Minnesota leads NHL in points

[57special]

MN is a good team that plays together. If they had a PK coach who didn't have his head up his ass, who knows how good their record could be?

Good on them for playing well, though a closer look shows them barely beating bad teams like the Hawks, NSH, or Buffalo, and a schedule against a bunch of bad or mediocre teams for the most part. A good part of their success is due to the lack of any true Cup contenders showing so far this year. FLA is losing, as is NYR. CO and EDM have difficulties. TOR (do they even qualify?)are undergoing a culture change under Berube- they will be interesting to watch. CAR is doing well, but once again there are doubts. VGK has the usual injury problems. All of these teams not firing on all cylinders so far have left the door open for teams like WAS, MN, NJD, WPG.

I know little about WAS, but it appears they are well coached. MN... things are hopeful for next year. They will finally have some cap space to pay a FA or two, Wallstedt, Buium, Yurov, and Ohgren will probably be on the team, and they have some interesting other prospects such as Jiricek and Heidt.

Yes, i am a Wild fan trying to kill off this jinx thread.

 

[Heldig]

And Washington is the 2nd best team in the NHL. Not a single person on here would have predicted this.

The top of the standings right now is pretty crazy. Minnesota, Washington and Winnipeg at the top. All 3 were looked at as wildcard teams before the season.

 

[Hall of Faber]

13 years ago they were first in the league at this date (or just before) and missed the playoffs

 

[Ignatius]

I'm happy for Billy G, he's going to look like a genius in a year or two.

 

[Crocket]

The Leafs are the hottest team in the league

 

[Circulartheory]

Ultimate jinx thread. F#@$ing fantastic.

Side note, sounds like Brodin may be out for quite a while.

Nah, that would be if we would be a thread saying how we much better we are than the rest of the league. We simply have the most points but being a Wild fan, its not in our DNA to trust our own team.

MN is a good team that plays together. If they had a PK coach who didn't have his head up his ass, who knows how good their record could be?

Good on them for playing well, though a closer look shows them barely beating bad teams like the Hawks, NSH, or Buffalo, and a schedule against a bunch of bad or mediocre teams for the most part. A good part of their success is due to the lack of any true Cup contenders showing so far this year. FLA is losing, as is NYR. CO and EDM have difficulties. TOR (do they even qualify?)are undergoing a culture change under Berube- they will be interesting to watch. CAR is doing well, but once again there are doubts. VGK has the usual injury problems. All of these teams not firing on all cylinders so far have left the door open for teams like WAS, MN, NJD, WPG.

I know little about WAS, but it appears they are well coached. MN... things are hopeful for next year. They will finally have some cap space to pay a FA or two, Wallstedt, Buium, Yurov, and Ohgren will probably be on the team, and they have some interesting other prospects such as Jiricek and Heidt.

Yes, i am a Wild fan trying to kill off this jinx thread.

^^^
Yes, this is more like it.

 

[NVious]

You don't bet against Brock Faber, PERIOD.

 

[Teppo]

Almost every season the Wild have a stretch where they are the best team in the league. This is just one of those times but has lasted longer than average. I have seen every game they have played and am convinced they are still a playoff bubble team.

 

[TheBeerNerd]

If you trust a team coached by John Hynes to keep this up, you're an idiot. I want to like the Wild, but I want that bald f*** to fail more.

 

[MVP of West Hollywd]

13 years ago they were first in the league at this date (or just before) and missed the playoffs

I’ve been on Hf too long, I remember the thread. One of my fave fluke starts of all time. They were 1st by 4 pts after 30 games.

 

[57special]

Almost every season the Wild have a stretch where they are the best team in the league. This is just one of those times but has lasted longer than average. I have seen every game they have played and am convinced they are still a playoff bubble team.

Well done, sir!

 

[Drift]

 

[Obvious Fabertism]

Almost every season the Wild have a stretch where they are the best team in the league. This is just one of those times but has lasted longer than average. I have seen every game they have played and am convinced they are still a playoff bubble team.

Playoff Bubble is not a very precise descriptor in my opinion, the West bubble is supremely weak with lots of variation in team quality and potential. The Wild are at their weakest potential for the season currently, its a team with room to add a significant amount at the trade deadline so I wouldn't judge their total potential as what they are now.

What they are now though, is clearly a very competitive team that can go out and beat anyone on a given night. Hard working lineup throughout, significant skill at the top of the roster, and two goalies capable of stealing games at times. These attributes mean that they don't necessarily need peak performances to win regular season games.

The main challenge of course is that the teams that they do the worst against are all in their own division, meaning the playoffs are going to be difficult if they end up with a Dallas or WPG matchup, those two teams have posed a lot of issues for this group over the past 5 seasons.

MN has dominated the Pacific and the East for several seasons now with this same cast of players, and with several of the younger players taking steps forward, its not difficult to see them continue to excel in the standings against that competition, but their eventual playoff opponent is going to be a different story in all likelihood.

 

[dirtydanglez]

they've done an alright job retooling/rebuilding but they always come up short in the playoffs.

 

[Finnen]

And Washington is the 2nd best team in the NHL. Not a single person on here would have predicted this.

I predicted Washington in the playoffs on else forum.

 

[NHL1674]

And now Ek is week to week.

 

[NHL1674]

13 years ago they were first in the league at this date (or just before) and missed the playoffs

I remember that well. And it's why my expectations are guarded....there is A LOT of hockey to be played. Teams can hit the skids in a hurry, and a simple 4-5 game losing streak can knock you out of sorts.

Don't get me wrong. It's a fun time to be a Wild fan. But I'll eat my hat if they finish in the top 5.

 

[Rorschach]

It's not about how you start, it's about how you finish.