Minnesota Wild General Discussion XIX

[AKL]

Pretty unlikely Canada or the US would take measures against Russian citizens across the board. Specific individual ones can and have been hit by sanctions like that.

But to play what if game, If Canada did that I would suspect the NHL would force the Canadian teams to play in America if they can't get an exemption. Toronto could sell out Buffalo in a heart beat. It's lower capacity, but maybe the Ralph in Grand Forks if Winnipeg gets in (not sure if it's better to play in a very nice 11k venue close to your fans, or a full size one further away).

Calgary and Edmonton don't really have a good cross border arena to play in, but the NHL would have to make due with the revenue loss of them having them play in a non playoff market over putting a knife through the integrity of the playoffs.

Half of the population of those cities is already in Phoenix anyway so might as well do it here.

 

[TaLoN]

Well... the EU and the US along with Canada have banned all Russian flights from their airspace. Russia has in turn banned 12 EU nations from their airspace. This will make it difficult for Russian players to travel to and from Russia as long as these bans remain in place.

Will Russian NHL players just stay in the US and Canada as a result?

I suppose they could go through China instead?

 

[Joseph Nathan]

Are we missing the playoffs now?

 

[MuckOG]

Are we missing the playoffs now?

It's not looking good, that's for sure.

 

[63firebird]

I wouldn’t say that the wild are going to miss the playoffs but it’s obvious the flames would be a very tough out. Probably wouldn’t meet them until the conference final if the Wild got that far. That was about the worst power-play that I could think of. The Wild could not gain the zone and when they did they faced constant pressure and couldn’t win a puck battle. Kaprizov, Boldy, Ek, Addison and others faced constant cross checks up high but they went completely uncalled. What power plays the wild had they couldn’t get a shot never mind make the flames pay. I was surprised the Wild couldn’t use their speed to their advantage. Especially futile was Hartman trying to fight some 6’6” 235 lb Flame. When the Wild finally did get some good looks they couldn’t finish or had some bad puck luck. Hopefully their resolve is still strong.

 

[thestonedkoala]

It's not looking good, that's for sure.

At least they have two games in hand. But yeah they came out of the gate fast and then just...I don't think there is a quick solution at the deadline either.

 

[57special]

Prior to the recent slump, we seemed to be a team that was living a charmed existence. I never saw so many come from behind points, or goals with the goalie pulled. Confirmed bottom sixers like Foligno and Hartman were scoring like top sixers, JEE popping in goals at a 30 + pace, bottom pairing Dmen like Merrill scoring, Zuccarello scoring career highs at age 34 yo, etc..

At this point, it seems like all that luck we had has disappeared, and we are coming back to the mean, which is very familiar territory...fringe, one and out, playoff team. More offensively talented than in the past, and less defensively talented.

 

[BagHead]

Half of the population of those cities is already in Phoenix anyway so might as well do it here.

Would be sort of comical, that the Coyotes have had so many problems with arenas, and then both the Flames and Oilers are welcomed to them with open arms.

 

[Bazeek]

Prior to the recent slump, we seemed to be a team that was living a charmed existence. I never saw so many come from behind points, or goals with the goalie pulled. Confirmed bottom sixers like Foligno and Hartman were scoring like top sixers, JEE popping in goals at a 30 + pace, bottom pairing Dmen like Merrill scoring, Zuccarello scoring career highs at age 34 yo, etc..

At this point, it seems like all that luck we had has disappeared, and we are coming back to the mean, which is very familiar territory...fringe, one and out, playoff team. More offensively talented than in the past, and less defensively talented.

Yeah, you knew a few of those things were going to swing the other direction, but all of them swinging back this hard at the same time is a bummer. The defense and goaltending suddenly looks much more like I was expecting going into this season, which is bad news. Dumba being out is a big loss, but as a unit the blueline looks very fragile.

A month ago I would have said it made sense to add something to hedge against that looming regression, but with them playing like this it's unlikely to help much. They'll have to figure it out with what they've got, or not.

 

[AKL]

Yeah, you knew a few of those things were going to swing the other direction, but all of them swinging back this hard at the same time is a bummer. The defense and goaltending suddenly looks much more like I was expecting going into this season, which is bad news. Dumba being out is a big loss, but as a unit the blueline looks very fragile.

A month ago I would have said it made sense to add something to hedge against that looming regression, but with them playing like this it's unlikely to help much. They'll have to figure it out with what they've got, or not.

It's funny seeing sentiment like this come out now during a losing stretch, I've been saying this for months.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

It's funny seeing sentiment like this come out now during a losing stretch, I've been saying this for months.

Even during winning stretches, which was equally as funny.

 

[Joseph Nathan]

It's funny seeing sentiment like this come out now during a losing stretch, I've been saying this for months.

What can we do to get the old foligno back? Russo said foligno has been playing scared since coming back from suspension and it has riveted down to the other players in the lockerroom. Did the suspension really change foligno?

 

[Bazeek]

It's funny seeing sentiment like this come out now during a losing stretch, I've been saying this for months.

TSK's got you beat by about two decades, but feather in the cap.

 

[BagHead]

TSK's got you beat by about two decades, but feather in the cap.

I try to take it a season at a time, rather than judge each iteration of the Wild as the same. While looking at this season's iteration, even while they were winning, it was clear that things were going their way in some probably unsustainable ways. They're not as bad a team as they seem right now, and they're not as good as they seemed a month ago. They're somewhere in between, and that's likely not a Cup winner, but it is a playoff team.

 

[thestonedkoala]

TSK's got you beat by about two decades, but feather in the cap.

HEY! This is a different the sky is falling situation :p

I think they'll limp into the playoffs, with any luck win a series, and then get curb-stomped.

 

[AKL]

I try to take it a season at a time, rather than judge each iteration of the Wild as the same. While looking at this season's iteration, even while they were winning, it was clear that things were going their way in some probably unsustainable ways. They're not as bad a team as they seem right now, and they're not as good as they seemed a month ago. They're somewhere in between, and that's likely not a Cup winner, but it is a playoff team.

100%, all of this. It was pretty clear some things were going to change at some point. The come from behind empty net goals were wildly unsustainable, and that has dried up immensely in the last couple weeks. The third line scoring at a second line rate was going to slow down. Kaprizov and Zuccarello weren't going to average 2 points per game forever. Goligoski was on pace for like 50 points, anyone who didn't think that was gonna fall off was crazy.

It's a good thing, to me, that this is happening before the deadline, so people can't use the excuse that a rental (if we had gotten one) "threw off the chemistry". We saw the highs of this team, now we're seeing the lows. And while the reality is somewhere in the middle, I'm sure, it's still not a Cup contender.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

100%, all of this. It was pretty clear some things were going to change at some point. The come from behind empty net goals were wildly unsustainable, and that has dried up immensely in the last couple weeks. The third line scoring at a second line rate was going to slow down. Kaprizov and Zuccarello weren't going to average 2 points per game forever. Goligoski was on pace for like 50 points, anyone who didn't think that was gonna fall off was crazy.

It's a good thing, to me, that this is happening before the deadline, so people can't use the excuse that a rental (if we had gotten one) "threw off the chemistry". We saw the highs of this team, now we're seeing the lows. And while the reality is somewhere in the middle, I'm sure, it's still not a Cup contender.

I think it was actually high 60's a pretty good way into the season.

 

[Joseph Nathan]

100%, all of this. It was pretty clear some things were going to change at some point. The come from behind empty net goals were wildly unsustainable, and that has dried up immensely in the last couple weeks. The third line scoring at a second line rate was going to slow down. Kaprizov and Zuccarello weren't going to average 2 points per game forever. Goligoski was on pace for like 50 points, anyone who didn't think that was gonna fall off was crazy.

It's a good thing, to me, that this is happening before the deadline, so people can't use the excuse that a rental (if we had gotten one) "threw off the chemistry". We saw the highs of this team, now we're seeing the lows. And while the reality is somewhere in the middle, I'm sure, it's still not a Cup contender.

Are foligno and greenway injury playing a role in this? But I have also noticed foligno has completely disappeared and not standing up for any teammates including kaprizov .. so what is foligno good for?

 

[AKL]

What can we do to get the old foligno back? Russo said foligno has been playing scared since coming back from suspension and it has riveted down to the other players in the lockerroom. Did the suspension really change foligno?

Are foligno and greenway injury playing a role in this? But I have also noticed foligno has completely disappeared and not standing up for any teammates including kaprizov .. so what is foligno good for?

I can't say what Foligno's problem is. What I know is that he's essentially been trying to be a scoring player for the last couple years, and it worked for a long time, but let's not forget that this guy was a fourth line grinder averaging 10 goals and 24 points for hundreds of games (500ish) before he got on a line with Ek and Greenway.

Now the last three years he's averaged 23 goals and 45 points. That's double his normal production. And in the last two seasons (this season and last) he has averaged 28 goals and 51 points per 82 games. So if he regresses back to a 10-15 goal, 25ish point player, no one should be surprised.

And Greenway has always been extremely inconsistent with everything so his slump is a surprise to nobody.

 

[AKL]

Foligno has also been shooting almost 27% for the last 86 games which is unheard of

 

[63firebird]

What can we do to get the old foligno back? Russo said foligno has been playing scared since coming back from suspension and it has riveted down to the other players in the lockerroom. Did the suspension really change foligno?

I was very surprised to see Foligno get his knee in on a fight. That is so unlike him. He’s often let guys off the hook in a fight when he could’ve demolished them so I think it really affected him to be seen as a dirty player. I also think that team toughness is the goal. I don’t think enforcers are going to work well in 2022. There is no honour as you can see Calgary doing as many cheap shots as they possibly can against the Wild skill players. Boldy, Addison and Kaprizov were cross checked across the face. Tkachuk seems to think it’s ok to punch a couple guys in a scrum. Usually the skilled players are out with the other teams skilled players. If Kaprizov can’t look after himself against another rookie that’s just how it’s going to be. I think we saw against the jets that trying to goon it up only makes matters worse.

 

[57special]

Newcastle wins, Wild lose.

 

[63firebird]

100%, all of this. It was pretty clear some things were going to change at some point. The come from behind empty net goals were wildly unsustainable, and that has dried up immensely in the last couple weeks. The third line scoring at a second line rate was going to slow down. Kaprizov and Zuccarello weren't going to average 2 points per game forever. Goligoski was on pace for like 50 points, anyone who didn't think that was gonna fall off was crazy.

It's a good thing, to me, that this is happening before the deadline, so people can't use the excuse that a rental (if we had gotten one) "threw off the chemistry". We saw the highs of this team, now we're seeing the lows. And while the reality is somewhere in the middle, I'm sure, it's still not a Cup contender.

Speaking of empty net goals. Why make the loss worse when you are three goals down and getting almost zero offensive zone time and pull the goalie? Three goals to tie? Cmon.

 

[AKL]

Speaking of empty net goals. Why make the loss worse when you are three goals down and getting almost zero offensive zone time and pull the goalie? Three goals to tie? Cmon.

I kinda get it with a few minutes left. You're still gonna get scored on, but at least you can say you tried something. When he did it with 8 minutes left though? That was peak ridiculousness from him. There was no reason to pull the goalie with eight minutes left. You basically just threw it the white flag on behalf of your team.

 

[Joseph Nathan]

I was very surprised to see Foligno get his knee in on a fight. That is so unlike him. He’s often let guys off the hook in a fight when he could’ve demolished them so I think it really affected him to be seen as a dirty player. I also think that team toughness is the goal. I don’t think enforcers are going to work well in 2022. There is no honour as you can see Calgary doing as many cheap shots as they possibly can against the Wild skill players. Boldy, Addison and Kaprizov were cross checked across the face. Tkachuk seems to think it’s ok to punch a couple guys in a scrum. Usually the skilled players are out with the other teams skilled players. If Kaprizov can’t look after himself against another rookie that’s just how it’s going to be. I think we saw against the jets that trying to goon it up only makes matters worse.

So is foligno just going to let this continue? Dean Evason? Kaprizov is taking so many cheap hits along with boldy, and foligno is doing nothing. The whole team just watches. Is there lockerroom issues going on we aren't being told off?