Minnesota Wild @ Washington Capitals, Friday 3-22-19, 6:00pm, Capital One Arena

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

This win is gonna feel good to get!

Not only because the Wild simply need the points, not only because its the SC Champs....but also because the Caps got away with all manner of garbage, got all the PP chances, and STILl, the lowly, boring, outgunned Wild took the two points in regulation.

 

[Megawild]

Nice win!!! Lots more work to do boys!

[Math]

And terrific game by Dubnyk. 2-3 big saves, espacially vs Kuznetsov one-timer à la Ovechkin.

[Tomdog]

I guess I need to start getting against the wild every game so they can win a sc

[Math]

4 minutes ago, MNSOTA said:

Ugh, we can beat Tampa and Washington, but not Colorado, etc.

 

Typical résumé of the Wild season. Get the shootout in Tampa, beat the Caps and the Jets on the road and miserably failing at home vs. Detroit, Arizona.

 

Fortunately, the schedule is absolutely great for Minnesota as we still need to play Vegas, Winnipeg, Boston and Nashville.

[CreaseAndAssist]

Wild Back in a Playoff Spot in 2-1 Win Over Washington

 

Good thing the kids have legs and energy because some of the older guys.  Yikes.  Especially Staal who looks exhausted at the beginning of his shifts let alone at the end.  Zucker can't seem to buy a goal to save his life lately, but the kids were able to give the team enough to earn a big win.  Full game recap, an extended Iowa Wild report and prospect updates too!  

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

No rest for the Weary Wild, I am sure they are on some night escape flight straight to Raleigh where those Bunch of Jerks (TM) are waiting for them.

Will be interesting to see if Nino plasters any former teammates along the walls!

[Jimtown guy]

If anyone can figure this team out please let us know 

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

4 minutes ago, Jimtown guy said:

If anyone can figure this team out please let us know 

 

Well, they are pretty much like IKEA instructions..... no wording, a bunch of pictures that may or may not be accurate, but at the end of the project, you SHOULD have what amounts to some sort of product that is serviceable, but probably not much more.

If you are lucky, it lasts you a few years, if not, well, then you can always go back to IKEA and try out their latest wacky build and see if that works (even though we all know its pretty much the same as the last).
Hope that helped. 

[lynxrattle]

I can't believe I just laughed at the IKEA victim's suicide. I should know better, I still remember the time when one bought a table and got a table instead of a DIY kit... I don't have a heart, but the Donato, Kunin and Greenway line sure do

[Jimtown guy]

Brilliant 

[Alexandron]

2 hours ago, Megawild said:

 

Agreed, though we never did see a decent replay of it...

You can see it at the Michael Russo tweet. I just do not know  how to attach only a video link from it. Look for replay - Parise went over Tom Wilson's knee.

Here is a link:

https://twitter.com/RussoHockey?ref_src=twsrc^google|twcamp^serp|twgr^author

 

 

 

 

 

[Hockey-78]

From contender to a pretender...

[Tomdog]

8 hours ago, Hockey-78 said:

From contender to a pretender...

I don’t understand the quote. 

Do mean the caps as contenders and carilina the pretenders or the wild as contenders. Because the wild have been pretending for 2 years now. 

[Hockey-78]

2 hours ago, Tomdog said:

I don’t understand the quote. 

Do mean the caps as contenders and carilina the pretenders or the wild as contenders. Because the wild have been pretending for 2 years now. 

Some consider the Wild still as a contender... Yes, pretending for how many years. Hopefully they don't make the playoffs.

[sweetshot]

6 hours ago, Hockey-78 said:

Some consider the Wild still as a contender... Yes, pretending for how many years. Hopefully they don't make the playoffs.

Why do you hope they won't make the playoffs?

[Tomdog]

49 minutes ago, sweetshot said:

Why do you hope they won't make the playoffs?

Better draft pick. Even if it is just a place or two. 

Reality check for the team. No more delusions 

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

1 hour ago, Tomdog said:

Better draft pick. Even if it is just a place or two. 

Reality check for the team. No more delusions 

 

Valid point...however....

The place difference, while better if the Wild just miss as opposed to just barely get in, at THAT point, is really negligible (looking at maybe 13th or 14th if they miss, 15-17th if they get in, give or take), compared to valuable experience gained, ESPECIALLY for the younger guys, of being in an actual playoff series against a likely good team (Calgary or Winnipeg...but could also be a SJ or Nash)….that stuff just goes a long way towards getting a younger player to think a bit differently once the regular season ends and the real dance begins.
Even if they get the tar beat out of them in a playoff series.

The idea of course, being that should the Wild get in again, more seriously, it won't be their first rodeo.

As for "delusions", look, if Wild ownership or management has bad ideas about what is and what isn't a contender, it isn't going to change with a couple places in the middle of the draft pack.
If they are going to be delusional, they just are...period. And Wild fans will suffer for it, but that is just something that cannot be fixed by a few better draft spots.

In theory, I would think if the Wild did get in, got plastered in the first round, that ownership/management would see the abject failure and go, "Wow...we weren't even close....we better rethink this whole damned thing!"

Better planning by the front office, the right guy behind the bench, better scouting, drafting (duh of course), and ultimately cut the "fat" off the actual roster and get down to some serious, hard looks at who should be on there and who needs to somehow, someway be moved out.

That's why I want the Wild in the playoffs...the benefits of doing so, IMO, far outweigh the benefits of just barely missing.
I mean, if you are gonna miss, then be a bottom three catfish, ya know? That way, you increase your chances tenfold of an almost automatic game changer of a player....but Minnesota isn't NEARLY as bad as say, Ottawa, New Jersey, Los Angeles, or Anaheim with regards to record for it to make that big a difference for them.

[Tomdog]

If everything stays as it is now they would pick 13th and possibly better due to the goofy draft lottery.

If they make the playoffs they pick 16th with no chance of moving up.

Everyone on this team has been in the playoffs and experienced losing.

Missing shows ownership the tweaks that cl wanted aren't enough.

 

[lynxrattle]

Good posts, I think A lot depends on how much one pays attention to luck. That lottery thing is such an odd way of solving the problems of mismanaged teams. The end result being that a McDavid wastes his career playing in a dumpster or that a Marner ends up in a team overloaded with talent. The lottery aims for balance and ends up unbalacing the league while rewarding failure. But it is what it is. To get those top picks one needs to tank and be lucky or make some really good trades and get a high first round pick that way. If we tank, next season would be the perfect spot for that. By season 2021 - 2022 I hope our prospects are already too good for the team to be the worst team in the NHL. Would trading Dubnyk bring a high pick and help us tank? But that would mean Kahkonen would need to be the Dubnyk of 2021-2022 season onwards. Sorry for the long and incoherent rant

[sweetshot]

12 hours ago, Tomdog said:

Better draft pick. Even if it is just a place or two. 

Reality check for the team. No more delusions 

After the multiple moves Fenton has made, IMO he hasn't been delusional regarding the Wilds roster. He may be about the players(Fiala) he drafted while at Nashville, however.  

Not sure if picking what, 16th or 18th or 20th(somewhere in  there) matters at all. Either way they'll have to do their homework in order to find a very good player with this pick. 

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

1 minute ago, sweetshot said:

After the multiple moves Fenton has made, IMO he hasn't been delusional regarding the Wilds roster. He may be about the players(Fiala) he drafted while at Nashville, however.  

Not sure if picking what, 16th or 18th or 20th(somewhere in  there) matters at all. Either way they'll have to do their homework in order to find a very good player with this pick. 

 

BAM!

 

And THAT'S really what it will come down to......due diligence when it comes to players selected...no matter whether the team picks 13th or 18th.
That being the case, yes, I'd rather the Wild make the playoffs, get their young guys some post season experience, and the Wild can still, with some work, get a good player with whatever 1st round position they end up in.

[Math]

Absolutely.

 

At that point, just go for it, make everything possible to get in. We'll see if this team has enough ballz to make it through, but they don't have their destiny in their hands anymore...

 

The thing I also agree with @Tomdogis not making the playoffs would send a message above, hoping that it won't fall into the ears of a deaf.

 

This team needs a full rebuild, and for that we've got to go deep in the bottom of the rankings, hope for a Crosby/Malkin/Ovechkin draft year, draft wisely and avoid Oilers' management. Problem, again, Parisé and Suter's contract... {sigh}

[Alexandron]

1 hour ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

 

BAM!

 

And THAT'S really what it will come down to......due diligence when it comes to players selected...no matter whether the team picks 13th or 18th.
That being the case, yes, I'd rather the Wild make the playoffs, get their young guys some post season experience, and the Wild can still, with some work, get a good player with whatever 1st round position they end up in.

Agreed. We need to look for the best player from any pick/any round and not be mostly limited with a 1st round pick. Many times those 1st round picks bring a lot of hope, but not a real results after.
 Here is an example. Our best defenseman Jared Spurgeon was picked during a 6th round draft(156th overall) by NYI in 2008,and never was signed. Wild signed him after had seen his play at the training camp as an invitee before the season 2010-2011. So far this year is his best season in points (42) - 14 goals;28 assists. Prefer to see in our team at least 3-4 defensemen like him real play makers, but not a Bitetto type.
Other nice example - Pavel Datsyuk also was just a 6th round pick(171st overall), but became a legend of a professional hockey. Tampa team with Stamkos was similar for years as Oilers with McDavid until they have got Kucherov -2nd round(58th overall).

Selection, selection and again selection - all we need.
 

[sweetshot]

15 hours ago, Tomdog said:

If everything stays as it is now they would pick 13th and possibly better due to the goofy draft lottery.

If they make the playoffs they pick 16th with no chance of moving up.

Everyone on this team has been in the playoffs and experienced losing.

Missing shows ownership the tweaks that cl wanted aren't enough.

 

I didn't realize they get a ping pong ball or 2(or however the NHL does it) in order to move up in the draft if they don't make the playoffs.