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2021-22 Iowa Wild and Prospects

lynxrattle

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Alexandron Grand Master

Alexandron

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Our former defenseman prospect Brennan Menell (who was signed for one season by Toronto for $750,000) had a very successful game yesterday against Canadiens. He had 1 goal and 1 assist. Toronto won that game with a score 6:2. Interesting fact, for Toronto team were playing 4 Russian prospect players(they combined 4 points(2 goals;2 assists)) plus Menell (2 points), who learned  a decent Russian and was the best KHL defenseman when playing entire season in KHL for the Dinamo Minsk team last year. Why we did not sign him and who have got a huge experience there is still a nonsense for me?

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IllaZilla
IllaZilla

Well there you go…   Wild recall Beckman and Addison

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Bear

Hopefully a wake up call the chip is off his shoulder and he buckles  down and starts listening. Its not like hes been playing hockey since he was three.

Bear
Bear

Hey we have a prospect without skating issues. 

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Alexandron Grand Master

Alexandron

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It seems our forward prospect Vladislav Firstov have got the nice start at the Univ. of Connecticut team(NCAA)who is having so far 3 points (3 goals; 0 assists; +/- +2) in 3 played games there. And Pavel Novak is also doing pretty well for the Kelowna Rockets(WHL) who is having 4 points (2 goals; 2 assists) in 2 played games. His best record for same team was in 2019-2020 season 58 points (25 goals; 33 assists; +/- +10) in 55 played games.

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Alexandron Grand Master

Alexandron

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Iowa Wild team played 2 games against Texas. And won the 1st game yesterday with a score 2:0( Hammond was in the net), but lost the 2nd game tonight with a score 1:3 (Baribeau was in the net). Rossi was able to place 1 goal from Hicket and Addison assists. Rossi also placed the most shots for the team(7). Lodnia and Khovanov were not involved in both games.

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Alexandron Grand Master

Alexandron

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Our former prospect Dmitri Sokolov having a nice start at VHL (Supreme Hockey League) for the Wings of Omsk team there. At 11 games he is having 10 points already(6 goals;4 assists).

From the most progressing current prospects so far:

1.Josh Pillar ( Kamloops Blazers,WHL) - 9 points (3 goals;6 assists) in 6 games;

2. Caeden Bankier (Kamloops Blazers, WHL) - 9 points (6 goals; 3 assists) in 6 games;

3. Pavel Novak (Kelowna Rockets, WHL) - 6 points (2 goals; 4 assists) in 3 played games.

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Alexandron Grand Master

Alexandron

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Kind of a strange situation regarding Lodnia's future, because he didn't want to go to ECHL without receiving any games in AHL.

Here is a link to an article:

https://www.hockeywilderness.com/2021/10/18/22733448/minnesota-wild-prospects-ivan-lodnia-suspended-echl-ahl-iowa-heartlanders

 

It seems, from my observation for 4 seasons in a row, Iowa Wild head coach Tim Army is too suspicious to the Russian speaking players there, but he is putting a junk players to the main AHL roster and giving them plenty of time to play. Sincerely, I am losing an interest to the Iowa Wild team because of him.

Some stats:

1. Stepan Falkovsky (Zdeno Chara sized defenseman) played only 5 games in AHL(which is nothing to find out about the player) and then he was send to the ECHL. After that Stepan understood that is no future with Iowa Wild coach and he moved to KHL. He was a 2nd best defenseman after Menell for Dinamo Minsk team last season and now he is playing for the best KHL team SKA St. Petersburg;

2. Fedor Gordeev (Zdeno Chara sized defenseman) played only 7 games in AHL last season (which is nothing to find about the player); in my opinion, he played perfectly well during a preseason time this fall, but he was send now to the ECHL without playing any games in AHL this season;

3. Dmitri Sokolov (nice sniper)  had limited play in Iowa for 3 seasons (60 ;41;14 games respectively) and produced lots of goals when playing in the 4th line (34 goals during that period) . Once also he was send to ECHL for 2 games. It seems Dmitri understood  is no future here with this coach and moved to VHL. Now so far he is the best forward there (6 goals; 4 assists in 11 games).  And it is no matter of his shape there because he is producing, instead of consistent talking for 3 years here about only of his shape. 

4. Now , Alexander Khovanov with such a big difficulties(visa problem) moved to AHL from Russia, did not get yet any games in Iowa so far. But I am already hear talks that because he is not in a good shape. Unbelievable. One of the best VHL players last season is not in a good shape here in Iowa.

In my opinion, Tim Army should not be a coach, where he is a head coach in Iowa 4th season in a row. And team does not show a consistent superb results.

 

 

 

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IllaZilla Experienced

IllaZilla

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2 hours ago, Alexandron said:

Kind of a strange situation regarding Lodnia's future, because he didn't want to go to ECHL without receiving any games in AHL.

Here is a link to an article:

https://www.hockeywilderness.com/2021/10/18/22733448/minnesota-wild-prospects-ivan-lodnia-suspended-echl-ahl-iowa-heartlanders

 

It seems, from my observation for 4 seasons in a row, Iowa Wild head coach Tim Army is too suspicious to the Russian speaking players there, but he is putting a junk players to the main AHL roster and giving them plenty of time to play. Sincerely, I am losing an interest to the Iowa Wild team because of him.

Some stats:

1. Stepan Falkovsky (Zdeno Chara sized defenseman) played only 5 games in AHL(which is nothing to find out about the player) and then he was send to the ECHL. After that Stepan understood that is no future with Iowa Wild coach and he moved to KHL. He was a 2nd best defenseman after Menell for Dinamo Minsk team last season and now he is playing for the best KHL team SKA St. Petersburg;

2. Fedor Gordeev (Zdeno Chara sized defenseman) played only 7 games in AHL last season (which is nothing to find about the player); in my opinion, he played perfectly well during a preseason time this fall, but he was send now to the ECHL without playing any games in AHL this season;

3. Dmitri Sokolov (nice sniper)  had limited play in Iowa for 3 seasons (60 ;41;14 games respectively) and produced lots of goals when playing in the 4th line (34 goals during that period) . Once also he was send to ECHL for 2 games. It seems Dmitri understood  is no future here with this coach and moved to VHL. Now so far he is the best forward there (6 goals; 4 assists in 11 games).  And it is no matter of his shape there because he is producing, instead of consistent talking for 3 years here about only of his shape. 

4. Now , Alexander Khovanov with such a big difficulties(visa problem) moved to AHL from Russia, did not get yet any games in Iowa so far. But I am already hear talks that because he is not in a good shape. Unbelievable. One of the best VHL players last season is not in a good shape here in Iowa.

In my opinion, Tim Army should not be a coach, where he is a head coach in Iowa 4th season in a row. And team does not show a consistent superb results.

 

 

 

There is nothing strange about Lodnia's situation. They held training camp in Iowa and he didn't make the cut and was assigned to the Iowa Heartlanders in the ECHL, and now he's pouting.

 

And I think it's a stretch to say Tim Army doesn't trust the Russian speaking players because he is not giving top line minutes to all the Russian players. That's a pretty bold assumption. I mean, is it even just slightly possible these players aren't as good as you think they are? Is it even just slightly possible that these players didn't impress during training camp? Could there be better players on the roster? 

 

None of these guys are top draft picks. Falkovsky was a seventh round draft pick by Calgary in 2016. The guy will be 25 years old and couldn't crack the Iowa Wild starting roster! If he hasn't managed to make an impression by now, he's not going to. Gordeev was a fifth round draft pick by Toronto and was traded to MN for a conditional 2020 7th round draft pick. Toronto didn't think much of him to trade him for a much lower draft pick. And Sokolov has been given time and chances to show he belongs, and he has not taken advantage of it. During one Wild training camp Bruce Boudreau pulled him aside during a skating exercise and tried to impress on him the importance of skating hard all the time and hustling back on defense. Boudreau wanted him to succeed. But he didn't listen. And I'm not going to get into his recurring problem of showing up to training camp out of shape. And correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Khovanov the guy who thought he was too good for the AHL so he went to the KHL, and then couldn't stick in the KHL? And ended up in the KHL version of the AHL? Somebody thought they were a better player than they were.

 

I get you like Russian players. That's cool. But not every prospect is going to turn into an NHL star, or even make the NHL roster. And the farther down you are drafted, the less your chances of making the NHL become. There's a reason these guys were drafted in the third, fifth, seventh rounds: they couldn't skate, they were too small, they were too big (weight-wise), they took too many penalties, they didn't play defense, they lacked work ethic, they made too many basic mistakes, they were a head case, something. Sometimes players can't overcome their flaws and their hockey journey ends.

 

Maybe there are better coaches out there than Tim Army. But the Wild seem to like the job he is doing in Iowa. And they don't appear to be impressed with the job Lodnia, Falkovsky, Gordeev, Sokolov, and Khovanov are doing. 

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Alexandron Grand Master

Alexandron

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22 hours ago, IllaZilla said:

There is nothing strange about Lodnia's situation. They held training camp in Iowa and he didn't make the cut and was assigned to the Iowa Heartlanders in the ECHL, and now he's pouting.

 

And I think it's a stretch to say Tim Army doesn't trust the Russian speaking players because he is not giving top line minutes to all the Russian players. That's a pretty bold assumption. I mean, is it even just slightly possible these players aren't as good as you think they are? Is it even just slightly possible that these players didn't impress during training camp? Could there be better players on the roster? 

 

None of these guys are top draft picks. Falkovsky was a seventh round draft pick by Calgary in 2016. The guy will be 25 years old and couldn't crack the Iowa Wild starting roster! If he hasn't managed to make an impression by now, he's not going to. Gordeev was a fifth round draft pick by Toronto and was traded to MN for a conditional 2020 7th round draft pick. Toronto didn't think much of him to trade him for a much lower draft pick. And Sokolov has been given time and chances to show he belongs, and he has not taken advantage of it. During one Wild training camp Bruce Boudreau pulled him aside during a skating exercise and tried to impress on him the importance of skating hard all the time and hustling back on defense. Boudreau wanted him to succeed. But he didn't listen. And I'm not going to get into his recurring problem of showing up to training camp out of shape. And correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Khovanov the guy who thought he was too good for the AHL so he went to the KHL, and then couldn't stick in the KHL? And ended up in the KHL version of the AHL? Somebody thought they were a better player than they were.

 

I get you like Russian players. That's cool. But not every prospect is going to turn into an NHL star, or even make the NHL roster. And the farther down you are drafted, the less your chances of making the NHL become. There's a reason these guys were drafted in the third, fifth, seventh rounds: they couldn't skate, they were too small, they were too big (weight-wise), they took too many penalties, they didn't play defense, they lacked work ethic, they made too many basic mistakes, they were a head case, something. Sometimes players can't overcome their flaws and their hockey journey ends.

 

Maybe there are better coaches out there than Tim Army. But the Wild seem to like the job he is doing in Iowa. And they don't appear to be impressed with the job Lodnia, Falkovsky, Gordeev, Sokolov, and Khovanov are doing. 

 VHL(Supreme Hockey League) is a version of AHL there and Khovanov did pretty well there. I understand he wanted to impress in KHL(Kontinental Hockey League) their head coach , but had a communication issue with him. Plus Ak Bars Kazan Club (3 times Gagarin Cup winner) is loaded with very experienced KHL players, which want to play a lot. Last season the team reached Gagarin Cup Conference Finals, but lost it in 7 games.

 

Falkovsky(24 y.o) did not impress Tim Army in 5 given to him AHL games, but progressed and still progressing very well in 2 KHL teams (Dinamo Minsk and SKA St.Petersburg).

 

Sokolov(23 y.o) did not impress Tim Army in 115 AHL games by playing mainly in the 4th line when had total 56 points (34 goals; 22 assists). Who else in Iowa had 56 points by playing in Iowa in the 4th line in 115 games? I am not sure if the main club has these records for the 4th liner? Now Sokolov is having very nice records at VHL, which I mentioned already before. 

 

You mentioned Boudreau coach. He is not an example at all. He was a jerk coach, and had an extremely bad shape of his body too. I even not saying how dirty he was talking to team's players after the lost games. And not only here, but in Washington Capitals team too. Even Ovechkin was not able to do Boudreau's speed test, but he is still playing for 16 seasons there. But Boudreau is not a head coach any more.

 

 

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Alexandron Grand Master

Alexandron

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In addition to previous message. I was very satisfied of what I was able to see out of Lodnia and Gordeev play during a training camp as well during 2 preseason prospects games against Chicago team this fall. Why Tim Army is sending them to ECHL? Why is not giving them at least 50 games to play in Iowa Wild team before making this distracting decision to both players?  Probably, no one wants to play in ECHL and they do not have enough players there?  Tim Army was not impressed about both players, instead of training them as a professional players? How many players he prepared for the big club during his time here? Sturm and Soucy? But they progressed perfectly well when both played less minutes in the big club in comparison to the big minutes in a minor club. And I did see that. Different experience = different progress.  Maybe only Kahkonen developed well in Iowa, when played big minutes, but goalies usually are maturing later. And still he has some focusing issues during the games in the Wild team.

 

Regarding of the round # of drafted player or even not drafted players, personally for me, it is not a criteria at all for the talented or professional NHL player.

Some examples of undrafted players, for Rangers Panarin ; for the Wild team Zuccarello; Sturm; Benn; Gaudreau.

Some examples of drafted,

#6 round for the Red Wings Datsyuk; for the Wild team Spurgeon(Captain);

#5 round for the Wild team Kaprizov;

#4 round for the Wild Foligno; Duhaime.

 

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Alexandron Grand Master

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According to news today,  Iowa Wild Manager announced he has assigned forward Alexander Khovanov to the Heartlanders (ECHL) without playing any AHL games. Wow. Same happened recently with Lodnia and with Gordeev this season. Zero games in AHL .

It is not right for Tim Army coaching. He is not a God, but a real jerk. I do see a discrimination out of him against Russian speaking players who are American citizen (Lodnia); Canadian citizen(Gordeev); Russian citizens (Khovanov; Sokolov); Belorussian citizen (Falkovsky). I am sure Army will do the same with Nesterenko; Khusnutdinov; Firstov; Guskov; Svetlakov if they will appear in Iowa. I do see that for a 4th year in a row out of him since he became a coach. And I understand Lodnia very well when he did not want to go to ECHL, because chances to play in NHL are minimal after that.  The main Wild club is struggling for years in scoring, including tonight game when we lost to a new team Kraken with a score 1:4. And we did not give a chance to play one single NHL game, for example , to Sokolov who was the best OHL sniper(97 points in one season) and the best 4th line sniper in Iowa for 3 years in a row. Now that player is shining in VHL (Supreme Hockey League) for Wings of Omsk , by having 16 points out of 14 games (9 goals; 7 assists) already. Who else out of former and current prospects has these records in a first 14 games of the season? Maybe only Gaborik?

Tim Army should be fired. Instead of training players, he is not impressed of their shapes. Is that the most important part, but not scoring? I was surprised, when I looked through the records of Rau who was sent to the main club today.  He played in NHL already 56 games (Panthers; Wild) and has in his career  only 2 goals and 5 assists ( 7 points on total 61 shots during that period); +/- -5 . No questions, he is good in AHL, but not in NHL. Are we expecting lots of scoring out of him? I do not think so.  Another sad example, our former prospect Gerald Mayhew had better records in AHL than Rau, but had a chance to play only 17 games for the big club and also had 2 goals; 1 assist; 21 shots; +/- + 5. Why we did not give him at least 50 games to play like Rau had?

 

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CreaseAndAssist

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Probably because they wanted to practice and Fargo is on the way to Winnipeg.  Alexandron is kind of exhausting...every Russian player is getting screwed by the Wild somehow.  Maybe if Sokolov actually took the advice of many people (team officials, coaches, even people in his corner) and focused more on conditioning he may have been able to carve out of a career in the AHL.  Instead he didn't and the team moved on.  He had the time and opportunity and if anyone felt he was just misunderstood some other team would've given him that chance.  But they didn't...that should tell him something.  But I'm sure Alexandron will say its only because he's Russian.  (yawn)

 

The Heartlanders might be a tire fire...they got blitzed 10-1 by Toledo on Friday and then 5-2 on Saturday.  Khovanov had an assist for the whole weekend.  Apparently he's way too talented even for the ECHL. :rolleyes:  

 

@IllaZilla is 100% correct.  Lodnia is pouting because he didn't make the cut for Iowa.  Lodnia hasn't proven he can stay healthy.  He's missed significant time in virtually every season since the team drafted him.  That makes it tough to prove to anyone you're worthy of a roster spot.  

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Alexandron Grand Master

Alexandron

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19 hours ago, lynxrattle said:

Tim Army's views on top prospects:

 

https://www.nhl.com/wild/news/down-on-the-farm-army-111721/c-328055002

Thanks for posting that article. You see same story regarding conditioning Khovanov from Tim Army as he did with Sokolov. And I predicted that multiple times. 

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lynxrattle Newbie

lynxrattle

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5 hours ago, Alexandron said:

Thanks for posting that article. You see same story regarding conditioning Khovanov from Tim Army as he did with Sokolov. And I predicted that multiple times. 

Yeah, I noticed that. Perhaps it's easier for the organisation to claim that the player is not fit (his fault), than to say they drafted a player with weaknesses in skating (organisation's fault).

 

I'm so happy we have Judd Brackett now. He seems to find those hidden gems.

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Alexandron Grand Master

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14 hours ago, lynxrattle said:

Yeah, I noticed that. Perhaps it's easier for the organisation to claim that the player is not fit (his fault), than to say they drafted a player with weaknesses in skating (organisation's fault).

 

I'm so happy we have Judd Brackett now. He seems to find those hidden gems.

I do not know who is he?

 

I am not a Russian, but for 20 years as a Wild fan I always had an interest to see Russian players in a Wild organization, because they can bring intrigue, power, a show performance and results. An examples are, Lightning, Panthers (we are going to see them this coming weekend); Capitals and many other teams. Even the last game against Dallas (we nicely won 7:2 that game) showed their a very talented player Gurianov (fantastic shooter), which we do not have it in our team.

 

By the help of Guerin we have 2 players now Kaprizov and Kulikov, which are bringing lots of interest to the team already around the world. Wish to have a better care of Russian speaking players in AHL as well, but not sending them to ECHL without any tryouts in AHL and blaming them they are not as good as others.

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lynxrattle Newbie

lynxrattle

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Here's an article on Brackett:

 

https://www.hockeywilderness.com/2021/7/20/22579724/2021-nhl-draft-minnesota-wild-judd-brackett-mock-draft-rankings

 

I'm not really that clear on how the responsibilities in the organisation go. I don't know if it's Guerin's show, Brackett's show, scouting team's show, Evason's/Army's show, or do they all co-operate as a team, but I'm pretty hopeful the optimism conveyed in the article has a solid enough base.

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