CreaseAndAssist

So you didn't hate him, but you thought he was horrible. What a big difference. I don't give two schitts about his whole career. Its what's relevant NOW. For the Wild, he was probably the 2nd best coach in team history behind Jacques Lemaire. Both of those coaches managed to make chicken salad out of chicken schitt. It may not have resulted in a Stanley Cup, but they got a lot out of rosters that were marginal. They had a few 'used to be' good veterans...or in Lemaire's case...one star player and a whole lot of 3rd & 4th liners. The only credit I'll give Little Billy in this situation he at least delivered this message face to face and not through a text, or a phone call. I think most Minnesota fans liked Bruce Boudreau a lot and respected him because he was hockey all of the time. I think he was honest and candid about mistakes he made and the mistakes the team made short of calling specific people out.

Wild vs. Canucks Game Preview Minnesota Wild (27-24-7) 61pts 6th in the Central 3.02 Goals For Per Game (16th in the NHL) 3.17 Goals Against Per Game (23rd in the NHL) 22% Power Play (8th in the NHL) 74.9% Penalty Kill (29th in the NHL) Top 5 Scorers: 1. #12 Eric Staal ~ 17G 24A = 41pts 2. #20 Ryan Suter ~ 7G 32A = 39pts 3. #22 Kevin Fiala ~ 14G 24A = 38pts 4. #11 Zach Parise ~ 21G 15A = 36pts 5. #36 Mats Zuccarello ~ 14G 16A = 30pts Top 3 PIM’s: 1. #38 Ryan Hartman ~ 60 PIM’s 2. #19 Luke Kunin ~ 55 PIM’s 3. #18 Jordan Greenway ~ 43 PIM’s Top Goaltenders: 1. #32 Alex Stalock (14-9-4) 2.68GAA .909%SP 3SO 2. #40 Devan Dubnyk (10-14-2) 3.33GAA .893%SP 1SO Vs. Vancouver Canucks (32-22-5) 69pts 3rd in the Pacific 3.19 Goals For Per Game (11th in the NHL) 3.02 Goals Against Per Game (14th in the NHL) 23.7% Power Play (5th in the NHL) 80.2% Penalty Kill (16th in the NHL) Top 5 Scorers: 1. #40 Elias Pettersson ~ 24G 34A = 58pts 2. #9 J.T. Miller ~ 22G 35A = 57pts 3. #53 Bo Horvat ~ 18G 28A = 46pts 4. #6 Brock Boeser ~ 16G 29A = 45pts 5. #43 Quinn Hughes ~ 8G 37A = 45pts Top 3 PIM’s: 1. #23 Alexander Edler ~ 56 PIM’s 2. #9 J.T. Miller ~ 43 PIM’s 3. #57 Tyler Myers ~ 43 PIM’s Top Goaltenders: 1. #25 Jacob Markstrom (22-16-3) 2.74GAA .918%SP 2SO 2. #35 Thatcher Demko (10-6-2) 3.04GAA .905%SP I wrote up the game preview, MNSOTA will be on the post-gamer (which by the way has a ton of prospect news in it FYI). The Canucks have slid from 1st in the Pacific to 3rd after just one loss this week, but they'll hope to get back on track against the Wild. The Canucks traded for Tyler Toffoli who will no doubt be motivated to impress in his first game with his new club. Lucky us! The Wild looked like crap on Saturday, but according to them they did great (the only thing they didn't do was win). So not sure what to expect other than another pretend performance by a team full of them. Enjoy and discuss.

You said earlier. You've always hated Bruce. So you won't give him credit for helping the Wild probably be way more competitive than they had a right to be. I would argue that Boudreau isn't overrated. He found a way to get the most out of an aging, talent-limited lineup that lacks a true go-to scorer or line. Prior to Boudreau's arrival, the Wild would limp into or stumble towards the post-season. Boudreau's teams for the most part, made it with ease and that's not from changing personnel as it was changing the coach. It won't get better any time soon. With the recapture penalties...we're probably looking at least 3-4 seasons before we see any meaningful positive change.

Bruce Boudreau opens up about the firing... He hints at it...but doesn't just come out and say it. Kind of consistent with how that keeps avoiding that all out revelation. But it certainly caught him by surprise. Either way, it doesn't sound like Bruce and his wife had any illusions that he'd somehow stick around beyond this season. With the way the vets were handling that late timeout...I think we have our proof and our answer. They weren't looking to Evason for any advice or direction. They were leading the whole timeout from the start to the finish.

Canning a coach when he really hasn't been that bad, sometimes has meant the GM takes over as bench boss. I think it may have been a missed opportunity for Guerin to really gain an understanding on this team's culture issues by taking that job. Sure he could tag along or drop by and try to witness some of it, but like any job...people change their behavior when the boss is around. But if the boss is always there, they tend to fade into the woodwork...and people start acting the way they would when he wasn't really around. But if he's not REALLY interested in learning about that...he'll just have Dean steer this ship over the proverbial cliff.

I don't think Koivu is in the Country Club group anymore. He's dead man skating on the 4th line. His career with the Wild is nearing a conclusion. But #11, #20...still proving they run the show. I noticed that Parise didn't really have too many guests at the game the way Koivu did for his 1,000th game ceremony. Anyone notice the lack of cheers for Bill Guerin when his name was announced?

@Antti_Laxative always looks good and has a killer sweater collection. Good choice, the Wild might as well be the Seals right now. The Wild's post game comments were laughable about where they felt they worked hard and showed a sense of urgency. Anyone see that timeout we called late? Evason barely said anything at all, in fact no Wild coaches were really too involved and Ryan Suter was providing all the instruction as what to do with an extra attacker. Do you really need any more proof than that? For all of the bullschitt about a 'new voice' the team didn't change any of its lines and pretty much stuck to them for the whole game. Although as someone posted the Country Club's shot totals, that was only after that group was given increased ice time (over 20 minutes last night). Beyond that, it looked like the same team except far more passive and avoiding the middle of the ice and just taking shots from the perimeter and playing catch with Martin Jones for most of the game. Whether the purpose of the move is to simply tank or if the vets whined and got another coach fired. The team played like one that was afraid to make any glaring mistakes and then in their comments they all echo'd (including Evason) that everything was great presumably to try to stave off some firesale by their annoyed GM.

New Voice Means Little as Wild Fall 2-0 to San Jose The Wild were barely able to compete against a decimated Sharks team. Fiala looked like a ghost of his former self; not initiating much of anything. Not really sure how you can be that bad. Yea, looks like Bill Guerin really knows this team, if he wants to ever be be believed we better see him dealing players away now right?!?! Or its just empty talk. Maybe he should go be coach and find out just how ugly it is in this locker room. Why am I almost happy at this outcome? I have a full game recap, an Iowa Wild report, prospect updates and a full listing of the match ups for the Girls HS Hockey State Tournament. Enjoy...

I noticed that too...Guerin had the first quote, Suter had the 2nd...almost word for word. Hmm...I wonder what happened? Its not really that big of a mystery folks.

(shrugs) Maybe...never really thought of it that way. I don't think Parise liked Boudreau very much and I'm sure he wasn't heartbroken to hear of his firing if he wasn't the one who made the phone call to get it done.

I think Boudreau's record in Minnesota demonstrates he actually is a pretty good coach than to say it proves he isn't. The Wild are a terribly flawed team (old and slow no matter how you look at it) and the team wasn't at a 'we give up' type of mood as it was when we axed Yeo. A fair portion of the team was still working hard most nights, but it still is the Wild and sub-par goaltending / inconsistent effort from portions of the team led to some disappointing losses. As I saw on Twitter. Is it Boudreau's fault Stalock doesn't make that save on Zibanejad? He had Koivu out there taking the draw, El Kapitan couldn't win the faceoff the puck stays in the offensive zone and the Rangers' tie it up. Is that really coaching? So Guerin threatens the players, so now he fires Boudreau to get their attention after trading away a well-liked player a few days before. Raise your hand if you think the ENTIRE team starts working hard each game? Yea...I didn't think so.

Maybe not directly, but I think the call probably went to Craig...who then called Guerin who thought it over and then fired Bruce the next day.

Nah, Boudreau was making a pretty crappy Wild team into a club that was probably closer to the playoffs than it should've been considering how terrible their goaltending has been. He wasn't the problem, but as per usual, the vets can't own their mistakes so the coach gets the axe, again. Its just scapegoating...plain and simple. Vets don't want to be second fiddle and too much praise was being pushed on the younger players like Fiala, Eriksson Ek, Greenway...and true leader Foligno. The vets started to coast, they whined to either Leipold or Guerin...and the switch was made with all of this bullschitt about a 'new voice.' We were never going to be an offensive juggernaut, but it wasn't like this team couldn't score at all. Boudreau embraced offense more than any coach the Wild have ever had. But the vets aren't going to let Boudreau, or Torchetti and Yeo before them tell them when and when they can't play. So Guerin gave them what they wanted. Parise had been taking pot shots at Bruce throughout the season. Suter probably wasn't as annoyed by Boudreau as Parise was because his ice time and opportunity wasn't as effected.

Let me translate this...a few players contacted me that they were annoyed Bruce was playing the 3rd and 4th line last night because even though their line hadn't done a damn thing all game they thought they should be playing. Those players may have recieved power play time...and threw it away with sloppy passes and mishandles of the puck...but they feel Bruce should've spent more time working on the power play said a player who wished to remain anonymous. The two players thought Dean might be a better fit. They said they talked to Dean and he said he'd be playing the Top 2 lines almost all of the time while the 3rd and 4th lines would only get intermittent opportunities and are confident this will help the team win more games. But if it doesn't, then Dean sucks and you can replace him with another guy we'll try to control like all of the others. Did I really miss anything. The ******** meter is 100% correct.

But is that entirely on him? Was he saying to the players? Oh when you're out there on the power play...just throw the puck on the boards...just skate around ok? No, of course not. So now you boot the coach? If the threat of dealing players for quitting was a threat to kick them in the arse, then what message does firing the coach send? It says we're screwed. For what? For going 7-3-1 in their last 10 games? That's stupid. You don't want Bruce around, sure...but wait for the season to be over. Evason isn't going to inspire this team any better, most likely it will be worse. His last few seasons in Milwaukee were terrible. For all of the positive mojo he created with the Zucker trade, he certainly threw that down the shitter with this move to dump Bruce. I think most fans could tell it wasn't his fault. As long as #11 and #20 are there, the culture will be whatever they wish it to be. Doesn't matter who the bench boss will be, those two will have veto / i.e. coach canning authority anyways. Yeo Torchetti Boudreau Let me guess...Suter almost laughs as he says Bruce, "is a great guy"

I am not a fan of the slow down thing, but in this situation, it was the pivot so he's skating backwards and pulling the puck back and away from the goal crease which is pure crap and against the rules. But the league didn't care...and the shootout goal stood. Didn't really matter though...none of our guys were burying any of their shootout attempts.

I would agree. Stalock was really fighting it last night. To his credit, he'd make the first save but his rebound control wasn't too great and his defenseman bailed him out a number of times. He also had some stickhandling gaffes that nearly came back to bite us too. It was not a great game for him. But the Wild still should've won this game.

Galchenyuk looked even more lost last night. It takes a while for him to get up to speed, but he moves well once he gets going. Yet, unless he's scoring...he doesn't really give you anything at all.

Nonchalant 3rd Period Hurts Wild in 4-3 Shootout Loss to the Rangers 1st and 2nd lines were pretty much MIA almost the entire game. But in the 3rd period, everyone seemed to want to coast and they pee'd away two power plays and the Rangers were able to claw the game to a tie. The Wild deserved their fate. If I'm Guerin...I make another trade. This wasn't giving up, but it was losing focus and that can't happen given where the Wild are at in the standings. Brodin played pretty well and I liked how Donato played as well as the 3rd line. But beyond that...lots of passengers among the older vets. The Panarin shootout goal was pure crap, about the same as what I think of most of Patrick Kane's shootout winners. St. Pierre wasn't going to overule himself...what a coward. Yet if the Wild didn't dink around in the 3rd they wouldn't be in that situation. I have full game recap, an Iowa Wild report, prospect news and Minnesota Boys HS hockey rankings (the final ones of the regular season). Enjoy...

If there is any silver lining there...he sounds like a player who is working hard at trying to make his game faster.

(shrugs) I think any team feels that a change of scenery might bring out the best. And given that chance in the Top 6 maybe you'll find out something another club didn't while they relegated that player to the 4th line. Still, I don't think Galchenyuk's addition was something the Wild wanted as much as it was necessary to clear some cap space for the Penguins to get Zucker. And since Galchenyuk is set to be a UFA this summer, the Wild are not really on the hook unless we decide its worth tendering him a contract. We'll see what Galchenyuk does with the rest of this audition or whether the Wild consider dealing him too to get even more in return. Either way, I think the Wild made a smart savvy move. If the deal's success or failure really hinged on Galchenyuk being able to figure it out and revert to 30-goal form, then the deal looks pretty iffy to say the least. But I don't think it was about that at all.

Poor Chucho...Stalock gets the start tonight. Also, apparently the Rangers are very interested in Jordan Greenway.

I always thought Walz or Laaksonen might be faster than Gaborik back in those days. It would be close, but the team did have some speed back then. The real question people should be asking about Zucker is why did he stop using his wheels? He caused lots of problems when he did just turn on the jets, so why limit their use or just abandon it altogether? Either way...I don't care. Galchenyuk was every bit of Vanek LITE last night I think as someone said above. Little to no defense...cherry picks...doesn't get involved in puck battles unless he thinks he can sweep it up and just skate away. He does have a bit more speed than Vanek, but an underwhelming debut for sure. Yet, if this is a silver lining at all. We didn't need him to be anything special last night and we don't really have to care too much if he is or not. He's not the critical part of the deal, just an ends to a means.

Wild Strike 3 Times on the Power Play in 4-0 Rout of Vegas Pretty good effort and I like the fact the team didn't get too caught up in Reaves' antics and just let it play out on the scoreboard and pretty soon he was neutralized. The power play is looking good, but its not pretty tallies as much as it is crashing the net. I thought Galchenyuk had an ok 1st period, but after that...any comparisons about him being Vanek LITE...were pretty accurate. Always looking to cherry pick and exit the zone instead of really helping out defensively. I like his one-timer...but we have to see more of that. Good thing we didn't really need him to do much of anything. Liked seeing Hunt and Soucy reunited. I have a full game recap, an extended Iowa Wild report and prospect news too, check it out!

It is what we expected from the Granlund trade. Not sure if you heard this, but for a while I guess the offer was Granlund and something else from the Wild (a pick or a prospect) for Fiala. But that seems to be the biggest difference between Fenton and Guerin so far in the deals that have been made. Still a pretty small sample size at this point...