CreaseAndAssist

I guess I should've made a Seattle Related card...here you go. Enjoy.

I guess Ivan Lodnia is also playing in the KHL next year too; on loan to play for Dinamo Minsk. I think its a foolish move on his part; he must've felt either he wanted to make money sooner or that the lineup in Iowa is a bit crowded. I was intrigued seeing him play on a line with Connor Dewar and Brandon Duhaime but now that won't happen. Also, the Iowa Wild signed back Mitch McLain too.

Pateryn being out is a non story. He is slow and terrible. Besides, Carson Soucy is back. I dont think Addison will get a chance in the playoffs but he's looking like a real interesting young player who was playing the game with a lot of confidence out there.

2019-20 Minnesota Wild Season Fun With Magic: the Gathering Cards I decided to add a bit of fun and levity before the start of the play in series. I hope you find these cards to be a fun way to look at the season. Enjoy and discuss!

Did anyone watch the scrimmage on Saturday? Fiala looked great, as did Greenway, Addison, Menell, Brodin and Spurgeon. Kahkonen only played in the 3rd period but he was the only goalie not to give up a goal. Kahkonen's team was down 3-1 going into the 3rd period. Mat Robson gave up 3 goals to lose the scrimmage 4-3 in OT. Stalock looked reasonable, Dubnyk was fighting it...

IMO, experience doesn't matter here between the pipes. Its about who seems to be stopping more pucks. If Dubnyk is back in the crease, it better be because he performed better at training camp and in exhibition play. But if he's back in the crease simply because of 'experience' then I think its wrong. I think Alex Stalock outperformed Devan Dubnyk this season, not just in wins but in terms of save percentage too. As good as Kahkonen was for Iowa, it AHL numbers. Its a shame we will never know how far he could've taken Iowa this year.

They were playing a lot better and Fiala was on fire. I agree with you, if that iron was still hot I'd be feeling far more confident about this series. But I just think its tougher to get older legs to re-establish themselves for this series.

Fair enough..how far do you think the team will go?

The Minnesota Wild sign Kirill Kaprizov to a 2-year deal I provide some thoughts and analysis to Kaprizov's signing with the Minnesota Wild and what role he'll play (albeit at practice). Check it out and discuss!

I would also recommend this be the 'game day' post for Game 1 of the series since the stats are not going to change and it has the full schedule, projected lines, etc.

The way Brackett left Vancouver has me a bit concerned. It sounds like he wanted complete autonomy to draft who he wanted in Vancouver and the Canucks GM Jim Benning said no...so they decided to part ways. He may have a decent track record as a talent evaluator but I can't see Bill Guerin just giving Brackett that autonomy here. The team certainly is re-shaping its scouting department as it should because we've seen a whole lot of the same kinds of 'safe' players being drafted by the same people. Out so far Yopyk Vargas In Brackett Murray? But the last I heard, P.J. Fenton has been reduced in role to being just an amateur scout which is more appropriate for his experience level. While its encouraging to see some fresh blood in the scouting department, we'll see what this guy does.

Wild vs. Canucks Play In Series Preview Minnesota Wild (35-27-7) 77pts 6th in the Central 3.16 Goals For Per Game (12th in the NHL) 3.14 Goals Against Per Game (24th in the NHL) 21.3% Power Play (11th in the NHL) 77.2% Penalty Kill (25th in the NHL) Top 5 Scorers: 1. #22 Kevin Fiala ~ 23G 31A = 54pts 2. #20 Ryan Suter ~ 8G 40A = 48pts 3. #12 Eric Staal ~ 19G 28A = 47pts 4. #11 Zach Parise ~ 25G 21A = 46pts 5. #36 Mats Zuccarello ~ 15G 22A = 37pts Top 3 PIM’s: 1. #38 Ryan Hartman ~ 69 PIM’s 2. #19 Luke Kunin ~ 55 PIM’s 3. #18 Jordan Greenway ~ 54 PIM’s Top Goaltenders: 1. #32 Alex Stalock (20-11-4) 2.67GAA .910%SP 4SO 2. #40 Devan Dubnyk (12-15-2) 3.35GAA .890%SP 1SO 3. #31 Kaapo Kahkonen (3-1-0) 2.96GAA .913%SP Vs. Vancouver Canucks (36-27-6) 78pts 4th in the Pacific 3.25 Goals For Per Game (8th in the NHL) 3.10 Goals Against Per Game (20th in the NHL) 24.1% Power Play (4th in the NHL) 80.5% Penalty Kill (16th in the NHL) Top 5 Scorers: 1. #9 J.T. Miller ~ 27G 45A = 72pts 2. #40 Elias Pettersson ~ 27G 39A = 66pts 3. #53 Bo Horvat ~ 22G 31A = 53pts 4. #43 Quinn Hughes ~ 8G 45A = 53pts 5. #70 Tanner Pearson ~ 21G 24A = 45pts Top 3 PIM’s: 1. #23 Alexander Edler ~ 62 PIM’s 2. #57 Tyler Myers ~ 49 PIM’s 3. #9 J.T. Miller ~ 47 PIM’s Top Goaltenders: 1. #25 Jacob Markstrom (23-16-4) 2.75GAA .918%SP 2SO 2. #35 Thatcher Demko (13-10-2) 3.06GAA .905%SP 3. #30 Louis Domingue (3-9-2) 3.81GAA .882%SP Here is your preview for the play in series between the Minnesota Wild and Vancouver Canucks. This match up looks pretty even when you look at it statistically but there are some significant differences between these two clubs. So the preview examines both clubs, looks for strengths and weaknesses of both teams and we chime in with our series predictions as well. Training camps should be in full swing this week. Enjoy and discuss...

It doesn't work like that. I agree with you on cancelling the 2019-20 season. The league has wasted lots of time, and is going to spend a fortune to force the playoffs to happen for very little benefit to the the league or the game itself IMO. And as the risk appears to be increasing; especially for players living in the U.S. (even if the games are going to be played in Canada) the whole thing seems pointless. However, back to my original point. IMO, the 2020-21 season can start whenever. If that means it starts on January 1st, 2021, so be it. But here's my addition...they should not be fearful of pro-rating the season. So if it cuts that deep, then maybe you only play half a regular season and then have the playoffs as you normally would. I see people talking about the possibility of pushing back the college football season to the spring. If that happens, what do you think is going to get prime air time; the NHL or college football? Even regional networks would face a lot of pressure to aire football over hockey because it draws much better ratings and generates more ad revenue. If we didn't have a Stanley Cup winner in 2019-20 it wouldn't be that big of a deal. Sports are full of 'what if's' but if one player, coach, trainer dies during this whole thing...it was probably was preventable by not having this at all. I feel like its been rushed and even after seeing a pretty good summary of their 47-page precautions list it still seems like there are some glaring holes and potential for disaster. The NHL shouldn't worry about starting the 2020-21 season 'on time' they should worry more about starting the 2020-21 season with the most comprehensive and well thought out plan possible. Of course it would help if America would get its act together and not be so problematic in hosting games here as a hub city.

Per Russo, Khovanov signs a 1-year deal to play in the KHL even though he's under contract with the Minnesota Wild. Has the ability to return to North America whenever play resumes here during the 2020-21 season. The things he needs to work on... ~ Stop taking needless retaliatory penalties ~ Playing with more pace - too much floating in his game.

If a perennially mediocre team like the Wild has a shot at getting #1 overall by losing their play-in series?!? Great, I'm all for it even if its just to have a 12.5% chance at it. I'm tired of picking in the early to mid-teens and getting some player who might be able to be a contributor on the 3rd or 2nd line if we're lucky. Is the lottery messed up? No, it turned out like a lottery as it isn't going to the most deserving. It's just how the ping pong balls turned out as improbable as it was going to be.

Brave the Wild one of the longest running Minnesota Wild podcasts Part of the fun of blogging about the team is meeting lots of new people. Joey is certainly a super Minnesota sports fan where he hosts a podcast about the Wild, Vikings and Timberwolves. Check it out!

They can only offer him a 2-year deal based on his age. As it would be his Entry Level contract. If we can't sign him until January of 2021, it would be just a 1-year Entry Level contract and the year after that he'd be an RFA.

Well leadership in Wisconsin didn't want to break the quarantine. The GOP legislature challenged the executive order made by the Governor. More or less the legislature pressured the Wisconsin Supreme Court for permission to break their own law; to strike down the governor's executive order. It wasn't something the people asked for, but Wisconsin Dells and the bars were worried they were going to be doomed. Yet, Dells attendance is half of what it normally would be. But for the most part, It was just politics. And once things were opened up...it wasn't going to go back. My guess testing has been minimal here, and its going to hit us pretty hard at some point. I know myself and MNSOTA are still Social Distancing, wearing a mask...and being careful. But maybe the better question is it really feasible to have hockey back. Even in a place its been far better contained in Canada, to give the players their 'bubble' its going to cost the league a fortune to pull it off for something that will still probably draw minimal TV ratings. I don't get it.

I don't think the NHLPA dropped the ball; they instead used that as a bargaining chip to give their actual members something they wanted. That being guaranteeing their participation in the Olympics for 2022 and 2026. In fact if you look at some of the preview of the CBA portions; the NHLPA really leveraged the league well to drive down their escrow commitments. Honestly, with how insanely expensive its going to be to pull off this summer hockey thing...its hard to see how or why the owners would really want to agree to some of the things they gave up.

(shrugs) Its a lottery. Ottawa had the best odds of anyone and did about as bad as they could possibly do. Detroit has to feel burned, but the lottery isn't about setting things up to give it to the most deserving team. Its a lottery with the hope to thwart tanking. However, as far as this Wild fan is concerned it gives the team a chance to do what it should've done all along and that is tank. Its a rare opportunity indeed. But as far as the draft normally goes. Winnipeg got a great draft after making the playoffs, same with Colorado; and they did it by being savvy with their drafting and the teams that dealt those picks to them had miserable seasons which gave clubs that were already pretty good another blue chip player. That happens. By what I've heard...Lafreniere is the only maybe generational talent and even that's a maybe. Byfield isn't, but he's going to probably be a good player. But overall this draft is fairly deep with forwards and if you need help up front this was the year to try stock up on some picks. Its pretty sparse with big defenseman and even the top defenseman available are players that have incomplete games. I don't care. The Wild have never had a superstar and while losing doesn't guarantee Minnesota will get that pick I'm game for taking that chance. People can complain all the want. We were outside of the playoff window; so its not like we're a President's trophy team possibly has a chance at the 1st Overall pick. Its not like we're Edmonton and getting 1st Overall year after year.

Wild Fans Might Be Wanting to Tank after last night's NHL Draft Lottery results I know I wasn't the only one thinking an quick exit might not be the worst thing for the Minnesota Wild considering what might be available...enjoy and discuss.

Kaprizov has had since late April to sign. Nothing at all is stopping him from doing so; he has a certified agent...but it isn't happening for whatever reason. Sorry, I am not going to accept the lame ass rationalizations.

Kaprizov is still not in any hurry to sign and Alexander Khovanov signed with Ak Bars Kazan in the KHL. What a shame he feels he has nothing to learn in the AHL.

I know the 2015 article said he had done some scouting with the Arizona Coyotes, but I think he's been doing some things in junior hockey too (USHL).

A Tribute to Brian Rolston I wrote an article in tribute to my favorite Wild player, Brian Rolston. Enjoy and discuss.