Post-Game Talk: 1/25/13 - Wings beat Wild 5-3

[Northland Wild Man]

Well, here goes.

Another loss that should have been a win. That's really all that needs to be said tonight. The Wild lost to a team that they are superior to and should have beaten. The game fell apart after the 3rd goal against, and there were bouts in the 3rd period when the play bordered on terrible. It was honestly disgusting to watch. I'm sick of this team not finishing checks and playing physical. There is no swagger, no attitude, nothing intimidating at all. They couldn't win a physical battle all night.

Notes:

-Cullen: He looked awful. That's all

-Granlund: Good passing and offense, but he has absolutely no strength. He could honestly get knocked off the puck by an errant fart.

-Sutter: He was decent in the offensive zone, but bad in the defensive zone. For a first pairing guy I expect a lot more from him.

-Harding: He needs to be better. I only really blame 1 of the goals tonight on him though.

-Brodin: He looked good. A bright spot this evening.

I know it's still early in the season, but a few more games like this and it's going to be tough to keep up. It was just very frustrating to watch tonight.

 

[tomgilbertfan]

I still can't help but be ecstatic at how good Brodin looked in his first NHL game.

 

[OpRedDawn*]

hmm...... drunk and dvr'd the game.... worth watching? or willl it just get me down on the team? loll

 

[tomgilbertfan]

hmm...... drunk and dvr'd the game.... worth watching? or willl it just get me down on the team? loll

1st period ain't bad. And you can get a taste of Brodin. Buuuut it goes downhill from there.

 

[OpRedDawn*]

1st period ain't bad. And you can get a taste of Brodin. Buuuut it goes downhill from there.

Gr.... maybe I'll just delete it and make a bacon sammich for work tomorrow :3

 

[OpRedDawn*]

I like Yeo, but like our two new "star" dudes, I think they say too much of what we wanna hear.... I want to see him get pissed at our subpar play! Inb4thatyoutubevid lol

 

[Lapa]

Koivu frustrates the hell out of me. Not as much as Cullen, though.

 

[Eagle Claw]

You know, if we are gonna keep playing like this, I'm gonna start looking in Yeo's direction more and more. He has way more skill on the roster than last year, but the team is still incapable of scoring 5-on-5. Seems to be a system-wide problem, up and down the lineup, no matter the personnel.

And the way the Wild came out for the second period? That's 100% on the coaching staff. The team wasn't focused and wasn't prepared to play.

Another example. In the first period, we KILLED them on faceoffs. And then what happened? They adjusted and we didn't, that's what happened. And that's, again, something you can put on the coaching staff.

So those who want to roll their eyes at the notion that Yeo was outcoached, I wouldn't be so quick to do that.

I have been an "sleeper cell" for a couple off years reading this wild board this vitogor post made me finally take the "pen" in use

Vito is on to something big time , the moment parisee came to the bench with an other wild player for the second period they showed it on tv the guys were far too relaxed it was like someone had said to the team "We are weary good now"I actually had a few seconds off thought ,why are wild so relaxed now??
It didn't take one minute before the game started to go down the drain!!!

Wild took 10% away from the gas Detroit added 20% speed and wild got spanked badly. There was a 100% coaching mistake
I have had the opinion all the way that yeo is far too complimentary he's over coaching inside the game ,he needs to learn that words he says are weapons off mass destruction for team effort.The moment you think any nhl game is a walk in the park is the moment you get bullied

In the end Datsyuk was too good wild could have rescued a point but thats it detroit would have won in the shoot out if not before that


Disappointing
Wild was like "team mouse!" for 2 periods
No anger no hunger no punishment from 3-4th lines
Yeos "mind****ing" their own team caused energy levels to drop
The crap performances Cullen and zeto are serving from one night to an other means that they are not entitled to their ice time for long anymore
Wild have both zucker and PMB that can do a job if the 2 cant get their crap together
Koivu is in some kind off and permafrost ice he's not 100% yet actually far from it he's playing like a 3dline grinder on the 1st line only hustles no shots at all

Hopeful signs
The true "baby J" has finally arrived and he's a defender, wild better give him some raw meat to eat or something to get he's physical attributes closer to his skill.Skill vice he's already WILDS BEST DEFENDER in the offensive zone
Granlunds plays could and should have warranted more than one assist

 

[Sharppi]

Yeah. Pretty disappointed, Detroit losses hurt the most for me, I really despise them.

I'm starting to fear for our playoff chances if we don't react better than this. I mean, Detroit seemingly outcoached us, add some lucky bounces and Datsyuk and that's about it. That back-to-basics shot-blocking defense worked well due to no individual chancetaking, just shooting around the perimeter. Also the lack of physicalness was ridiculous, 3rd & 4th lines should actually go and finish checks.

Oh well, if the trend continues sunday @ St. Louis I can get back to checking at top 10 draft picks (yes, it was the 4th game of the season, but it's a 48 game season).

 

[Lapa]

I was really impressed on how Granlund played yesterday. Good passes, solid defensively. If he had better linemates he would have had much more points yesterday.

His strength is the only bad thing about him, IMO. He was getting thrown around like a rag doll. That concerns me a bit.

Then again, plenty of time for him to become stronger.

 

[WILDTATE10]

Idk how long it's gonna take Yeo to realize that Cullen is not a top 6 guy anymore. I mean it has to be a respect thing because the guy just can't cut it up there. Please put the 2nd line as PMB-Granlund-Zucker

Brodin looked damn good and will only get better.

Was kind of shocked Zetterbergs goal snuck though Granlund. Good D FBJ

 

[THEALLKNOWING*]

I am all for ripping Harding. Brunner goal was a good shot. But he was out of position on the PD goal. PD was on the outside. While Harding had a screen, he was looking on the inside of the player, not the outside. Gets beat short-side, that simple. Two game in a row goalie wandering has resulted in a goal, that can't happen Bob Mason! Trotz & Babcock vs Yeo, hmm I wonder who is going to win the battle of coaches the majority of time. As I have been saying for some time, the Wild should have gotten rid of some of the deadwood like Cullen and Cal Cluster----, useless. I love how announcers/writers say such and such had a good game because he had 5 shots. Who cares if none of them go in. Love Mikko, but he has to shoot. Heatley fine on PP, but 5 on 5, open ice, he wanders around waiting for MK or ZP to do something for him, not the other way around. One game, but I would put Brodin in the top-3 Wild D, and that is giving Gilbert and Suter the benefit of a doubt. Concerned about Granlund being tossed-around? That is par for the course with Spurgeon. Why does everyone overlook it. Sad to say, hoping for some minor, 2-3 week injuries so we can see some hungry Aeros on the squad versus some of the 2-4th liners. Finally, move Butch up.

 

[MK9]

How long before the "Fire Mike Yeo" thread?

From Minnesota fans? I'm shocked it hasn't been started already. Wild lose the next one you can expect full out panic mode from some guys.

 

[this providence]

I'll echo some of the grumblings directed towards the coaching staff at this point.

Frankly, I think it's utterly ridiculous to have 5(!!!) left handed shots on one PP unit. You see what well coached teams do against that sort of set-up as it forces the team to be one dimensional and they essentially have minimal, low percentage opportunities on said PP. At this point that first unit is getting by on just will (and some skill) alone. The first unit has found success but it should have so much more with a proper set-up.

I can understand that the coaching staff doesn't want to make wholesale changes to lines when the team literally just started skating together and especially have minimal time to make something else work. But at the same time there needs to be a realization that the way it's currently constructed just doesn't work. There needs to be a willingness to move players up and down the line-up in-game if need be as well.

Also, I'm already tired of instructing Granlund to get the best possible advantage at the dot and if he's tossed, so be it. If he's going to be a center in this league, allow him to get comfortable in the circles. Especially when the next option is a marginal centerman in Cullen.
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- Speaking of Granlund, he's been getting manhandled quite a bit lately. I don't think it's entirely unexpected, but at the same time he needs to start moving his feet more. He's allowing opponents to take him out of play by coasting near contact; if he starts moving his feet he starts to become more dangerous and it'll draw more calls as well.

- Great outing by Brodin. Outside of Parise, he was the team's best player last night. Brilliant job of skating his way out of trouble and he's finally a guy on the backend the team can depend on to aid in transition. Bright future.

- As for Suter, he wasn't as bad as some are saying. However, based on expectations I can understand the frustration. He's been getting outplayed by Gilbert to this point, though, who I think has looked very good.

 

[jedisports]

To start off so perfectly and then the last two games have been crap. We do not have time to screw around with this shortened season, every game is almost like a playoff game. This sucks we could piss this thing away. We have to turn this thing around and fast!

 

[THEALLKNOWING*]

There needs to be some competitive fire from the coaching staff, to match the personalities of the players. I wish Walzie was behind the bench, not Darbie or whoever. When is Rick Wilson going to impart his genius/guru capabilities on the defense? He has been here since the Todd Richards days, and the defense has not shown any improvement.

 

[nickschultzfan]

Don't blame the defense too much. When the forwards couldn't finish, you could see that the Dman minds were on trying to create offense and not trying to play solid defense first. Even when we were in our own zone they were look to create a quick turnover to go the other way instead of focusing.

Cullen is terrible. Just terrible. He falls down when somebody sneezes. Setoguchi is almost as bad.

Ship them both off and bring up Coyle and Zucker. I rather see those kids struggle in the NHL than some Vets with low ceilings struggle.

 

[MK9]

To start off so perfectly and then the last two games have been crap. We do not have time to screw around with this shortened season, every game is almost like a playoff game. This sucks we could piss this thing away. We have to turn this thing around and fast!

When did that happen? No offense but how did you not see signs of trouble, at least in the second game? They look lackadaisical and with as many shooters as we have now, they still can't seem to get away from the whole pass first mentality.

I still think it's going to take another few games for them to click. Unfortunately it's a shortened season. I'm not saying it's not incredibly important to get their crap together asap. Problem here is local media and fans that are notorious for hopping on & off the local teams bandwagon (hell between periods on some occasions). If they don't string together more than 2 wins or 2 losses people lose their s***. It's foolish and annoying. Hopefully the team can just go about their business, get things working right without all the noise around them helping derail this season.

 

[nickschultzfan]

The pens would love Setoguchi. Could get a really good Dman prospect out of them.

Cullen can just go back to Carolina for a pick.

 

[TZM]

I don't get the critizism towards Suter. He's played 7-8 years with a different system. You simply need more games under your belt to excel. It's a team sport.

1st line was as expected; great puck movement and overall work ethic. The line has everything.

2nd line too slow and on their feet. You can clearly see the difference between the 2nd and 1st PP unit. Still no net presence. Granlund needs to use his feet more to avoid being knocked down; not run away but to find a better balance.

Brodin was great. His skating seems so effortless and passes are 99% tape-to-tape.

Hards wasn't on fire but wasn't horrible either.


2nd line has got to step up / get fixed and those scoring chances got to get capitalized. Other than that, I'd say it was a good game.

 

[Puhis]

Frankly, I think it's utterly ridiculous to have 5(!!!) left handed shots on one PP unit. You see what well coached teams do against that sort of set-up as it forces the team to be one dimensional and they essentially have minimal, low percentage opportunities on said PP. At this point that first unit is getting by on just will (and some skill) alone. The first unit has found success but it should have so much more with a proper set-up.

Absolutely agree with you. The powerplay looks like a hook at this point, instead of an umbrella.

That being said, we have the following righties that we can use on PP:

Devin Setoguchi
Jared Spurgeon
Tom Gilbert

That's it. Brodziak, too, if we want to ditch Cullen and use him instead.

I'd probably do the following:

PP1

Heatley - Koivu - Setoguchi
Suter - Gilbert

PP2

Parise - Granlund - Brodziak
Bouchard - Spurgeon

It's not ideal, but I reckon it'd work. That being said, PP is far from our biggest problem right now.

I can understand that the coaching staff doesn't want to make wholesale changes to lines when the team literally just started skating together and especially have minimal time to make something else work. But at the same time there needs to be a realization that the way it's currently constructed just doesn't work. There needs to be a willingness to move players up and down the line-up in-game if need be as well.

Yep. We need to try something new. I'd like to see:

Parise - Koivu - Heatley
Bouchard - Granlund - Brodziak
Mitchell - Cullen - Setoguchi
Powe - Konopka - Clutterbuck

1st line: Stays as it is, for now at least. I like the idea of putting Granlund in there, but I don't think he's ready, not yet at least. Besides, Koivu is doing just fine. He needs to adjust to his linemates too.

2nd line: Don't look at me like that. I'm not crazy. I honestly think it'd be worth a shot. Granlund and Bouchard are both beautiful to watch, and they can do things with the puck that other players only dream about. Combine their vision and passing, and sky is the limit. Brodziak is there to create some room for the other two and play the two-way game, allowing FBJ and PMB to focus on the offense. Again, gives also an experienced C in case Granlund ****s up at the dot.

3rd line: Hoo boy. Talk about speed. Mitchell brings some grit to otherwise fast and somewhat skilled line. Granted, everyone plays a bit on an island, but I'd like to see what Mitchell and Seto can do together.

4th line: Grit, grit and some more grit. Replace Powe with Kassian when/if necessary. Konopka takes the important face-offs, Powe is there to hustle and disrupt and Clutterbuck hits everything that moves. Bonus points (again) for speed: Powe and Clutterbuck are not exactly slow.

D pairings:

Suter - Spurgeon
Stoner - Gilbert
Falk - Brodin

No surprises there. Scandella replaces Falk once he's healthy. If Brodin plays like he did in Detroit, there's no reason to keep him in Houston. The guy is ready, and could possibly challenge for top-4 if he's capable of playing on the left side.

 

[nickschultzfan]

There needs to be penalties for guys who aren't effective (Cullen, setoguchi, clutter buck). Send them to the fourth line.

 

[THEALLKNOWING*]

Absolutely agree with you. The powerplay looks like a hook at this point, instead of an umbrella.

That being said, we have the following righties that we can use on PP:

Devin Setoguchi
Jared Spurgeon
Tom Gilbert

That's it. Brodziak, too, if we want to ditch Cullen and use him instead.

I'd probably do the following:

PP1

Heatley - Koivu - Setoguchi
Suter - Gilbert

PP2

Parise - Granlund - Brodziak
Bouchard - Spurgeon

It's not ideal, but I reckon it'd work. That being said, PP is far from our biggest problem right now.



Yep. We need to try something new. I'd like to see:

Parise - Koivu - Heatley
Bouchard - Granlund - Brodziak
Mitchell - Cullen - Setoguchi
Powe - Konopka - Clutterbuck

1st line: Stays as it is, for now at least. I like the idea of putting Granlund in there, but I don't think he's ready, not yet at least. Besides, Koivu is doing just fine. He needs to adjust to his linemates too.

2nd line: Don't look at me like that. I'm not crazy. I honestly think it'd be worth a shot. Granlund and Bouchard are both beautiful to watch, and they can do things with the puck that other players only dream about. Combine their vision and passing, and sky is the limit. Brodziak is there to create some room for the other two and play the two-way game, allowing FBJ and PMB to focus on the offense. Again, gives also an experienced C in case Granlund ****s up at the dot.

3rd line: Hoo boy. Talk about speed. Mitchell brings some grit to otherwise fast and somewhat skilled line. Granted, everyone plays a bit on an island, but I'd like to see what Mitchell and Seto can do together.

4th line: Grit, grit and some more grit. Replace Powe with Kassian when/if necessary. Konopka takes the important face-offs, Powe is there to hustle and disrupt and Clutterbuck hits everything that moves. Bonus points (again) for speed: Powe and Clutterbuck are not exactly slow.

D pairings:

Suter - Spurgeon
Stoner - Gilbert
Falk - Brodin

No surprises there. Scandella replaces Falk once he's healthy. If Brodin plays like he did in Detroit, there's no reason to keep him in Houston. The guy is ready, and could possibly challenge for top-4 if he's capable of playing on the left side.

Not bad pairings, except for "D". Spurgeon (no defensive skills or size) should be paired with Stoner (no offensive skills with size) on the 3rd line. Top-4 should be Suter, Gilbert, Brodin and Scandella.

 

[Haite]

Spurgeon (no defensive skills or size)

Lolwut?

 

[Puhis]

Lolwut?

Yeah, I don't even bother any more. The non-believers will be proven wrong.


It's funny how the same people who were ready to hail Spurgeon after the scrimmage now want him in the 3rd pairing.