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Excuses, excuses - Winners don't need no stinking excuses!


rottenrefs

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Mi

4 hours ago, Confrontational said:

Yes, because the owners of this team built a franchise around him - and are too scared to think of a world without Mikko - even though the league has passed Mikko by...  He is a decent player, no doubt, but to sign him for an extra two years at $5.5 - ummm, coming off of $7.5 I believe, not so much. He's a third line center commanding a huge salary and minutes - and does not have the skill sets anymore to be a threat. He does one thing awesome though on the power play - pass...  (and pass, and pass, and pass)

 

He's also not a leader in my opinion - maybe Rott feels like typing those traits out for you for 30 minutes - but I have to run...

 

Staal hands down - beats Mikko like a rented mule in every category (well, besides passing nonstop on a power play)...

 

"Hey, [in a clutch 3rd period game with one minute left and a critical point needed to get last spot in playoffs - Bruce looks down the bench - sees both Mikko and Staal sitting there] put Mikko in instead of Staal, that mofo can't produce, but man-o-man, check out his calves, that mofo is in shape...!"

 

Not so much...

 

Let me preface this by saying I am not a Mikko Koivu fan. That being said:

 

Mikko’s PP face off percentage annihilated Staal’s 65% to 52%. That’s why Mikko got the extra ice time on the power play. Because you need to win the face off to have a shot at keeping the puck in the zone to get a PP goal. 

 

And look at the number of shorthanded face offs Koivu takes vs Staal: 265-50. Both came in at 44%. 

 

That’s why  Staal doesn’t play the PK. Because he’s never been a defensive player. His lifetime +/- is -31. Even with the Wild, Koivu beats his +/-. 9-8.

 

So no, Staal doesn’t beat Koivu like a rented mule in all categories. 

 

As far as being a leader, apparently the players in the locker room feel he’s a leader. That’s why he keeps the C. And their opinion matters more than yours or mine. We may want to see a fiery leader that kicks and screams at the players. But Mike Eruzione was not the greatest player yet was captain of the Miracle on Ice team. And they won the Gold Medal. Sometimes you don’t need to kick and scream to be a leader...

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Ha - so now the players are the ones picking the C for Mikko...? 

 

What's the use of winning face-offs when all that was done on his line for over year was pass around the perimeter - and that assume his won face-off keeps it in the zone for a few seconds...  

 

I actually don't mind Mikko - I think he had a pretty good year...  But, do I think he's our franchise like the boss' do? No...

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3 hours ago, rottenrefs said:

^ That must be akin to someone asking a question, me answering... Then someone else asks the same question, I answer the same way. Then two more users do exactly the same thing expecting a different result.

 

This is exactly how I felt about the Wild Power Play when coach Yeo would say they came up with a new PP scheme... (Like 8 different times.) Then put 4 of the same (((((failed)))) core PP players out there, added a new 5th guy to the line (never passed to him) and expected better results.

Wasn't the power play supposed to be Brunette's responsibility when he started coaching for the Wild? It got worse(alot worse) after he took over--it's never been the same.

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8 hours ago, IllaZilla said:

Mi

 

Let me preface this by saying I am not a Mikko Koivu fan. That being said:

 

Mikko’s PP face off percentage annihilated Staal’s 65% to 52%. That’s why Mikko got the extra ice time on the power play. Because you need to win the face off to have a shot at keeping the puck in the zone to get a PP goal. 

 

And look at the number of shorthanded face offs Koivu takes vs Staal: 265-50. Both came in at 44%. 

 

That’s why  Staal doesn’t play the PK. Because he’s never been a defensive player. His lifetime +/- is -31. Even with the Wild, Koivu beats his +/-. 9-8.

 

So no, Staal doesn’t beat Koivu like a rented mule in all categories. 

 

As far as being a leader, apparently the players in the locker room feel he’s a leader. That’s why he keeps the C. And their opinion matters more than yours or mine. We may want to see a fiery leader that kicks and screams at the players. But Mike Eruzione was not the greatest player yet was captain of the Miracle on Ice team. And they won the Gold Medal. Sometimes you don’t need to kick and scream to be a leader...

Yet with all those faceoffs won his PP line would win the draw and then take 20-35 seconds off the clock before getting the puck across their blue line. Often, most the time anyway, they would get across the blue line and seconds later lose control of the puck having it shot deep into our d-zone. Literally, every game I'd sit there watching their putrid effort attempting to enter their zone, and closely watch the clock. Tick, tick, tick... 35 seconds to a minute into a PP before they establish their PP killing time off the clock on their own PP.

 

That was before last year. Last year Mikko would get tossed from the faceoff circle almost half the time and the results ended up the same way. By the time about 1:45 was off the clock they might get 1 or 2 shots on net. The second PP unit would get in there with about 15 seconds left on the clock and get 2-3 shots off. It's been like that for years!

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7 hours ago, sweetshot said:

Wasn't the power play supposed to be Brunette's responsibility when he started coaching for the Wild? It got worse(alot worse) after he took over--it's never been the same.

No one knew who was running the PP for Yeo during his first 2-3 years here and I believe somewhere later in his third year as coach it became known he made Andrew Brunette his PP coach. From then on it got awful.

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On ‎8‎/‎25‎/‎2018 at 10:49 AM, rottenrefs said:

Year in and year out it seems the Wild have at least 2, 3 or 4 players who really lack or drop off in production by not meeting expectations. As a result fans, staff, teammates... Say, 'well we fell short' in whatever aspect of play and typically use it as a crutch for lame excuses. This drives me nuts!

 

Who will it be this year and why aren't these players being confronted by either reducing their minutes and holding them accountable?

 

Because they  just plain refuse to change the root of the problem so instead they blow smoke and the Mn Nice fans eat it all up... yum, yum, yummmy

 

In my opinion the root of the problem is Mikko and his so called leadership skills. Obviously his style of leadership does not work and if you think it does work, please explain which year? They desperately need a shake up (like 5 years ago) they need to be hollered at and kicking/screaming leadership... obviously babying them does not work and or the quiet leader style Mikko tries to pull off. How much better would we be right now if they sent Mikko packing and kept Burns? That one move changed this team and it has not been the same since.

 

Tired of hearing how great Mikko is because he wins face offs, blah, blah, blah. He is a 3rd line center, PK Specialist, nothing more and never belongs on the PP. Other then that he eats up valuable minutes that most NHL'ers would also shine "occasionally" as does Mikko "occasionally". Many of the other players see the coasting and say ** ** it, so coast and take games off themselves. He is by far the worst example of a Captain in the league. The Wild culture has been Mikko, Mikko, Mikko for far too many years.

 

I am not saying Mikko is a bad person or terrible hockey player just never what the Wild sell/sold him as for a decade now as this Elite Super Star, the players see it; shame on the Wild Brass. Plain and simple, want change for the better got to start at the top and the only thing that has always stayed intact is our "Fearless" Leader Mikko, LMAO................. that is what became the death of Chuck Fletcher, many other players, and where all these excuses come from year after year, after year.

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Minnesota media (primarily TV and radio) are great at pumping up pluggers (Winnick, Cullen, Kenopka et al, whatever the team signed off the scrap heap) as "veteran leaders," "savvy," good "room guys." Even Tyler Ennis won was praised for his "attitude, hard work and hustle," when it amounted to squat as far as the game's final score. When the guys in the press box, usually in a losing effort, award one of the three stars to a Winnick or Prosser or some other otherwise invisible slug, you know something is wrong. Did Chicago and Pittsburgh win cups because of "great room guys" and "leadership," or as a result of talent and hard work? We'll know we're in trouble again this season if three-star selection awards go to Read, Brown, Hendricks and Fehr........

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On 8/29/2018 at 9:17 PM, sweetshot said:

Wasn't the power play supposed to be Brunette's responsibility when he started coaching for the Wild? It got worse(alot worse) after he took over--it's never been the same.

 

The Wild's power play has never been great. As far as getting a lot worse?  Depends on what you mean by "a lot worse". The Wild's power play hasn't really changed much, consistently hovering around that 17%-20%. In Lemaire's last season (08-09) the power play was at 20.1%. In Richards two seasons, the power play was at 19.1% and 18.1%. In Yeo's first season the power play was at 15.1%. The remainder of Yeos tenure saw the power play at 17.9%, 17.8%, 15.8% (Brunette coached), 18.5% (Brunette coached). The two seasons Boudreau has been at the helm, the power play has clocked in at 21.0% and 20.4%.

 

I do remember that when the Wild hired Yeo, several Penguins fans came on to the old Wild boards and told us Yeo was going to ruin the power play. We figured it was just sour grapes. But look at what happened to the Penguins power play after Yeo left:

 

2006 - 20.3%

2007 - 20.4%

2008 - 17.4%

2009 - 17.2%

2010 - 15.8% (Yeo's last season with Penguins)

2011 - 19.7%

2012 - 24.7%

2013 - 23.4%

 

Interesting how after Yeo leaves two teams, their power play improves dramatically. Two teams with completely different players, yet their power play hangs around 17%-18% when Yeo is in charge. Yeo leaves, and the Power Play climbs to 20%+.

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1 hour ago, IllaZilla said:

 

The Wild's power play has never been great. As far as getting a lot worse?  Depends on what you mean by "a lot worse". The Wild's power play hasn't really changed much, consistently hovering around that 17%-20%. In Lemaire's last season (08-09) the power play was at 20.1%. In Richards two seasons, the power play was at 19.1% and 18.1%. In Yeo's first season the power play was at 15.1%. The remainder of Yeos tenure saw the power play at 17.9%, 17.8%, 15.8% (Brunette coached), 18.5% (Brunette coached). The two seasons Boudreau has been at the helm, the power play has clocked in at 21.0% and 20.4%.

 

I do remember that when the Wild hired Yeo, several Penguins fans came on to the old Wild boards and told us Yeo was going to ruin the power play. We figured it was just sour grapes. But look at what happened to the Penguins power play after Yeo left:

 

2006 - 20.3%

2007 - 20.4%

2008 - 17.4%

2009 - 17.2%

2010 - 15.8% (Yeo's last season with Penguins)

2011 - 19.7%

2012 - 24.7%

2013 - 23.4%

 

Interesting how after Yeo leaves two teams, their power play improves dramatically. Two teams with completely different players, yet their power play hangs around 17%-18% when Yeo is in charge. Yeo leaves, and the Power Play climbs to 20%+.

Oh, so Brunette actually improved the PP(18.5%) to the point that it was the highest PP Yeo had while he was head coach. I couldn't remember how all that played out. Looks like Yeo didn't learn a thing as the Blues PP dropped from 21.3 o 15.5 Yeo's first full year as head coach. How does Yeo not know this, or does he and ignores the numbers??? That's one check from me in the I'm glad he's gone column.

Is your memory that good or are you a statistics savant?😎

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On ‎8‎/‎26‎/‎2018 at 1:53 PM, rottenrefs said:

More excuses.

 

Injury related or not, why are injured players still getting their full equated minutes as usual?

Two years ago Granlund dropped off in production shortly before the playoffs. After the playoffs it was discovered he had a broken hand.

 

How the hell can a broken hand go undetected by teammates, coaches, staff? A broken bone in the foot, strained groins, hampered hamstrings, etc., etc. Bruised elbows, knees, a broken heart, not getting laid by the old lady - and on and on.

 

As a professional hockey team who's in charge of noticing these things? Who is in charge of putting players out there at 100% and if they're not 100%, if they're playing at 90% or 95% (in some cases what? 80%?) what other players playing at 100% are better than putting those 'off their mark' in a different role so it doesn't hamper the whole phucking team?

 

A bigger question is why are players not reporting their injuries? Oh I get it, because they don't want to miss out. (Oh boy, I can see the rich little entitled snivels weeping from their eyes already.) I get it, but IT IS NOT what's best for the team. The case in point: Players are running the team and those put in charge of running the team are not. IMO that's just wrong and it needs to change. Yet far worse are those giving in to them with exceptions and runny nosed excuses.

 

-

Likewise I do agree that newbies need to step up. But I will argue they are NOT capable of stepping up if they have their hands tied with others who don't have the capacity to also step up when they no longer have the gas in their tank to keep up.

 

Every single successful team out there has lines on it with veterans and lines with just younger guys. The Wild have never, ever, paired a group of young guys together and allowed them to develop through the year. They always put some has-been veteran among them then bitch, whine and complain that so and so had a chance to step up but didn't.

My guess is the Wild knew about Granlund's injury, they just didn't want to open that can of worms shortly before the playoffs. NHL teams love to hide injuries if there is any way to do so. And give away almost no details if an injury is reported.

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17 minutes ago, sweetshot said:

My guess is the Wild knew about Granlund's injury, they just didn't want to open that can of worms shortly before the playoffs. NHL teams love to hide injuries if there is any way to do so. And give away almost no details if an injury is reported.

There was no guessing about it. Both Chuck Fletcher and Yeo-Bobble clearly stated in press conferences they weren't aware of many players' injuries.

 

edit to add:

Boudreau has been in the same situation too with some of the players.

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14 minutes ago, sweetshot said:

Oh, so Brunette actually improved the PP(18.5%) to the point that it was the highest PP Yeo had while he was head coach. I couldn't remember how all that played out. Looks like Yeo didn't learn a thing as the Blues PP dropped from 21.3 o 15.5 Yeo's first full year as head coach. How does Yeo not know this, or does he and ignores the numbers??? That's one check from me in the I'm glad he's gone column.

Is your memory that good or are you a statistics savant?😎

 

Mike Yeo has his power play system, and he is going to stick to it come Hell or high water. He was notorious for that with the Wild. Even when the Wild were on a 0 for 20-something power play scoring stretch a while back, he refused to change up the power play units or his tactics. I remember Russo even asked him about that and his response was something along the lines of "The system worked before, so we just need to keep going out there and working the system."

 

As far as power play percentages dropping, the Wild dropped to 15.1% in Yeo's first year as coach. I'm guessing he has some unorthodox way of running the power play that take players a while to get used to. Just a guess though.

 

And no, I'm not a stats savant.😉 I just love looking at stats and using them to support an argument.

 

 

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Big E. Staal and Mikko are two very different players.  They play very different styles.   E. Stall is a goal scorer, an offensively oriented player,   Mikko plays like a Selke guy, defense is the priority.   

 

I don't think there is anyone left in the Wild organization from Owner to rest room attendent who doesn't know Mikko isn't a #1 Center.  It's ridiculous to claim anyone still thinks he's still a Franchise player.   That was long ago, numerous years.   I'd say obvious when Suter and Parise were signed.

 

I really want to see him used as a 3rd Line Center and that 3rd Line be used in the old NHL way - as a Checking Line matched up against the other Team's #1 Line.   Pair him with defensive oriented players, get the goal scorers and offensive guys like MiG away from him.    And for probably the 100th time in ten years, along with everyone else - GET HIM OFF THE 1st PP UNIT!

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1 hour ago, Fargocase said:

I really want to see him used as a 3rd Line Center and that 3rd Line be used in the old NHL way - as a Checking Line matched up against the other Team's #1 Line.   Pair him with defensive oriented players, get the goal scorers and offensive guys like MiG away from him.    And for probably the 100th time in ten years, along with everyone else - GET HIM OFF THE 1st PP UNIT

 

In that mindset what are your 1st and 2nd lines?

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2 hours ago, hf101 said:

 

In that mindset what are your 1st and 2nd lines?

 

And that's the question!  E. Stall is a solid Top 2 Line offensive Center.   Mikko is a so-so to poor 2nd Line Center nowadays but an elite 3rd Line Center.   BB's HUGE problem is - who the puck is going to be the 2nd Line Center?

 

IMO the Wild is OK with Top 2 Line wings: Zooker, MiG, Parise, Nino, Coyle.  Do the math and you have an extra guy.  But who is going to be the 2nd Line Center????  Plug Mikko there and we're right back where we've been the last few years..  Except IMO the bottom 2 lines won't be as good.  The plethora of one-of-us fringe reject guys ain't going to cut it.

 

To maintain my optimism I have to visualize injury free years for MiG, Coyle, Nino and Zooker, AND Doobie regaining the majic from a couple years ago.  

 

Finally, even though Wild fans hate their own, without Suter the team is easily a non-playoff team.

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9 hours ago, Fargocase said:

Big E. Staal and Mikko are two very different players.  They play very different styles.   E. Stall is a goal scorer, an offensively oriented player,   Mikko plays like a Selke guy, defense is the priority.   

 

I don't think there is anyone left in the Wild organization from Owner to rest room attendent who doesn't know Mikko isn't a #1 Center.  It's ridiculous to claim anyone still thinks he's still a Franchise player.   That was long ago, numerous years.   I'd say obvious when Suter and Parise were signed.

 

I really want to see him used as a 3rd Line Center and that 3rd Line be used in the old NHL way - as a Checking Line matched up against the other Team's #1 Line.   Pair him with defensive oriented players, get the goal scorers and offensive guys like MiG away from him.    And for probably the 100th time in ten years, along with everyone else - GET HIM OFF THE 1st PP UNIT!

 

Here's the rub with that. Koivu's power play face off percentage was 65% last year with 194 face offs. He was top ten in the league (#8) last season for power play face off percentage. Staal's was 53% with 119 power play face offs last year. No other Wild player took anywhere near the face offs on the power play that those two did. The next closest is Granlund with 29 power play face offs. He came in at 55%. 

 

I'm not advocating either way for Koivu. But if you have a player that will win you 65% of the power play face offs in almost 200 power plays, wouldn't you want him out there, especially when your power play scoring percentage is only Ok (20%)? At least if you are winning the face offs, you have a chance at a shot on goal. 

 

What does need to change is the Wild's predictable power play of slowly passing the puck around the perimeter to Ryan Suter so he can unleash his limp wrister and hoping someone is able to deflect it past the goaltender... 

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3 hours ago, IllaZilla said:

 

Here's the rub with that. Koivu's power play face off percentage was 65% last year with 194 face offs. He was top ten in the league (#8) last season for power play face off percentage. Staal's was 53% with 119 power play face offs last year. No other Wild player took anywhere near the face offs on the power play that those two did. The next closest is Granlund with 29 power play face offs. He came in at 55%. 

 

I'm not advocating either way for Koivu. But if you have a player that will win you 65% of the power play face offs in almost 200 power plays, wouldn't you want him out there, especially when your power play scoring percentage is only Ok (20%)? At least if you are winning the face offs, you have a chance at a shot on goal. 

 

What does need to change is the Wild's predictable power play of slowly passing the puck around the perimeter to Ryan Suter so he can unleash his limp wrister and hoping someone is able to deflect it past the goaltender... 

 

On 8/30/2018 at 4:47 AM, rottenrefs said:

Yet with all those faceoffs won his PP line would win the draw and then take 20-35 seconds off the clock before getting the puck across their blue line. Often, most the time anyway, they would get across the blue line and seconds later lose control of the puck having it shot deep into our d-zone. Literally, every game I'd sit there watching their putrid effort attempting to enter their zone, and closely watch the clock. Tick, tick, tick... 35 seconds to a minute into a PP before they establish their PP killing time off the clock on their own PP.

 

That was before last year. Last year Mikko would get tossed from the faceoff circle almost half the time and the results ended up the same way. By the time about 1:45 was off the clock they might get 1 or 2 shots on net. The second PP unit would get in there with about 15 seconds left on the clock and get 2-3 shots off. It's been like that for years!

 

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35 minutes ago, rottenrefs said:

Yet with all those faceoffs won his PP line would win the draw and then take 20-35 seconds off the clock before getting the puck across their blue line. Often, most the time anyway, they would get across the blue line and seconds later lose control of the puck having it shot deep into our d-zone. 

 

That then isn't necessarily just Koivu's fault if he is winning the face-offs.  He then isn't the one getting the puck and making the first pass out of the zone.

 

Didn't the rules change so that Power Plays now begin in the Offensive zone?

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4 hours ago, hf101 said:

 

That then isn't necessarily just Koivu's fault if he is winning the face-offs.  He then isn't the one getting the puck and making the first pass out of the zone.

 

Didn't the rules change so that Power Plays now begin in the Offensive zone?

Oh, on the contrary. Koivu has been on the 1st PP unit for most the decade and it's not subject to debate.

 

Just ask him.

 

Fans for no less than the last 3 years have noticed by pleading, begging, pointing out how much he sucks on the PP and he's still the first player off the bench because doing so is his choice; not his coaches.

 

The same goes for him being no better than a third line center. For each of the last 5 years (at least that long ago) people have pointed out this club needs a #1 and #2 center because all of Mikko's talents would make him possibly the league's very best (ever) third line center. His defensive skills are (used to be) unmatched and perfect for that role. The team as a whole deserves better than stretching him beyond his limits by using him as the #1 center going back as far as when they acquired Parise and since they got Staal by using him as the #2 guy who gets top minutes.

 

The only time Mikko Koivu is at his best is when he comes back from an injury. During the time they're phasing him back into the line up and he's not getting more than say 12-14 minutes a game... He plays like he's in his prime. Hungry, aggressive, capable. But when they stretch out his minutes over 16-17 minutes he's playing half gassed.

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On 9/1/2018 at 3:17 PM, rottenrefs said:

Oh, on the contrary. Koivu has been on the 1st PP unit for most the decade and it's not subject to debate.

 

Just ask him.

 

Fans for no less than the last 3 years have noticed by pleading, begging, pointing out how much he sucks on the PP and he's still the first player off the bench because doing so is his choice; not his coaches.

 

The same goes for him being no better than a third line center. For each of the last 5 years (at least that long ago) people have pointed out this club needs a #1 and #2 center because all of Mikko's talents would make him possibly the league's very best (ever) third line center. His defensive skills are (used to be) unmatched and perfect for that role. The team as a whole deserves better than stretching him beyond his limits by using him as the #1 center going back as far as when they acquired Parise and since they got Staal by using him as the #2 guy who gets top minutes.

 

The only time Mikko Koivu is at his best is when he comes back from an injury. During the time they're phasing him back into the line up and he's not getting more than say 12-14 minutes a game... He plays like he's in his prime. Hungry, aggressive, capable. But when they stretch out his minutes over 16-17 minutes he's playing half gassed.

 

The fans have noticed over the last three seasons how much Koivu sucks on the power play. Well, let's see how much he sucks. Over the last three seasons:

 

On the Wild:

#1 in power play face offs won

#1 in power play face off %

#2 in power play total points

#2 in power play TOI

#3 in power play goals

 

In the league (out of 1199 players):

#7 in power play face offs won

#57(tied) in power play total points

#57 in power play TOI

#84(tied) in power play goals

He probably ranks #1 in power play FO%. Mikko Koivu is at 63%. He beats out Ryan O'Reilly (62%),  Jonathan Towes (61%), Claude Giroux (59%), Patrice Bergeron (59%), Anze Kopitar (59%), Ryan Johansen (58%), John Tavares (57%), Sidney Crosby (55%) and Sean Monahan (52%).

 

But, yeah, the fans are right. Koivu is the suckiest suck that ever sucked.

 

As far as fans begging to get him off the power play, what coach in his right mind is going to listen to the fans? Ask @CreaseAndAssist Ask him how many football dads have come up to him and said "You really need to run this type of formation, because I saw the Badgers use it this past Saturday and man, they just annihilated the Gophers with it! I'm not telling you how to do your job, ok, I'm just sayin'. Run this formation and you'll thank me later."  Ask him what his usual response is to these "fans". Do you really think a coach in any professional sport is going to last long listening to the fans? Would you listen to the fans if you were the Wild coach? I highly doubt it.

 

As far as Koivu telling the coach he is going to be on the #1 power play line whether they liked it or not, what is that based on? Where has it been reported that Mikko Koivu has been telling Lemaire, Richards, Yeo and Boudreau that he is going out on the first power play unit whether they liked it or not? I can't find any reliable source online that states Koivu has been telling the coaches what's what. Was it a podcast or print media where this was reported? I just can't find anything.

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@IllaZilla good work!

 

How come there aren't any stats about all the minutes he's accumulated burning time off the clock? Doing nothing more than skate the perimeter making short passes around the perimeter and hardly to never attacking the net?

 

It's been brought up before, most of Koivu's PP points are 2nd assists. Considering in much of the past 10 years he's amassed countless PP minutes (more) than other players in the league that statistically speaking it will edge him out to favor him over so many others.

 

However, if the team or league found a way to 'score him' during this time and determine how 'efficient' he is on the PP his 'score' would knock him out of contention in almost every facet of the PP.

 

So you disagree when someone like say, Russo questions coaches about specific players, in this instance Koivu, being out there on the PP or out there for 3 vs 3's that they're answers have been like, 'He was already out there.' Not telling?

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Great post KA! 😄  Lots of laughs to read and excellent numbers!  BUT for those of us who've watched Mikko be an elite PP killer when the Wild has been on the PP...

 

Faceoff wins are irrelevant  when the PP is a huge fail because Mikko and usually Suter kill the PP by harmlessly passing the puck around the perimeter,  killing the PP for the other team.

 

 

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4 hours ago, Fargocase said:

Great post KA! 😄  Lots of laughs to read and excellent numbers!  BUT for those of us who've watched Mikko be an elite PP killer when the Wild has been on the PP...

 

Faceoff wins are irrelevant  when the PP is a huge fail because Mikko and usually Suter kill the PP by harmlessly passing the puck around the perimeter,  killing the PP for the other team.

 

 

The perimeter seems to be where the majority of Wild players like to hang out. Head coach has an impact on the PP as well as the Wilds PP struggled when Yeo was coach, averaging about 17%. Boudreau has it at a respectable 20.5% over the past 2 seasons.

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5 hours ago, IllaZilla said:

 

The fans have noticed over the last three seasons how much Koivu sucks on the power play. Well, let's see how much he sucks. Over the last three seasons:

 

On the Wild:

#1 in power play face offs won

#1 in power play face off %

#2 in power play total points

#2 in power play TOI

#3 in power play goals

 

In the league (out of 1199 players):

#7 in power play face offs won

#57(tied) in power play total points

#57 in power play TOI

#84(tied) in power play goals

He probably ranks #1 in power play FO%. Mikko Koivu is at 63%. He beats out Ryan O'Reilly (62%),  Jonathan Towes (61%), Claude Giroux (59%), Patrice Bergeron (59%), Anze Kopitar (59%), Ryan Johansen (58%), John Tavares (57%), Sidney Crosby (55%) and Sean Monahan (52%).

 

But, yeah, the fans are right. Koivu is the suckiest suck that ever sucked.

 

As far as fans begging to get him off the power play, what coach in his right mind is going to listen to the fans? Ask @CreaseAndAssist Ask him how many football dads have come up to him and said "You really need to run this type of formation, because I saw the Badgers use it this past Saturday and man, they just annihilated the Gophers with it! I'm not telling you how to do your job, ok, I'm just sayin'. Run this formation and you'll thank me later."  Ask him what his usual response is to these "fans". Do you really think a coach in any professional sport is going to last long listening to the fans? Would you listen to the fans if you were the Wild coach? I highly doubt it.

 

As far as Koivu telling the coach he is going to be on the #1 power play line whether they liked it or not, what is that based on? Where has it been reported that Mikko Koivu has been telling Lemaire, Richards, Yeo and Boudreau that he is going out on the first power play unit whether they liked it or not? I can't find any reliable source online that states Koivu has been telling the coaches what's what. Was it a podcast or print media where this was reported? I just can't find anything.

There isn't anything. If anybody was/is dictating power play time(and I do believe it has happened at times--probably not when Lemaire was coach but ever since he left) it has come from the higher-ups in the organization as part of their continued effort to try to sell the fans on the fact that MK was/is a #1 center. MK has never dictated his own power play time. No way.

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