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

[Avder]

It takes you only 20 minutes to write a dissertation?

Took me like 6 to write that.

 

[DeuceMN]

It takes you only 20 minutes to write a dissertation?

Eh oh!

 

[vitogor]

I just dont know what to say about this ****ing team anymore. It just seems like night after night they come out and only a handful of them even give a ****.

This team doesn't work hard. They give up. They talk a big game but they can't back it up. This team has more talent on it than most of the teams that have beaten us this season, but we have the worst god damned offense in the entire NHL. We might as well write our final score down ahead of time: one goal. Our wins and losses are determined by if we can hold our opponent without a goal for a whole game, or if we can take them to a shootout tied 1-1. Because we sure as hell can't get that second goal in regulation! At least not with anything even remotely resembling regularity.

So what do we get when we sit down and watch a Wild game this season? A piss poor start, a little jump in the second usually, and a piss poor third. All we do is dump and chase, we're too god damned soft to bring the puck over the blueline on someones stick, and we get pushed around all the time.

Oh and the powerplay looks like burnt out garbage.

And on top of that, we're rotating player after player up from Houston as if were throwing players at the wall and trying to see what sticks. Almost none of our guys from there have gotten anything resembling a good look, they are get sent down a game or two later.

That is most everyone except Granlund. What the **** is Yeo doing to this kid? The guy has a phenomenal hockey sense, he just needs to get used to the pro game some more. He was doing great in Houston, so why not send him down there and get him toughened up and a little more seasoned? Instead were destroying his confidence by sticking him on the fourth ****ing line or were scratching him. Yeah, thats a FANTASTIC way to develop a player with such potential. Professor James Sheppard approves of this tactic.

For ****s sake...

I have no idea what is wrong with this team. Things were supposed to be different this year, after enduring year after year of total garbage. No, we're not supposed to be an elite team yet, but we should at the very least be a lock for a playoff spot with this roster. Instead it's the same ****ing thing as last year, and now I'm writing more of the same ****ing rants.

So who the hell is at fault here? Is it Yeo? Quite possibly. I HAVE to imagine his seat is getting a little hot right now. Does he deserve to be fired? I could go either way at this point honestly. In fact if I wake up tomorrow and hear that we've fired Yeo and given Ruff a job, I will probably enjoy a brief surge of optimism. I really want Yeo to succeed, I really do, because he seems like he really knows his ****, but how long are we going to let this slide, which has gone on for a year and two months now, continue? This team needs SOMETHING to spark it. Again, I have no idea what that is, it's the job of the coach and GM to figure it out, and it does not seem like they are getting the job done in that department.

I am perfectly happy with the job GMCF is doing. He has built an amazing team that SHOULD be giving Vancouver at least a half-assed contest for the division.

I had the same doubts about Yeo now as I did when I wrote my Eddy Xmas disaster rant. Yeo just does not seem like he knows how to motivate players. I mean we lost to ****ing Calgary tonight. The team with the leagues worst home record! What is our excuse? We don't have one anymore! We're deep enough into the season that all the sluggishness from this seasons hit-the-ground-running start should be long since worked out. But this team continues to look like crap on ice, and parts that were working earlier like the top line, just are not doing anything anymore.

Remember what I said last year? That I hate this team?

Well I STILL ****ing hate this team.

I am just disgusted here. Something needs to happen, and something needs to happen SOON.

But somehow I know that if we do end up firing Yeo, it will be at a time when no good coaches are available anymore. Why? Because that's just the Minnesota way. We never do things at the right time. Who wants to give me odds that we go on a hot streak the moment we are effectively eliminated from playoff contention? Anyone? Show of hands? Yeah, we can look forward to picking 10th again this year, cause we can't even fail right.

I don't get it. We just can not seem to get a hockey team that is consistent here. We get maybe one good year every 10-15 years of so when it comes to pro hockey here. It's a disgrace. A ****ing disgrace that Minnesota, a state so hockey obsessed that its Boys High School Hockey tournament outdraws the High School Football Playoffs in Texas, does not have a quality pro-team. We deserve one.

Maybe we're just ****ing cursed. I don't ****ing know.

God dammit, where's the tylenol...

/AvderRant

The mother of all rants right here. And I agree with every single word. Can't stand watching this garbage anymore.

 

[W75]

I was just "going to get 4 hours of sleep before the game, then watch the awesome game", and I just woke up. Decided not going to watch the game, watched highlights from NHL.com. Now I'm kinda happy I didn't watch the game.

I was drowsing trough the game. Was asleep maybe half of it. Don't feel that I missed anything. If this group of players are some kind of a team, they're lacking a common goal. Or an idea how to get there.

 

[behemolari]

Its the same reason every night though. Not executing. Lacking in the mental aspects. Even when we win, we're not executing well. Maybe a higher percentage of the time, but you'd like that to be above half the game.



We actually do carry it into the zone sometimes. But yes, the system is predicated on wearing a team down on the fore-check, which believe it or not is what the Flyers try to do too. Are we successful? No, but that's on the players, not the coaches. It's their jobs to make the right decisions with and without the puck to put themselves in successful scenarios. They don't. And its not 1 guy, everyone's a culprit though some more than others.

And if its not on the players because they're not "fits", then that is on the GM. He's had 4 years to build a team, the DR excuse isn't valid on his end either. He signed/traded/drafted every guy on this team with the exception of a constant healthy scratch(Bouchard) and our #1 goalie. This is a cap ceiling team, the expectations should be high, regardless of how many 20 year olds are in our line-up, regardless of how many changes we made in the off-season and the lack of training camp. We've had enough time to establish those things.

so youre saying when coach doesn't know how to use his material at all, then GM's fault ..no, it's just bad coaching! tools are there, but result is frigging nightmare.

 

[thestonedkoala]

Different team, same results. Same excuses, same scapegoat. The problems with this team lie much, much deeper than just one coach and one player. The organization isn't a mess, the development though is. I don't know how much we realize how good Brodin really is when we look at the development mess that has been inherited and continued with this team. Bulmer? Regressed. Phillips? Looks like a bust. Hackett? Scandella? Spurgeon? It's really sad how mediocre we really are when it comes to developing talent.

Yes, I believe Yeo is slightly the problem but it does no good to throw the captain off the boat when the first mate and everyone else on the boat is the problem. These same damn problems came up under Lemaire (Gaborik and his 'arguments' with Lemaire over stifling offense) to Richards to Yeo. How many more times are going to simply re-arrange the deck chairs on this boat and instead just rebuild the entire damn thing and this time do it right?

I don't think Parise and Suter realized just have prevalent the mediocrity is on this team.

Trade Koivu + 2nd for Getzlaf, something just to wake this team up. Give them a cold splash to the face.

Buy out Heatley, trade Setoguchi at the deadline. Let Bouchard and Cullen walk. Turn the team over to Parise because at least he sounds like a leader. What the hell were they talking about in that 'player only' meeting? How to show even less passion and play on the ice? If this is the response they get from a player only meeting, something is wrong. And it isn't the coaching. I could expect it from a guy like Zucker or Coyle. But Heatley? Koivu? Brodziak? These guys are damn professionals and have been playing for a decade or so. What do they want? Someone to hold their 'effin hands and shelter them?

Basic play. Not system. Not style. BASIC PLAY they are losing at. We have been last in shots on goal probably now for a decade. And goal scoring? We've been in the bottom 5 since 2009-2010 and the bottom 1/4 for most of their existence. This team has been a bit of a train wreck since it's inauguration with a few bright spots here and there but for the most part, we feel like the Cleveland Browns.

Fletcher has brought in goal scorers and has constantly changed his team up to give it a pulse but nothing has worked. Havlat, Nystrom, Parise, Suter, Zidlicky, Staubitz, Powe, Cullen, Brodziak, Setoguchi, Heatley, Gilbert....How many more players are we going to bring in and change up the roster?

Finally, my biggest issue with Koivu is he's being paid like an elite player (26th highest salary in the NHL) and hasn't shown that elite player ability yet. Are we really paying him that much for leadership? Defense?

 

[Gaps]

Different team, same results. Same excuses, same scapegoat. The problems with this team lie much, much deeper than just one coach and one player. The organization isn't a mess, the development though is. I don't know how much we realize how good Brodin really is when we look at the development mess that has been inherited and continued with this team. Bulmer? Regressed. Phillips? Looks like a bust. Hackett? Scandella? Spurgeon? It's really sad how mediocre we really are when it comes to developing talent.

Yes, I believe Yeo is slightly the problem but it does no good to throw the captain off the boat when the first mate and everyone else on the boat is the problem. These same damn problems came up under Lemaire (Gaborik and his 'arguments' with Lemaire over stifling offense) to Richards to Yeo. How many more times are going to simply re-arrange the deck chairs on this boat and instead just rebuild the entire damn thing and this time do it right?

I don't think Parise and Suter realized just have prevalent the mediocrity is on this team.

Trade Koivu + 2nd for Getzlaf, something just to wake this team up. Give them a cold splash to the face.

Buy out Heatley, trade Setoguchi at the deadline. Let Bouchard and Cullen walk. Turn the team over to Parise because at least he sounds like a leader. What the hell were they talking about in that 'player only' meeting? How to show even less passion and play on the ice? If this is the response they get from a player only meeting, something is wrong. And it isn't the coaching. I could expect it from a guy like Zucker or Coyle. But Heatley? Koivu? Brodziak? These guys are damn professionals and have been playing for a decade or so. What do they want? Someone to hold their 'effin hands and shelter them?

Basic play. Not system. Not style. BASIC PLAY they are losing at. We have been last in shots on goal probably now for a decade. And goal scoring? We've been in the bottom 5 since 2009-2010 and the bottom 1/4 for most of their existence. This team has been a bit of a train wreck since it's inauguration with a few bright spots here and there but for the most part, we feel like the Cleveland Browns.

Fletcher has brought in goal scorers and has constantly changed his team up to give it a pulse but nothing has worked. Havlat, Nystrom, Parise, Suter, Zidlicky, Staubitz, Powe, Cullen, Brodziak, Setoguchi, Heatley, Gilbert....How many more players are we going to bring in and change up the roster?

Finally, my biggest issue with Koivu is he's being paid like an elite player (26th highest salary in the NHL) and hasn't shown that elite player ability yet. Are we really paying him that much for leadership? Defense?

Oh for crying out loud, there are THREE players on this team with higher cap hits than Koivu and one of them is Dany Heatley. Yet Koivu's the problem here? Seriously? Oh well, it's coming from you so I'm hardly surprised. And you want Getzlaf of all people? He reeks of trouble and I'm thousands of miles away. The good thing here is that the ridiculous trade proposition you just made won't happen, unless you drug Anaheim's GM. They're doing great, why in the hell would they even want to trade Getzlaf? Makes no sense.

You may identify some real issues but you don't seem to have any suggestions on how to fix them (like the developing talent part). Your solution to every problem this team has seems to be to get rid of Koivu, but I kind of doubt that would make the prospects develop any better.

 

[Avder]

The mother of all rants right here. And I agree with every single word. Can't stand watching this garbage anymore.

No no, this isnt the mother of them all. That would be this one. I'm not even half as pissed off now as I was then.

 

[Kaptain]

I'm a ****ing Jacksonville Jaguars fan, and for 16 weeks I watched the NFL's worst offense win 2 games all season. I was overjoyed when the lockout ended so I could watch some legit contenders in us. And now this is how we're playing?
What the ****

 

[Jarick]

Kind of agree with Avder's rant, pretty much entirely.

Disagree very much with moving Koivu. But maybe it's time to split him and Parise up since neither of them are scoring the last month.

Actually nobody on this team is scoring with any regularity. It's disturbing.

So it means only one or two breakdowns kill this team. They need to be perfect. Like Phoenix or Nashville. But they aren't.

 

[Jarick]

What did the HNIC guys say about the Wild?

 

[00xtremeninja]

^that we effing blow chunks.

what more can be said, this team is effed up and i am starting to wonder if fans are finally going to stop showing their obligatory support now. This feels just like the end of last season. I imagine there are going to be mad empty seats at the X if things don't get turned around.

 

[Loopy0ne]

Bouchard is useless when we face even a slightly gritty team. Him and Heatley are two horrible contracts we need to lose ASAP.

 

[tomgilbertfan]

Bouchard is useless when we face even a slightly gritty team. Him and Heatley are two horrible contracts we need to lose ASAP.

Yeah, PMB is so useless that he created the only goal we scored.

 

[Fel 96]

Yeah, PMB is so useless that he created the only goal we scored.

Yeah, that was a beauty as well.

 

[Loopy0ne]

Yeah, PMB is so useless that he created the only goal we scored.

One fairly lucky play does not change my opinion about the softest player on the team nor does it make him worth a 4mil cap hit

edit: I am biased obviously, never wanted PMB re-signed - I feel like his contract and losing Gaby for nothing is sort of Risebrough's legacy

 

[Fel 96]

Lucky play?

Okay then.

 

[tomgilbertfan]

Once PMB got on the 1st line they actually started to not look horrible, that's not a coincidence.

 

[DANOZ28]

not gonna win em all but we lost to a very weak team. mgmt needs to tweak some things for next year. lets hope we build some chemistry soon.

 

[SwimToTheMoon]

What did the HNIC guys say about the Wild?

They didn't exactly saw we blew chunks but just said they're shocked at the effort the team is putting forward. They all seemed to believe we should easily be a playoff team and not putting up efforts like we just did.

They weren't impressed with Suter either and while he's not playing as good as he was last year, I'd say he'd the least of our worries. He seems to jive well with Brodin and it's going to take more than 7 games to develop chemistry like he and Weber had (obviously no one will replace Weber though).

 

[DeuceMN]

Different team, same results. Same excuses, same scapegoat. The problems with this team lie much, much deeper than just one coach and one player. The organization isn't a mess, the development though is. I don't know how much we realize how good Brodin really is when we look at the development mess that has been inherited and continued with this team. Bulmer? Regressed. Phillips? Looks like a bust. Hackett? Scandella? Spurgeon? It's really sad how mediocre we really are when it comes to developing talent.

Yes, I believe Yeo is slightly the problem but it does no good to throw the captain off the boat when the first mate and everyone else on the boat is the problem. These same damn problems came up under Lemaire (Gaborik and his 'arguments' with Lemaire over stifling offense) to Richards to Yeo. How many more times are going to simply re-arrange the deck chairs on this boat and instead just rebuild the entire damn thing and this time do it right?

I don't think Parise and Suter realized just have prevalent the mediocrity is on this team.

Trade Koivu + 2nd for Getzlaf, something just to wake this team up. Give them a cold splash to the face.

Buy out Heatley, trade Setoguchi at the deadline. Let Bouchard and Cullen walk. Turn the team over to Parise because at least he sounds like a leader. What the hell were they talking about in that 'player only' meeting? How to show even less passion and play on the ice? If this is the response they get from a player only meeting, something is wrong. And it isn't the coaching. I could expect it from a guy like Zucker or Coyle. But Heatley? Koivu? Brodziak? These guys are damn professionals and have been playing for a decade or so. What do they want? Someone to hold their 'effin hands and shelter them?

Basic play. Not system. Not style. BASIC PLAY they are losing at. We have been last in shots on goal probably now for a decade. And goal scoring? We've been in the bottom 5 since 2009-2010 and the bottom 1/4 for most of their existence. This team has been a bit of a train wreck since it's inauguration with a few bright spots here and there but for the most part, we feel like the Cleveland Browns.

Fletcher has brought in goal scorers and has constantly changed his team up to give it a pulse but nothing has worked. Havlat, Nystrom, Parise, Suter, Zidlicky, Staubitz, Powe, Cullen, Brodziak, Setoguchi, Heatley, Gilbert....How many more players are we going to bring in and change up the roster?

Finally, my biggest issue with Koivu is he's being paid like an elite player (26th highest salary in the NHL) and hasn't shown that elite player ability yet. Are we really paying him that much for leadership? Defense?

I'm glad that you're not a gm. I am also glad that no gm thinks the way you do.

Sometimes I wonder how you come up with some of the things you say

 

[saywut]

so youre saying when coach doesn't know how to use his material at all, then GM's fault ..no, it's just bad coaching! tools are there, but result is frigging nightmare.

The GM hired the coach, with previous experience beside him. He knew 100% who Mike Yeo was and what his system/plan was. If Chuck Fletcher can't supply him with the players to make the system work, that's on Chuck. If the players aren't buying into the system, that's on them. Every system works when you have the right players in the right spots making the right decisions.

And if GMCF thinks its Yeo's fault, then fire him. Maybe it will spark the team, maybe it won't. He'll just be admitting that he made the same mistake twice. Every coach has an expiry date but you'd like that to be longer than 2 years, and have at least a little success with them.

 

[Blizzard6411]

They didn't exactly saw we blew chunks but just said they're shocked at the effort the team is putting forward. They all seemed to believe we should easily be a playoff team and not putting up efforts like we just did.

They weren't impressed with Suter either and while he's not playing as good as he was last year, I'd say he'd the least of our worries. He seems to jive well with Brodin and it's going to take more than 7 games to develop chemistry like he and Weber had (obviously no one will replace Weber though).

They were way to rough on Suter last night. The rest of what they had to say about the Wild was pretty much reality.

 

[State of Hockey]

Yeo basically admitted last night that this roster sucks and has no chance to be a contender. We can't get into a "track meet" with the lowly Calgary Flames? You mean we can't beat that team with superior skill?

Yeah, we're done. Leipold and Fletcher can't go soon enough.

 

[SwimToTheMoon]

They were way to rough on Suter last night. The rest of what they had to say about the Wild was pretty much reality.

100% agree. Told my friends I didn't disagree with their assessment of the team. Poor poor effort.