I ignore the drama, just here to talk about hockey…
I was going to come here and say it’s amazing how when I first started these annual threads it used to be about the games and players. Now it has turned into a sh**posting contest.
RIP Official MN Wild Annual Thread
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>JoeMX1825 wrote:</div>
I ignore the drama, just here to talk about hockey…I was going to come here and say it’s amazing how when I first started these annual threads it used to be about the games and players. Now it has turned into a sh**posting contest.
RIP Official MN Wild Annual Thread
The problem is there are alternative views about the games and players, however there are several in here who rail and view unwelcome any of those who post their views contrary to those few.
RIP the Hockey Monopoly
ROLL ON Official MN Wild Annual Thread.
The reason I have been so hard on this team this year is because for the last 5 years I have pretty much blindly and optimistically supported this team. The last two years I watched almost every game. What I see is the same thing over and over again. Last night’s game was a good example. Tons of blown chances resulting in another loss.
This year, it’s hard for me to even watch. I have awesome tickets for a game in March and I barely want to go as of right now.
Tired of all the excuses. Tired of the lack of leadership and effort on this team. I do care and want the State of Hockey to put out a much better product. There has been ample time given to this group of players. Rebuild I say.
was nice to see Parise make up for his brainfart giveaway…when your best players are making bonehead plays like that, you have to wonder about this team…
I agree. Pretty weak effort in his shootout attempt also.
Tired of all the excuses. Tired of the lack of leadership and effort on this team. I do care and want the State of Hockey to put out a much better product. There has been ample time given to this group of players. Rebuild I say.
Well said
IN OTHER NEWS
koivu done for the year…thoughts?
He may be hard to replace on the defensive side of the puck but I feel like now we will see what we have in ek… and if it doesn’t work and they sell and go rebuild mode how hard is it going to be to get krill over the pond to play for a team in rebuild mode
Interesting. Time for some guys to step up.
IN OTHER NEWS
koivu done for the year…thoughts?
He may be hard to replace on the defensive side of the puck but I feel like now we will see what we have in ek… and if it doesn’t work and they sell and go rebuild mode how hard is it going to be to get krill over the pond to play for a team in rebuild mode
Might be a blessing in disguise. He hasn’t played well all year. See if some other guys can step up.
People been ripping on him for years. I have never been much of a fan. Now we will see what life without him would be like.
Unfortunate, ACL tear reported. Hope he recovers fully.
That’s a tough loss for a team already struggling to get to the playoffs.
He’s likely done with the Wild, that injury takes a year+ to heal…
It was bad enough losing Dumba. I’d be surprised if they made the playoffs unless something that rarely happens with the wild happens. Guys go beyond stepping up, they explode with the new opportunities. It’s going to take one of these young guys putting up effort and numbers unexpectedly.
It will be interesting to see some of the young guys get top 6 icetime and how they handle it…
I expect the young guys to really step up under Parise as they now know he’s the team leader moving forward.
Imo its time to make major changes where they can, get younger
Anyone know What the deal is with Aberg?
The reason I have been so hard on this team this year is because for the last 5 years I have pretty much blindly and optimistically supported this team. The last two years I watched almost every game. What I see is the same thing over and over again.
Tired of all the excuses. Tired of the lack of leadership and effort on this team. I do care and want the State of Hockey to put out a much better product. There has been ample time given to this group of players. Rebuild I say.
I get the frustration and the desire to see a team get better, but here’s something I have to point out.
I guess maybe I’m more of a realist than an optimist. So you say “rebuild”. How, exactly would you do that? Honest question.
It’s way, way, way easier to say it than it is to do it, IMO. Contracts and restrictions are EVERYWHERE up and down the Wild’s roster. No trade, no move, one way, etc, etc. The only pieces I see that are moveable easily are also pieces that the Wild probably want to keep.
I don’t think the Wild can trade their way to more success. Options just aren’t there and so far I see nothing out of this GM but sideways “send a message” stuff.
Given the absolutely awful, disasterous mistakes that Riseboro made, coupled with Fletcher’s willingness to p!ss away R1 and R2 picks like they were cheap beer, IMO the Wild have actually over-achieved. Yeah, yeah, yeah, save it all you “never won a cup” guys, the fact is that the Wild have done better to get into the playoffs with their roster than a lot of much more talented teams (Cough, Dallas! Cough Edmonton!) have done.
My point, the #1 thing I want to see to help this team get better is mistake elimination at the GM and ownership level.
1. No more blown R1 picks Riseboro style. The Riseboro draft disasters are STILL the #1 thing haunting the Wild to this day. Think about if we had those blown R1 picks on the roster now.
2. No more trades of R1 and R2 picks.
3. No more R1 picks for players we can’t get for 3+ years because they’re tied up in college or Russia. IMO an NHL-ready player for next season is a better move for the Wild right now than a theoretically more talented player who is 2-4 years out.
4. Be much more aggressive in dealing players and coaching staff who are under performing. Honestly, Coyle should have been gone 3 years ago. Yeo should have been gone 2.5 years before they dumped him. Nino would have attracted much more as an off-season deal and he should have been sold off in the summer, not at midseason for a sideways swap.
Basically, I think the Wild need to work smarter at the GM level. Fenton, so far, is NOT looking to me like “the guy”. He looks lost and inexperieced, so I seriously have to question if he should even be kept after the season.
Grouse
I was going to come here and say it’s amazing how when I first started these annual threads it used to be about the games and players. Now it has turned into a sh**posting contest.
RIP Official MN Wild Annual Thread
Yeah, can’t we just have hockey talk without all the “measuring contests”?
Here’s what Fenton could realistically do (as you said NTC’s limit who’s movable). Some of these moves wont be popular, but could get the Wild good value.
1) Deal Staal before the deadline, we need to get younger and not get trapped into multi-year deal for old players. He could bring back a late 1st rounder…
2) Deal Spurgeon and or Brodin, we won’t be able to afford Spurgeon’s next contract so get value while we can. Brodin’s contract could return some value and you could get a more physical replacement.
3) Deal Dubnyk, imo he’s too streaky and hasn’t shown he can win playoff games himself, he could return good value but depends on who Fenton replaces him with long term.
4) Unless you get a huge offer, keep Coyle and permanently move him to center, his contract is too good to trade away as his replacement would likely be much more expensive. Re-evaluate him next year.
5) trade Foligno, much to expensive as a 4th liner
6) trade Rask and Pateryn for anything if possible..
7) Trade Fehr, he will likely be in demand for a contender
Keep Granlund and Zucker, they would be too expensive to replace, you could deal Granlund at next years trade deadline if you don’t see enough next year to resign him longterm.
Players like Kunin, Ek, Greenway, Seeler, Stalock you obviously keep because they are young and will have cheap contracts.
If some of these moves happen it could open up some serious cap space to spend on FA’s or draft day trades.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>mplspug wrote:</div>
I was going to come here and say it’s amazing how when I first started these annual threads it used to be about the games and players. Now it has turned into a sh**posting contest.RIP Official MN Wild Annual Thread
Yeah, can’t we just have hockey talk without all the “measuring contests”?
So going forward, and I admit I don’t back off a challenge to my views. I am Willing to pledge to keep things centered on the Hockey Team. However that goes both ways I will not accept challenges to looking at the Wild from strictly a Loyalty to the home club.
Here’s what Fenton could realistically do (as you said NTC’s limit who’s movable). Some of these moves wont be popular, but could get the Wild good value.
1) Deal Staal before the deadline, we need to get younger and not get trapped into multi-year deal for old players. He could bring back a late 1st rounder…
2) Deal Spurgeon and or Brodin, we won’t be able to afford Spurgeon’s next contract so get value while we can. Brodin’s contract could return some value and you could get a more physical replacement.
3) Deal Dubnyk, imo he’s too streaky and hasn’t shown he can win playoff games himself, he could return good value but depends on who Fenton replaces him with long term.
4) Unless you get a huge offer, keep Coyle and permanently move him to center, his contract is too good to trade away as his replacement would likely be much more expensive. Re-evaluate him next year.
5) trade Foligno, much to expensive as a 4th liner
6) trade Rask and Pateryn for anything if possible..
7) Trade Fehr, he will likely be in demand for a contender
Keep Granlund and Zucker, they would be too expensive to replace, you could deal Granlund at next years trade deadline if you don’t see enough next year to resign him longterm.
Players like Kunin, Ek, Greenway, Seeler, Stalock you obviously keep because they are young and will have cheap contracts.
If some of these moves happen it could open up some serious cap space to spend on FA’s or draft day trades.
Very solid analysis I think there and you are right, some of them are not going to be popular. I don’t know that I am in the selloff mode yet, but obviously this team is nowhere near close to making a deep run, but honestly the Central Division is about as weak as it has been so we could honestly make a run without much in regard to significant changes.
IMO, I agree 100% on Staal. He was lights out and a guy I would want on the team in the playoffs, but he could bring a 1st rounder and anyone who disagrees hasn’t paid attention to the demand for big centers. It is also possible for us to re-sign him next year. He loves it hear, but I don’t want a massive contract either. We need a replacement for he and Koivu and I see potentially Coyle being one, but where is the other? And who replaces Coyle?
It would REALLY hurt to lose Spurgeon, but if its addition by subtraction I could rally behind it but it has to bring back something significant. He is our most important D man IMO.
The other option with Rask is to buy him out at the end of the year. IDK if he is worth anything at this point, but maybe we could get something. Man, has he been awful. At least he came cheaper, but its frustrating. Nino was frustrating too and people tend to forget that because he is producing in his new home.
Yeah, can’t we just have hockey talk without all the “measuring contests”?
So going forward, and I admit I don’t back off a challenge to my views. I am Willing to pledge to keep things centered on the Hockey Team. However that goes both ways I will not accept challenges to looking at the Wild from strictly a Loyalty to the home club.
It has ZERO to do about loyalty to a team, it became a measuring contest between a few regulars who just keep bickering at each other. I am not loyal to the Wild, I LOVE hockey and they are my favorite team. They don’t owe me anything and I don’t have to agree with all the moves they make.
I really hope Ek picks up his game with Koivu out but I honestly don’t think he will. I have not liked his game at all the past 2 years. At times he looks like a deer in the headlights lost. I think Kunin shows a lot of upsides and will interesting to see how he does with more playing time.
It has ZERO to do about loyalty to a team, it became a measuring contest between a few regulars who just keep bickering at each other. I am not loyal to the Wild, I LOVE hockey and they are my favorite team. They don’t owe me anything and I don’t have to agree with all the moves they make.
Your absolutely correct, and I am agreeing with you. 
I absolutely enjoy watching the game myself, the key word is Game.
When the Wild have been run out of the Playoffs for the past six seasons I never quit watching the games and enjoyed each Stanley Cup team, I tip my hat to those teams who have won. That is not being disloyal to the Home team, That is being a fan of the NHL. There have members here who take offense to that.
Also first and foremost People don’t always read correctly into what others post.
I also want to see the Wild to Succeed and bring the Cup here to Minnesota.
It frustrates the he55 out of me when management keeps running the same team out there over and over again and expect anything more out of them.
IMHO changes were needed the past 3 seasons those changes could have been less intrusive to the team back then. Now they are in such a hole talent wise, contract wise, trade value wise, that it makes the process of developing continued success extremely difficult.
He’s likely done with the Wild, that injury takes a year+ to heal…
More like 6-9 months. Koivu will likely be back early next season… He has $5 mil to collect.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>JoeMX1825 wrote:</div>
He’s likely done with the Wild, that injury takes a year+ to heal…More like 6-9 months. Koivu will likely be back early next season… He has $5 mil to collect.
he gets his $5 million regardless, he’s 35+ years old and tore Both ligaments, Kunin had the same injury and it took him a year to come back and he’s 22 years old and a fitness freak…dont get me wrong, they could use him back asap, but Adrian Peterson gave everyone with that injury false hope…
he gets his $5 million regardless, he’s 35+ years old and tore Both ligaments, Kunin had the same injury and it took him a year to come back and he’s 22 years old and a fitness freak…dont get me wrong, they could use him back asap, but Adrian Peterson gave everyone with that injury false hope…
The meniscus is a piece of cartilage, not a ligament and very minor in comparison. Your point about Kunin is way off the mark… He tore his ACL in early March, didn’t have surgery until early April due to swelling, and played his first game in early October (Iowa). That’s 7 months from injury to first game back and 6 months from surgery until first game… pretty typical for professional hockey players.
I just don’t see how it works out where Koivu wouldn’t play next year unless he retires, in which case he doesn’t get paid. I think he’s way too proud of an athlete to quietly go out due to injury.
Robert F. LaPrade, M.D, Ph.D.:
The post-surgery rehabilitation process is very important and requires a minimum of 6-7 months before hockey players can return to full on-ice activities. Studies have shown that returning to contact sports prior to this time increases the re-tear risk.
–Robert F. LaPrade, M.D., Ph.D. is a complex knee surgeon at The Steadman Clinic in Vail, Colorado. He is very active in research for the prevention and treatment of ice hockey injuries. Dr. LaPrade is also the Chief Medical Research Officer at the Steadman Philippon Research Institute. Formerly, he was the team physician for the University of Minnesota men’s hockey team and a professor in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the U of M.
I just don’t see how it works out where Koivu wouldn’t play next year unless he retires, in which case he doesn’t get paid. I think he’s way too proud of an athlete to quietly go out due to injury.
I don’t see that happening either. Though, maybe he would do the Wild a solid like Backstrom did, allow a trade to another team and then quietly retire. I don’t see it happening, but I didn’t see the Backstrom situation happening at the time either.
Here’s what Fenton could realistically do (as you said NTC’s limit who’s movable). Some of these moves wont be popular, but could get the Wild good value.
Last week I totally would have agreed with you on Staal a week ago. But with Koivu gone and possibly for good, this is one area where I now think an older player that you have is more needed than a draftee that may not even play next year. However… if the Wild could get a R1 pick above #20, yes, go for it.
Foligno, Rask and Pateryn would be on my “trade” list too, but realistically the league is awash in players like these 3 that teams would like to trade. Plenty of supply, very little demand at deadline.
Fehr may be possible to move, for what would be interesting to see.
Coyle needs to get gone before his play slumps again. He has shown that despite his current play, his upside is zilch. He’s not getting better as a player in the Wild system, his value is as high as its ever going to get. Deal him or we will regret it soon.
The Wild management seems to have lots of problems with dealing D men. Spurgeon, Brodin, Dumba, have ALL been mentioned multile times as possible trades over the past 3 years but either teams aren’t willing to pay the price or the Wild want way, way over market value.
Dubnyk isn’t going anywhere. The surest path to a GM getting his buttski fired would be to trade the #1 goalie and then have it turn out you traded down and put the team back into goaltender hell. I would be interested to see what offers would be there, but realistically with his contract and terms, he would be hard to move and the price would be steep.
Grouse
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>basseyes wrote:</div>
If the owners weren’t filling seats and selling so many Ryan Sutter sweaters,Since when was there a Sutter on the roster??? Does he wear #5?
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>basseyes wrote:</div>
Signed sincerely,An open eyed bandwagoner, who enjoys watching good hockey, not just rooting for the home town team to make the owners more money just because.
And yet, somehow you still care. If you are truly appalled at the lack of success of this team how could you possibly follow them? You’re not even a bandwagoner. You’re a closet, rose colored glasses wearing, SUTER jersey owner, aren’t you?
How hard is it to understand professional sports is a multi-billion dollar business? Winning championships is only icing on the cake.
First and foremost, PROFIT! Championships aren’t the only way to make a profit. This team has pushed the brand and the sport at every level so successfully that it doesn’t need cups to be successful or profitable. Little Johnny planting the flag at center ice is putting buts in the seats and there’s nothing you’re going to do about it. You see, they spend a lot of money on salaries of marketing professionals. It’s a business, remember?
If you get that through your thick skull maybe you can come to terms with the fact that your little rants don’t mean squat to this team or it’s following.
Who’s really wearing the rose colored glasses? If you can’t see that you’re hopeless.
Couldn’t agree more, am very thick skulled and hopeless.
Greatly apologize for misspelling Suter with an extra T, and thank you for not only catching that but pointing it out so graciously.
This team is just hard to watch.
Robert F. LaPrade, M.D, Ph.D.:
The post-surgery rehabilitation process is very important and requires a minimum of 6-7 months before hockey players can return to full on-ice activities. Studies have shown that returning to contact sports prior to this time increases the re-tear risk.
–Robert F. LaPrade, M.D., Ph.D. is a complex knee surgeon at The Steadman Clinic in Vail, Colorado. He is very active in research for the prevention and treatment of ice hockey injuries. Dr. LaPrade is also the Chief Medical Research Officer at the Steadman Philippon Research Institute. Formerly, he was the team physician for the University of Minnesota men’s hockey team and a professor in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the U of M.
while I didn’t go to Medical school, I did stay at a Holiday Inn last night…
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