I think he was talking about Andy Murray, but yeah St Louis is probably a bad example. They lost in the 1st round the last 3 years and everyone was expecting Hitch to get dumped this summer, but they decided to be “patient”. 
I’m not sure San Jose is a good example either with McLellan being the longest tenured coach with one team in the league for a while.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>TheFamousGrouse wrote:</div>
Now I’m sure there were other issues, but come on. We’re up here with the Wild mgmt wringing their hands over Yeo and you’ve got teams like St. Louis dumping a coach after they MADE the playoffs. We’re way to patient. I haven’t seen that the change did much harm to the Blues or the Sharks. What is our problem? Why are we always trying to shine coaching sh!t?Grouse
Grouse, Hitchcock is still coaching the Blues…
Sorry, you’re absolutely correct. I’m so whipped up I’m seeing coaching changes that didn’t even happen.
But it was certainly on the table down there and that says something when you’re talking about a team that made the playoffs. I want to make it clear that this wasn’t some kind of Freudian Slip where I wished Hitchcock would get fired so he’d come here. No, no, what would we want someone experienced like that for when we have Mike Yeo…
Grouse
I think he was talking about Andy Murray, but yeah St Louis is probably a bad example. They lost in the 1st round the last 3 years and everyone was expecting Hitch to get dumped this summer, but they decided to be “patient”.
I’m not sure San Jose is a good example either with McLellan being the longest tenured coach with one team in the league for a while.
I think it’s on point with McLellan. I believe he’s got the most wins of any of the Sharks coaches.
I don’t believe that the Sharks actually fired McLellan, I think this was a mutual “time to move on” kind of thing, but the point is they have a new coach after 10 years of playoff appearances and it didn’t seem like they tried that hard to keep McLellan as he landed in Edmonton the next day.
I’m just frustrated because it seems like the bar for the Wild’s coaching is set very, very low and even then they have almost failed to clear it for 3 years running now.
Grouse
I hate to be a “Negative Nancy”, but until the wild are starting to hurt financially, not much will be done. Lets face it, to us fans, its a sport, the the wild organization, its a business.
I hate to be a “Negative Nancy”, but until the wild are starting to hurt financially, not much will be done. Lets face it, to us fans, its a sport, the the wild organization, its a business.
You’re 75% correct. I would argue a GM and owner would want to stay out of the financial loss column so they would be expectedto be a little more proactive.
But this entire thread show how much we all have invested emotionally so all the previous comments do nothing to bother me.
I hate to be a “Negative Nancy”, but until the wild are starting to hurt financially, not much will be done. Lets face it, to us fans, its a sport, the the wild organization, its a business.
Probably more than a little truth to this, but also a chicken/egg situation. If the Wild start suffering financially, they won’t have the financial resources to pay the way a competitive team has to pay. So then we’d be in a downward spiral which certainly does not benefit the Wild ownership.
Also, I think the Wild are backstopped by the fact that this IS the state of hockey. We’re not Florida or some other southern softy state where hockey is a bandwagon sport and something do to if you’re bored during the non-football season.
Not saying it could never happen, but very hard for me to envision the X being half empty.
Grouse
We’re not Florida or some other southern softy state where hockey is a bandwagon sport and something do to if you’re bored during the non-football season.
I resent that remark. :p
I think the lightning fanbase is pretty solid…of course winning a cup will do that. Not so sure about the Panthers.
I think alot of us are just worried this team is slipping back into the fringe playoff/middle of the road team level they had been stuck in for god knows how many years now…
The Parise/Suter signings signaled a shift towards putting a championship level team on the ice and the last 2 seasons showed progress in an ever improving Western conference, but I just get the vibe that this team is getting back to old habits and excuses and that’s not acceptable anymore..
Every successful NHL team has a few pillars on their roster they build around. At the time of the signing of Parise and Suter it seemed they had those two pillars. Heck, we thought we had a couple goalies at the time too in Harding and Backstrom. We all know how that has played out.
The piece that has separated the Wild from a team like the Blackhawks is our “pillars” are nowhere near as skilled. I would say the Wild have a decent amount of talent, but we really do not have a pure goal scorer on the roster. Parise is a great guy to have on the team. No regrets from me with that signing at all. I just think there are a couple other decisions that were made that handcuffed us. I think there is about a zero percent chance we resign Granlund after next year. Probably same goes for Vanek depending how next year pans out and what kind of money he wants.
yep, and you only get the scoring machine pillars by finishing last in the league and winning the draft lottery, something we’ll never do…
Looking at our current prospect pool, we have NOBODY who fits the bill as a future star, anybody we draft this year is at least 2 years away if they turn out to be a star…
So that means we either wait until we strike gold drafting between the 15-25 slot or we take a chance on a player with alot of potential that either fizzles out or figures it out…somebody like Jonathan Druin…
NOBODY is going to willingly give up a future superstar, sometimes you gotta roll the dice, yes you might lose bigtime, but you also might hit the jackpot…we’ll never know unless we take a chance…That’s why I don’t put a huge stake of blame into Fletcher’s deadline deals the last few years, at least he’s trying to do something to make us better NOW, unfortunately they haven’t turned out, but he had the balls to take a chance..
The other thing to remember is that the uber superstar free agents (Stamkos) will never choose to play for the wild, we only got Parise & Suter because they have roots in MN and WI….
Boy this is going to be a long break.
You guys ever heard of Edmonton? High draft picks guarantees nothing. Yes it would be nice, but if you are unhappy with what has gone on the last three years, how happy would you be had we been bottom of the barrel the last 3 years?
You have to do what you can do every year to be successful. Unfortunately, we are handcuffed now because of it. We have a ton of guys under 25 years of age. If they just progress, we’ll be fine.
If they don’t,we’ll soon fall to the bottom and be able to start all over.
Groundhog Day! Another year, another out of a playoff spot at the all-star break.
We have a tough 6 game stretch after the break too. I’d say after those six games well know if they’ll make or be bounced from the playoffs.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>TheFamousGrouse wrote:</div>
We’re not Florida or some other southern softy state where hockey is a bandwagon sport and something do to if you’re bored during the non-football season.I
resentresemble that remark. :p
I fixed that for you.
Boy this is going to be a long break.
You guys ever heard of Edmonton? High draft picks guarantees nothing. Yes it would be nice, but if you are unhappy with what has gone on the last three years, how happy would you be had we been bottom of the barrel the last 3 years?
You’re right, of course. Nobody loves being cellar dwellers, that’s for sure.
I think it’s a little soon to write conclusions on Edmonton’s recent draft picks. Especially with both McDavid and Nugent-Hopkins out with multi-week injuries.
If anything, Edmonton is proving that offensive firepower isn’t everything. Look at their goalies GAAs: 2.6 and 3.4. Yikes. Obviously, their well-publicized lack of solid play from the defense is part of this, but the GAAs tell the story.
But yes, draft picks aren’t everything. Not to cause us to relapse into our can’t-beat-the-Blackhawks complex, but if you read the way Chicago built their recent cup winning teams, yes they drafted and kept some great players with Kane and Towes. But they also made some trades and acquisitions for players like Hossa and in the process ended up giving up some players like Dustin Byfuglien.
The whole thing is a “never can tell” story, but to me looking at teams with that real franchise players, it seems to me like your best bet is to have have picks 1-3 in a draft if you’re strictly playing the odds. It’s not a sure thing, but it’s kind of like getting dealt an ace first in blackjack. It sure as hell doesn’t hurt.
Grouse
I think McDavid will bring a winner back to Edmonton. He will be the super star and the face of the NHL in just a couple years. He’s fun to watch.
Anyone else watch the skills. Patrick Kane got booed. At the end they interviewed the 4 Captains and Kane seemed genuinely hurt by the boos. He even attempted to kiss ass. I actually feel bad for him…a little.
I haven’t watched it yet but have it recorded. Are they booing over the rape accusations or something else I missed?
DT
I’m not sure. I assumed because its Nashville, a central division rival.
I was angered at him when the rape case came out, but then when someone left a rape kit on his doorstep or whatever it was and then the case got dropped, I got over it. Seemed like it was a case of someone trumping up a story to make money.
The evolution of Brent Burns was hilarious!
I’m getting sick of the Nashville fans booing everyone. I get the whole rivalry thing but come on. They cant get over Suter leaving and then to boo as many players as they did during the skills competition? Give me a break. It’s supposed to be a fun event.
DT
I loved the Burns evolution too. Its too bad we don’t still have him.
Speaking of future prospects. I tell you this Nick Seeler is the type of guy the Wild faithful have been pining over. He is big and very physical. He has a mean streak to him. Can get you in trouble but also turn the tide of a game. It will be interesting what the wild have planned for him but I like his play.
Nashville booing is bad. But at least they don’t do the wave.
I usually pass on all things all-star weekend. For the first time in a long while I watched the skills competition. Still boring as it gets.
However I watched half of the second game and all of the championship. It was OK,certainly better than 5 on 5. Crazy that only one goal was scored.
That being said, the John Scott angle was awesome and handled very well. Handled well by the NHL, the players and Scott himself. I suppose I should tip my cap to the Nashville fans who embraced it. I mean let’s face it, there is very little chance the guy ever plays another NHL game again.
My hope is that this is a unique experience that people will talk about for years to come. I hope no other obscure, non deserving player gets bored in. That would taint what happened this weekend.
Not that I give a rip about all star weekend, but I did enjoy the novelty if this one.
Pug I agree. I found it very funny seeing all the people singing Scott’s praises when they were all very outspoken about how he shouldnt be there or that he should have bowed out.
I think Scott handled it very well.
Bottom line is all all star games are an exhibition and nothing more. Anyone who makes it into something ßo precious and serious needs their head examined.
I believe with the World Championship next fall they are doing away with the all star game? I hope that’s every year. Although I’d still like to see the league take a 5 day break every year around this time.
What an ugly game, no effort or focus… Yeo looks like a deer in headlights on the bench…
I know the Islanders are a physical team, but the Wild seemed like they just got beat down after the hot 1st. Need some physical players or just flat out tougher play to keep competing.
I sure am glad the boys came back from a break fresh and focused. I hear they had a really good practice yesterday so does that count for anything?
Buy out Pomminville’s contract and show him the door!!!!!! He looks scared when he has the puck and he is a liability every time he is on the ice.
Not only must Yeo go, but he is gone. I give him a week, maybe 2 while Fletch finds a replacement. Fletch has no other options. He would have traded by now if he could.
Has there ever been a team (besides the Devils with Larry Robinson several years ago) that hired an outside coach after the all star break and was successful? I agree that Yeo’s days are numbered, I just don’t know what options Fletcher has? Do they dare pull Walz out of the Fox studio and stick him on the bench? No way they promote Brunette, Hendrickson or Sydor…
It’s completely obvious this team doesn’t play for Yeo anymore….even the 1st period wasn’t as dominant as Russo and the Fox announcers made it out to be, most of the shots were from way out…
Again the 1st Powerplay unit looked like a high school JV squad…whatever snapshots Suter was able to get through on net, the Wild had nobody in front with a screen, the goalie had to be laughing the whole time… the 2nd unit showed some life though…Zucker looked like a player again and Coyle was again dominant…sadly Parise of all people looked like he was coasting all night (he also took a stupid penalty they scored on) All the vets looked really bad, which leads back to my point about the players giving up on Yeo…
To be honest I would hate to be in Fletcher’s shoes. I don’t like the idea of promoting a coach from within and I’m not sure what is out there.
Andy Murray? Not a great option, but that’s all I can think of. If Fletch does nothing I think he’s ultimately putting his job on the line. It might take a conference final to save it because 3 years of slumps and only round 2, why would anyone expect next year to be different? Even if he fired Yeo.
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