CreaseAndAssist

The honeymoon is certainly at an end.  Boldy still looks more engaged.  No one works harder than Eriksson Ek.  Kaprizov seems to be back to giving 50% and playing on the perimeter.  Goaltending has been better.  

Iowa earned a 2-game sweep of the Colorado Eagles this weekend in Loveland, CO which is never an easy place to play.  Wallstedt got both wins and gave up 4 goals on over 80 shots faced in the two games.  He really kept Iowa in those games when they had little reason to be.  Daemon Hunt had two really good games as well.  Some of the other veterans are starting to come around as Joel Teasdale got his first two goals for Iowa this weekend.  

Caeden Bankier is closer to getting back in the lineup as well.  

Riley Heidt had another big weekend for the Prince George Cougars and Jimmy Clark has been a nice freshman surprise for the Gophers this season.  

22 hours ago, Icechipper said:

Evanson was just angry all the time. Bitching at officials gets old and doesn't inspire best behavior and performance of a team.

I think he stayed off the officials this season.  He seemed less angry.  But I don't think that is why this team chose to give him the axe.  They simply had no other real move they could make since Guerin has signed half of the roster to NTC's or NMC's.  The only question now is at what point does part of this team hit the snooze button again.    

On 11/28/2023 at 6:49 PM, IllaZilla said:

I found that interesting too. At first I thought Gallant wanted too much to be just an interim coach and finish out the season so they could do a search. But then I read they gave Hynes a four year deal.  So yeah, maybe they are cheaping out on the coaches...

A four year deal?  Whoa, where was that published?  When they asked Guerin at Hynes' press conference what his coaching deal was; he declined to answer.  To give him a 4-year deal is crazy.  2 years makes a lot more sense.  Either way, instead of doing a search he just calls up another friend and hopes it works out.  

On 11/28/2023 at 10:39 AM, IllaZilla said:

 

Does anyone know what exactly Darby does?

According to Russo, he's really the skills teacher.  He does a lot of 1-on-1's with players in regards to drills and film work.  He's not in charge of either the PK or the PP currently, they said he has a ton of respect from the organization and that his job is interchangeable no matter who the head coach is.  They said he's the one that facilitates a lot of the drills and is out on the ice with the players and is still in playing shape.  

Crease And Assist: Episode #28 - The Wreck of the Evason Fitzgerald

In this episode Kalisha, @MNSOTA and myself discuss the coaching change, why it happened and whether the team's recent boost is a sign of things to come or just a temporary effect?  We also answer listener questions too.  Check it out!  

On 11/28/2023 at 6:18 PM, IllaZilla said:

 

Jesus, bully the players? Really? I agree, what does he call he did two weeks ago in Sweden? Fika?

 

At first I was excited about Guerin coming in here, taking names and kicking butt. And what he did last season using the cap space was impressive. But then once he frees up cap space, he proceeds to chew it up by signing Zuccarello, Foligno, and Hartman, three players that could have fetched something at the trade deadline if the team tanked as it is doing now. Or if they had another good season, they get paid. And I have no problem paying these guys. It's the NMC's he's handing out. He chews up the cap space and then locks the team in. This is almost worse than Fletcher...

I agree and I said as much on our Wild Fans Speak show.  No reason to feel he HAD to sign them before the season.  The smarter move was to wait, probably sell and if you still liked them bring them back and enjoy the rewards of being a seller at the deadline.  

Instead he boxes himself in and has no move to make other than the obvious choice of just swapping out Dean and hoping it salvages another one-&-done playoff run.  

3 hours ago, IllaZilla said:

 

The Wild have zero cap space right now (roughly $40,000). The Wild can only call up certain players from Iowa to keep them under the cap threshold. Basically, any Iowa player making more than $800,000 won't be called up because the Wild will exceed the cap. 

 

And Guerin shot the team in the foot handing out all those contract extensions with NMC's and expecting a bunch of 30-somethings to keep performing at a high level. 

 

 

Anyone hear Guerin's pathetic comment about not wanting to bully the players.  Dean was hardly a bully to any of the Wild players and if #97 and #12 felt bullied then that's sad.  They were simply being asked to perform at a level that matched their salaries.  #97 may have had the points but the goal scoring tailed off until recently meanwhile Boldy is still can't get out of his own head.  

And as far as bullying went, Guerin should look in the mirror as he supposedly shredded the team two weeks ago.  But now he burns Dean with a comment like that?  Pot, meet kettle...

Guerin should be in the crosshairs now, too bad Leipold loves him.  We'll see if empty seats kill that love.  

1 hour ago, Icechipper said:

Darby Hendrickson (12th year as assistant with the Wild), goalie coach Frederic Chabot and video coaches Jonas Plumb and TJ Kendra presumably remain in their team roles. Appears there may get be an opening for another assistant, likely one Haynes can name.....

Darby is the Rasputin of Wild coaches...

On 11/21/2023 at 12:01 PM, Alexandron said:

Thanks for posting all your episodes.

  Happy and safe Holidays to you too and to all our fans as well! Is Smoked Turkey as a Part of Swedish Meatballs sounds better? 

 

 

I am not sure I've had smoked Turkey, but Swedish Meatballs sound terrific too.  We had a good holidays even if the Wild again gave us another two blah efforts.  

On 11/21/2023 at 12:28 PM, Alexandron said:

LIG. Thanks also for the link of Kalisha's very detailed article at hockeywilderness.com "A Forgotten Prospect Could make Noise for the Wild Soon". Nice written.

 

 

I will pass that along to her, she will appreciate the compliment!  Feel free to ask questions if you'd like.  Our next show is this next Saturday.  

I think its like @IllaZilla's favorite analogy, the Wild are just shuffling chairs on the Titanic.  Ultimately, it might see a short boost but after 7-10 games it will probably be back to rationalizations and soul searching.  Hynes is a stop gap.  The best thing that could happen is that they'd just stay bad.  Honestly, just sell off what you can (which isn't much) and be bad and hopefully net a blue-chip talent in the draft.  

Episode #27: Turkey with a side of Swedish Meatballs

In this episode, Kalisha, @MNSOTA and I discuss what we're thankful for to this point in the Wild season; we also play a game Turkey or Tofu-rkey and answer listener questions and finish it with Theresa's take.  We hope everyone has a happy and safe holidays even if the Wild aren't giving us much to cheer about!  

Anytime Duhaime does something good, he invariably follows it up by doing something really foolish.  (sigh)  

Episode #26: To Trade, or Not To Trade

We discuss what is Minnesota's biggest stumbling block towards changing its fortunes as well as discussing the recent trades.  We also answer a lot of listener questions too, check it out!  

Iowa followed up the win in Rockford with a dominating 4-0 win over Chicago in Rosemount, Illinois on Saturday night in a place where they have traditionally struggled.  Wallstedt had the shutout.  Steven Fogarty, Carson Lambos (his 1st pro goal), Andy Welinski and Adam Beckman with the goals for Iowa.  They seem to be finding a groove and impressively, without their most talented offensive player in Nic Petan in the lineup.  Sammy Walker also seems to be using his speed more again which is great to see.  

Iowa 4, Rockford 2 - Highlights

Firstov is having a heckuva season for Torpedo.  He's under contract, it will be interesting to see if they manage to get him over to North America next year if his strong KHL season continues.  

Iowa won 4-2 last night in Rockford.  Wallstedt had 35 saves.  Lucchini had two goals, Pavel Novak got his first professional goal and Jujhar Khaira scored the insurance goal to seal the win.  They looked a lot better last night; and seem to be finding their groove.  They have a tough one tonight against the Chicago Wolves.  

The Raska kid they got in the Addison trade likes to fly around and hit people.  Not sure there is much skill but he gives Iowa speed and some snarl which it needed.  Lambos continues to look good too.  Daemon Hunt should be back for tonight's game too.  

On 11/8/2023 at 1:58 PM, Jimtown guy said:

Addison by subtraction 

There are a contingent of Wild fans who make it sound like the Wild gave away Bobby Orr.  Also, did anyone see Joe Smith's comment that Addison said he was caught completely by surprise by the trade?  If so, then his lack of situational awareness isn't just on the ice.  

On 11/6/2023 at 7:09 AM, IllaZilla said:

I found this on The Sporting News

 

The Sporting News - NHL Salary Cap Rules Explained

 

What counts towards the NHL's salary cap?
When it comes to the salary cap, there are a number of factors that contribute to it.

Any player that is on the NHL roster has what is referred to as an AAV (annual average value). It's calculated by adding up the contract's total salary and signing bonuses, divided by the number of years in a contract. That goes towards a team's cap hit. 

Any player on an AHL roster with an AAV of over $1.075 million and on a one-way contract will be counted towards the cap as well. Any suspended or injured players will also have their AAVs go towards the cap. 

In addition, any salary retained in a trade, any buyouts and the AAV of a player who signed a multi-year deal at or after the age of 35 and then retired will count.

 

Merrill has an AAV of $1.2M. So if he is waived and goes to Iowa, he will still count towards the cap. It appears the only way his AAV comes off the cap is if he is waived and another team claims him.

(sigh)  Another great impulse buy from Bill Guerin.  I can't see too many teams willing to claim him.  But I think he might be permanently rooted to the pressbox for a while.  

According to Natural Stat-trick the Wild out scoring chanced Buffalo 51-19.  We scored twice on the power play and went 4-for-4 on the PK; that should result in a Wild victory...but it didn't.  Kaprizov is going to continue to struggle if he's going to stay to the perimeter and take the majority of his shots from there.  

I thought Eriksson Ek was good, I thought defensively we were a lot better.  Boldy was mostly MIA and he needs to pick up his game as much as Kaprizov does IMO.  

I thought Gustavsson was ok, not great...but not as bad as most of his starts were previous to last night.  But it won't get any easier against Dallas on Sunday.  

I think TropicalFruitGirl is right.  Until you get actually sent down and make it through waivers the minor league affiliate, it stays on the team's cap.  

Episode #25: Get Our Sh%t Together

In this episode, myself, @MNSOTA and Kalisha discuss the Minnesota Wild's slow start, whether or not to shake up the lines and we answer a ton of listener questions too!  Lots and lots of different topics covered.  Check it out!  

1 minute ago, wildstars95 said:

stay the course ...for the whole season and should snag at least  4 good draft picks in the summer 

Yea, embracing the suck isn't such a bad idea.  Hopefully management doesn't try to do something stupid to fix it.  Although they did those stupid things just before the regular season started.  

LaPanta and Walz trying to chalk everything up to bad luck as usual.  This team can't afford to give up even soft goal.  Power play is all perimeter shots; a few guys sort of pass near the crease but no one really stays and battles there.  This team is real easy to defend and play against.