ClusterChuck

The one I saw showed (I think # 77 Hunt) following the play towards the corner. Really doesn't matter tho if the pass gets towards center and the opposing player has no one around him. That's on the other D to cover or at least be "close" and in this case it happened to be Dumba.

Just got home to see the 'highlights'...Where was Dumba on that 2nd goal? Oh yeah, About 15' away from his man. Looked like a decent game tho for the 1st 2 periods.

Merry Christmas everyone !! Hope you all have a great Day.

Decent effort by our guys so far. Did I actually see a completed pass from Dubnyk to the opposite blue line?? Nice write up, MNSOTA... I often need a list just to get through any given day.

The twins 'Ugh' and 'Lee' showed up for this one. The most noise I heard from the crowd was when they announced "1 minute left".

It'll be interesting now to see how Zuccarello plays without Zucker since they seemed to be clicking pretty well.

Agreed...I wonder if it was Suter's request/demand that he be paired with Spurgeon tonight.

Got back in time to see the last 15 minutes...Crazy. Way to go 4th line. Was going to say, There's our headcase Kuemper but sucks that he's injured now. Interesting to see Suter-Spurgeon back together.

True, But I don't care what the price tag is if they need a slap.

I forgot about Menell. I've always had a second version of when a player gets that big contract. I see it as the "Made it" contact. You're working hard to get to that moment and once there, Whether consciously or not, You become comfortable. The goal to have you and family pretty much set financially has been met. I'm sure some will feel pressure to "live up to it" but how do you equate the value to your play? I just hope thay play to their level that got the attention of the GM/owner to give them that new contract. Then in cases like #11 + #20...Do they want to risk hurting themselves by going all out and not being able to fully enjoy their fortunes? (If Spurgeon is fully healthy on return) I'd have Dumba watch from the press box for 2-3 games. Maybe that wakes him up. Right now, All I see is him now is being back to prior seasons in his play and that 1 half season doesn't fill me with confidence of him. I bought in to keeping him last year because of that. Not now...again. I wouldn't want to lose him in the Seattle draft but on the other hand we better not leave Soucy or some upcoming d-man unprotected. Imo, we lost too much because of Dumba with Vegas.

Very close to having that chance in those last 5 minutes.

I was about to use the quote from a while back where you stated we didn't have anybody close to Dumba's scoring ability until I saw this. Soucy has proven with his consistency that he's ready to be here. (Unlike Kahkonen, Who's played well but not quite ready for the full time back up role.) It seems like only lately has Dumba be even taking the full slapper, Last year it was all about setting him up and Boom. There may be some lingering issues with the injury but I'd say it's more 70-30 mental to physical. When Spurgeon is available, What then? Send Soucy back to the farm and hope Dumba improves? Will the Wild stick with the hopes of Dumba being last year's player and possibly trade Spurgeon? No thanks, I'd rather have Spurgeon and Soucy here and that also gives more pairing options for the D. Dumba's last partial season reminds me of Justin Morneau of the Twins. JM was having a killer season (just like Dumba) until he took the knee to the head. He wasn't the same after that. 2 different injuries but the results are very similar.

I only got to see the last 15 minutes so essentially I saw at least 1 good period of Hockey. (the last 5) It is tough to have at least Ek and Zuck out while the lines get jumbled yet again. Why 'Puke and Snot' comes to mind I have no idea. Just where my mind goes. Listening to the post game, Is something health wise going on with Greenlay? He sounds terrible and not just cold like. Sounded that way last week I noticed. Voice is very strained.

Not exactly what I'd call them.

We had some great chances and plays...Until the goalie's pulled.

That's when I go to the home page and break light bulbs.

Can we once have an interview where ther term "Get the puck deep/Behind the D" isn't used in their answer?? That's the trouble with the NHL Robo-Interview handbook they force the players to follow. Get some characters in there, Liven it up...Even WWE style.

I've been liking the Wild's passing plays. Shows they know where the linemates are and seeing the play develope..

Great game !! Too bad for that late PK since it kept Staal from getting chances at the hattie and 1K, But I'll take the EN FTW.

Absolutely. I'd like to see the Wild altenate Stalock and Kahkonen for the time being. K is still getting his feet wet and we don't need to press it with too many games in a row. Has anyone heard the status on Dubnyk's wife and the situation overall?

Ok, Down the rabbit hole... I don't need a stat chart to see that Soucy is on top of his game and we see him on the ice more because of it. I'll look at stats in general to either validate what I'm seeing in game or answer WTF is with player A or B. Riddle me this?...Is Soucy's +13 a reflection of his own play...Or Boudreau putting him out there in the right match-ups? Either way it's working. Also what's working is Brodin's TOI. I would like to see him more than the Dumba-Suter combo. But at the same time, What's not working IS the Dumba-Suter combo and I'd like to see the minutes drop to equal of the other D pairings. Might as well keep them together and not poison the other combos.

Yeah, I knew something about that seemed familiar while typing that.

Funny you should say that after the Smith - Kakko show last night.

I don't really give too much to the +/- ...Especially when it comes to top players. They will be on the ice for nearly 1/2 the game and when it's a struggling team, Of course it will reflect on them but does it really tell any story. You may be playing fine but there's 5 other's who aren't possibly. Now if someone is playing 25-30 mins and is + or close to even on a struggling team, That at least tells you to look elsewhere for the problem on the team. One of the biggest waste of stats is the TOI.. The scroll under NHL Tonight is filled with TOI after every 'star' player. Oh look,... Patrick Kane 1G 26:14 TOI...Ryan Suter 1A 27:43 TOI....No Sh!T ?? Give me some interesting info, Not what we all know.

Agreed. Take away that 1/2 season last year prior to the injury (Offensively) and Dumba seems to be right back to where he was before. I feel we lost way too much in protecting him in the Vegas draft. At least there's very little talk about him being the 2nd coming of a certain Sharks D-man now.