I’m hoping that maybe the comments and practice yesterday has the Wild a little surly and motivated. I’ll let you know which fill up faster in my hand after tonight’s game.
I also just saw no Secord for the alumni game. That blows. It would be funny if they kept it a secret until the game and then let him lead the team out.
Secord still sucks.
If anyone wants to go to the outdoor game I have 2 tickets I will sell for face value. Prices are ridiculous. I will have to check to see how much I paid but I think they were $488 for the pair.
I was bummed I wouldn’t get to see an outdoor game in Minnesota…. Until I saw the prices. No way I’d pay that much for a game.
My roommate also bought two tickets and is regretting it. It was one of those spur of the moment purchases. I may buy one from him but not sure.
DT
As a season ticket holder we had the option to buy winter classic tickets first. Guys, I love hockey. I even PLAYED hockey outdoors in youth hockey. Yes, yes, that was so long ago that some of the spectators were, in fact, dinosaurs, but the point is hockey was once played outside and it had its own appeal.
So when the chance came to pay big bucks as a season ticket holder to buy the chance to sit outside and freeze my A$$ off watching hockey, well, let’s put it this way. I decided to let others experience the joy.
Comments about last nights game vs Chicago.
Finally the Wild and Yeo had an answer for Chicago’s stretch pass to the blue line play that plagued the Wild in past meetings. And they engineered a way to be pretty effective at moving the puck under control and quickly out of the D zone and into the Hawks zone, keeping Chicago burning up line cycles chasing and palying D rather than hammering us in our own zone and then having to dump and change at every possession change. The fact that they promptly forgot how to do this effectively at the start of the second is a detail that still needs some work.
Thank God Pominville got goal 2! I was there when he scored goal #1 and heard multiple people in the stands say some version of, “Well, hopefully this gets his head straight and now he can just get on with it.” Pominville, the monkey is off your back now. Forget about it and just PLAY.
The power play is still bugging me. Is it improved over the massive cluster that Yeo was running last year? Yes! But is it what it should be? I just don’t feel like it is.
Final thought. With 3 on 3 OT being a reality, well, how do I put this… Basically, the Wild totally suck at it. I have ZERO confidence of the Wild being able to win the OT against any quality team. I was in agony on the couch last night thinking the Blackhawks were going to score and then the Wild would get hosed in OT like they did with Dallas. Something needs to be done about this and Hockey Genius Mike Yeo better get on the stick and figure it out because basically the playoff picture is so tight that the difference for the Wild will be determined by OT wins.
Oh, and one more thing.
Why, why, why is there NOT a “no icing rule” when the goalie is pulled like there is when a team is shorthanded due to a penalty? When combined with the no line change on an icing rule, I just think that this gives the team with a pulled goalie way too much of an advantage. Am I the only one who thinks a rule change in order here? Either allow line changes on icing calls with an empty net, or make it a no icing rule just like a power play.
Grouse
The PP is back to sucking. They catch a pass and just sit on it. They need to move the puck around faster.
I wasnt as impressed with the win. I thought hey had better scoring chances even if we had more. Doobs saved us last night.
I’m still not impressed. This seems like the same team that slumps this time of the year, except now they have Doobs to save the day. They are back to 20 minutes (tops) of playing in a 60 minute game. They look like the have no confidence. A confident team is quick to make plays and decisive. I’m now seeing them hold the puck too long and miss plays.
They need to change something up, they stole 2 points last night to a bad Leafs team that outplayed them the last 40 minutes…. What has happend to Zucker lately? he’s been invisible the last 4-5 games… and how bad was Koivu passing up an empty net? thank god that didn’t come back to haunt them…
Attended last nights sleeper. Here’s my assessment fwiw.
They have once again fell into the lets let Doobs save our bacon mode. They get lose too many foot races, passes are not crisp, the transition is almost not there, let alone effective and once again they cannot finish prime ops. They easily could have been up by 4 IF they could bear down and dent the twine like the cup contenders do. The Wild are fortunate the Hawks & Preds are struggling to or they be out.
Hope they can get back to looking like contenders instead of pretenders… Jets pounded the Leafs 6-1 the night before. We should have and could have destroyed them last night but it was back to “Doobs will save.” And he did…
Finally Yeo’s challenge paid. Was an obvious off sides. Can’t imagine how the 4 blind mice missed it. They were maybe sleeping like most of the fans. Felt like a funeral was about to break out throughout…
80-90% of the team is playing a little here and a little there.
Won’t cut it in the long run.
Is Yeo too young to command the ship like Quennville or Hitchcock? I dunno.. They just don’t really have that extra step like they appear to be capable of. Turn overs? Nightmare…
Keep in mind.. This is coming from a fan who would like to see “the code” return. Today’s NHL is boring from my perspective.
The only thing that made last night’s game even remotely interesting was that the Wild, at any moment, felt like they could find a way to lose it by the score of 4-1 or worse.
Obviously, the Wild are Slump Shy and everyone is gripping the stick that little too tight. Everyone is looking for the dreaded slump sign instead of playing hockey.
It’s a telling sign when the 4th line has all the energy and is getting most of the chances.
Grouse
The 4th line was great last night! I was wishing Yeo put them out there more. They had chances every shift in the 3rd. It was wearing the Leafs down.
otherwise it was a snoozefest. Zucker hasn’t been as effective lately. I think teams are scheming him a bit now though which if someone else doesn’t pick up the slack its easy to shut down a team. If Nino could get something going then Zucker would be freed up more.
How long before we start hearing the term “swagger”.
“The Wild is looking to get that swagger back that they had at the start of the year”.
They seem real scared to make a mistake right now. Lets hope the Avs continue to be a team that energizes us. Take to shots at the Avs and talk to me Tuesday morning,
Take to shots at the Avs and talk to me Tuesday morning,
I’d settle for one clean open ice hit that lays out Landeskog.
If the chance to pummel the Avs doesn’t light a fire under the Wild’s arse, nothing will.
Grouse
..
And McClown.
I think the Avs will be pretty fired up. We have been their Achilles heal the last 2 years. But we will probably be pretty confident owning their number the last 2 years, especially with the come backs we have had against them. With that confidence, I’d hate to see us get swept. That could start a spiral downward.
That was a pretty complete game.
It would have been one of the few legit “they ran into a hot goalie” excuses had they lost. Varly was on fire.
That was one of their best games of the season, IMO. Should be fun to watch the follow-up game tomorrow.
Here’s to hoping Doobys injury isn’t too serious.
I sure hope they practice 3-3 and the proper time to line change…my god we’ve looked terrible in OT this year… time to put 2 defenseman out there until they can figure it out, hope to get to a shootout…
I sure hope they practice 3-3 and the proper time to line change…my god we’ve looked terrible in OT this year… time to put 2 defenseman out there until they can figure it out, hope to get to a shootout…
Totally agree. I’m finding myself cringing late in the third every time a game is tied just thinking about OT. Not sure what it is, but we’re missing something.
And can I just say, how do we manage every time we go to Colorado, to get the refs that just put the whistle in their pocket? Koivu gets a stick to the face. No call. Minimum of 3 hits behind the play. No calls x 3. Zucker gets punched in the face, literally punched in the face, after a whistle. Both go off for roughing. How do they do it?
Grouse
I sure hope they practice 3-3 and the proper time to line change…my god we’ve looked terrible in OT this year… time to put 2 defenseman out there until they can figure it out, hope to get to a shootout…
I couldn’t disagree more. Putting more D out there will only suggest you want to defend during the 3/3.
You need puck control and offense if you want any shot at winning.
and that has worked out awesome so far…
The vast majority of goals scored in NHL OT games this year have come off of missed shots or big rebounds that trigger instant 2-1’s the other way due to players who being tired and can’t backcheck or terribly out of position…Wild forward players have been clueless on 3-3 positioning, as if they still think there’s another defenseman back there…Adding another defenseman hopefully just brings more awareness, you’re gonna get tons of offense no matter who you play out there 3-3…
There was 1 Wild rush in last night’s OT that looked good, and that was when Suter cycled down to the net and whiffed on his shot…
No matter how bad you think it’s been, it can still get worse. Playing defensively at that level is going to be worse. Forechecking and controlling the puck is going to be the key to success.
Tired bodies lose in ot. You don’t win in 3/3 ot. You can only lose.
Tired bodies lose in ot. You don’t win in 3/3 ot. You can only lose.
In all the OT losses that I can remember THIS is exactly what lost us the game. We had chances, but it was the amount of time in the offensive zone and no change THEN the puck comes out with tired legs allowing the other team to change at least someone and we have 3 tired guys defending. Recipe for disaster.
They need to figure out a way to control the offensive zone and still get someone off the ice. Perhaps keep one guy back in the neutral zone, drop the puck back to him allowing the other two to change and then push back in. Maybe just switch one. IDK, but its clearly the line changes or lack of that are killing us.
I think there’s still a lot of innovation that needs to happen at the pro level in 3-3 OT. Everything about the OT is different, you can’t just try to play a mini version of 5-5.
The Wild need to get a lot more creative in how they cycle players on/off. They may even need to try some really unconventional stuff. They need to get way, way, way better at keeping the cycles shorter and not having gassed players that turn over the puck and then are too shot to play D.
I’m not sure Yeo is the coach to come up with this kind of new thinking, though. We’ll probably have to wait until someone else comes up with it and then run behind to try to catch up.
Grouse
I think the short term solution is to play 2 defenseman who have the built-in voice in their head that says “Get back on Defense”
The players need to practice 3-3 more so they have a better understanding that getting tired = likely losing the game. You would think Pro’s would know this, but watching the games… obviously they don’t…
but, the 3-3 OT is intended for a quick decision, thus the long change, and 2-1’s back & forth, so those teams who don’t adapt (the Wild) will continue to lose until they figure it out…
We’ve seen in the past how 2 points can mean the difference between making the playoffs or not, I’d hate the Wild to miss out because they kept doing the same dumb mistakes early in the year in OT…
I’d be curious to see how the successful OT teams are doing it differently? or maybe they are just burying their early chances when they get them vs the Wild aren’t?
Yeo must go!
I believe the previous OT they cycled the crap out of the puck in the offensive zone until the other team went the other way and scored. Was it Dallas?
I’m not that concerned about the OT. Its pretty much a crap shoot just like a shoot out, except it is actually a hockey play. You have to take a chance in the offensive zone to win. If you fail, it usually goes the other way and they win. And Suter should have buried that one. Game over.
I’d say a big part of it has to do with the make up of our team. I think Zucker and Koivu are our best pairing we can put out there and they should start every OT. Koivu can win the faceoff and is strong on the puck. Zucker has the speed and shot. Or I’ll take Parise with Koivu. Parise’s strength isn’t exactly finesse though. Then only other guys I think are good for 3 on 3 are Poms, Granlund and maybe Fontaine. On defense I’ll throw Dumba, Spurgeon, Scandella and Suter out there and not skip a shift. Suter does not have to play every other shift in OT. 5 minutes of 3-3 is grueling.
Pomminville good on 3on3? no way… 3on3 is about winning your 1-1 battles, Pomminville is terrible on the puck…
1-5 or whatever their record is in OT is a trending stat that points to something wrong with their approach… again I haven’t looked at other team’s OT records, maybe it’s the same bunch of teams who win and same bunch of teams that lose them?
I’m with pug in that I’m not concerned and it’s a crap shoot. As long as they don’t give up too many extra points to divisional opponents, it ain’t gonna matter come playoff time.
Focus on the first 60 minutes before you focus on the overtime.
I respectfully disagree about Poms. I agree Poms is not strong with the puck, but there are not many puck battles in 3 on 3 because there is too much open ice. The puck battles happen after a shot on goal and its a scramble. 3 on 3 is about passing, puck management and speed. Poms despite his struggles has good hockey sense and finds open areas. He’s not on the top of my list, but he is someone who I think can play 3-3.
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