Wild 2015-16

Very true about Kuemper. I think not having to be “THE Guy” is really helping him. He has looked very good in every outing but one.
I would be surprised if we could keep him. He is going to want big money. He has already been a peach to sign in his first two contracts.
Thankfully Backstrom will be gone after this year so that frees up some space, but I really don’t see us paying anywhere near what Kuemper is going to want. I wouldn’t be surprised if he is a “trade deadline” casualty this year.

mplspug wrote:

I don’t know if he makes the same play in a 1 goal game, although he was protecting a shut out.

I’d hate to lose Kuemper in the offseason as it appears he’s gotten over his lapses. But I assume Fletch will trade him in the offseason. There’s no reason to keep a legit starter as a back up if the price is right.

yep, When Dubs signed that longterm deal that lit the fuse on trading Kuemper, my guess is that he’s traded at the draft, no way they unload playoff insurance at the trade deadline, unless the deal is too good to turn down…

JoeMX1825 wrote:

no way they unload playoff insurance at the trade deadline, unless the deal is too good to turn down…

You forgot we have Backstrom.

I haven’t had the opportunity to see many games this season, how is Coyle playing? Not sure why but I like the kid and want to see him become a top tier player. Sounds like Vanek is having a very good year.
Why are they struggling with the three on three format? I’d think with their speed they would excel at it.

Coyle hasn’t been too visible thus far IMO. He usually plays hard, but he goes so far between games with points and goals. I expected more out of him, but I think if he is able to play wing, it suits him better. He has been forced to play center due to other injuries along the way.

3-3 OT issues I think are mostly caused by inopportune line changing. Its one of those things that happens and they just haven’t been very smart about it at all and it burns them.

I am a little disappointed in his production too, but like you said, he’s a hard worker and I like him. The scoring potential may never be realized, but I’m fine with that.he can play on the 2nd and 3rd line.

If they would just keep him in the same position and on the same line for more than 1 game in a row he might develop some chemistry and start scoring. He’s been Yeo’s swissarmy knife so far this season..

belletaine wrote:

I haven’t had the opportunity to see many games this season, how is Coyle playing? Not sure why but I like the kid and want to see him become a top tier player. Sounds like Vanek is having a very good year.
Why are they struggling with the three on three format? I’d think with their speed they would excel at it.

Coyle? Meh. I think he’s got 6 goals and about 13 points. I didn’t look, but I believe he’s played all 29 games, so not exactly on fire in terms of goals or points. I was expecting and hoping for more, but as it stands he’s going to struggle to get even to 15 goals which IMO is under-producing.

My hope is that the newly acquired Jarrret Stoll could center a line and move Coyle back to the wing and see if there’s some chemistry there and if that plays more towards Coyle’s strengths. That’d be a beefy, gritty line with both Stoll and Coyle out there taking up space and I can see that line being a good way to slow down an opponents fast moving line by winning board battles and not letting them have good puck movement.

Vanek, IMO, is playing the way he should. The guy was injured for half of last year and it showed, the good news is he recovered his form. He took a lot of flak last year, but now he’s proving that he really WAS the best free agent on the market and picking him up was the best move available to the Wild at that time.

The 3-3 OT format change clearly caught our coaching staff flat footed. Like every other team, the Wild needed to quickly plan a system based on the pieces available and then execute and they failed on both ends. We just don’t have the kind of hockey experience behind our bench that most top teams benefit from, so it’s no surprise that we’ve struggled with a big change like this.

Grouse

I’m looking forward to seeing stoll. Its a good depth move and hopefully pays dividends on the PK.

The odd couple – Koivu and Vanek.

Finally a guy who can anticipate what Vanek is going to do with the puck. Who could have guessed that’d be Koivu.

Fun game to watch last night. Great to see the Wild put an a-word whopping on the Rangers! I was not impressed with Vanek last night at all, really seemed to be off his game, but the team as a whole did impress me.

mplspug wrote:

The odd couple – Koivu and Vanek.

Finally a guy who can anticipate what Vanek is going to do with the puck. Who could have guessed that’d be Koivu.

The odd couple! That perfectly captures the Koivu/Vanek situation. Koivu is on fire. He was inches away from a hat trick last night with a late chance that almost went.

Very enjoyable game last night, although I was worried when the Wild seemed to let the Rangers back into it giving up a goal that made it 2-1 with 8 seconds left of the second. Fortunately, it was almost all Wild from there.

Nice skull-cracker shot from Scandella on Ranger’s goalie Raanta. Note to self, stopping pucks with forehead can still smart a little. It was really a treat to see that the change in goalies simply meant that the Wild continued the @ss whipping on Lundqvist.

And now for the rant.

Why, why, why can’t the NHL refs EVER, get the freaking freaking fighting calls right? What the HE!! is wrong with these @ssclown refs?

For the second night in a row, the Wild is laying an @ss whipping on a team and the losers decide, predictably, to get chippy late in the third. So last night Stahl tries to instigate a fight with Coyle, Stahl drops his gloves, Coyle says “No dance, fat kid, check the scoreboard, loser.”

And the freaking refs send them both off for 2 for roughing! WTF? Clearly, many NHL officials have no idea whatsoever about how to apply the various fighting rules in an actual game and they have taken it on themselves to change the rules to a “both go off”.

Here’s a couple of clues for you clowns directly from the NHL rulebook. Which you obviously need to read sometime. Probably for the first time for some of you.

46.1 Fighting: Fighting occurs when at least one player repeatedly punches or tries to punch an opponent.

Note that under 46.1, a FIGHTING penalty CAN be assessed to just one player.

46.2 Aggressor: … (any player who throws punches on an opponent) “who is in a defenseless position or who is an unwilling combatant.”

Again, how much more clear does it need to be that Fighting and the Aggressor rule can both be applied to only one player in an altercation?

Grouse

I saw that call too and was going out of my mind!!! If it hadn’t been 5-2 with 1:50 left in the third I would have jumped the glass myself and not instigated a fight with the ref

My guess it is easier for them to make the wrong call and not escalate things more by giving the Wild another chance to score. It ain’t right. Shouldn’t matter, you call it as it plays out and Coyle should not have gotten two.

mplspug wrote:

My guess it is easier for them to make the wrong call and not escalate things more by giving the Wild another chance to score. It ain’t right. Shouldn’t matter, you call it as it plays out and Coyle should not have gotten two.

Yes, well it’s always easier to make the wrong call, you’re exactly right.
But 2 games in a row??? Is this a professional sport or a clown college?

Grouse

Clown college.

Cant believe they didnt trade Vanek, Suter and Captain last year along with cutting Kempner.

Tonight we find out if we are a top 3 team in the NHL as we sit. Or just an upper 6-ish type club.

Go Wild!

Time for redemption.

If you ask me today how Dallas will fair in the playoffs, depending on who they play, I’d say they lose in the first round.

I know they have the offence, but the playoffs are a different animal. And even though the make up of the team has changed a lot, I don’t put much stake in teams that have missed the playoffs the year before. Although they are only one year removed from. The playoffs.

PB2 wrote:

Cant believe they didnt trade Vanek, Suter and Captain last year along with cutting Kempner.

Tonight we find out if we are a top 3 team in the NHL as we sit. Or just an upper 6-ish type club.

Go Wild!

I for one would be just fine with a top 6 regular season team. You only need to be top twelve in the playoffs to win the cup. I know there’s 16 teams in the playoffs but it seems the bottom 4 teams don’t really have a shot. Everyon else does.

The one thing I don’t understand is the belief that you need to have a top 3 team to have a successful season. I could care less come playoff time.

Top 3, top 6, top 7.8695, I don’t care as long as we’re firmly in the playoff picture at this time of year. The Wild seem to me to be approaching it right, every game they seem to be playing like it matters. No team outsider knows for sure, but it seems to me like the focus now is avoiding the dreaded Wild Midseason Death Slump.

Biggill is right, you certainly have the potential to make it easier on yourself by claiming a higher playoff spot. But I guess the “glass half empty” view is if you want a long playoff run, all roads eventually lead through the good teams so what does it matter if you face a team like Chicago in Round 1 or 2 if you have to face them eventually anyway?

The Wild looked only so-so against Nashville and even worse, rather than Nashville winning the game, we really handed them the win through a stupid mental mistake and giving up a second 5-3. That just handed the Preads the game, you’re lucky to survive one 5-3, keep giving them up and you’ll pay, and we did.

Wild need to bring it all to the table against the Texass Team Rustlers-errrrr, I mean the “Dallas Stars”.

Grouse

My goal for them is to certainly make the playoffs but to have that first series be a series in which we have home ice advantage. I can’t remember the last time we had that…RR

I’m not going to look it up, but I am guessing the only time was in 2008 when we won the division? I still am shocked to this day that we made it to the western conference finals in 2003?

Sounds like the league is going to expand too. Quebec and Las Vegas.

Breaking News: wild sign spurgeon to a 4 year extension!

Yes!

With all the trade talk I was preparing myself for my favorite player to move on at some point. I am pumped!

I like the pace thus far.

Nice to see that contract paying off. Spurgeon scores!

I wasnt suggesting we need to be top 3. I just like to rate things as we go. Its more of a fun thing.

But yeah you guys are right regular season doesnt mean a whole lot as long as you get in sone what comfortably.

The Kings won as an 8 seed I believe and the Presidents trophy winner hasnt won the cup in a decade or more…

So lets just avoid last year when it was basicly do or for practically the last half of the season just get in.
That hurt us mentally and physically.

Struggling again with penalties.

Now 3-2. Looks like discipline has got the best of them. Pretty sad period.

It’s the same old story for every Minnesota team who gets a lead on the opponent. Go back into a prevent defense and forget about offense. It would be nice to have a team with a killer instinct in this town!!!!! Like I said last time the Wild had a lead and lost to the Stars it will be a long time before the Stanely Cup comes to Minnesota. Before the game they talked about how much depth the Wild have on defense and that might go towards a trade. Well I think it is time for Chuck Fletcher to trade some of this depth to get someone in here who can light a fire under the team’s ass!!! Granland Marc Bouchard needs to go! I real goal scorer would have scored on that play where Granland got the puck in front of the net. I would not pay a dime to go to the Excel to watch this product!

31lifer wrote:

It’s the same old story for every Minnesota team who gets a lead on the opponent. Go back into a prevent defense and forget about offense. It would be nice to have a team with a killer instinct in this town!!!!! Like I said last time the Wild had a lead and lost to the Stars it will be a long time before the Stanely Cup comes to Minnesota. Before the game they talked about how much depth the Wild have on defense and that might go towards a trade. Well I think it is time for Chuck Fletcher to trade some of this depth to get someone in here who can light a fire under the team’s ass!!! Granland Marc Bouchard needs to go! I real goal scorer would have scored on that play where Granland got the puck in front of the net. I would not pay a dime to go to the Excel to watch this product!

You only missed one thing.

Yeo must go!!!

Man I wish Vanek was more consistent. Tonight he looked like crap. I like the no look passes, but once in a while it is OK to look.

Nice to see Nino and Coyle play like they should. Same thing as Vanek, we don’t see that on a regular basis.

That Granlund line needs to get going too. I wonder how many 5 on 5 goals they have this year.

That wasn’t a prevent defence. Because the PP goal and I think the one after the defence was way out of position.

Bring on the struggling habs and pens. We need some confidence again.

The problem with playing against Dallas is that, ummm, they’re just really freaking good. As Pug says, nice to see both Coyle and Nino find the net in the same night, but Dallas is just stacked with talent and if you give them an inch, they’ll take a mile. And they did.

Just like Chicago, the Wild need to figure out how to beat tough teams and the only way this Wild team is going to do that is to get the machine firing on all cylinders. We needed Vanek/Koivu to contribute last night, it’s great to get goals in a rout, but we also need goals in the tough games.

Grouse