CreaseAndAssist

That's an interesting way to put it @Alexandron but I think people haven't been happy with the Wild broadcast for years. I agree on the point on Walz, who had a decent start but then seemed to think he needed to talk so much more, when the opposite is true. My favorite broadcast teams in the NHL. San Jose Sharks New York Islanders TSN - Murphy and Ferraro Hughson and Simpson - Rogers I like John Forslund although Tripp Tracy can be annoying.

The NHL Should Cancel the 2019-20 season or history may repeat itself I provide some simple thoughts as to why I think the league would be wise to just cancel the 2019-20 season and just focus on next season. Enjoy and discuss.

You can E-mail questions to paladinolive@yahoo.com if you'd like.

If you look at Manny and Roloson, they did pretty well considering they played on teams that chronically were some of the worst offensive clubs in the organization's history. Yes, they also benefited from Lemaire's defensive style of hockey, but I still think their goaltending held up pretty well. When Dubnyk first arrived, he was much better but its been a steady decline ever since that first season when his numbers were among the league's best. And even a slip in Dubnyk's game usually was a big part of the team going on a losing streak. I still think the most interesting fact is how close those big sample numbers are when you look at save percentage or win percentage. It kind of proves the team has been stuck at a certain level of above average-ness for an extended period of time. I didn't have this in the article, but Harding also was a rare right-catching goaltender. He had a few solid seasons in Houston before he really got any significant chance to show what he could do in Minnesota.

Minnesota Wild TV Broadcast Ranked 29th in the NHL We provide some thoughts on this latest ranking of the broadcast and remind people we told you it was this bad a long time ago. Enjoy and discuss...

There is only one N in Beckman. Just saying...

Thanks. Yea, those were combative times where people seemed to be in one of 3 tribes. Manny, Roli or they didn't care at all. Remember all of the posts about Brent Burns' hair and the other puckbunnies? Blech...

A complete list of the Greatest Minnesota Wild goaltenders of all time @MNSOTA and I wrote up this article evaluating all of the players that have manned the crease for the Minnesota Wild in its history. It is amazing to see how close some of the statistics (goals against average, save percentage) are for the various goalies even if they spanned different eras in the franchise's history. Enjoy and discuss...

At this point, expectations for Johansson are about as low as you can get. Its good to hear Frolunda has a good reputation for development, because he needs it but we'll see if that translates to more opportunity as well.

Thanks! Are you on Twitter? Don't be afraid to ask questions to @BravetheWild by tagging them #BTWMN

Hmm...not sure why the links are not working. Let me see if I can post them here. Those are all the videos I had in my article. Also, I updated it to include the fact the Wild signed Hunter Jones to an entry level deal. So could this mean Dubnyk is more or less going to be brushed aside and Kahkonen moves up while Jones and Robson man the crease in Iowa?!?!

Brave the Wild - Crease And Assist I was on a Wild podcast this morning. We talk prospects, North Stars stuff, where we think the season will go next, retirements, Kirill Kaprizov and more. Enjoy an excuse to have an hour away from the more dire aspects our daily lives these days.

I think there is no drawback from signing any of these forwards. Next season, the team will no doubt let some of its older players that were helping carry the mail in Iowa move on with their careers and give more of the prospects the ice time and opportunity to develop. As I see it... Damien Giroux Connor Dewar Brandon Duhaime Mason Shaw Mitchell Chaffee Will Bitten Gerald Mayhew Ivan Lodnia Dmitry Sokolov Luke Johnson Gabriel Dumont Alexander Khovanov Will probably be the forwards in Iowa next year. On defense...they only have two under contract already. The rest are RFA's and one UFA. Fedor Gordeev Calen Addison My guess is they will re-sign... Brennan Menell Louie Belpedio Stepan Falkovsky had a good year for Allen, but they already have one giant blueliner in Gordeev. But do they really want to keep Hunter Warner?!?! Not sure. Between the pipes...the top two options are both RFA's. Hunter Jones - signed Kaapo Kahkonen Mat Robson

Wild Sign 3 Forwards: Damien Giroux, Adam Beckman and Mitchell Chaffee I share my thoughts on the 3 forwards the Wild signed over the last two days, I have video and stats too! Enjoy and discuss...

For some...and I have that game. But NHL '94 is where I'll spend my day today.

No Hockey and need your hockey fix, I have some ideas With COVID-19 cancelling just about everything these days, I thought I'd give people some ideas to get their hockey fix. Enjoy and discuss!

Rask's goal was impressive. IMO, I'd try to give him another chance. When you consider how long he spent just watching from the pressbox and to play as well as he did was a credit to him. Yes, I know he's a professional but he was assertive and engaged...good to see.

Meh. If it was Bruce Plante, I'd agree...but he's not there anymore.

I don't think he's overweight, and by what I've heard...he's put a lot of time trying to work on improving his explosiveness. He was noted for staying later after practices to keep working on it. I think his attitude is in the right place. I'm more concerned about his decision-making with the puck than his skating. While he's shown some finishing ability and he can dangle pretty well, he can make some really ludicrous decisions with the puck. The kind of mistakes you normally don't see in players that have advanced beyond pee wees.

Fiala and Rask Clutch for the Wild in 5-4 Overtime Win in Anaheim Dubnyk played like he normally does (crap) but the team dug deep and Fiala bailed him out with a victory. Kind of an ugly choppy and chippy game. Sort of like what they've seen this entire California road trip but the team managed to go 2-for-3 and now are back in the playoff picture for now. Unlikely we'll still be there when we play Vegas on Thursday but we got 2 more crucial points. I have a full game recap, an Iowa Wild report and ton of prospect news as well as a full State Tournament summary. Check it out!

He's hustling out there. He's winning some draws. I like how he likes to push the pace. I agree with @IllaZilla for the most part though. Offer him a fairly cheap deal, short-term (like a prove it deal) and let him show he's worthy of something more or you deal him.

My brackets are totally wrecked. St. Thomas' goalie ruined that for me. And then Hermantown crushed Cathedral to ruin Class A for me. Hill-Murray and Eden Prairie should be an interesting match up, as I think Bill Lechner is the best coach in the tournament. That team just executes so well and I like the puck movement they get from their defenseman; very efficient and smooth. And Mahtomedi looked considerably improved from their quarterfinal performance against Delano. I thought the Zephyrs looked a lot faster and more physical and certainly more confident. I still think Hermantown has the edge, but it might be closer game than most may think.

(shrugs) He's being used as the bumper on the power play. That isn't where he plays in Iowa. He's more of a trigger man on that power play. I listened to Tim Army talk with Michael Russo. Army admitted the systems his team runs is different than the Wild and by what I see it looks like Mayhew isn't sure where he should be. He did take a few shots against the Sharks and IMO he needs to take any chance he can to shoot the puck. He has a fairly quick release and the shot has good velocity. But he's mostly been most useful in throwing his body around, adding a little speed and retrieving pucks. But overall...not scoring but I can see the scoring instincts. He finds the dead spots on the ice; if only someone would pass him the puck. That's probably the biggest difference for him; where in Iowa he's the focal point...kind of like Fiala is with the Wild. Everyone wants to find a way to get him the puck so he can do his thing and score. That isn't happening up here in Minnesota and I don't think its a pecking order thing. Yet if he's just going to sit in the press box, I know Iowa could certainly use their go-to scorer back because they've been kind of lost without him.

Class AA should be a more evenly competitive bracket through the quarterfinals. Class A IMO is a 3-horse race. I don't think Mahtomedi can really threaten Warroad, St. Cloud Cathedral or Hermantown.

I've liked him at Center more than I've liked him as a winger. I would offer him a cheap deal and see if he takes it. I'm pretty sure this is his last NHL chance.