Minnesota Hockey

[sweetshot]

We have more Hockey players per capita than any other state. Minnesota also has the most players in the NHL. Many of us are as knowledgeable as Canadians(or at least we should be) about the game of Hockey. The wild has been around for almost 20 years, The North Stars were here for about 25 seasons. Why have our professional teams not been more successful?

[Starofthenorth]

I believe the North Stars relocated to Dallas and then won a cup shortly thereafter, but unfortunately were moved from MN because of cheap owners. The wild folllowed this up with owners who were also cheap and didn't spend to cap. Then the wild got an owner who is willing to spend the money, but the gm miss-appropriated the funds and gave out no trade clauses to aging veterans and traded many of the picks and prospects to do so. This left the cupboards nearly bare in the ahl and left the wild to depend upon those said aging veterans many of whom they have had to buy out of their remaining contract or give up quality players and prospects to move the underperforming asset in a trade. 

[EJ0226]

As far as the Wild history, as pointed out above, their first owner was cheap and didn't spend to the cap. They got lucky that had a coach that was able to figure out the best players and game plan to make the most of the guys he had. He got them to make hard to make it the deepest the Wild have ever made it in the playoffs. The Wild really didn't do much after that and were eventually sold.
New owner comes in and spends to the cap. Now it's hard to tell if it was Fletchers complete fault or Leipold was being involved in a lot more then we know, but we end up with a guy that doesn't have a staff to develop players. Draft picks traded away for rental players who completely disappear out of the NHL after the Wild. Contracts to players that are in the twilight of their careers that are beyond anything they should get with bonuses like NTC/NMC. Some of these players picked up with us giving our prospects/draft picks away. What little prospects we did have would have a very short leash compared to any vets. You would see these prospects go back down to the AHL for committing the same mistakes that the vets would do. This forced the team to rely on these vets who most didn't have anything left in the tank. Then we see they didn't have anything left but they had lock down contracts and there wasn't much the team could do. And it seems the Wild organization/Craig Leipold are too stubborn (maybe even a little blind) to admit a mistake and will just keep forcing those mistakes in hopes it will come out it wasn't a mistake and all of a sudden it works great. I also believe we got a owner who became a bigger fan of the players (which owners can be fans of players) then the actually team. The fact Leipold said the new GM can not do any major changes but only very small minor tweaks kind of points this out. We need the owner to go to the GM and say "win me a championship, here is the keys. Do what you need to do".

I do think the Wild could improve what they are doing now but it would require to upset the flow of things. Maybe go back to the you get the C and A on your sweaters for working hard that week. Reward hard working players. Put players out in situations that make sense. Don't put Koivu, Suter and Parise on the ice all at once in OT. Don't have Koviu facing off in a most score situation when all he's worth is a possible faceoff win then go sit by the blue line. Get a big body out there to crash the net with guys like Granlund who are not afraid to walk the puck into the zone.  Things like this instead of putting out a fan favorite or franchise favorite. Make the smart decision.

[CreaseAndAssist]

6 hours ago, sweetshot said:

We have more Hockey players per capita than any other state. Minnesota also has the most players in the NHL. Many of us are as knowledgeable as Canadians(or at least we should be) about the game of Hockey. The wild has been around for almost 20 years, The North Stars were here for about 25 seasons. Why have our professional teams not been more successful?

 

Huh?  What does a professional sports team location and their fanbase's knowledge of the game have to do with their relative success on the field / ice? 

 

But still, the only thing that is different for the Wild or other teams based in strong hockey-culture areas is the fans understand more about how their team is playing well or not.  Still, the on-ice product will be whatever our management / coaches / players make it to be.  The fanbase has limited or no input as to how well this team performs.  

 

I am not sure what you're looking for.  Maybe this place isn't for you if you really believe that matters.  

[sweetshot]

1 hour ago, CreaseAndAssist said:

 

Huh?  What does a professional sports team location and their fanbase's knowledge of the game have to do with their relative success on the field / ice? 

 

But still, the only thing that is different for the Wild or other teams based in strong hockey-culture areas is the fans understand more about how their team is playing well or not.  Still, the on-ice product will be whatever our management / coaches / players make it to be.  The fanbase has limited or no input as to how well this team performs.  

 

I am not sure what you're looking for.  Maybe this place isn't for you if you really believe that matters.  

Merely a topic for discussion--see where it goes. I really don't care if you get it or not. Don't post anything and move on. 

 

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

9 hours ago, sweetshot said:

We have more Hockey players per capita than any other state. Minnesota also has the most players in the NHL. Many of us are as knowledgeable as Canadians(or at least we should be) about the game of Hockey. The wild has been around for almost 20 years, The North Stars were here for about 25 seasons. Why have our professional teams not been more successful?

 

I have a rather long winded post about this sort of thing.....maybe relevant, maybe not....pick it apart if you wish, but here it is...
My 39 cents, as I like to say, from a Florida gal who likes to think she is just as knowledgeable about this wonderful winter sport as any Minnesotan or Canadian... 

Compared to many of you Wild fans, I am relatively "new" to the Minnesota hockey scene.
I really started following the franchise around the 2005-06 season and have been an NHL fan since around the 94-95 season (forgive my incorrect seasons if I didn't get it right...it was the year the Rangers won the Cup after about 900 years...)… Lightning from around that time, Lightning and Wild from 05 onward.

Anyways, while I don't know a ton about the North Stars previously, what I DO KNOW, comes from my husband, a Minneapolis native and longtime follower of Minnesota sports that includes the Vikings, Twins, Timberwolves, and yes, the North Stars.

Notice I didn't mention the Wild in there with regards to him.
That's because, while he does sorta follow what they are doing, and listens to whatever I have to say about them, they actually are more MY team than his, ironic, since I am a born n raised Clearwater Beach, FL gal.

 

My point being, like many Minnesota pro hockey fans, he never forgave the North Star ownership for leaving the fanbase behind, spent the time between the N.Stars leaving and the Wild being brought in focusing more on the NFL, the MLB, the NBA, and the college rank sports (he loves his Gophers basketball), and when Minnesota once again got a pro hockey team, he DID welcome them.....but, to hear him tell it...."it just isn't the same".

And I suspect many longtime MN hockey fans perhaps feel the same.
While having a pro hockey team in the state is fantastic, the Wild STILL have not measured up to the North Stars in pure fan affection.
Why?
Could be lots of reasons.

Some of you already pointed out about the ownership of the Wild....how, frankly, the team was looked at as "boring" under the systems of Jacque Lamaire (much like the NJ Devils teams of his were), but worse than that, they were "boring", but unlike NJ, didn't win anything.

Also, the rules of hockey have been changing dramatically...moving away from the bash n pound style of the 80's and 90's ( I understand the North Stars, while also not winning any Cups, could at least ice some real tough hombres to stand up to anyone in the league), and to a more finesse type league where the types of players Minnesota fans were used to no longer really had a place.

Just lots of transition from the time the North Stars left all the way to even today, with the Minnesota Wild and their quest to continue to gain mindshare amongst their own fans and the NHL as a whole.

I would dare say the recent Wild teams, talent-wise, are probably better than many Minnesota North Stars teams, player for player.
However, compared to the former MN pro team, today's Wild, to many, just seem..... tepid at best.
The current franchise, aside from some improbable runs earlier in their history with cast off players, simply has not done a whole lot to really excite and invigorate the hardcore Minnesota pro sports fan.

As for performance on the ice, well, that goes to management, coaching, and the types of players the franchise has drafted or signed, obviously...………. but perhaps, and I am NOT giving management any kind of excuse here, if the Wild fanbase were as rabid about the team as the fans were about the North Stars (could still happen......time, time, time....hopefully), maybe management would have been under more pressure to ice a more exciting, identifiable, or just plain "fun team" to watch than they have done for the most part already.
 

Don't get me wrong...I like watching the Minnesota Wild play, but talking to former North Stars fans, and LIVING with one, I can sorta see their point of view.....its almost like, "Well, we like having a pro sports team. The Wild are nice. They are ok."
But then it is left at that....and maybe management perceives that kind of attitude as, "Well, what we have been giving them is satisfactory"

Satisfactory.
Hardly the word you want to use to describe what should be a very exciting team, with a rabid fanbase, with fans who have hockey in their DNA, and a team located in an area where tons of NHL players could say they call home.

Also, side note.....what is up with the Wild NOT drafting, developing or otherwise encouraging Russian pro players to the franchise?
I notice many of their players are either Minnesota boys (again, not surprising because many DO come from the state), or of Scandinavian origin (Fins, Swedes)…..again, understandable because the state as a whole is rooted in Scandinavian peoples.

But the Russians produce EXCELLENT hockey players....many of which are pretty good scorers too (though many Russian forwards may not be as defensively responsible...but that can be taught)...AND exciting players too!

It is great that you want to give a primarily Scandinavian fanbase some players they can likely ethnically relate too (and the Fins and Swedes DO produce good players too, obviously), but don't limit where you get your talent from!
Get some Russians in here....get some backwoods raw boned Canadian boys in here.....get some players who all they think about is rushing the net or shooting the puck so hard, that goalies want to retire early....even if they are a bit defensively deficient.

Excite the fanbase. Get them to be more than just "satisfied" with the product.... there would be less cynical fans then, less grumbling, and management would be forced to see that "doing just enough" isn't going to cut it.....and then MAYBE a superior, exciting, and championship caliber product becomes the norm round these parts.

Just a relative "outsider's view" to what the OP originally alluded to. 
 

[rottenrefs]

While Minnesota hockey fans love their hockey, I think they have varied interest levels when it comes right down to it. Seriously, as die-hard interested some of us are about Wild hockey, not many of us here need a scoreboard or big screen to tell us when to cheer, when to hoot or when to holler. Most fans are complacent because they literally have nothing else to compare to. If the Wild aren't doing well they simply turn to college hockey or ride whatever wave of hockey that suits them.

 

Because other levels of hockey here in Minnesota stand-out, there's always a strong team to get behind and support. Many fans here are kind of fickle that way. In all honesty they aren't very demanding. Well, there's not enough who seriously demand better so it is what it is.

 

 

[sweetshot]

2 hours ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

 

I have a rather long winded post about this sort of thing.....maybe relevant, maybe not....pick it apart if you wish, but here it is...
My 39 cents, as I like to say, from a Florida gal who likes to think she is just as knowledgeable about this wonderful winter sport as any Minnesotan or Canadian... 

Compared to many of you Wild fans, I am relatively "new" to the Minnesota hockey scene.
I really started following the franchise around the 2005-06 season and have been an NHL fan since around the 94-95 season (forgive my incorrect seasons if I didn't get it right...it was the year the Rangers won the Cup after about 900 years...)… Lightning from around that time, Lightning and Wild from 05 onward.

Anyways, while I don't know a ton about the North Stars previously, what I DO KNOW, comes from my husband, a Minneapolis native and longtime follower of Minnesota sports that includes the Vikings, Twins, Timberwolves, and yes, the North Stars.

Notice I didn't mention the Wild in there with regards to him.
That's because, while he does sorta follow what they are doing, and listens to whatever I have to say about them, they actually are more MY team than his, ironic, since I am a born n raised Clearwater Beach, FL gal.

 

My point being, like many Minnesota pro hockey fans, he never forgave the North Star ownership for leaving the fanbase behind, spent the time between the N.Stars leaving and the Wild being brought in focusing more on the NFL, the MLB, the NBA, and the college rank sports (he loves his Gophers basketball), and when Minnesota once again got a pro hockey team, he DID welcome them.....but, to hear him tell it...."it just isn't the same".

And I suspect many longtime MN hockey fans perhaps feel the same.
While having a pro hockey team in the state is fantastic, the Wild STILL have not measured up to the North Stars in pure fan affection.
Why?
Could be lots of reasons.

Some of you already pointed out about the ownership of the Wild....how, frankly, the team was looked at as "boring" under the systems of Jacque Lamaire (much like the NJ Devils teams of his were), but worse than that, they were "boring", but unlike NJ, didn't win anything.

Also, the rules of hockey have been changing dramatically...moving away from the bash n pound style of the 80's and 90's ( I understand the North Stars, while also not winning any Cups, could at least ice some real tough hombres to stand up to anyone in the league), and to a more finesse type league where the types of players Minnesota fans were used to no longer really had a place.

Just lots of transition from the time the North Stars left all the way to even today, with the Minnesota Wild and their quest to continue to gain mindshare amongst their own fans and the NHL as a whole.

I would dare say the recent Wild teams, talent-wise, are probably better than many Minnesota North Stars teams, player for player.
However, compared to the former MN pro team, today's Wild, to many, just seem..... tepid at best.
The current franchise, aside from some improbable runs earlier in their history with cast off players, simply has not done a whole lot to really excite and invigorate the hardcore Minnesota pro sports fan.

As for performance on the ice, well, that goes to management, coaching, and the types of players the franchise has drafted or signed, obviously...………. but perhaps, and I am NOT giving management any kind of excuse here, if the Wild fanbase were as rabid about the team as the fans were about the North Stars (could still happen......time, time, time....hopefully), maybe management would have been under more pressure to ice a more exciting, identifiable, or just plain "fun team" to watch than they have done for the most part already.
 

Don't get me wrong...I like watching the Minnesota Wild play, but talking to former North Stars fans, and LIVING with one, I can sorta see their point of view.....its almost like, "Well, we like having a pro sports team. The Wild are nice. They are ok."
But then it is left at that....and maybe management perceives that kind of attitude as, "Well, what we have been giving them is satisfactory"

Satisfactory.
Hardly the word you want to use to describe what should be a very exciting team, with a rabid fanbase, with fans who have hockey in their DNA, and a team located in an area where tons of NHL players could say they call home.

Also, side note.....what is up with the Wild NOT drafting, developing or otherwise encouraging Russian pro players to the franchise?
I notice many of their players are either Minnesota boys (again, not surprising because many DO come from the state), or of Scandinavian origin (Fins, Swedes)…..again, understandable because the state as a whole is rooted in Scandinavian peoples.

But the Russians produce EXCELLENT hockey players....many of which are pretty good scorers too (though many Russian forwards may not be as defensively responsible...but that can be taught)...AND exciting players too!

It is great that you want to give a primarily Scandinavian fanbase some players they can likely ethnically relate too (and the Fins and Swedes DO produce good players too, obviously), but don't limit where you get your talent from!
Get some Russians in here....get some backwoods raw boned Canadian boys in here.....get some players who all they think about is rushing the net or shooting the puck so hard, that goalies want to retire early....even if they are a bit defensively deficient.

Excite the fanbase. Get them to be more than just "satisfied" with the product.... there would be less cynical fans then, less grumbling, and management would be forced to see that "doing just enough" isn't going to cut it.....and then MAYBE a superior, exciting, and championship caliber product becomes the norm round these parts.

Just a relative "outsider's view" to what the OP originally alluded to. 
 

Love your post!! 

Great to hear an outsiders view, although if you hadn't have said anything I never would have guessed it. I'm a North Stars guy myself, having pretty much grown up with them. I'll respond to a couple of your points, I'd like to respond to more but I still use the hunt and peck method of typing so this takes me awhile.

I couldn't agree more with your take on Soviet and Canadian players. Why the Wild have waited this long to draft a decent Soviet player is beyond me. The NStars didn't have any Soviets while they were here, either.  Sorry, I still call Russia the Soviet Union--sounds better.

Another Canadian player or 2 would also certainly help the Wilds cause. I posted a comment on the old board about the Wild not having enough Canadian players on the roster and basically got laughed at.  I mean, who's going to give a team the ultimate effort especially come playoff time more than a Canadian player--its the Holy Grail for Canadians--they will tell you that hockey and Lord Stanleys cup are a part of who they are--you can't beat that for motivation. 

Besides Canada, The Soviet Union and Sweden IMO produce the best players in the world with Canada and Russia bringing the most dynamic(SUPERSTARS) players to the league. The Russian talent pool is an area that needs to be delved into a lot deeper by the Wild. I would be willing to bet there are more diamonds in the rough to be had there than anywhere else in the world. The guy I call sweetshot, Pavel Datsyuk, was a 7th round draft pick. Not a bad player...  

[sweetshot]

1 hour ago, rottenrefs said:

While Minnesota hockey fans love their hockey, I think they have varied interest levels when it comes right down to it. Seriously, as die-hard interested some of us are about Wild hockey, not many of us here need a scoreboard or big screen to tell us when to cheer, when to hoot or when to holler. Most fans are complacent because they literally have nothing else to compare to. If the Wild aren't doing well they simply turn to college hockey or ride whatever wave of hockey that suits them.

 

Because other levels of hockey here in Minnesota stand-out, there's always a strong team to get behind and support. Many fans here are kind of fickle that way. In all honesty they aren't very demanding. Well, there's not enough who seriously demand better so it is what it is.

 

 

I think you pretty much hit the nail on the head. I also don't think many(maybe most) Minnesotans truly care that much about winning championships in any sport--except the VIKINGS.

Some of us would honestly rather watch the Gophers or High school hockey than "watch a bunch of overpaid prima donnas" as someone I know likes to say(especially after the Wild go out in the first round of the playoffs).

[EJ0226]

20 hours ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

As for performance on the ice, well, that goes to management, coaching, and the types of players the franchise has drafted or signed, obviously...………. but perhaps, and I am NOT giving management any kind of excuse here, if the Wild fanbase were as rabid about the team as the fans were about the North Stars (could still happen......time, time, time....hopefully), maybe management would have been under more pressure to ice a more exciting, identifiable, or just plain "fun team" to watch than they have done for the most part already.

First, great take! But I believe that is the biggest reason for the Wild being in the same position each year. Tickets and merchandise sell due to names and not quality of product. Twins have done this for years. Wild seem to be following suit. Wolves tried it. Organizations get the idea that the fan base would like a championship but really isn't that big of a deal as they continue to spend money on the team no matter what. And if people complain about it they are no longer fans and pure haters. It's maddening cause majority of complainers have legit complaints but still love the team. One thing if a complaint has no merit but another when it's been proven. If people don't demand something better we see what happens. The last 3 years in a row prove it. We also got us folks from the North Stars days that will always be "our" hockey team. Some are hurt and appreciate the Wild but still don't really have the same love. And some people are probably afraid that complaints could lead to the team moving as MN sport fans have had to endure their fair share.

[CreaseAndAssist]

On 11/6/2018 at 4:58 PM, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

 

I have a rather long winded post about this sort of thing.....maybe relevant, maybe not....pick it apart if you wish, but here it is...
My 39 cents, as I like to say, from a Florida gal who likes to think she is just as knowledgeable about this wonderful winter sport as any Minnesotan or Canadian... 

Compared to many of you Wild fans, I am relatively "new" to the Minnesota hockey scene.
I really started following the franchise around the 2005-06 season and have been an NHL fan since around the 94-95 season (forgive my incorrect seasons if I didn't get it right...it was the year the Rangers won the Cup after about 900 years...)… Lightning from around that time, Lightning and Wild from 05 onward.

Anyways, while I don't know a ton about the North Stars previously, what I DO KNOW, comes from my husband, a Minneapolis native and longtime follower of Minnesota sports that includes the Vikings, Twins, Timberwolves, and yes, the North Stars.

Notice I didn't mention the Wild in there with regards to him.
That's because, while he does sorta follow what they are doing, and listens to whatever I have to say about them, they actually are more MY team than his, ironic, since I am a born n raised Clearwater Beach, FL gal.

 

My point being, like many Minnesota pro hockey fans, he never forgave the North Star ownership for leaving the fanbase behind, spent the time between the N.Stars leaving and the Wild being brought in focusing more on the NFL, the MLB, the NBA, and the college rank sports (he loves his Gophers basketball), and when Minnesota once again got a pro hockey team, he DID welcome them.....but, to hear him tell it...."it just isn't the same".

And I suspect many longtime MN hockey fans perhaps feel the same.
While having a pro hockey team in the state is fantastic, the Wild STILL have not measured up to the North Stars in pure fan affection.
Why?
Could be lots of reasons.

Some of you already pointed out about the ownership of the Wild....how, frankly, the team was looked at as "boring" under the systems of Jacque Lamaire (much like the NJ Devils teams of his were), but worse than that, they were "boring", but unlike NJ, didn't win anything.

Also, the rules of hockey have been changing dramatically...moving away from the bash n pound style of the 80's and 90's ( I understand the North Stars, while also not winning any Cups, could at least ice some real tough hombres to stand up to anyone in the league), and to a more finesse type league where the types of players Minnesota fans were used to no longer really had a place.

Just lots of transition from the time the North Stars left all the way to even today, with the Minnesota Wild and their quest to continue to gain mindshare amongst their own fans and the NHL as a whole.

I would dare say the recent Wild teams, talent-wise, are probably better than many Minnesota North Stars teams, player for player.
However, compared to the former MN pro team, today's Wild, to many, just seem..... tepid at best.
The current franchise, aside from some improbable runs earlier in their history with cast off players, simply has not done a whole lot to really excite and invigorate the hardcore Minnesota pro sports fan.

As for performance on the ice, well, that goes to management, coaching, and the types of players the franchise has drafted or signed, obviously...………. but perhaps, and I am NOT giving management any kind of excuse here, if the Wild fanbase were as rabid about the team as the fans were about the North Stars (could still happen......time, time, time....hopefully), maybe management would have been under more pressure to ice a more exciting, identifiable, or just plain "fun team" to watch than they have done for the most part already.
 

Don't get me wrong...I like watching the Minnesota Wild play, but talking to former North Stars fans, and LIVING with one, I can sorta see their point of view.....its almost like, "Well, we like having a pro sports team. The Wild are nice. They are ok."
But then it is left at that....and maybe management perceives that kind of attitude as, "Well, what we have been giving them is satisfactory"

Satisfactory.
Hardly the word you want to use to describe what should be a very exciting team, with a rabid fanbase, with fans who have hockey in their DNA, and a team located in an area where tons of NHL players could say they call home.

Also, side note.....what is up with the Wild NOT drafting, developing or otherwise encouraging Russian pro players to the franchise?
I notice many of their players are either Minnesota boys (again, not surprising because many DO come from the state), or of Scandinavian origin (Fins, Swedes)…..again, understandable because the state as a whole is rooted in Scandinavian peoples.

But the Russians produce EXCELLENT hockey players....many of which are pretty good scorers too (though many Russian forwards may not be as defensively responsible...but that can be taught)...AND exciting players too!

It is great that you want to give a primarily Scandinavian fanbase some players they can likely ethnically relate too (and the Fins and Swedes DO produce good players too, obviously), but don't limit where you get your talent from!
Get some Russians in here....get some backwoods raw boned Canadian boys in here.....get some players who all they think about is rushing the net or shooting the puck so hard, that goalies want to retire early....even if they are a bit defensively deficient.

Excite the fanbase. Get them to be more than just "satisfied" with the product.... there would be less cynical fans then, less grumbling, and management would be forced to see that "doing just enough" isn't going to cut it.....and then MAYBE a superior, exciting, and championship caliber product becomes the norm round these parts.

Just a relative "outsider's view" to what the OP originally alluded to. 
 

 

North Stars fans loved that team, but most will admit...they were a poorly run, budget sh$t show for a fair portion of their existence.  Towards the end, the team was leaning way too much on the 'one of us' provincialism that some Minnesota fans put way too much stock into.  

 

While the Minnesota Wild marketers / media beat the living hell out the local angle; fortunately...it hasn't manifested itself too extremely in the draft as it did with the North Stars.  Yes, we usually burn one pick on a Minnesota player and few have turned out to be anything of consequence...but I understand why they do it.  Want an easy to do Wild drinking game...take a shot anytime the broadcasters mention a player either on the Wild or for our opponent is from Minnesota.   

 

Rotten is right, we don't need the scoreboard of the PA guy to indicate to us when we should be making noise etc, but all arenas do it.  

[rottenrefs]

Here's another completely different perspective to Minnesota Wild hockey (the same can be said for every male professional sport in Minnesota too and many college teams.)

 

When listening to prognosticators on TV or radio, you often hear them breaking down certain teams and future games (sometimes their remaining games) that they have in their schedule.

 

It goes something like this:
The Chicago bears face the Lions... A game they can win.

Then they face the Giants... A game they can win.

Then the Rams, that will be a tough challenge for them. The Rams will probably come out on top but the Bears could upset them.

They then face the Packers... They lost to them by 1 point so they could pull out a win.

They end the year facing an easy win over the 49'ers and their final game is against the Vikings.

 

The Packers face the Vikings... They tied earlier in the year so this is anybody's game.

They then take on a weaker Cardinals team, then the Falcons. Baring serious injuries to anyone they'll probably win both of them.

Then they take on the Bears... The Bears probably have a better team but you can never count out Aaron Rogers.

They end their season with the Jets, then the Lions... Two games they should win.

 

Now granted, that's football (I used those because it makes this whole thing shorter) but in essence hopefully you'll get my point.

 

Which is... You never hear prognosticators talk prospective wins or losses against future opponents with the Wild, Vikings, Timberwolves, Twins... None of them. It never comes up because every damn one of these teams are way too unpredictable and if there's one thing that's "In the water" in Minnesota, is you can't count on any of these teams or players to hold their own against any future opponent because they don't have 'it' in them. They simply do not have what it takes to rise to the occasion and take advantage of any opportunity they're facing. They just can't do it! So... The prognosticators never go there.

[ClusterChuck]

On 11/6/2018 at 4:58 PM, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

Excite the fanbase. Get them to be more than just "satisfied" with the product.... there would be less cynical fans then, less grumbling, and management would be forced to see that "doing just enough" isn't going to cut it.....and then MAYBE a superior, exciting, and championship caliber product becomes the norm round these parts.


 

Great read  This last paragraph I liked a lot.

We really haven't had many things happen to excite the fanbase for a long time. Not since the Parise-Suter signings. 

I would have to think almost every fan was pumped about this, Probably more shocked.

Since then, Maybe the run after getting Dubnyk. The Yeo firing V-1.  The long win streak that ended vs Columbus's win streak and maybe getting rid of the prince goal song.   Sadly, That's about it.

 

** I want to be excited about each game and have that feeling that we can win instead of hoping we do. **

The 2 games on that west coast trip vs the Kings and Ducks where everything was clicking gave me that good feeling but it didn't last long. Now back to the hoping.

This is the first season where of course I was glad to have Hockey back but had a wait and see attitude given that some little signings were made and we were going with basically the same group. Rightfully so, Fenton needed to see first hand what team he had so I wasn't surprised or disappointed nothing big happened in the off season.

 

To me I think it's up to Fenton now to 'excite' the fan base in the near future and depending on what's available by deadline will be key.

We don't need a repeat of some crusty vet signing to achieve what's needed like the Fletcher days. 

 

Our home games sound like what you said "satisfied". The crowd is pretty tame and doesn't have that home energy. Too many 'fans' more involved in sharing recipes on FB than what's going on in the arena. I don't know.