CreaseAndAssist

Nashville is laying low after making some more deals; most notably the trade for Kyle Turris.  Yet even though they gave up a lot to get him; they still have Eeli Tolvanen on the way.  Dante Fabbro and David Farrance look very serviceable.  The Predators are still in great shape, prospect-wise.  Tyler Moy is a darkhorse.  The truth is, the Predators draft and develop very well and its pretty rare when they completely strike out in any draft year.  

I'd still guess it shuts down for good tomorrow.  Honestly, why would they make a post like that for a temporary shutdown?  

Its just a matter of time for Boeser.  Either him or Bo Horvat.  

I posted a tweet out about the forums.  I also made sure I tagged DJRicky (Wild fans know who I'm talking about) who is a Canucks fan and maybe they'll migrate this way.  Or maybe they won't.   

50 minutes ago, Confrontational said:

^^ Interesting...  Thinking about it - there was ZERO moderation over there - so essentially it consumed zero time from their standpoint - yet needed to be shut down...

Yea, what a difficult time it must've been for Kevin logging in maybe once every 6 months 

4 hours ago, Antti_Laxative said:

Ha! That sneaky Kevin turned the lights off 2 days earlier than announced on Wild Message Boards

 

And here I was crafting a eulogy in hopes of making the final post. 

One thing I've learned, Kevin...he may have gotten healthier...but his ego has gotten a lot BIGGER.  

Derek Lalonde talks about Iowa's 2017-18 Season

For a wild.com piece this is surprisingly honest.  Having followed Iowa as closely as I did (listening to most of their games online) he's 100% right about the late game collapses in that critical stretch just being painful.  The team kept finding ways to fritter away points and wins.  It was awful.  

I don't really disagree with any of what Iowa HC Derek Lalonde had to say...

55 minutes ago, Villette/Lavaux said:

Some of the NHL jerseys I have:

 

Minnesota North Stars - Green (1991)
Minnesota North Stars - Green (1986)
Minnesota North Stars - White (1991) - #23 Brian Bellows with Stanley Cup patch
Minnesota North Stars - Black (1993)
Minnesota North Stars - White (1993)
Minnesota Wild - Green (2014) - #24 Derek Boogaard
Winnipeg Jets - Blue (1985) - #10 Dale Hawerchuk
Hartford Whalers - Green (1985) - #11 Kevin Dineen
New Jersey Devils - Red (2000) - #4 Scott Stevens
Phoenix Coyotes - Black (1996)

Nice!

29 minutes ago, McMahon 6 said:

 

B-b-b-b-but... look at all the assists Suter gets. Are you and Rotty off your rockers, or just blind haters? Dontcha know that you should be worshiping the silk on his jock strap?

If memory serves me correctly, 42% of his points were 2nd assists.  I posted it on Twitter and I had a bunch of people falling over themselves to tell me how great Suter is and how dare I criticize a player that was tied for 12th in the league in even strength scoring...shame on me!?!?  

2 hours ago, IllaZilla said:

Hopefully #9 will be gone in two years. If his production declines the way it did last season, the Wild are going to have another Jason Pominville on their hands...

I'm not sure why #11 is so concerned about ice time. He's never on the ice anymore. Always some injury holding him out for a week here or a month there...

Suter is at least putting up numbers, however it may be to the detriment of the team. Especially on the power play. Why is he constantly allowed to play the point and then flip that limp wrist shot at the net?

 

Because Suter holds the zone so well...teams give him tons of space because they want him to shoot the puck.  It is so laughable that this team continues to use him in that capacity when the book is so known that he's going to take that unscreened wrist shot from the point.  The sad part is no one is willing to stand in front of the goalie to either deflect it or take away the goalies vision.  They wouldn't want to 'steal' a goal from Suter.  

19 minutes ago, pilldoc said:

 

Holy Jerseys @CreaseAndAssist !!!  That is some impressive collection of jerseys.  I'm ashamed that I only own 2 jerseys ... A Norfolk Admirals (old AHL days ) and a Flyers # 88 Lindros with the C.

 

I own a Disney World hockey jersey but I don't think it counts.  

 

 

 

However I love your idea for a thread.  How about starting a thread in the General Hockey section for all to enjoy!

 

Norfolk Admirals is a nice sweater.  I have a Dropkick Murphy's Hockey sweater and a few high school teams I didn't put on there.  I'll add them...

15 minutes ago, pilldoc said:

 

Holy Jerseys @CreaseAndAssist !!!  That is some impressive collection of jerseys.  I'm ashamed that I only own 2 jerseys ... A Norfolk Admirals (old AHL days ) and a Flyers # 88 Lindros with the C.

 

I own a Disney World hockey jersey but I don't think it counts.  

 

 

 

However I love your idea for a thread.  How about starting a thread in the General Hockey section for all to enjoy!

 

Its your site...do as you please.  

41 minutes ago, IllaZilla said:

 

That's because every offensive player they draft HAS to be a two-way player...

And they don't want guys that will cut into the amount of time with the puck for #9, #11 and #20.  

So maybe we should re-boot this thread.  We've never really did this at the old WMB.  

Age: 40

When you became a Wild fan:  From the day it was announced we had a NHL team coming...

First NHL Game You Ever Attended:  Minnesota North Stars vs. Los Angeles Kings back in 1982 at the Met Center.

Favorite article of NHL Swag:  Probably a game-used stick of Pierre-Marc Bouchard's i got during the lockout while he was playing for the Houston Aeros.  I have to thank MNSOTA for that opportunity.  

NHL Jerseys Owned:

Minnesota Wild Practice jersey (cir. 2004) - Green

Minnesota Wild Green Jersey (Minnesota script)

Minnesota Wild Green Jersey - #36 John Scott

Minnesota Wild Red & Green Jersey - #96 Pierre-Marc Bouchard

Minnesota Wild White Jersey - #20 Ryan Suter

Minnesota Wild Green Stadium Series Jersey - #11 Zach Parise

Minnesota Wild Green Jersey (new one)

Minnesota North Stars Jersey (white 1991 style)

Boston Bruins - White (early 2000's)

Boston Bruins - Black - Milan Lucic #17

Columbus Blue Jackets - Blue Cannon Alternate - Boone Jenner #38

Calgary Flames - Red (1997 version)

Calgary Flames - White (2004 version)

Edmonton Oilers - White (1980's version)

Winnipeg Jets - Blue (1993 version)

Winnipeg Jets - Blue - Dustin Byfuglien #33

Detroit Red Wings - White

Detroit Red Wings - Red - Stadium Series - Pavel Datsyuk #13

Chicago Blackhawks - Red - Mark Bell #28

Nashville Predators - White (2003 version)

Arizona Coyotes - White Practice Jersey

Los Angeles Kings - Gold & Purple (1979 version)

Buffalo Sabres - Blue (Buffaslug)

Montreal Canadiens - White - Jacques Lemaire #25

Quebec Nordiques - Blue (1991 version)

Toronto Maple Leafs - White (2005 version)

Toronto St. Pat's - Green 

Hartford Whalers - Green (1979 version)

Atlanta Thrashers - Maroon Alternate - Blake Wheeler #26

Philadelphia Flyers - White (2004 version)

Washington Capitals - White (2004 version)

New Jersey Devils - White (2003 version)

Pittsburgh Penguins - Black (2005 version)

Pittsburgh Penguins - Black (1990 version) #68 Jaromir Jagr

Ottawa Senators - Black (1992 version)

Minor League Jerseys

Milwaukee Admirals Practice Jersey - Black

Milwaukee Admirals Jersey - White

Major Junior Jerseys

Acadie-Bathurst Titan - White (2010 version)

Quebec Remparts - White (2003 version)

Rimouski Oceanic - Blue - Sidney Crosby #87

Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds - Red

Niagara Ice Dogs - Black - Dougie Hamilton #27

Vancouver Giants - White

Portland Winterhawks - Red - Robin Big Snake #17

Everett Silvertips - White (2011 version) - Ryan Murray #27

College Hockey Jerseys

North Dakota Fighting Sioux - Green

Wisconsin Badgers - Red (1972 version)

Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves - White

International Jerseys

Team Hungary - White

CSKA Moscow - White - Ilya Kovalchuk #17

CSKA Moscow - Blue - Ilya Kovalchuck #17 (Cyrillic) 

Spartak Moscow - Red (1997 version)

High School Jerseys

Eagan Wildcats - White - #15

Elk River Elks - 'ER' Jersey - White

Elk River Elks - Angry Elk - White - #7

I agree with you on making them earn their spot by their play in the minors but you and I and others have been arguing that FOR YEARS.  I would think Fenton would want to implement that, but you have to wonder if ownership would let him do it that way.  Or are they too impatient, afterall...they want 'tweaks' not changes...and that would be a change in their development philosophy I'd think.  

Bellows is certainly a finisher...but this team seems to shun shoot-first players.  

12 minutes ago, IllaZilla said:

 

Yup. And if I remember correctly, the reason he didn't want to come over to the Wild was because he wanted to complete the contract he had with TPS Turku and finish his military service...

True story...but the team was sooooo happy to have him.  Although Granlund did kind of the same thing, just for 2 years as opposed to 3.  

On 5/25/2018 at 1:20 PM, Jagged Ice said:

Mine too. From the day we drafted him. He's better than his brother.

MNSOTA can confirm, the day we drafted him I knew we did so simply because of his brother...anyone remember when he was a yeti where we waited 3 years before he got here and by the time he got here he still hadn't done his military service as required of young male Finns.

31 minutes ago, pilldoc said:

 

Interesting .... I love reading about other players, from your perspective.  Sorry the kid blew out his knee.  I remember reading up on him during the year he was drafted when we did our Mock Draft.   A lot of scouts had high praise on him.  Hopefully he recovers.  I wouldn't put the B word on him just yet.  Give him a chance to rehabilitate that knee.  

I'd be more optimistic if he was an exceptional skater but he's not.  He's not slow but he doesn't fly people either.  A knee injury like his won't help him be a better skater.  I wasn't sold on him when we drafted him.  When he was captain for Team USA at the WJC's he was a role player.  I thought he was pretty blah in the call ups he had.  

I'd add Quant hockey...

http://www.quanthockey.com/

Quant hockey is a good place to follow leagues outside North America.  You can look up advanced stats and they have all kinds of fun charts and graphs if that's your thing.

http://www.eliteprospects.com as a place to find information on young players

A few other thoughts...Luke Kunin.  Meh.  Not really thrilled about him at all.  He was sent down to Iowa to be a go-to player for them and he never really dominated.  I know some other Wild bloggers felt it was a shame to have Kunin in Iowa, but IMO he wasn't doing enough to be worthy of a call up.  Toss in the blown out knee, and I think you can safely add the letters "BU' to the word  B U _ _ no one wants to say.    Greenway probably will never play in Iowa, even though he'd probably benefit playing in a bigger role down there.  It will be interesting to see if Fenton mandates he demonstrate he can dominate there before he gets a roster spot here; which is what the Predators would do.  Austin Watson played for years in Milwaukee being a go-to guy before getting his chance to be a Bottom-6 forward where he provides grit and offense for the Predators' 4th line.  

Lodnia had a good start to the season, scoring at a little bit better than a point-per-game pace before tailing off completely in the 2nd half.  Erie wasn't that great of a team but I was a bit troubled that he was more of a set up guy than a goal scorer for the Otters.  Dmitry Sokolov had kind of a sluggish start but picked it up to have his most productive OHL season yet.  Especially after he was traded from Sudbury to Barrie his totals really took off.  He was a regular on the score sheet and he lit the lamp a lot.  I watched him play at the WJC's for Russia and he kind of reminded me of Teemu Pulkkinen, a one-dimensional scorer that doesn't do much else.  His skating is a bit of an issue for me and while I think he could be an effective sniper in the AHL I am not sure if he has enough to make him an NHL player.  

As for Mason Shaw I was really kind of surprised we signed him.  He blew his knee out and didn't play a single game for Medicine Hat and just one game for Iowa where he was played pretty sparingly.  He is a waterbug-like player who did well at prospect camp and was doing well at Traverse City before he got hurt.  Tough to know what he'll be like now that he's had more of the summer to recover and add strength.  

Kaprizov, yes...our best prospect on paper and probably in terms of talent as of right now.  However, we will for sure not see him for at least two more season if not longer.  

As for Iowa, which I followed closely all season long...

Sam Anas had a great season.  He was especially impressive in the middle portion of the season but he kind of tailed off in the end as did most of the team.  Same could be said for Justin Kloos.  Both were a big part of Iowa's offense last season; which was more well rounded than previous seasons.  Cal O'Reilly had a lot to do with that IMO, and he's not a prospect but he was the team's leader on and off the ice.   Kyle Rau was the only player who was scoring consistently the last 10-15 games, he was another welcome boost of offense.  Gerry Mayhew had some great moments, not sure I'd call him a prospect but he was clutch at times for Iowa.  Gerald Fitzgerald, a late-season college signee from Bemidji State played pretty well; was more productive offensively than I was expecting.  On the blueline, Derek Grant had a good season offensively as did Zach Palmquist who had a decent 2nd half.  Brennan Mennel had a good rookie season, but his +/- was a bit icky...but he provided a fair amount offense for a player making the jump from major junior.  Carson Soucy was solid, if unspectacular.  I thought he did better than I expected when he got a call up to play in the playoffs.  Still needs more work in Iowa IMO.  I'd be interested to see what Louie Belpedio could do on this team; he is a natural power play quarterback and a good leader.  Niklas Svedberg started out good, but then had a pretty ugly middle of the season.  He seemed to get irritated and was prone to giving up the backbreaking goals late in games; Iowa threw so many games away in the 3rd period which is why they failed to make the playoffs.  Steve Michalek seemed to struggle to stay healthy but he was mostly good.  C.J. Motte was good as an emergency call up goalie for Iowa.  

This was easily the best season in Iowa Wild history, but it still came up short and that is valuable development time lost that I think the organization is sick and tired of losing out on.  

The Wild Message Borg is continuing to gain strength...honestly...the invasion has just begun.  

22 hours ago, J0e Th0rnton said:

I hope a lot of these new members like fantasy hockey!

 

Welcome everyone. I am the lone sharks fan(Ok, maybe there are 3-4 more lol)

 

I am also the Hockeyfantasy league all star champion

I play in two leagues.  The question is will the Wild Message Borg league be back?  I won it all this year...by the slimmest of margins.  

10 minutes ago, hf101 said:

The Flyers forum on nhl.com only lasted maybe 2 years.  They never got a decent start as all of the Philly.com Flyer fans had migrated here and another Flyer forum had another group.  It started out with the new website designs as every team having a message board, but they've been dwindling.  The most active one has always been the Canucks forum.

I was on the Wild message boards since 2001.  It used to be the Wild west...the Canucks, oh the board wars we had when were in the Northwest division.  We can hold our own with anyone... 

2 minutes ago, bbgarnett said:

LOL, they were claiming very low usage and engagement on the WMB as one of the reasons for it to be shuttered and then said we should go twitter, facebook, snapchat, youtube or Instagram etc or basically anyplace where they can monitor what we're saying and remove any negative posts about the organization that were directed at the teams pages. They also said if we want a more forum styled place then go check Reddit which they made sure to say was not affiliated in any way with the Minnesota Wild organization. So basically it stems down to the Board which was accessible from the wilds site even if it was never pushed by the organization was not afraid to shed negativity on the team and ownership so therefore it had to be removed.

So true.  Well, that control is lost now.  Its also partly why I lost my name...they didn't want my views to be misconstrued as their own.  Or at least that's part of what I'm guessing...also to drive traffic towards their lame MyStateofHockey.com site.