EJ0226

I feel for Mikko, his ex-wife and their kids. Divorce sucks for everybody. But honestly, he has wanted to retire on one team only so even if there was no divorce he wouldn't have waived his NTC. I still believe the move by him was for his own selfish reasons. It's clear that no Cup will be won here. He had a shot to go win one. He decided not to pursue it. That is what frustrates me. Your "stars" and "top players" should be wanting to win one badly. Parise is the only one who showed this but only after he has absorbed so much money from the Wild. Now his salary keeps decreasing and he wants out. The Wild were nothing more then a cash in vacation with no expectations of winning a Cup.

The problem with that attitude is a big reason MN sports are mediocre products. Now not saying you can't still cheer for them but throwing money on a mediocre product with MN pro team owners just encourages them to continue the same thing over and over. That is why the Twins have been terrible forever. Why the Wolves are also terrible. The Vikings finally after years of putting a poor product on the field seem to be trending in the right direction but only after the owners started feeling it in their pocketbooks. Leipold, I was never a fan. This is a guy who wanted to be in the "owners club". He is a NBA guy. He found out his wifes money could not afford him a NBA team. But he was determined to be a owner so he could be "one of the boys". So he found out he could buy a NHL team with his wifes money. He bought the Preds. They were making him money but literally plateaued and sales started going down so he sold them. They have since been better then they ever have. He seen the Wild and knew the fans are almost too loyal and buy into the "one of us" and pay to watch any product out on the ice. Now granted he did try to make a splash with Parise and Suter but he extremely overpaid two players who are above average but no where near star/elite status. Think about this. Parise has only cracked top 40 four times in his career. Twice with the Devils when he had those two fluke and insane seasons. And twice with the Wild and with the Wild he never got close to his point totals with the Devils. What the Wild paid for him he needed to be running top 40 almost every season. People over looked their contracts because of the "one of us" mentality that a ton of Minnesota fans like to carry. By the time their contracts are done, if you take a blind eye look at what they did with the Wild and how it steered the franchise, it won't be hard to argue they might be two of the worst contracts the Wild will have ever signed. They prevented any good picks but only made the team good enough to be a first round punching bag for whoever they played. We now have players avoiding this franchise and let go a lot of talent because their game didn't compliment 11, 20 and 9 and watching those guys we let go flourish on other teams because they are allowed to play their game and not try to lift up the dead weight vets. And we have a owner who is BFF with 11 and 20 which should never ever happen. The reason why so many people complain on here is because we love hockey, our state and our pro hockey team. We deserve so much better then this. Leipold is the center of it all trying to input his opinion on players, trades, etc. The guy has zero hockey IQ. He should only sign the checks and fire a GM if a GM gets out of control. He should be telling the players to shut up and listen to your coach. He created the chit show we see now. By the time Parise and Suter are finally gone, Chicago will have built another dynasty while the Wild are still waiting on their first all because they tried to buy on instead of build one like how teams who win the Cup do. I still cheer for them to win but am also not going to spend my hard earned money on a mediocre product either.

Wild drafting.... some of the most frustrating stuff ever. Seems like they like to go for the stretch player in hopes it all works out with their top picks. Some do for sure but a lot don't. So many times it seems they have a shot for a better player overall but pick that stretch player in hopes they pan out. Boldy, I just don't see a solid future in the NHL with his slow speed. Like it or hate it but NHL is about being big and fast. Boldy doesn't hit the check boxes for either.

I was listening to morning skate and from what they said the Wild were suppose to get Bellows, Ladd and a 1st round pick and Islanders wanted Koivu and Parise but Koivu refused to waive his NTC. This made it so the Islanders dropped the 1st round pick and the Wild just dropped it from there. I was one trying to give some credit back to Koivu for the last few years as not being as much as a problem but this moves shows he only cares about himself only. He knows he is not winning a Cup here. His career is done after this season. The team needs to rebuild and this trade would have helped. But no, because you want to play for one team only?! Get over yourself!!! You have never been anything but a career 3rd-4th liner center. You don't get your name on the Cup because you stayed on one team. It's disgusting and people need to boo him every time he touches the ice. One last **** you to the franchise and fans from him. He never wanted a Cup.

Kind of one of those what if he could have signed Parise forcing the Wild to have to rebuild and form a team correctly. Too bad. But Lamoreillos resume is quite a read. What a adventure he has had in his life!

Normally I would agree but here's why I think he is here for the money only. Yes he could have went elsewhere and maybe made more on his contract but here in Minnesota he has his roots and knows how so many people here have the "one of us" mentality. So he makes a little less on a contract but cashes in on merchandise with his name as you knows the drones will buy it up and boy have them. There is a good chance he wouldn't have sold what he sold on another team as his production wouldn't be enough to warrant fans to swoop up his stuff. Plus being able to have dinners and hang out with the owner isn't a bad perk here when it wouldn't have happened elsewhere. Now his salary starts decreasing next season and continues to drop big amounts after that and now all of a sudden sees the team isn't going to win a Cup. He had to have seen this years ago. I don't like it and smell some chit if he tries to say otherwise. Normally I agree with you completely @CreaseAndAssist but I have to disagree with you on this. But I do fear a trade to get him or Suter out of here. The Cap Recapture could really cripple the Wild and don't think clearing them off of the Wild is the best idea either. Personally I rather seem them rot and not get a Cup here as they made the franchise into a joke that it is. They don't deserve to go elsewhere to try and win a cup. As much as this pains me as a fan Leipold doesn't deserve to win a Cup to allow a chit show 3 ring circus happen. I do hate the "fans" who buy into the "one of us" and continue to pump money into a mediocre product at best. I just believe in my heart Parise would have liked to win here but it was more important to cash those checks. Now the checks are going to be a lot less, he has made his money and wants to head out and win elsewhere.

This isn't about helping the team or teaching the young guys. In his 15 years you never saw him improving the young guys, In fact if the young guys play didn't match Koivu and then Parise and Suter, they would lose TOI, go to the AHL or be shipped out of here. This is a selfish move as he knows here he will still get TOI even if he literally pulled his breezers down and took a chit on the ice in the middle of the game. He wanted to be on one team only. He has no desire to win a Cup and this move shows this. The most overpaid 4th line Center of all time. On any other team he has a good chance of being a healthy scratch. Honestly, I can respect Parise for wanting to win a Cup and waiving that NTC. What I don't respect is he could have done this years ago and now that he is going to see his salary drop down and in 2 more years only making $2 million a year then down to $1 million he wants out. I have zero respect as this showed he was here for the money only. As a Wild fan this is for sure falling on the sword but I hope he sits here and rots with zero chance to win a Cup. He deserves it. He knew the consequences of signing his contract. He knew he was making himself untradeable. He knew he handcuffed the team to a very short period to win when other players were still on cheap contracts. He didn't have a gun to his head and forced to sign. I don't feel one ounce of sorry for him. And now that he is going to be making less and less money he wants out. Screw him. I hope it's miserable for him here until he retires. I hope people stop buying anything with his name on it so he starts losing money there. I was listening to NHL Morning Skate on Sirius this morning and they were talking a little about this trade that didn't happen. They said he still probably is the most popular Wild player by the fans, which I do believe because of the whole one of us bs, but they said the locker room needs a change. So even they are suspecting that there is issues with the locker room and the way they said it points to the vets like Parise. Glad to see pretty good NHL guys point this out.

@EmptyShelf the biggest cancer is Leipold who allows this to happen and continue. The franchise is a mess to say the least. Until Leipold puts on his big boy pants and tells every player to talk to the GMs and coaches only and stops being a stupid fanboy we can expect more the same.

And don't you dear put Ryan Suters name with Reg Dunlop. Paul Newman is probably spinning in his grave with that insult!

Personally, since I know this is what will happen with him, I am hoping Kaprizov looks at the team and says no thank you. I hate to see him come here be wasted and forced into restraints.

My beliefs for sure. I wouldn't be as upset if they were good mentors. It's clear they are not. The Adam Oates ordeal proved it. It was all about them and them only. They didn't invite any other teammates over to work with them. I honestly believe Parise and Suter contracts have to be in the top 5 worst of all time in all of NHL. They literally put the team into a position to be the team that struggles to make the playoffs but only to be first round punching bags for any team they play. So we always got non game changing/franchise changing picks in the draft. But so much money is people funneled to them that the team could never go out and get a actually star player. And they cap recapture is so bad that getting rid of them could really cripple the Wild. Both Suter and Parise will never raise the Cup and rightfully shouldn't. They chased the money before they wanted a championship. They got the money at the expense of fans. Fans of beautiful Minnesota who love and appreciate the sport of hockey. That's where it's the most frustrating. To see teams like Dallas, Carolina, Tampa Bay, etc win it before a team in Minnesota is a dagger to the heart. We live and breath it. We broadcast and have a big event for High School Hockey. What other states do as much as we do here? I will say this about Mikko. I don't blame him anymore. He honestly was set up to fail too when you think about it. What other franchise would take a 3rd liner maybe 2nd liner at best and make him the franchise player and attempt to build around him? He is what he is. Always has been and the team didn't have to look very hard to see it. I do hope that he either retires after this season or is playing elsewhere. The game has passed him and we don't need another player who is in the twilight or grave of his career resigned here. I am always rooting for our former players to win a Cup elsewhere until the Wild finally shed the Dark Ages era, aka Parise and Suter signings, and show they are going to build the franchise and not try to buy a championship. But I am rooting for Zucker to win a Cup this year. What fun has it been to watch him getting the chains taken off and allowed to play his game. Him and Crosby are fitting together perfectly!

BG has been talking awful big of Mikko lately and even said he really likes him. I fear he resigns Mikko. If he does as far as I am concerned BG is nothing better then Fletcher or Fenton.

The worst part is by the time 11 & 20 contracts are finally up Chicago will have built and gone through one dynasty and will probably be in the middle of their new one. You can't buy championships. You build them. At this point I have no idea what the Wild do. I honestly want fans to boo Parise and Suter everytime they touch the ice. To stop buying anything with their name on it. To make them hate it here but then they will want to be traded and become a bigger toxic cloud in the locker room. And since they would each hit the cap at $19.6 million divided by the amount of years left on their contract I could see them getting traded and waiting tell their last year or two of their contracts to retire to screw over the team once more. Seriously, in their last 2 years they could cost the Wild $9.8 million each year each or the last year at $19.6 million each. Do the Wild risk trading them if they were somehow able too? I wouldn't. So we have to have them sit and rot 5 more years.

I don't discredit your claim on Bruce either. I just know seeing the core for so many years that honestly Bruce was able to get something a whole lot more out of them for years and we are seeing what the team really should have looked all those years. I honestly think Bruce would be a good coach to start a team on the right path. I do agree I don't know if he could get them over the hump. But I honestly can't look at Bruce in Washington and say he could or couldn't have won a cup there with more time. I mean Ovi finally won one after how long? And the Wild, well it's unfair for almost any coach with this roster and core. I can't really criticize Bruce a ton when the owner thinks this is a team "one step" away from wining a cup and loves to go wine and dine with only 11 & 20. He was set up to fail. I do agree it was a odd match for him to join the Wild. Maybe he thought he could change the direction of the ship. Maybe him being on the Fighting Saints at one time help him look over here. I am not for sure. The only thing I do know is that he was set up to fail. But honestly it doesn't matter who they hire at this point. The vets need to be out of here and gone. We still have 5 more years of Parise and Suter. And at one point I wanted a trade until I seen the Cap Recapture would work and how if Parise or Suter got traded and then retired before they contracts are up could literally eat up to $40 million in cap in one season. Honestly, their whole contracts are some of the worst I have ever seen and it started with Leipold and Fletcher signing these two knuckle draggers before the CBA got finished. They anchored the franchise with probably the worst contracts it will ever see. Honestly, I think one could argue these are the worst contracts in all of Minnesota Pro Sports history. Below is a link to this: https://www.hockeywilderness.com/2019/10/31/20937184/minnesota-wild-cap-recapture-penalty-zach-parise-ryan-suter-contracts-roberto-luongo-nhl

Don't get me wrong, Bruce deserves his share of blame but most overrated? I completely disagree with it. I think he got this team to overachieve actually. I have said it 1000 times that even Scotty Bowman couldn't get this team out of the first round. 3 GMs and 4 coaches (probably going to be 5 by the start of next season) and exact same results each time. Biggest factor isn't coaching or GM, although they for sure contribute, but the same rotten core players. They never change. We watch other players go elsewhere and do good that appeared to not do good either. We have a fan boy in a owner who loves 11 and 20. Things need to work and make 11 and 20 look better or it needs to go. Parise and Suter have shown that they don't care what the coaches say. Hell they thing they are better then the other players and don't include them in their own workouts. Look at the Adam Oates ordeal. But people like @CreaseAndAssist and @lynxrattle have said what us fans of the Wild that watch the team without homer blinders on have to say. It's frustrating as Minnesota is really a hockey loving state. People go out and play it all the time. The High School hockey tournament is packed with people. It's a big event. Minnesota deserves so much better then the Wild. It's honestly almost a insult. To see guys half heartily try. To see guys make it about themselves and screw everybody else and the fans. To see a owner who refuses to see the most obvious issues and think somehow they are one step away. To see guys the franchise could build around be let go or traded somewhere else because they don't compliment 11 and 20. It's extremely frustrating and shows no signs of stopping. I would take one Cup win over 5 Super Bowls in a row and I love football too. We just know this squad will never do it. I pray to God when Parise and Suters contracts are finally done they will have nothing to do with the Wild organization on any aspect again! I was listening to the NHL Morning Skate show and felt a sunken feeling. They were talking how BG has nothing but praise for Koivu and really likes him. I can see BG signing Koivu to another deal when they need to let him walk. Serious, feel bad for us Minnesota hockey fans. Our best shot at winning a cup came in 2002-2003 with literally a team of nobodies. They were the blue collared players who worked hard and found another gear to make the run they did. Parise, Suter and a good part of the rest of the guys are a bunch of CEOs who just want to sit around expect all the good to come to them. The 02-03 team went 8-10 in that one season of playoffs. Parise & Suter have gone 15-29 in 6 seasons of playoffs and it took 3 playoffs for them to reach 8 or more wins combined together. It shows they haven't improved anything but anchoring the team.