Hockey-78

Parise manning 4th line, wow.

14 minutes ago, lynxrattle said:

It would be a shot in the arm to get tenth victory for Kähkönen.

I've been little disappointed with the number of starts they've given Kahkonen lately, but on the other hand, I guess this is what they call "good work load management".

20 minutes ago, Bear said:

Lets hope the Wild show up with a better effort today. Av looked fantastic fast skilled made the Wild look kind of foolish.

Hopefully the Wild show more effort but IMO the reality is, the level of talent is very different with these teams offensively. 

In order to win the Wild have to play their A game and the Avs have to show up little ill-prepared / not motivated. 

14 hours ago, EmptyShelf said:

I know this has been a bad game all around, but does anyone see any reason to keep Parise out of the stands?  He is UTTERLY WORTHLESS on the ice.  Never covers his man, cannot get off shots or passes, is late on the back-check, is slow and shrugged off on the forecheck, etc.  I knew there would be a fall-off in the two Boat Anchor contracts, but he stepped off the cliff and is half-way to the ground.  

Stick a fork in Parise, he's done. 

Funny, the Avs pay Rantanen $9,2 M a season. 34 points in 28 games.

The Wild pay Parise $7,5 M a season. 12 points in 27 games. 

Buy him out already.

1 minute ago, Alexandron said:

 

For tonight game we should be  strictly avoiding penalty box. They are 13th in NHL on PP, and we are 31st on PP. That is the main difference among both teams. 

Strictly? You can look it from this angle too: when a Wild player is in the box, you don't get to see that stinking horrible PP conducted by Suter. A true blessing in the sky!

5 hours ago, CreaseAndAssist said:

https://thesportsdaily.com/?p=1194049

 

 

Cheers for a good write up! 

14 minutes ago, Alexandron said:

Personally for me, he is a 2nd Tretiak for his solid consistency so far, but not like our former goalie Backstrom which Russo compared with. 

Or he'll be the first Kahkonen...? 

5 hours ago, rottenrefs said:

Boo!

Koivu leaves and in less than a year the team starts turning heads.

Who made that prediction 9 years ago? 

Without a doubt you were the only one who made it... 

Seriously, Koivu's departure was a big factor but now for a long, long time the Wild's goalie department is also way above average. Granny's trade for Fiala seems to have worked out pretty well too. 

Did you also predict KK would be such a stud? 

26 minutes ago, EmptyShelf said:

Don't underestimate the 'lift' his habit may provide today.  Guys would be skating AWAY from him, with his eyes bulging out on the rush....I know he would DROP any current player in a fight today.  Too few can truly fight like they could in his day - lots of prancing and dancing instead of bar brawling with haymakers

I was thinking he couldn't catch anyone of them.

Unless he'd completely and purposely try to forget the puck and just target people on the ice.

13 minutes ago, EmptyShelf said:

BEAST.  A few grams of snow between periods and Bob would seek and kill at will....He could actually play reasonably well too

I don't think he could with this version of NHL. 

Woah, Wild's PP sucks wheat. For 10 years and counting...

1 minute ago, lynxrattle said:

that too. And the 3 against two that ended in a Kaprizov shot

Oh right... Yeah, got off a good shot. Raanta's save was spectacular.

1 minute ago, lynxrattle said:

Nice

City in France? 

How's that a penalty... 

LOL. Anyone else love it when Lapanta says "Suter SHOOTS" with a high pitch, like the shot would've had much power in it.

Naturally limp wrister starting on the PP...

14 minutes ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

Antti Raanta may be tough to beat today as well....when he is sharp, he is as good as anyone.

Raanta >> Talbot

Goddamn, Suter looks slow in every situation! Is he a virgin, you know, saving himself for the "precious moment"?

#maddening

10 minutes ago, EmptyShelf said:

If Foligno is out, better Zona than against the Kings or Knights.  More thugs on those teams that would relish the opportunity to drill Kap with Foligno out.  In any case, Soucy needs to step into the void if necessary to beat some a$$ if there are ANY cheap shots on 97

Soucy has a big body but I don't think he has the right mindset.

22 hours ago, Jimtown guy said:

There probably hasn't been a Wild rookie goalie able to pull off that kind of stretch of games.

But in all honesty, this is probably one of the best defenses the Wild has had. Ever. Easy to play behind them, I think.

1 hour ago, lynxrattle said:

Well. Talbot in. I sure hope this time the Wild does it best in defending. We need to find out if we can alternate between goalies, or do we have to go with the traditional goalie and a backup system.

Not a season without goalie controversy I tell you! Maybe Dubnyk's two first seasons were an exception but other than those it's been fairly confusing in the Wild goalie department for the past decade.

1 hour ago, Bear said:

Amen I think part of the stupid decisions is because CL was sticking his nose in there pushing to win now.

No doubt about it. Plus although I don't agree with every move BG has made, he seems like an improvement over Fletcher and a big improvement over Fenton.

I'd say the odds are 40/60 they can screw up Kahkonen's development of being a TOP10 netminder in this league.

1 hour ago, Bear said:

We have enough donkeys

I guess... but to be fair, Wild's center pool looks (offensively) pretty thin. Johansson out and in the Tweet I posted on the VGK GTD Bjugstad says "he has to play within the skill set he has". Doesn't sound overly positive. 

Evason really creative when it comes to giving nick names: Hartman is Hartsy and Rask is, well of course, Rasky. 

https://twitter.com/mnwild/status/1369713686156357640?s=20

Kahkonen in net.