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Finnish Media on the Wild


lynxrattle

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30 minutes ago, Hockey-78 said:

For obvious reasons people like to give hard time to Koivu and I certainly have been one of those but in reality, if we think of the main problems, Koivu isn't even in the top5. For one, his contract is about to expire. And while he isn't good captain material, he's not a catastrophe on blades. Scoring prowess has gone but he's not a turnover machine either who couldn't care less of D.

 

Bigger problems:

Parise

Dubnyk

Staal

Zuccarello

Suter

Spurgeon

 

Maybe even in that order. What do you think?

 

You forgot Leipold at the top of that list.

 

I'd move Zuccarello up that list. Staal has been putting up points at least. And Zuccarello takes some lazy penalties. But it's more or less right.

 

Maybe a bigger problem is that Kunin, Fiala, Greenway, and Donato really haven't developed into anything special. None of those guys are picking up the slack of Parise and Staal's deterioration. Eriksson-Ek seems to be turning into a decent 3C, but is that what you really want from a #1 draft pick? But the rest are mediocre to poor at best. I think they made a mistake keeping Donato up here and not sending him to Iowa without waivers when they had the chance. Now they're stuck with him and he's doing nothing.

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15 minutes ago, IllaZilla said:

 

You forgot Leipold at the top of that list.

 

I'd move Zuccarello up that list. Staal has been putting up points at least. And Zuccarello takes some lazy penalties. But it's more or less right.

 

Maybe a bigger problem is that Kunin, Fiala, Greenway, and Donato really haven't developed into anything special. None of those guys are picking up the slack of Parise and Staal's deterioration. Eriksson-Ek seems to be turning into a decent 3C, but is that what you really want from a #1 draft pick? But the rest are mediocre to poor at best. I think they made a mistake keeping Donato up here and not sending him to Iowa without waivers when they had the chance. Now they're stuck with him and he's doing nothing.

Well, forgot and forgot... I agree he's one of the key factors in this decline but what can you do, trade him? Plus I think he's starting to get pissed off the situation like the average STH. Let's think about case Parise.

 

CL is not a spendthrift. He's not happy about how Parise plays (if he's watched any of the games). He can't trade him and probably won't even for a second think about buying him out. What can he do? Stalemate.

 

What is the current NHL record for the longest contract that has been bought out? Would Leipold have the determination to go that route if say there would be more and more empty seats?

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7 hours ago, Hockey-78 said:

Well, forgot and forgot... I agree he's one of the key factors in this decline but what can you do, trade him? Plus I think he's starting to get pissed off the situation like the average STH. Let's think about case Parise.

 

CL is not a spendthrift. He's not happy about how Parise plays (if he's watched any of the games). He can't trade him and probably won't even for a second think about buying him out. What can he do? Stalemate.

 

What is the current NHL record for the longest contract that has been bought out? Would Leipold have the determination to go that route if say there would be more and more empty seats?

 

We have no idea what Leipold really thinks unless he tells us.  I doubt he's happy about the losing, but he obviously is delusional if he felt this group still has what it takes really to be a playoff contender let alone a Stanley Cup contender.  

 

This is pure speculation on my part, but I think his friendship with #11 / #20 and the friendship he has with Tom Saggisor is what prompted him to make such a foolish deal in the first place and I think he wants to get a return on that investment which is why he is so stubborn about not having a rebuild which would be a concession that investment was a waste of $$$.  

 

Leipold put up with a lot of empty seats in Nashville before he finally decided to sell the club.  He has said he's been losing money from this team for a long time, even when fans were filling all of the seats.  I am not sure how that could be true, but that's what Leipold said.  

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On 11/3/2019 at 10:54 AM, Hockey-78 said:

What is the current NHL record for the longest contract that has been bought out? Would Leipold have the determination to go that route if say there would be more and more empty seats?

The Flyers bought out Ilya Bryzgalov for $23M over 14 years in 2013. About a week later the Lightning bought out Vincent Lecavalier for $32M over 14 years.  Because they were part of the compliance buyouts that were allowed in the previous CBA, neither team incurred any cap hit.

 

Here's the problem with buying Parise out this summer (courtesy of Capfriendly.com):

 

Season        Cap Hit
2020-21        $738,461
2021-22        $2,738,461
2022-23        $6,738,461
2023-24        $7,738,461
2024-25        $7,738,461
2025-26        $1,200,000
2026-27        $1,200,000
2027-28        $1,200,000
2028-29        $1,200,000
2029-30        $1,200,000

 

Basically for the remainder of his contract (until 2025-2026) the Wild get hit with his full cap hit, more or less. Plus they get another $1.2M in dead money for the next five seasons.

 

I'd say even if Leipold wanted to buyout Parise, he can't. It would cripple the team more than the Fenton debacle. Unless there is some way they change the next CBA and allow the compliance buyouts again, the Wild are stuck with Parise unless he gets his agent to make a deal where he waives his NTC and goes to another team...

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17 hours ago, CreaseAndAssist said:

 

We have no idea what Leipold really thinks unless he tells us.  I doubt he's happy about the losing, but he obviously is delusional if he felt this group still has what it takes really to be a playoff contender let alone a Stanley Cup contender.  

 

This is pure speculation on my part, but I think his friendship with #11 / #20 and the friendship he has with Tom Saggisor is what prompted him to make such a foolish deal in the first place and I think he wants to get a return on that investment which is why he is so stubborn about not having a rebuild which would be a concession that investment was a waste of $$$.  

 

Leipold put up with a lot of empty seats in Nashville before he finally decided to sell the club.  He has said he's been losing money from this team for a long time, even when fans were filling all of the seats.  I am not sure how that could be true, but that's what Leipold said.  

Sounds like his main concern is to save faces, too proud to admit it's all ¤#%&ed up. He's not going to be a happy camper after this season when he realises the state of the team and decrease in attendance. Sure he's not a hockey master mind but these actions doesn't even follow any business logic: you publicly admit you're losing money, yet you do nothing to change the course.

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54 minutes ago, IllaZilla said:

The Flyers bought out Ilya Bryzgalov for $23M over 14 years in 2013. About a week later the Lightning bought out Vincent Lecavalier for $32M over 14 years.  Because they were part of the compliance buyouts that were allowed in the previous CBA, neither team incurred any cap hit.

 

Here's the problem with buying Parise out this summer (courtesy of Capfriendly.com):

 

Season        Cap Hit
2020-21        $738,461
2021-22        $2,738,461
2022-23        $6,738,461
2023-24        $7,738,461
2024-25        $7,738,461
2025-26        $1,200,000
2026-27        $1,200,000
2027-28        $1,200,000
2028-29        $1,200,000
2029-30        $1,200,000

 

Basically for the remainder of his contract (until 2025-2026) the Wild get hit with his full cap hit, more or less. Plus they get another $1.2M in dead money for the next five seasons.

 

I'd say even if Leipold wanted to buyout Parise, he can't. It would cripple the team more than the Fenton debacle. Unless there is some way they change the next CBA and allow the compliance buyouts again, the Wild are stuck with Parise unless he gets his agent to make a deal where he waives his NTC and goes to another team...

Thanks, and I think DiPietro's buyout was also thereabouts.

 

Yes, sounds atrocious. Well, good luck with that!

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On 11/3/2019 at 10:38 AM, IllaZilla said:

 

You forgot Leipold at the top of that list.

 

I'd move Zuccarello up that list. Staal has been putting up points at least. And Zuccarello takes some lazy penalties. But it's more or less right.

 

Maybe a bigger problem is that Kunin, Fiala, Greenway, and Donato really haven't developed into anything special. None of those guys are picking up the slack of Parise and Staal's deterioration. Eriksson-Ek seems to be turning into a decent 3C, but is that what you really want from a #1 draft pick? But the rest are mediocre to poor at best. I think they made a mistake keeping Donato up here and not sending him to Iowa without waivers when they had the chance. Now they're stuck with him and he's doing nothing.

 

I would agree, the 'safe' pick turns into blah player that doesn't provide a lot of offensive production or a tempting asset to deal.  At best they're an above average mid-tier player which is a terrible return for a 1st pick in my opinion.  

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18 hours ago, Hockey-78 said:

Sounds like his main concern is to save faces, too proud to admit it's all ¤#%&ed up. He's not going to be a happy camper after this season when he realises the state of the team and decrease in attendance. Sure he's not a hockey master mind but these actions doesn't even follow any business logic: you publicly admit you're losing money, yet you do nothing to change the course.

 

(shrugs)  We'll never really know.  He stated he thinks most bloggers are idiots and he doesn't read them.  I've always found it funny in his comments about needing to be alone in a press box when watching a game as if he's the most intense fan ever.  

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  • 2 months later...

Here's what the main News Channel in Finland had to say about Boudreau:

 

https://yle.fi/urheilu/3-11148109

 

Through Google translate:

 

"I have at least on the side of social media already raised more than once Minnesota-pilot Bruce Boudreau among the best coaches in the ranks so far this season. Even though Wild's mood is slightly down, I still hold my ground. Boudreau has unbelievably ripped everything from a weakened team.

 

Guys from all over the world [the writer probably means average Joe's by this idiom] now score goals in Minnesota. When Minnesota defeated Arizona 8-5 in December, eight different players scored. The same thing happened a week earlier when the team defeated Edmonton 6-5. When it comes to coaching success, Minnesota is at its core."

 

So in a nutshell the writer says that BB is getting everything possible from a weak team.

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5 hours ago, lynxrattle said:

 

So in a nutshell the writer says that BB is getting everything possible from a weak team.

I've read and heard similar saying that BB gets the most out of his players and I'll agree to that.

That's probably why there's so many lines shuffles which really bothered me since even this season we saw with consistent lines a much better game. Passing was crisper and plays looked more fluid.

The top teams have in general set lines but they also have those key players to do so.. We don't so much.

 

I wonder if this article would be different if we had more 'name recognizable' players like past years (even past prime) like Heatley, Hanzal etc instead of Fiala, Donato. Even if the talent level was the same, Would they look at it differently?

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11 hours ago, ClusterChuck said:

I've read and heard similar saying that BB gets the most out of his players and I'll agree to that.

That's probably why there's so many lines shuffles which really bothered me since even this season we saw with consistent lines a much better game. Passing was crisper and plays looked more fluid.

The top teams have in general set lines but they also have those key players to do so.. We don't so much.

 

I wonder if this article would be different if we had more 'name recognizable' players like past years (even past prime) like Heatley, Hanzal etc instead of Fiala, Donato. Even if the talent level was the same, Would they look at it differently?

They probably would be fooled by the names, because in that news channel there is basically only two reporters covering the whole of the NHL. (The media here is not very interested in teams without Finns like Aho, Laine or Barkov.)

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I believe there will be at least one, maybe two buy outs in the next CBA. Why? Because it makes sense for both sides. The teams get badly needed do overs...thus freeing up cap space to sign other players....and the NHLPA has members players paid up front. Many of these players would have been riding buses in the AHL later in their careers so the teams can save the 1 mill in cap space.

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On ‎11‎/‎3‎/‎2019 at 9:55 AM, Hockey-78 said:

For obvious reasons people like to give hard time to Koivu and I certainly have been one of those but in reality, if we think of the main problems, Koivu isn't even in the top5. For one, his contract is about to expire. And while he isn't good captain material, he's not a catastrophe on blades. Scoring prowess has gone but he's not a turnover machine either who couldn't care less of D.

 

Bigger problems:

Parise

Dubnyk

Staal

Zuccarello

Suter

Spurgeon

 

Maybe even in that order. What do you think?

Going off of that list Suter, Dubnyk, Parise, Zuccarello, Staal and Spurgeon would be my priority. Even with the penalties I would take the hit to buy out Suter now and get that cancer out of here. It's clear he is contend with losing as long as he doesn't have to put in effort or work. And of course the excuses come in the form of "he's hurt", "he's going through something", "He has some rust", etc. No, he is not any of that. He is just a fat ass lazy player whose contract indicates he doesn't need to put in any effort to get paid. He wants ice time as this allows him to get those sweet advertisement deals. There is zero chance he isn't a cancer.

 

On ‎11‎/‎3‎/‎2019 at 6:51 PM, CreaseAndAssist said:

 

We have no idea what Leipold really thinks unless he tells us.  I doubt he's happy about the losing, but he obviously is delusional if he felt this group still has what it takes really to be a playoff contender let alone a Stanley Cup contender.  

 

This is pure speculation on my part, but I think his friendship with #11 / #20 and the friendship he has with Tom Saggisor is what prompted him to make such a foolish deal in the first place and I think he wants to get a return on that investment which is why he is so stubborn about not having a rebuild which would be a concession that investment was a waste of $$$.  

 

Leipold put up with a lot of empty seats in Nashville before he finally decided to sell the club.  He has said he's been losing money from this team for a long time, even when fans were filling all of the seats.  I am not sure how that could be true, but that's what Leipold said.  

So either he is one of the worst businessmen there are or he is lying through his teeth and I don't know what is worst.

 

I did enjoy that even a Finnish paper could call this team a tire fire, lol a confusing one at that. Put the Wild have been plagued with bad choice, after bad choice and the lack of ability to change. Bad drafting with bad free agent signings. Add a dash of zero ability to develop players and you got the Wild. Let's not fool ourselves. Players can see this and that's why players like Kessel are avoiding coming here. You will see it more until the team goes into a full rebuild. You can get a bandaid on a cut off arm but if you don't actually get help the gangrene sets it and kills you off.

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  • 1 month later...

The Finnish Broadcasting Company had a big article on Koivu's situation:

https://yle.fi/urheilu/3-11220159

The article had an interesting passage. I paste the passage here translated with Google Translate (I corrected some of the worst errors):

 

"The truth can't be escaped: Koivu hasn't played well this year.

 

And it will hardly get much better for Koivu in the future. Already the previous head coach, Bruce Boudreau, started to play young players more than Koivu as winter progressed, and Dean Evason, who was brought to the bench last week, is thinking of continuing this. Bill Guerin's message, who has been tight-lipped over the last few weeks, has been exceptionally clear: Ice time is earned each night individually.

 

Known as one of the main reasons for the unexpected firing of the coach was Guerin's dissatisfaction with Boudreau's way of managing TOI. Guerin believes that some veteran players were over-played simply because of their status. The last drop, according to reports from Minnesota, was when Koivu looked at two New York Rangers last-minute goals from close range last week. Minnesota's 3-0 lead changed to a 3-4 loss in that match.

 

Guerin's message seemed to be understood, as Koivu played, as previously stated, the least of all the Wild players in the first Evason-led match. Reports from Minnesota also say that Koivu, who is playing the final year of his contract, is not part of the fresh GM's future plans.
 

The situation is, of course, extremely challenging for the player himself. Every NHL player with a thousand matches played has his pride, and Mikko Koivu makes no exception. However, Koivu can handle the situation elegantly and keep the roaring in his stomach [means keeping quiet about what one is really thinking] - to the best of my knowledge, even to the point where there was no voice communication between him and the previous head coach for the last month"

 

The reporter Tommi Seppälä speculated that Boudreau was fired because Guerin thought that BB gave too little TOI to young players. He doesn't tell why he thinks this is the case. I'd say this is his own speculation, but who knows. Koivu has been mum about his thoughts with Seppälä as well. I wonder where he gets the info that Koivu didn't talk to Boudreau for the last month. If it's true I find it revolting. The captain of a team should not stop talking to anyone. That would be traitorous, like a diplomat would refuse to talk to the diplomats of another country the diplomat's home nation is at war with.

 

Seppälä also writes that in this situation Koivu might be ready to end his career after this season. The statement  is largely based on speculation, I think. However, Koivu is now going through a divorce (I thought about the ethics of posting this, but decided to post anyway, because as the captain of the team Koivu represents not just himself but the whole team):

 

https://www.is.fi/viihde/art-2000006413178.html

 

One would think, that in an immensely difficult situation like this Koivu might want to concentrate on arranging the life of his little children in the best possible way. Depending on the mother of his toddlers, that could mean moving back to Europe.

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  • 1 year later...

The Wild's change is getting noticed here in Finland:

 

https://yle.fi/urheilu/3-11813799

 

In a nutshell: the Wild is suddenly "uncharacteristically creative, brave, young" while still defending as well as before. Kahkonen is interviewed, and says Evason has given the team freedom to do what they like in the offensive zone.

 

Kaapo is very happy with the d-core, and mentions the acquisition of Cole, how professional he is.

 

The overall picture of the team in the article is very upbeat and positive. It reminds me of Kaprizov's positivity in fact, and of course Kaprizov's emergence is noticed in the article as well.

 

 

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42 minutes ago, lynxrattle said:

https://www.is.fi/nhl/art-2000007833037.html

 

In Finnish again, and this time it's all about Kaprizov. How sensational he is, how marvelous a skater, and how the Wild previously was a synonym for boring hockey, and now exactly the opposite. 

Nice. More and more interest is coming now towards our team around the world, because people want to see a real show in sports and we are capable to show some nice one. The winning goal on a last second(0.3) in OT by Dumba from a fantastic pass of Zuccarello was just marvelous. I remember when media asked Dumba after the game about Kaprizov's influence on the team. He said that Kirill is our "bratishka", which means a little brother. Thanks to Bill Guerin who was finally able to sign him, when the previous 2 General Managers failed to attract Kaprizov into our club.

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1 hour ago, Alexandron said:

Nice. More and more interest is coming now towards our team around the world, because people want to see a real show in sports and we are capable to show some nice one. The winning goal on a last second(0.3) in OT by Dumba from a fantastic pass of Zuccarello was just marvelous. I remember when media asked Dumba after the game about Kaprizov's influence on the team. He said that Kirill is our "bratishka", which means a little brother. Thanks to Bill Guerin who was finally able to sign him, when the previous 2 General Managers failed to attract Kaprizov into our club.

In Swedish and Norwegian "bra" means "good", so maybe there's a weird, but positive mixup of languages, and they somehow are all "good little brothers", real goodfellas wreaking havoc against the opponents 😉

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Its strange the Wild getting positive attention. Cole was a great addition I didnt think much of at the time but Guerin knew what he was getting. Zuccarello what a change from last year now maybe we are seeing what Fenton was hoping for when he signed him to a bad contract. Thanks for the post lynxrattle nice to see what the Finns think of the Wild. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

The Finnish media is starting to go Kähkönen crazy. Here are a couple of examples from today:

 

https://yle.fi/urheilu/3-11842769

 

https://www.is.fi/nhl/art-2000007865647.html

 

What is also nice for the Wild is how these articles are losing superlatives when describing Kaprizov: "dazzling, incredible, virtuoso" etc.

 

It is good to be a Wild fan these days.

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4 hours ago, lynxrattle said:

The Finnish media is starting to go Kähkönen crazy. Here are a couple of examples from today:

 

https://yle.fi/urheilu/3-11842769

 

https://www.is.fi/nhl/art-2000007865647.html

 

What is also nice for the Wild is how these articles are losing superlatives when describing Kaprizov: "dazzling, incredible, virtuoso" etc.

 

It is good to be a Wild fan these days.

I never realize how fun this it could be. 😉.

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Not so fun anymore. "A rude ending" to Kaapo's win streak, reports the biggest newspaper in Finland.

 

Jääkiekko | Kaapo Kähkösen yhdeksän ottelun voittoputkelle tyly loppu Coloradossa: https://www.hs.fi/urheilu/art-2000007872805.html?share=07c39f2c422f20a9e8a8454f6cbbeee0

 

I think the Wild will soon be forgotten, if play like this continues.

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8 hours ago, lynxrattle said:

Not so fun anymore. "A rude ending" to Kaapo's win streak, reports the biggest newspaper in Finland.

 

Jääkiekko | Kaapo Kähkösen yhdeksän ottelun voittoputkelle tyly loppu Coloradossa: https://www.hs.fi/urheilu/art-2000007872805.html?share=07c39f2c422f20a9e8a8454f6cbbeee0

 

I think the Wild will soon be forgotten, if play like this continues.

I hope not. He still can start a new 10 games winning streak this season as a rookie goalie. We still have 27 more games to play. I am sure, the coaching staff made some good conclusions to play the team better after these 2 embarrassing and not acceptable at all games for the NHL team. Every point is important in that short season.

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