CreaseAndAssist

Wild Run Out of Gas in 3-1 Loss to the Kings Pretty sad effort. Weak goals, horrific power play. The extra attacker was as bad as the power plays. Confused, disorganized and the Kings had more chances than we did. We helped Quick feel confident by not putting nearly enough shots on goal and not crashing the crease with a purpose. Lots of fly bys. Guys putting in 80-90% and hoping its good enough. Its not. I have a full game recap, an Iowa Wild report and prospect news too! Check it out!

Its interesting how Kunin was all over the ice at the World Championships and the AHL playoffs but he's been kind of a non-factor for the Wild. And as long as #9 and #12 is here...they're going to be relegated to the bottom 6.

There is no one else in the Wild's system that has Dumba's offensive talent from the blueline. Either Johansson...not nearly enough offense. Belpedio, hasn't been a big scorer in the AHL. Menell has piled up the assists but he's not the goal scorer Dumba could be. Let's not forget, Dubnyk's game has steadily eroded. Is it just bad plays or poor choices...or is a sub-par goalie giving up soft goals? Is that on Dumba? I think it'd be short-sighted to ship him out at this point.

Trading Dumba would be a horribly stupid and short-sighted idea right now. This team sucks. The values of all of our players are low. Selling low is foolish. Its part of the reason we ended up with so many lame 1-for-1 'hockey trades' by Fenton. Opposing teams weren't offering much. If this team wants to make real progress. Find a way to rid ourselves of #9, #11 or #20. Getting rid of one of those players and their respective contracts is really the best step towards rebuilding this team. Tossing away Dumba for crap in return (which is what we'd probably get for him at this point)...its a loser's bet. Just wait, be patient...be bad and rebuild through the draft.

Wild vs. Kings Game Preview Minnesota Wild (6-10-1) 13pts 7th in the Central 2.71 Goals For Per Game (23rd in the NHL) 3.53 Goals Against Per Game (27th in the NHL) 18.9% Power Play (17th in the NHL) 81.5% Penalty Kill (15th 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. #19 Luke Kunin ~ 19 PIM’s 3. #24 Matt Dumba ~ 15 PIM’s Top Goaltenders: 1. #40 Devan Dubnyk (3-7-1) 3.57GAA .887%SP 2. #32 Alex Stalock (3-3-0) 2.85GAA .903%SP 1SO Vs. Los Angeles Kings (5-11-1) 11pts 8th in the Pacific 2.53 Goals For Per Game (28th in the NHL) 3.88 Goals Against Per Game (31st in the NHL) 11.1% Power Play (29th in the NHL) 70.5% Penalty Kill (30th in he NHL) Top 5 Scorers: 1. #11 Anze Kopitar ~ 5G 11A = 16pts 2. #23 Dustin Brown ~ 4G 6A = 10pts 3. #8 Drew Doughty ~ 4G 6A = 10pts 4. #17 Ilya Kovalchuk ~ 3G 6A = 9pts 5. #73 Tyler Tofoli ~ 4G 4A = 8pts Top 3 PIM’s: 1. #13 Kyle Clifford ~ 15 PIM’s 2. #77 Jeff Carter ~ 14 PIM’s 3. #51 Austin Wagner ~ 13 PIM’s Top Goaltenders: 1. #32 Jonathan Quick (2-8-0) 4.27GAA .866%SP 2. #36 Jack Campbell (3-3-1) 3.11GAA .886%SP MNSOTA wrote up the game preview, I'll be on the post-gamer. Two cellar dwellers. No Trevor Lewis for the Kings, he just got put on injured reserve. The team has had a few days to rest...as they go into the last game of their 4-game road trip. Enjoy and discuss...

If anyone read Russo's article yesterday with Bill Guerin. Guerin was very surprised to see how close-knit of a group this team has. He said he had heard that wasn't the case before he got here...I wonder if he only really talks to #20, #11 and #9. Guerin to #20, #11, #9: Hey guys...are you guys close? Suter: Of course we are Bill! Guerin (smiling): Ok ok...just asking...sorry.

I am not sure why this revelation surprises anyone. Some of us had been hinting at the locker room and culture problems of this club for years. It’s very evident in the way they play, how ice time is distributed, overtime groupings and their shift times that a definite pecking order is in place. #20, #11, #9 and until last week for a short window of time #40 do as they please. They don’t care how poorly the team is doing, they will insist on their multi-course meal even though the team is starving. If a younger player starts to thrive the vets shame them into submission and convince them to know their place and pass the puck to a vet instead of shooting it. It it is why I don’t think it matters who coaches this team or who the GM is as long as #20, #11, #9 are on this roster. Remember when Jason Zucker used to fly down the ice and create havoc with his speed? Then he would end up in Yeo’s doghouse? Maybe it was more of the vets who couldn’t keep up with him and it annoyed them. He was taking ‘their’ shots. Ever notice Suter manning the point on the power play and moving the puck slowly from the half wall to the point and then taking some weak wrist shot? He was making sure he got his shots. That way he can say, hey I had my 3-4 shots on goal and if it leads to a goal on some secondary assist then so be it. But Suter won’t be coming off that power play for at least 1:30 of that power play. Suter doesn’t care if the Wild score unless his name is on the scoresheet. Reporters almost never criticize him. They know they will be in trouble if they do. Ever since #20 and #11 arrived it’s been an expensive country club. If Guerin asked around the league about the Wild at all before he took the job he would know this. It’s a fairly well known fact in league circles and anyone who wanted to speculate about free agents coming here. Trust me, they know runs the room on this team. I know if I heard about a pecking order culture like this there is no way I would sign here.

Alex Henry was captain once...the employee of the month beginning of this club made who wears the "C" an irrelevant thing. A good leader not only speaks when they're supposed to but they lead by example. The problem with the Wild is all too often they have different people pulling in their own direction rather than pulling altogether. Lemaire used to get the team to pull in one direction...which is why those talent deficient teams were as tough as they were to play against.

Wild Resilient in 4-3 Win Over Arizona I did my best to take Joe O'Donnell's words and occasional short videos to describe the action this evening. Sounded like we were on fumes the last few minutes but the team did enough to get it done tonight. Fiala seems to be heating up. I have a full game recap and a ton of prospect news. Enjoy...

Wild vs. Coyotes Game Preview Minnesota Wild (5-10-1) 11pts 7th in the Central 2.63 Goals For Per Game (25th in the NHL) 3.56 Goals Against Per Game (26th in the NHL) 17.3% Power Play (20th in the NHL) 80.4% Penalty Kill (18th in the NHL) Top 5 Scorers: 1. #12 Eric Staal ~ 6G 8A = 14pts 2. #16 Jason Zucker ~ 5G 5A = 10pts 3. #77 Brad Hunt ~ 5G 4A = 9pts 4. #46 Jared Spurgeon ~ 2G 6A = 8pts 5. #36 Mats Zuccarello ~ 3G 4A = 7pts Top 3 PIM’s: 1. #38 Ryan Hartman ~ 27 PIM’s 2. #19 Luke Kunin ~ 19 PIM’s 3. #24 Matt Dumba ~ 15 PIM’s Top Goaltenders: 1. #40 Devan Dubnyk (2-7-1) 3.64GAA .883%SP 2. #32 Alex Stalock (3-3-0) 2.85GAA .903%SP 1SO Vs. Arizona Coyotes (9-5-2) 20pts 5th in the Pacific 2.81 Goals For Per Game (19th in the NHL) 2.31 Goals Against Per Game (2nd in the NHL) 17.6% Power Play (19th in the NHL) 80% Penalty Kill (21st in the NHL) Top 5 Scorers: 1. #8 Nick Schmaltz ~ 4G 10A = 14pts 2. #83 Connor Garland ~ 7G 3A = 10pts 3. #81 Phil Kessel ~ 3G 7A = 10pts 4. #9 Clayton Keller ~ 2G 8A = 10pts 5. #33 Alex Goligoski ~ 1G 9A = 10pts Top 3 PIM’s: 1. #67 Lawson Crouse ~ 11 PIM’s 2. #46 Ilya Lyubushkin ~ 10 PIM’s 3. #29 Barrett Hayton ~ 10 PIM’s Top Goaltenders: 1. #35 Darcy Kuemper (7-4-0) 1.82GAA .937%SP 1SO 2. #32 Antti Raanta (2-1-2) 3.12GAA .912%SP MNSOTA wrote up the game preview, I'll be on the post-gamer. Arizona is pretty stingy defensively. The Wild should be fairly well-rested going into this game. No Foligno...Rask draws back in. It will be interesting to see if Lawson Crouse is more of a pain because of that. Enjoy and discuss...

I took a nap before the game and when I woke up, I didn't want to get up so I went back to sleep. Sorry everyone. Sounds like the 1st period it was about as bad as it gets. Porous goaltending (although Russo said there was just one goal that was really bad) but the effort was atrocious. Then they came back in the 2nd...but power play struggles at the end of the period is really what doomed them. Dubnyk played better. Staal had a good game. Zucker and Donato got benched for a long time...even though they both scored. A lot of the forwards didn't want to talk after the game. Especially Parise who probably is coming to the realization his career might be circling the drain. Good to hear the Eriksson Ek / Greenway line was good. They need to be if this team is going to have any hope, because El Kapitan and Parise continue to do mostly nothing.

(shrugs) Wearing the "C" doesn't matter one bit on this squad. It never has.

Wild vs. Sharks Game Preview Minnesota Wild (5-9-1) 11pts 7th in the Central 2.47 Goals For Per Game (27th in the NHL) 3.40 Goals Against Per Game (24th in the NHL) 18.4% Power Play (18th in the NHL) 83% Penalty Kill (14th in the NHL) Top 5 Scorers: 1. #12 Eric Staal ~ 5G 6A = 11pts 2. #16 Jason Zucker ~ 4G 5A = 9pts 3. #77 Brad Hunt ~ 4G 4A = 8pts 4. #46 Jared Spurgeon ~ 2G 6A = 8pts 5. #20 Ryan Suter ~ 2G 5A = 7pts Top 3 PIM’s: 1. #19 Luke Kunin ~ 19 PIM’s 2. #38 Ryan Hartman ~ 10 PIM’s 3. #36 Mats Zuccarello ~ 10 PIM’s Top Goaltenders: 1. #40 Devan Dubnyk (2-6-1) 3.68GAA .883%SP 2. #32 Alex Stalock (3-3-0) 2.42GAA .917%SP 1SO Vs. San Jose Sharks (5-10-1) 11pts 7th in the Pacific 2.50 Goals For Per Game (26th in the NHL) 3.63 Goals Against Per Game (28th in the NHL) 20.8% Power Play (14th in the NHL) 90.2% Penalty Kill (1st in the NHL) Top 5 Scorers: 1. #48 Tomas Hertl ~ 5G 9A = 14pts 2. #88 Brent Burns ~ 3G 11A = 14pts 3. #9 Evander Kane ~ 9G 4A = 13pts 4. #65 Erik Karlsson ~ 1G 9A = 10pts 5. #39 Logan Couture ~ 1G 9A = 10pts Top 3 PIM’s: 1. #23 Barclay Goodrow ~ 35 PIM’s 2. #4 Brendan Dillon ~ 19 PIM’s 3. #19 Joe Thornton ~ 18 PIM’s Top Goaltenders: 1. #30 Aaron Dell (2-3-0) 3.83GAA .878%SP 2. #31 Martin Jones (3-7-1) 3.38GAA .889%SP MNSOTA wrote up the game preview, I'll be on the post-gamer tonight. Will Stalock get another start? Or will the team go back to Dubnyk just because? The team doesn't play again until Saturday so we'll see what Boudreau decides. Enjoy and discuss!

(yawn) So just start him...just because?

Four Unanswered Goals Lift Wild to 4-2 Win Over Anaheim After a pretty ugly start where they couldn't seem to connect a pass or catch a pass to save their lives, they turned it around after giving up two quick goals in the 2nd period. Good on the Wild for showing at least a little resiliency. But this was a game they needed to win. Will Stalock start against San Jose? I'm going to guess probably. The Staal, Zuccarello, Zucker line is showing more chemistry with each game. Full game recap and prospect news too...enjoy!

Precisely @IllaZilla. The Hamburglar supplanted Kahkonen after he went a little bit of a losing skid. Hammond was pretty classy after his 1 and done season with the Wild. The good thing was that Kahkonen got a decent amount of starts for his first year of playing in North America, but he didn't have to be workhorse. Now Kahkonen is the workhorse. Let's see how this season turns out. Its a good start to be sure, but let him show he can carry the load before we start giving him some kind of prolonged tryout with the Minnesota Wild.

When Mayhew first came to the Iowa Wild as a college free agent he wasn't getting Top 6 minutes. The emerged over time as near the end of that first season he went on a bit of hot streak showing some of that scoring potential. Then performed well in a go-to role last year. Should he be on the team? Sure, but @IllaZilla hit the nail on the head why he isn't. It isn't anything he did wrong and his presence won't matter much because of the limited role he'd get with the big club. Stalock is in tonight and Boudreau has promised he's going to do something different for 3-on-3 OT if the game gets to that point. Russo is speculating youth and speed during that part of the game but I'll believe it when I see it.

(shrugs) We'll never really know. He stated he thinks most bloggers are idiots and he doesn't read them. I've always found it funny in his comments about needing to be alone in a press box when watching a game as if he's the most intense fan ever.

I would agree, the 'safe' pick turns into blah player that doesn't provide a lot of offensive production or a tempting asset to deal. At best they're an above average mid-tier player which is a terrible return for a 1st pick in my opinion.

Wild vs. Ducks Game Preview Minnesota Wild (4-9-1) 9pts 7th in the Central 2.36 Goals For Per Game (29th in the NHL) 3.50 Goals Against Per Game (25th in the NHL) 19.1% Power Play (17th in the NHL) 82.2% Penalty Kill (13th in the NHL) Top 5 Scorers: 1. #12 Eric Staal ~ 4G 6A = 10pts 2. #16 Jason Zucker ~ 4G 4A = 8pts 3. #77 Brad Hunt ~ 4G 4A = 8pts 4. #46 Jared Spurgeon ~ 2G 5A = 7pts 5. #17 Marcus Foligno ~ 2G 4A = 6pts Top 3 PIM’s: 1. #19 Luke Kunin ~ 19 PIM’s 2. #38 Ryan Hartman ~ 10 PIM’s 3. #36 Mats Zuccarello ~ 8 PIM’s Top Goaltenders: 1. #40 Devan Dubnyk (2-6-1) 3.68GAA .883%SP 2. #32 Alex Stalock (2-3-0) 2.49GAA .914%SP 1SO Vs. Anaheim Ducks (9-6-1) 19pts 4th in the Pacific 2.69 Goals For Per Game (24th in the NHL) 2.44 Goals Against Per Game (6th in the NHL) 10% Power Play (29th in the NHL) 81.3% Penalty Kill (18th in the NHL) Top 5 Scorers: 1. #33 Jakob Silfverberg ~ 7G 5A = 12pts 2. #15 Ryan Getzlaf ~ 7G 4A = 11pts 3. #14 Adam Henrique ~ 8G 1A = 9pts 4. #67 Rickard Rakell ~ 3G 6A = 9pts 5. #47 Hampus Lindholm ~ 0G 9A = 9pts Top 3 PIM’s: 1. #37 Nick Ritchie ~ 24 PIM’s 2, #47 Hampus Lindholm ~ 12 PIM’s 3. #5 Korbinian Holzer ~ 11 PIM’s Top Goaltenders: 1. #36 John Gibson (6-6-0) 2.51GAA .926%SP 2. #30 Ryan Miller (3-0-0) 2.10GAA .926%SP MNSOTA wrote up the game preview, I'll be on the post-gamer. This is the start of a 4-game trip to the West Coast. For anyone listening to these games on the radio, Iowa's Play-by-play man Joe O'Donnell will be calling the game instead of Bob Kurtz who is slowly stepping away from the mic. Not sure what to expect from this Wild team to be honest after the last game where the player's were ornery about the officiating. Does that mean they come out fired up or will they look like they have a bad case of jet lag? Enjoy and discuss...

Keep Kahkonen in Iowa. @IllaZilla is 100% right.

I don't think there is one, because we know as long as Dubnyk's salary is what it is...he's going to be given all the time / starts he wants. Until we see Stalock get starts against the higher quality teams in place of Dubnyk...there is no official conundrum.

We have no idea what Leipold really thinks unless he tells us. I doubt he's happy about the losing, but he obviously is delusional if he felt this group still has what it takes really to be a playoff contender let alone a Stanley Cup contender. This is pure speculation on my part, but I think his friendship with #11 / #20 and the friendship he has with Tom Saggisor is what prompted him to make such a foolish deal in the first place and I think he wants to get a return on that investment which is why he is so stubborn about not having a rebuild which would be a concession that investment was a waste of $$$. Leipold put up with a lot of empty seats in Nashville before he finally decided to sell the club. He has said he's been losing money from this team for a long time, even when fans were filling all of the seats. I am not sure how that could be true, but that's what Leipold said.

I'd still keep Kahkonen in Iowa. No sense having him contaminated as things go toxic with the big locker room.

The Samueli's seemed to have stayed out of the way of hockey decisions and let Murray make the choices for the organization. I would agree that Leipold is still living in 2009 or the veteran group has him still thinking its 2009 when they were still star-calibre talent. I agree with all of this @IllaZilla