GDT: 2/23/13 - Wild @ Flames 9:00 PM CST - Jinx edition

[saywut]

Ofcourse Yeo has the respect of the top players, he sticks with them no matter what. Koivu could go pointless the whole year and he wouldn't split him up with Parise.

People talk about how Yeo is juggling the lines and its ruining everything but he isn't changing the lines anywhere close to as much as JL.

Changing the lines for Yeo means move 1 player.

Great. Scratch Koivu and Parise tomorrow. We get shutout and everyone calls for his head. JL actually stuck with winger combinations quite a bit and rotated centers because we lacked talent up the middle. Now we've got a #1 and #3 center its harder to do that, gotta rotate the wings.

 

[melinko]

Great. Scratch Koivu and Parise tomorrow. We get shutout and everyone calls for his head. JL actually stuck with winger combinations quite a bit and rotated centers because we lacked talent up the middle. Now we've got a #1 and #3 center its harder to do that, gotta rotate the wings.

You could go Parise-Cullen-Coyle and Heatley-Koivu-Seto without causing much trouble.

 

[thestonedkoala]

Sorry guys I'm going to bow out of this debate. I like your arguments and I can see your point of view point definitely. But I have my opinions as well. So I appreciate the debate. A lot of you (especially Jarick) have good points.

 

[Dee Oh Cee]

Yes. Other teams do dump and chase, but not all the time. Good teams will carry the puck over the blue line much, much more than the Wild do. If all you do is dump and chase, the other team will just stop moving and block your forecheck. If you mix it up sometimes and handle the puck, they have to respect the option and keep moving. Wild don't mix it up nearly enough.

Russo's looking into this whole thing:

As I wrote on the blog a few weeks ago, fans seem to be tweeting me more and more with frustration about Mike Yeo’s “system†– which is fan lingo for how often the Wild dumps and chases.

As I wrote a few weeks ago, the Wild’s gameplan is no different than most every team in the league. If the D is gapping up and the only alternative will be to turn the puck over at the offensive blue line (Terry Murray used to tell me two worst places to turn over a puck are at the blue lines), the Wild is supposed to dump the puck.

The problem hasn’t been the dumping. It’s the chasing.

The problem is the team hasn’t done a consistent enough job with its forecheck to either get the puck back with proper placement or going to work once it gets the puck back behind the opposing D. It takes committed courage and effort and physicality to go get that puck and go to work with it.

Zach Parise started laughing when I told him today that fans are ripping the Wild’s system.

“We went to the Finals dumping and chasing [with New Jersey],†Parise said.

Not only that, the Final Four in the NHL last year dumped and chased – Los Angeles, Phoenix, Rangers and Devils. The Penguins won a Cup a few years ago by dumping and chasing.

That’s a fact. You can hate it, but that’s just the way the NHL is played.

The point of dumping and chasing, especially early in games, is to soften up the defense for later in games so either the D doesn’t want to go get that puck or they’re backing up and you can actually carry it in.

So I’ll write more about that in Tuesday’s paper, so please give it a read. Real good stuff from Parise and Mikko Koivu.

 

[saywut]

You could go Parise-Cullen-Coyle and Heatley-Koivu-Seto without causing much trouble.

Well Heatley-Koivu-Seto didn't exactly light it up last year, can't blame Yeo for not going back to it. Don't see how putting Parise with a couple 3rd line talents(at this point in time) is going to help him find his game either.

Russo's looking into this whole thing:

Pretty much echoing what I've been saying, every team runs it and the problem is the placement/chasing. Try to soften the D. Try to back them off too, but like I said they're not afraid of us so they force us to dump.

 

[WildisLaw]

Russo's looking into this whole thing:

Who do you think got to him

Jarick summed it up perfectly.

I have a good feeling about tomorrow's game.

 

[melinko]

Well Heatley-Koivu-Seto didn't exactly light it up last year, can't blame Yeo for not going back to it. Don't see how putting Parise with a couple 3rd line talents(at this point in time) is going to help him find his game either.



Pretty much echoing what I've been saying, every team runs it and the problem is the placement/chasing. Try to soften the D. Try to back them off too, but like I said they're not afraid of us so they force us to dump.

Koivu last year was 0.8 ppg, this year he is 0.7 ~ 12% lower
Heatley last year was 0.64 ppg, this year he is 0.52 ~ 18% lower
Seto last year was 0.52 ppg, this year he is 0.35 ~ 32% lower

I just don't understand how we can go:
Heatley-Koivu-Parise -- doesn't work
Coyle-Koivu-Parise -- doesn't work
PMB-Koivu-Parise -- doesn't work

without even trying something else.

Maybe something else wont work but we haven't even tried it.

I feel the Coyle-Cullen-Parise could work because the 2nd line gets shooting lanes but is weak along the boards, I think Parise and Coyle can win board battles and still have enough speed to keep the shooting lanes open.
I also believe it keeps the 1st line dangerous enough to prevent defense from shifting to shut down the 2nd.

 

[rynryn]

according to NHL.com Heater is on the same goals per game pace as last year, but with over a minute less ice time per game.

 

[Keeptdos]

Parise with the tongue!

 

[Billy Mays Here*]

Parise with the tongue!

Wrong thread there buddy.

 

[Wild48]

also in the wrong damn thread

 

[GopherState]

This is why for the record having the date of the game in the GDT title is a must-have.