Some hockey games back when every trapped puck got a quick whistle/faceoff, when combined with icing and pucks flying out, started to be about as exciting as golf to watch. I like it the way it is now.
Grouse
X2
When they go long spurts without a whistle, hockey is the fun-est sport to watch bare none imo. Especially when the odor of a goal is pungent.
Man, I cannot get out wide open the path to the Cup is this year. All #1 seeds out, all Wild Card teams still in, favorites are all out. Lots of OT, intense action. This is some fun hockey going on right now.
Carolina is riding a huge wave and I certainly wouldn’t want to be the team next in line for them to match up against.
The hottest teams the last half of the year are all still in it. Blues, Avs, Hurricanes. Even some teams that floundered, found their way through Blue Jackets.
This is going to be entertaining!
Now the only question is which team is Pug going to curse next? He has cursed the Wild and TB, so???
This has been a fun ride and it’s only round 1. Just a ton of good hockey to watch. ‘Canes/Caps pushed my bedtime back about an hour last night but glad I got to see it.
Who’s this Charlie Coyle guy for Boston?
DT
Who’s this Charlie Coyle guy for Boston?
DT
Charlie 13 is having one heck of a playoffs. 
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>deertracker wrote:</div>
Who’s this Charlie Coyle guy for Boston?
DTCharlie 13 is having one heck of a playoffs.
Yeah, when he gave up the puck leading to the Blue Jacket’s first goal, I said to my wife, “There is the Coyle that we know and love!”. Then he redeemed himself in a big way. 5 goals in the playoffs this year. Where was that the last 4 years?
Then he redeemed himself in a big way. 5 goals in the playoffs this year. Where was that the last 4 years?
The problem with Coyle was never scoring 4 or 5 goals. It was how long does it take him to score the NEXT 4 or 5 goals? A month? 2 months? More? We saw it again and again where Coyle would get going and everybody said, “Now he’s on his game.” And then 20 games with 0. I’m more than comfortable with the prospects that in any given full season Donato will outscore Coyle.
The trade that nobody wants to talk about is Nino. Who did we get for Nino again? Can’t recall. It’s like we got nobody… Total Fenton Fail.
In other news, Franchise in a Box has now claimed that the NHL has “apologized” to them for the major call in the Sharks vs Knights G7. FIAB’s GM claims they are not whining, just stating that the league has allegedly admitted that the call was wrong. The Knights have yet to apologize to their fans for letting in 4 goals in 4 minutes, however.
Grouse
I wouldn’t close the books on the Nino trade just yet, yes Rask has looked like he doesn’t even belong on the 4th line sometimes, but Nino looked that way pretty much the entire Washington series except for overtime game 7… We also got the lower cap number with Rask which is nice. Let’s give Rask a summer to get comfortable with his game, maybe he gives us some value back and looks intriguing to Seattle in a few years…
Nino has obviously been helped playing with Aho, so there’s that factor as well..
The problem with Coyle was never scoring 4 or 5 goals. It was how long does it take him to score the NEXT 4 or 5 goals? A month? 2 months? More? We saw it again and again where Coyle would get going and everybody said, “Now he’s on his game.” And then 20 games with 0. I’m more than comfortable with the prospects that in any given full season Donato will outscore Coyle.
Grouse
Try as you may to mask it, but you cried the day they traded Charlie and you know it 
Do you still wear your Coyle jersey to bed each night?
Do you still wear your Coyle jersey to bed each night?
Jersey is one thing, but what am I suppose to do with the Coyle trampstamp tattoo?
I wouldn’t close the books on the Nino trade just yet, yes Rask has looked like he doesn’t even belong on the 4th line sometimes, but Nino looked that way pretty much the entire Washington series except for overtime game 7…
Yeah, though I am disappointed with how Rask has looked thus far, I am not ready to give up on him yet. I think if he trains with the skating coaches (Ness family) he can really improve his skating. I read where Russo said that while he was injured with us, he spent a significant amount of time with them and I actually did notice a bit of improvement the last few games.
He isn’t the fastest guy, I think with him its more about making sure he is in the right spots because he doesn’t have the speed to make up for positional mistakes. If he can improve his first stride burst a bit that will make it much easier for him.
I am actually happy for Coyle, but disappointed he didn’t do that for us.
Last series he scored and showed more emotion with that one goal than he EVER did here. If that fire could have ever come out I knew he would be a beast but we just didn’t see it consistently.
If he does it now, it could make that trade look bad too, but still not nearly as bad as the Nino trade looks right now because at least we saved a ton of money, got a good prospect and now have a 4th round pick to go with it.
I just read that Russo flat out asked Milstein about the possibility of Kaprisov getting out of the rest of his contract and he said that there is no way. Sooo… that dream has died. Stranger things have happened, but it looks like we are waiting.
The trade that nobody wants to talk about is Nino. Who did we get for Nino again? Can’t recall. It’s like we got nobody… Total Fenton Fail.
As for what the Wild gained is pretty much a wash for them at this time, Nino was doing zilch while he was here. Rask has done Zilch while he was here.
So I rank that trade as straight up wash, or score it a 0.
Unless you start looking past the performance piece, and look at the payroll piece. So the Wild come up with more salary cap room. Score it a +1.
Pipe Dream? > Rask ends up as a 40 pts forward and a moveable piece. Too earl to score that.
Overall transaction value + 1
Coyle or Nino were never going to develop into the players they were touted to be here. Whether it was the system the Wild play or they just weren’t happy here or here’s that word again “chemistry” is just non existent amongst the Wild players. So to say it’s a bad trade because these players are now living up to their potential more with other teams than they were here isn’t a fair assessment imo.
If they just weren’t going to develop here for whatever reason why keep them around hoping the potential shows itself. They both had their chances here You do a player swap and hope the guy you bring in finds the chemistry with one or two of the players you already have.
You never know where a player is going to fit in and flourish. Would Ovechkin be a 50 goal scorer with the Wild? I doubt it. Would Zucker be a consistent 30 goal scorer on another team say Vegas for instance where everybody seems to have him going? Very possible.
Would Ovechkin be a 50 goal scorer with the Wild?
Yes. Ovi could have scored 50 with whatever team he played on. He finds a way. I love his enthusiasm and his drive. I know everyone says that Crosby was the face of the league until McDavid came along, but I honestly believe that Ovi was a better player and is doing more for the league than Crosby at this point.
Rask will NEVER be the player Nino was to the casual hockey fan. To the hockey experts (real or self proclaimed) it may make some sense because of the cap or some other crap the casual fan doesn’t care about. The casual fan wants goals, speed & hustle from the players. Whatever else comes with that they (we) don’t care.
Remember the Lamire trap system? He won games with crappy players and was driven out of town because the hockey was boring to some.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Keith wrote:</div>
Would Ovechkin be a 50 goal scorer with the Wild?Yes. Ovi could have scored 50 with whatever team he played on. He finds a way. I love his enthusiasm and his drive. I know everyone says that Crosby was the face of the league until McDavid came along, but I honestly believe that Ovi was a better player and is doing more for the league than Crosby at this point.
I disagree Ovechkin gets 50 on this current Wild team but that’s something we will never know. I agree 100% with everything else you said about him. He has a passion and appreciation for the game and for the opportunity the NHL has given him that is genuinely apparent with him.
I read Russo’s Q&A, the only way the Wild could see Kaprizov next year is if they make the 2nd of the playoffs as his contract ends on April 30th (or if CSKA gets beat earlier in their playoffs and the team ends the contract earlier) like Nikita Gusev
Ok, time for me to move on 
I read Russo’s Q&A, the only way the Wild could see Kaprizov next year is if they make the 2nd of the playoffs as his contract ends on April 30th (or if CSKA gets beat earlier in their playoffs and the team ends the contract earlier) like Nikita Gusev
Ok, time for me to move on
It was fun to dream while it lasted.
Nino came up huge last night for Carolina.
Bit of Kaprizov news, he’s playing on a line with Kuznetsov and Ovechkin for the World Championships that starts this weekend… He had a sick goal and an assist in a 3-1 win over Slovakia in a pre-tourney game…
I’m going to miss you Tortorella. I used to hate the guy, I like him now.
“Don’t even go there”
I’m going to miss you Tortorella. I used to hate the guy, I like him now.
“Don’t even go there”
Yeah, he is pretty funny during press conferences. Did you see the one where he answered the phone of one of the reporters who forgot to turn his cell off? It is GOLD!
Nice run by the Blue Jackets. This whole playoff season shows that it’s not out of reach for the Wild to be a deep run team. Superstars are great, but if they don’t show up for the playoffs where do you go? Correct answer is apparently to play in the World Championships… Wah-wah. Participant trophy time.
Just shows how tough the NHL is now. Anybody who says they saw this playoff picture shaping up THIS way is full of BS. To have the talent-heavy Bolts, Caps, Jets, Pens, and Flames ALL eliminated by now?
Grouse
yup and you really can’t say their goalies stole many games either, good team wins by all…
Stars/Blues Game 7 of Round 2 about to go into 2 OT. Is this not the best playoff season of damn near any sport ever?
Glad when I checked the score this morning it was the blues who won. It would sucked to have dominated like that and lost because of a fluke goal.
Its weird to be watching the third round of the play offs and hearing names like Coyle and Niederreiter. I guess part of the Wild got to the play offs.
I can’t stand Boston. I hope the west wins this year. Hopefully the trend continues for teams that sweep this year. 0-3
Best thing that could happen is for the Blues and Sharks to go 7. Let that Boston team sit for a week or so to cool off they are just on fire right now.
How happy does Coyle have to be right now escaping that lack luster pit of depression known as the Minnesota Wild! Good for him.
I think the Sharks would give Boston a better run than the Blues. Thorton is just on a mission.
Yeah, I think I can hang my interest on the Thorton story. I wanted the Blues to go and win, but I do like seeing guys like Thorton winning it finally, be it Ovechkin, Bourque, Andreychuk, Lanny McDonald, etc
Well here it is Boston Charlie with a chance to have his name on the cup.
Well done!
The sour taste in that is Marchant getting his name on the Cup again.
It should a good series, I think the Last to First Blues train is going to take the Bruins down in 6.
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