lynxrattle Posted October 9, 2019 Share Posted October 9, 2019 In case you missed this: http://m.startribune.com/wild-s-mats-zuccarello-frustrated-by-his-slow-start-in-offensive-end/562569412/ I still think he'll get better than this. On the other hand the thing is that he says he just doesn't see the other players, and that happens to me as well. Our forwards are have been nowhere to be seen. If the goal scorers are not in places to score from, what can a playmaker do? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CreaseAndAssist Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 (shrugs) But isn't this kind of telling? He can't find anyone to set up because so often no one is doing much of anything out there. Parise, Staal...Koivu are all looking slower and older and they're not generating many shots whether at 5-on-5 or on the power play. Most of the shooting and real opportunities have come from the blueline. Sure...there have been moments where they've set up Zucker and Donato...but have the cashed in? Nope. If I had to give advice to Zuccarello, take the shot yourself...waiting for these guys to get open is a loser's gambit. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClusterChuck Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 “I feel like I don’t see anyone out there” Mats, Look behind you. 5 or so preseason games clustered with Iowan's and only 2 reg games, Oh and a new team. We'll probably see the 'Boudreau Shuffle' soon, So Mats will feel like this for a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynxrattle Posted October 10, 2019 Author Share Posted October 10, 2019 I wonder if our d-men could help here. Could Zuc just try to feed Dumba and Spurgeon, and to a lesser degree Brodin, Suter and Hunt? The forwards are pretty useless as goal scorers. Could Dumba get near 30 goals, Spurgeon near 20, and the rest of the d-man near 10? That would help a bit with the lack of scoring from the forwards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IllaZilla Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 1 hour ago, lynxrattle said: I wonder if our d-men could help here. Could Zuc just try to feed Dumba and Spurgeon, and to a lesser degree Brodin, Suter and Hunt? The forwards are pretty useless as goal scorers. Could Dumba get near 30 goals, Spurgeon near 20, and the rest of the d-man near 10? That would help a bit with the lack of scoring from the forwards. Doug Risebrough tried that already. It failed spectacularly. Petteri Nummelin, Marek Zidliky anyone? Keep in mind where the defense sets up in the zone. Usually near the blue line, so that means any feeds coming from Zucarello are going to result in shots from farther out. The Wild already do plenty of perimeter shooting. Sure, Dumba or Spurgeon could cheat in and try a one-timer off the feed, but then who is covering for them? That would require a forward to move from near the goal to the blue line. Too many moving pieces. We're just going to have to be patient and hope that Zuccarello finds some chemistry with someone, because it doesn't appear that he's found any with Parise in six games... 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexandron Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 7 hours ago, CreaseAndAssist said: (shrugs) But isn't this kind of telling? He can't find anyone to set up because so often no one is doing much of anything out there. Parise, Staal...Koivu are all looking slower and older and they're not generating many shots whether at 5-on-5 or on the power play. Most of the shooting and real opportunities have come from the blueline. Sure...there have been moments where they've set up Zucker and Donato...but have the cashed in? Nope. If I had to give advice to Zuccarello, take the shot yourself...waiting for these guys to get open is a loser's gambit. Besides the advice to take the shot yourself; I will add few more for Zuccarello - be creative and productive yourself; use your eye glasses to look sharper; even to provide shots among blueliners; or to look for shooters in lines 3 and 4 if not capable to find them in lines 1 or 2. If nothing is working above then ,please, sit and watch the game in the press box by giving your spot at least to one of the players - Mayhew; Sturm;Sokolov;Dewar;Lodnia to get them a try for a minimal professional NHL experience. It makes me sad, that the last 3 players are not used yet even at the minor Iowa club, because 5 new contracts signed in August for some veterans from other clubs plus insertion of J.T. Brown there occupied the space for the youngsters. Do not understand why we needed so many oldish players in Iowa instead of developing/resurfacing our own seedlings? Do we have a coaching staff capable to train our own players? And actually, I found a different view of J.T.Brown winning goal during the first game - he did not redirect the puck into the net , but the shot of Nico Sturm just touched the J.T.Brown's breast and shoulder and went directly into the net. I had a feeling that J.T.Brown even was slightly scared of the shot. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hockey-78 Posted October 11, 2019 Share Posted October 11, 2019 Maybe the offensive corps should carry out their defensive duties better and worry about scoring only after that. And hey Mats - don't start throwing your line mates under the bus already. It's not like your game has been superior to anyone. Then again, did someone really think he'd be as good as Granlund? SMH 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynxrattle Posted October 12, 2019 Author Share Posted October 12, 2019 Defence is the base of any offense, so definitely yes. Especially with this team. Considering Zuc I thought he might be a little bit better than Granny. Not by much, and I don't think any team should have any top forwards who are not adept goal scorers. I'm not ready to lose hope on Zuc, though. It's early. Give him ten games. Then we'll throw him under the biggest and fastest Greyhound there is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynxrattle Posted November 6, 2019 Author Share Posted November 6, 2019 (edited) I don't want to jinx this, but last five games Lizard is 3+2. Plusminus was still negative by one. I'm probably clinging on m straws here, but I'm still hoping we get some value from him to compensate for his pay and NMC. Perhaps he's getting accustomed to the way the team and his linemates play. Edited November 6, 2019 by lynxrattle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClusterChuck Posted November 8, 2019 Share Posted November 8, 2019 On 11/6/2019 at 3:04 AM, lynxrattle said: I don't want to jinx this, but last five games Lizard is 3+2. Plusminus was still negative by one. I'm probably clinging on m straws here, but I'm still hoping we get some value from him to compensate for his pay and NMC. Perhaps he's getting accustomed to the way the team and his linemates play. At least he's looking like he cares and wants to contribute. Right now I can count on 1 hand how many players I'm interested in watching and how they do, I'll put Mats as 1 of the 5. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexandron Posted December 8, 2020 Share Posted December 8, 2020 Mats Zuccarello will not be able to start the season of 2020-2021 because he underwent right arm surgery on reconstruction of the torn ligament few weeks ago. According to the article below we will have few options on players to fill his spot. I would prefer to see in his spot 3 available players Mayhew, Rossi or Sokolov for developing some stronger chemistry with other players from the big club: https://www.hockeywilderness.com/2020/12/4/22154396/mats-zuccarello-to-undergo-arm-surgery-minnesota-wild-2020-21-season-nick-bjugstad-marco-rossi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CreaseAndAssist Posted December 9, 2020 Share Posted December 9, 2020 (sigh) But honestly...who cares? Zuccarello is now out. Darn. I am sure we can find another player that can disappoint for a lot less than Zucc currently does. IMO, the person that should be happiest is Victor Rask because now it puts him a little closer to a playing spot with the club. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimtown guy Posted December 12, 2020 Share Posted December 12, 2020 On 12/9/2020 at 1:35 PM, CreaseAndAssist said: (sigh) But honestly...who cares? Zuccarello is now out. Darn. I am sure we can find another player that can disappoint for a lot less than Zucc currently does. IMO, the person that should be happiest is Victor Rask because now it puts him a little closer to a playing spot with the club. Oh goodie. Rask to the rescue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Icechipper Posted December 17, 2020 Share Posted December 17, 2020 I haven't quite figured out how Rask once put up 48 points in Carolina and now is viewed as a straggler. He was a second rounder and is still only 27. More than that, the Sweden has a sister named Fanny, which is cool by itself Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CreaseAndAssist Posted December 17, 2020 Share Posted December 17, 2020 On 12/11/2020 at 8:05 PM, Jimtown guy said: Oh goodie. Rask to the rescue (shrugs) Not suggesting he's going to bail the team out. Yet it probably gives him perhaps a chance to slot into the lineup so he can do something for us. It's tough to do that if he's rarely ever given a chance to do so. I think the skating; and lack of speed is really the main issue. He actually handles the puck fairly well and has decent instincts, but I think the team wants to be a faster, up tempo squad so which is why he feels terribly misplaced. The league has a whole wants to continue to be faster and younger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimtown guy Posted December 17, 2020 Share Posted December 17, 2020 1 hour ago, CreaseAndAssist said: (shrugs) Not suggesting he's going to bail the team out. Yet it probably gives him perhaps a chance to slot into the lineup so he can do something for us. It's tough to do that if he's rarely ever given a chance to do so. I think the skating; and lack of speed is really the main issue. He actually handles the puck fairly well and has decent instincts, but I think the team wants to be a faster, up tempo squad so which is why he feels terribly misplaced. The league has a whole wants to continue to be faster and younger. That’s my thing with Rask. It’s like he’s pulling a plow out there. Hey I hope he does well but I just don’t see it happening Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Icechipper Posted December 18, 2020 Share Posted December 18, 2020 Interesting too that Rask has been skating since he was two, likely having spent nearly as much time on ice as on tundra. I'm guessing he needs to be slotted somewhere rather that being a utility forward. Never heard that the issue of Rask is work ethic, or lack thereof. Now Zucarello, we need to remind him to cut his stick down. He's a Smurf using a Chara pattern twig.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexandron Posted March 1, 2021 Share Posted March 1, 2021 (edited) On 10/10/2019 at 3:09 PM, IllaZilla said: Keep in mind where the defense sets up in the zone. Usually near the blue line, so that means any feeds coming from Zucarello are going to result in shots from farther out. The Wild already do plenty of perimeter shooting. Sure, Dumba or Spurgeon could cheat in and try a one-timer off the feed, but then who is covering for them? That would require a forward to move from near the goal to the blue line. Too many moving pieces. We're just going to have to be patient and hope that Zuccarello finds some chemistry with someone, because it doesn't appear that he's found any with Parise in six games... Interesting , how IllaZilla was absolutely right about 2 years ago regarding Zuccarello play . Actually, today Mats Zuccarello was named NHL's 3rd Star of the week. Here is a nice link to read about it: https://www.hockeywilderness.com/2021/3/1/22307653/matt-zuccarello-nhl-third-star-of-the-week-minnesota-wild-kirll-kaprizov-matt-dumba-overtime-winner Edited March 1, 2021 by Alexandron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynxrattle Posted March 2, 2021 Author Share Posted March 2, 2021 We'll hope he continues like this![knocks on wood] 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexandron Posted June 28, 2021 Share Posted June 28, 2021 And he did that very successfully with his teammate Kaprizov this season. He is a very very smart player. Interesting fact, Mats Zuccarello received a permission from the Wild team to participate at Olympics for the Norway team. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimtown guy Posted December 8, 2021 Share Posted December 8, 2021 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynxrattle Posted December 8, 2021 Author Share Posted December 8, 2021 I had forgotten Zucc is already 34. He does not show the mileage yet, IMO. He can keep up with Kap using his hockey sense. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexandron Posted December 8, 2021 Share Posted December 8, 2021 45 minutes ago, lynxrattle said: I had forgotten Zucc is already 34. He does not show the mileage yet, IMO. He can keep up with Kap using his hockey sense. As well as with Heart Man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynxrattle Posted December 9, 2021 Author Share Posted December 9, 2021 8 hours ago, Alexandron said: As well as with Heart Man. It's a good mix. Nice chemistry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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