CreaseAndAssist

In other news...Matt Boldy again scoreless on Friday. 2 shots on goal. He has 1 goal in 10 games on almost 40 shots. Playing 2nd line center for Boston College.

Sometimes...others are very comfortable. Especially when they have large, long-term contracts.

I think most of us are saving judgement until we see him do something. It doesn't mean we're wanting him to do something just for the sake of doing so. But when he does, we'll feel like we'll realize what we have. So far, he's saying the kinds of things I guess you'd expect. In MacTavish's case, the good ol' boys club were running the show in Edmonton. There still is a resistance among players to play in that city regardless of who else is there. But winning will probably solve those issues and so far Dave Tippet is doing a great job.

(shrugs) I don't think that necessarily is the case. I say that because we've seen this team at a point where it was clear the coach lost the room in Mike Yeo's last few days and probably in John Torchetti's last few days. It hasn't reached that level yet. I think its really a team that is simply showing its age and its relative lack of skill, speed and scoring ability up front. The team plays its games with a real small margin for error. A few mistakes that lead to goals...and the team doesn't have the firepower to make up the lost ground. Is Boudreau's message running a bit stale with some of this group. Maybe, but overall...the team hasn't given up on him. Dumba's still mostly playing Dumba's game.

Word...

Or as a playmaker...he's dependent upon others to bury his passes to put up the points he did. If those players aren't scoring on his passes then his impact is greatly reduced. Its the life of a playmaker.

Are you going to add to the discussion about Dumba's game or whether he should be traded? I think he's played better as of late. Will he go back on a pace like he last year? Seems less likely, but at this point they need all the points they can get from any source right now.

Please share those hints and tips. I can't wait. I am not missing the point at all. You want to drop by and tell us how it is. Sure, go ahead...tell us what really is going on with this team? Apparently we're missing something about the Minnesota Wild the fans outside of this regular posters of specific forum can clearly see. What about Matt Dumba's game we somehow don't understand or realize?

That's cute. I think we see our team rather honestly. Would it matter to you what Wild fans think of the Tampa Bay Lightning? I'm going to guess not. I think most of us feel fairly confident that we can make our own judgements and form our own opinions here. Most of us arrived here from one place. A team forum, run by that team. We are not looking for approval or acceptance from the fans of other teams. Do you want acceptance from us? If so, I can give you a few hints...

Wow, that was awful. He just seemed to pick an area...didn't matter if anyone was there or not and just tried to send it out of the zone. Stupid and pointless. Looked like a typical bored Dubnyk move to me...

Was he bored? Anytime he seems to get bored he begins to think he's the next Martin Brodeur in trying to play the puck and it usually ends up in disaster or near disaster.

Armia? Hartman isn’t as skilled as Armia. Hartman had more of an offensive opportunity when he was with the Blackhawks. Since he left there he has mostly been a bottom 6 checker. Hartman’s game will always teeter on being helpful to being harmful depending on how the penalties shake out. He could probably score more if he had more ice time / opportunity than he receives on the 4th line.

Sounds like the team played pretty well but Dubnyk nearly threw it away. Kunin with a big save to bail out his goalie tonight.

I doubt he'll say much. But I could see his teammates dishing out a lot of trash hoping to draw a few dumb retaliatory penalties from the Wild.

Not sure. He doesn't seem like a helper kind of a guy to me.

He's an athletic, 6'4" center who is probably going to go in the Top 5 in the draft this summer. Quinton Byfield

Wild vs. Coyotes Game Preview Minnesota Wild (6-11-1) 13pts 7th in the Central 2.61 Goals For Per Game (25th in the NHL) 3.50 Goals Against Per Game (26th in the NHL) 17.8% Power Play (19th in the NHL) 82.1% Penalty Kill (12th in the NHL) Top 5 Scorers: 1. #12 Eric Staal ~ 6G 8A = 14pts 2. #16 Jason Zucker ~ 5G 6A = 11pts 3. #77 Brad Hunt ~ 5G 5A = 10pts 4. #46 Jared Spurgeon ~ 2G 8A = 10pts 5. #20 Ryan Suter ~ 2G 7A = 9pts Top 3 PIM’s: 1. #38 Ryan Hartman ~ 29 PIM’s 2. #12 Eric Staal ~ 20 PIM’s 3. #19 Luke Kunin ~ 19 PIM’s Top Goaltenders: 1. #40 Devan Dubnyk (3-8-1) 3.43GAA .893%SP 2. #32 Alex Stalock (3-3-0) 2.85GAA .903%SP 1SO Vs. Arizona Coyotes (11-6-2) 24pts 2nd in the Pacific 2.79 Goals For Per Game (21st in the NHL) 2.42 Goals Against Per Game (3rd in the NHL) 16.9% Power Play (21st in the NHL) 80.7% Penalty Kill (16th in the NHL) Top 5 Scorers: 1. #8 Nick Schmaltz ~ 4G 11A = 15pts 2. #9 Clayton Keller ~ 4G 9A = 13pts 3. #83 Conor Garland ~ 8G 3A = 11pts 4. #33 Alex Goligoski ~ 1G 10A = 11pts 5. #81 Phil Kessel ~ 3G 7A = 10pts Top 3 PIM’s: 1. #46 Ilya Lyubushkin ~ 12 PIM’s 2. #67 Lawson Crouse ~ 11 PIM’s 3. #29 Barrett Hayton ~ 10 PIM’s Top Goaltenders: 1. #35 Darcy Kuemper (8-5-0) 1.99GAA .931%SP 1SO 2. #32 Antti Raanta (3-1-2) 3.06GAA .912%SP I wrote up the game preview today. We will not have a post-gamer because I have a football banquet to attend. This could be a fairly spirited game given all the 'talk' that played a role in how the last meeting between these two clubs turned out. Enjoy and discuss!

I think this is fair to a point. He's never been devastatingly critical of anyone other than Paul Fenton, whom he had an adversarial relationship with. But Paul made his own bed with that one.

The locker room issues are something that has been around a lot longer than the last two seasons. This has been a problem for the last 6-7 years. Its only becoming a bigger thing / discussed topic now as the team struggles. Yet from a natural human level isn't it entirely plausible Guerin likely gravitates towards the players he may remember having played against in his career or feels as though he knows more? The problem is in likely spending more time talking to those players he knows, they are probably the older players...are the ones that control the culture of this club. If he's just spending time in the echo chamber, it might be tougher for him to realize the toxicity of it all. If we are to take his comments as the genuine truth.

Hard to say if he loses his starter status. I would say its probably unlikely because this team hasn't really just let Stalock run with things for a week or two. It gave him a few extra starts and then one stumble and he's back to being a backup. Dubnyk certainly has a much longer leash than Stalock does on this team. And I don't see the organization wanting to call up Kahkonen yet either.

I don't really question Russo's integrity per se. But did you ever hear him talk about how he tried to talk to Fenton about being a conduit to the fans. I thought that was crossing some journalistic lines by even offering that. IMO, you have to stay separate. And Fenton made it easy for him to separate and find other people for information; much to Fenton's annoyance. Perhaps its just trying to cultivate a relationship than asking to be some kind of propaganda mouthpiece is how I mostly read it now.

As to the former...no idea about that just yet. We haven't seen any moves yet. IMO, the actions speak more to me than what he actually says. So far, he's saying what just about any GM not named Brian Burke would say. As to the source. I was told what I was because I wouldn't reveal anything more and so I must honor that. Sorry. Not that you're demanding that I say so or not.

That's funny you mention it. Kunin has been a lot better on his draws most recently. Still, he's probably not a Top 6 center solution. To that I'd say Quinton Byfield...

Do you wonder if Guerin was being sarcastic when he talked about the close-knit nature of the locker room? Because I'd be surprised if Russo even bought that.

Hartman is kind of a conundrum. He has moments where he makes smart plays and then makes real poor choices. In some ways he reminds me of Ryan White, in terms of the agitator type of player. But I also kind of hoped he'd chip in more offensively.