch of 17 games in which the team went 5–10–2. New Jersey followed the move by defeating the Florida Panthers, the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Philadelphia Flyers during the post-season to make the Finals. In the Finals, the Devils reached the top again, defeating the defending champion Dallas Stars in six games to win the Stanley Cup for the second time.

Dammit, Kucherov is out for the lightning. Times running out. Come on Druin.

Watching Stalock is hilarious. Used to taller goalies in a wild sweater, so he looks like a teenager.

mplspug wrote:

Dammit, Kucherov is out for the lightning. Times running out. Come on Druin.

Do we need to start a Lightning thread for you?

No, it’ll probably be over in two weeks.

Solid game, nothing fancy. It’s very encouraging to see the defensive game getting back on track.

Now lets talk about the wild…Hee hee hee

Ottawa is a little beat up, but that game makes me feel like they put the slump behind them.

Pretty happy with last nights game. Good goaltending, decent defense, strong forcheck and hitting the pipe and it goes in finally. There were a few times they got caught chasing the puck in their own end, but they held them off.

I was impressed with Stalock, not a big goalie, but he is quick and moves very well between the pipes!

Let’s keep it rolling

It’s amazing how confidence from a goalie can pass along to the team, they looked much more relaxed last night. Not having to play against Karlson also helped

deertracker wrote:

I think it is funny how the Wild recalled Stalock and now Florida has recalled Adam Wilcox. They are cousins and both from South St. Paul. It’s been a good week for SSP goalies. On a side note I was hot last night for my men’s league. I’m also from SSP……
DT

All us goalies are goofy, but you SSP guys take the cake

I watched the game at in SSP last night. The place was electric!
You never know what will Jumpstart a team out of a funk, hopefully this is it.
Looking forward to a good game against the predators tomorrow.

So awesome seeing my cousin’s husband playing in a Wild Jersey and killing it in last night’s game! Go Stalock!!!

Pretty in here today.

I missed yesterday’s game, so I got nothing.

Go Wild?

mplspug wrote:

I missed yesterday’s game, so I got nothing.

Go Wild?

Stalock kept it close. That was about it.
DT