GDT: 09/27/13 Wild@Blues pre-season 7:00 PM CT

[TaLoN]

Sounds like Pominville was non-the worse for wear according to Russo's blog... Mitchell on the other hand... hope it's not a concussion.

 

[Gaps]

Pretty lame game summary by Russo in the Strib, in that he fails to come out and say how the supposed Granlund vs Zucker battle played-out in tonight's game. Based upon the emphasis he has placed on the battle in past articles, his personal preference is Zucker. Notice how little Granlund was talked about.

I think he mentioned on Twitter (could have been one of his videos too, I'm not 100% sure) earlier this week that the reason he prefers Zucker despite Granlund having had a great camp is because Zucker's a scorer and a team starving for goals should favor a scorer over a setup guy, or something to this effect. I can't say I understand that reasoning with the lineup they seem to be considering icing, because a 2nd line of Zucker/Nino-Coyle-Heatley has no setup guy. There are two ways to fix that, one involves Granlund and the other one does not. You could either flip Pominville and Heatley or replace Zucker/Nino with Granlund. Icing a line with just shooters on it does not seem like a great idea to me. You need both setup guys and scorers.

Without being able to see the game its hard to know what actually happened.

At least all the goals came against our 4th string goalie, and we seemed to be doing fine before he came in.

Even without seeing the game it's obviously Koivu's fault that our 4th string goalie let in 4 goals with 11 shots.

 

[TaLoN]

I think he mentioned on Twitter (could have been one of his videos too, I'm not 100% sure) earlier this week that the reason he prefers Zucker despite Granlund having had a great camp is because Zucker's a scorer and a team starving for goals should favor a scorer over a setup guy, or something to this effect. I can't say I understand that reasoning with the lineup they seem to be considering icing, because a 2nd line of Zucker/Nino-Coyle-Heatley has no setup guy. There are two ways to fix that, one involves Granlund and the other one does not. You could either flip Pominville and Heatley or replace Zucker/Nino with Granlund. Icing a line with just shooters on it does not seem like a great idea to me. You need both setup guys and scorers.



Even without seeing the game it's obviously Koivu's fault that our 4th string goalie let in 4 goals with 11 shots.

That is what he was saying earlier in the week... then Zucker stunk it up in that first pre-season game vs the Blues and he started changing his tune. He then has said several times since that he thinks Granlund makes the team, and one of the biggest reasons why is because of the PP... Granlund feeding both Coyle and Niederreiter on the PP is too good to pass up.

As for the goaltending issue tonight.. it's clear that the team was much more confident playing in front of Harding. He only faced 15 shots... Gustafsson faced 11 in a LOT less time!

Not concerned. Suter will be back in the lineup as will Ballard come Thursday. Prosser and Stoner in the pressbox, that Defensive unit will be much more solid.

 

[this providence]

Things I better not see during the regular season:

• A second line of Heatley - Coyle - Fontaine. I can understand, to a point, Yeo's obsession of Fontaine; he's a battler and earned his shot at the NHL level. However, to run the risk of completely ruining production from two players the team absolutely needs strong years out of is nonsensical. Fontaine has proven in this organization that he deserves a look on the Wild but, anything other than 4th line duties will be a massive mistake. Especially with the other, more high-end, options the Wild have at their disposal.

• A 4th line consisting of all, or a majority of the youngsters. Understand the appeal in theory but Yeo's 4th line has never seen much time given amount of minutes he feels he's needed to give the top line and any line that consists of Brodziak. Throw in the "second line" and the kids wouldn't see more than 4-8 minutes a game.

 

[Casper]

Things I better not see during the regular season:

• A second line of Heatley - Coyle - Fontaine. I can understand, to a point, Yeo's obsession of Fontaine; he's a battler and earned his shot at the NHL level. However, to run the risk of completely ruining production from two players the team absolutely needs strong years out of is nonsensical. Fontaine has proven in this organization that he deserves a look on the Wild but, anything other than 4th line duties will be a massive mistake. Especially with the other, more high-end, options the Wild have at their disposal.

• A 4th line consisting of all, or a majority of the youngsters. Understand the appeal in theory but Yeo's 4th line has never seen much time given amount of minutes he feels he's needed to give the top line and any line that consists of Brodziak. Throw in the "second line" and the kids wouldn't see more than 4-8 minutes a game.

Agree. It would have been nice to use a different 'fourth line' center and let Granlund play with Coyle and Heatley during the game. I want Fontaine as our fourth line winger but am highly skeptical of him playing higher than the third line winger.

I am sure the line up was mostly for evaluation purposes though...

 

[MNWILDFAN001]

The Wild are going to have to be more physical. The Blues aren't going to stop if there's no consequences. St. Louis just figured out a game plan to beat the Wild.

 

[Phant03]

The Wild are going to have to be more physical. The Blues aren't going to stop if there's no consequences. St. Louis just figured out a game plan to beat the Wild.

Yup, just make sure Prosser always plays on the top pairing, Brodin always plays the left side and the Wild always play their 4th option at goalie.

 

[rynryn]

wait, so some people don't actually find fault on the score with the skaters instead of the goalie? listening to the radio and talking to people after we were hemmed in the zone most of the last period. that's pretty clearly not anything Johan had control of. didn't watch it but i'm guessing the quality of shots was pretty good, too. probably didn't do a great job, but I think our skaters deserve most of the fault.

 

[MNWILDFAN001]

Yup, just make sure Prosser always plays on the top pairing, Brodin always plays the left side and the Wild always play their 4th option at goalie.

It's not like this is the first time the Wild have struggled against physical teams. Sure having Suter and Backstrom in may help keep it close. But I predict the same result. A loss and our players getting roughed up with no one on our team stepping up.

 

[Nharris31]

It's not like this is the first time the Wild have struggled against physical teams. Sure having Suter and Backstrom in may help keep it close. But I predict the same result. A loss and our players getting roughed up with no one on our team stepping up.

Our we got say it's preseason and they didn't want risk getting hurt.

 

[Teddy10Beers]

It's not like this is the first time the Wild have struggled against physical teams. Sure having Suter and Backstrom in may help keep it close. But I predict the same result. A loss and our players getting roughed up with no one on our team stepping up.

I expect we'll see a lot of movement of players from Houston ... errrr ... Des Moines early on. For the opener on Thursday against the Kings (who are just as big and bad as the Blues), I wouldn't be surprised to see both Konopka and Dowell on the 4th line. Since we'll likely carry 8 d-men until we know the status of Dumba (beyond his 9 game allotment) that ties up another spot that would otherwise go to a forward. It's possible that both Zucker and Granlund start the year in Iowa and Fontaine on the roster if we don't want to expose him to waivers.

 

[Phant03]

It's not like this is the first time the Wild have struggled against physical teams. Sure having Suter and Backstrom in may help keep it close. But I predict the same result. A loss and our players getting roughed up with no one on our team stepping up.

It is an exhibition game is more the point. Nothing to get too excited about.

 

[Lord Helix]

Since I actually SAW the game 3 rows from the penalty box, I figured I'd let you guys know that the Blues weren't very physical at all. The 3rd period tightened up a lot, but it wasn't dirty plays.

 

[Puhis]

Since I actually SAW the game 3 rows from the penalty box, I figured I'd let you guys know that the Blues weren't very physical at all. The 3rd period tightened up a lot, but it wasn't dirty plays.

Woo hoo. You want a ****ing medal for seeing the game?

I have a hard time believing Backes injuring Pominville wasn't a dirty play. Same applies for Polak vs Mitchell.

 

[tyratoku]

Woo hoo. You want a ****ing medal for seeing the game?

I have a hard time believing Backes injuring Pominville wasn't a dirty play. Same applies for Polak vs Mitchell.

Dang, dude, why are you getting so hostile?

While it's easy to believe that they got hurt on dirty plays, Russo hasn't made a big deal out of it and this guy who actually saw the game came in and told us it wasn't dirty.

Sure, he could be lying, but why would he? He took the time out of his day to come to another board and post.

 

[Foxlockbox]

Dang, dude, why are you getting so hostile?

While it's easy to believe that they got hurt on dirty plays, Russo hasn't made a big deal out of it and this guy who actually saw the game came in and told us it wasn't dirty.

Sure, he could be lying, but why would he? He took the time out of his day to come to another board and post.

Is it actually news to you that some people see only red when someone from this team gets injured? There usually is 1-3 posts calling out for a bloody massacre after every injury case. Sadly common sense doesn't return to every one of us even several hours later.

 

[Nsjohnson]

Are all of you joking me?

Preseason. Take fifty steps away from the panic button and walk outside and take freaking breath.

A few of you are taking all of this just WAY too seriously.

 

[TaLoN]

Woo hoo. You want a ****ing medal for seeing the game?

I have a hard time believing Backes injuring Pominville wasn't a dirty play. Same applies for Polak vs Mitchell.

One...no report of Pominville being injured. In fact, Russo reported the opposite. Pominville is fine.

Yeo did say the play on Mitchell was a slew foot trip though, but without seeing it, hard to call it dirty when there's no real uproar other than that passing comment.

Two...why so hostile to a fan coming in and telling what he saw, when none of us saw a damn thing?

 

[Gaps]

wait, so some people don't actually find fault on the score with the skaters instead of the goalie? listening to the radio and talking to people after we were hemmed in the zone most of the last period. that's pretty clearly not anything Johan had control of. didn't watch it but i'm guessing the quality of shots was pretty good, too. probably didn't do a great job, but I think our skaters deserve most of the fault.

I was trying to point out the absolute ridiculousness of placing the blame on a single skater like some people here chose to do, not saying it was all on the goalie. I'm sure there was a trust issue between him and the skaters, but I wouldn't say it's directly anyone's fault if the team has little trust in the #4 goalie who's just come over from Europe.

 

[Hall of Faber]

On the radio last night, Tom Reid said Backes and Pominville ran into each other.

 

[MNWILDFAN001]

On the radio last night, Tom Reid said Backes and Pominville ran into each other.

I didn't see it. Russo tweeted

Pominville goes down hard. Backes got him from behind in the melon. Wild PP. Pominville slow to get up but seems ok

Although that doesn't really explain how it happened.

 

[Puhis]

I didn't see it. Russo tweeted

Although that doesn't really explain how it happened.

That sounds like Backes hit Pominville from behind in the head.

But yeah, nevermind the actual reporter, let's all trust an opposite teams' fan instead.

 

[DeuceMN]

That sounds like Backes hit Pominville from behind in the head.

But yeah, nevermind the actual reporter, let's all trust an opposite teams' fan instead.

Why would he take his time to come to our board and make an overall friendly post, with the REAL intention of deceiving us about one tiny event in a preseason game?

Come on man, geesus, THEY are not out to get us

There's no uproar from the Wild brass about anything and Pominville is ok.

Let's move on the regular season where we really can hate on Backes

 

[this providence]

Why would he take his time to come to our board and make an overall friendly post, with the REAL intention of deceiving us about one tiny event in a preseason game?

Come on man, geesus, THEY are not out to get us

There's no uproar from the Wild brass about anything and Pominville is ok.

Let's move on the regular season where we really can hate on Backes

This.

Holy hell.

 

[Puhis]

Why would he take his time to come to our board and make an overall friendly post, with the REAL intention of deceiving us about one tiny event in a preseason game?

Come on man, geesus, THEY are not out to get us

There's no uproar from the Wild brass about anything and Pominville is ok.

Let's move on the regular season where we really can hate on Backes

Yeah, sure, other teams' fans come here to post completely non-biased, informative posts about hits involving their player and our player. But yeah, Russo must be talking out of his ass when he says that Pominville was hit from behind in the head. Why would CarvinSigX otherwise suggest that the game "wasn't physical"? I mean, only two of our players were injured, I guess that's a standard hockey game by STL standards.