GDT: 1/8/15 | Minnesota vs Chicago | 7:00 PM CST, 2:00 AM Suomi | FSN, NHLN

[NHL1674]

Here's what it means:

1. Give all players plenty of time to heal whenever they need to heal. None of this coming back half ready ******** we see every year. Sit them on IR until they're ready, and then sit them a couple games more for good measure.

2. Stop playing Suter for 30 minutes a night and let the lesser defensemen get minutes and grow a little.

3. No trades for bandaids or shakeup purposes.

4. Bench the vets and let the kids run the show so they can grow a bit more.

5. Give the starting spot back to Kuemper. Give him the rest of the season and the following offseason to beat his demons with the expectation that he is ready, mentally, for a full time or 50/50 split time starter position next season.

Result: draft pick around 8-12, less stupid and pointless injuries (think Backs and Hards both being overworked at the end of a completely lost season under TR, those were pointless injuries as both should have been done for the year), Suter doesn't get over-fatigued and gets sort of a break and has his prime hopefully prolonged a little due to reduced wear, and Kuemper either rights his ship or we know for certain that he's a headcase and we can cut him loose.

If the Wild can not straighten out and get back to their early season form in a hurry, then this is the plan we may as well follow. We're not going to intentionally tank, but neither are we going to play desperate hockey for the last half of a lost season which would result in all kinds of fatigue related injuries, lost assets from desperation trades, more wear and tear on Suter, less growth from the kids since you know Yeo is going to be relying fully on the vets at this point, and perpetuation of Kuemper's headcase syndrome due to expectations that are beyond his reach.

Nope...those are 2 things Yeo would never do. Yes, our top 4 is constantly injured, but it's no reason to run Suter into the ground. But Yeo will. And letting more kids play? Not gonna happen. He says if you work hard, you're gonna get rewarded. That's not the case, because some of the kids on this team are working harder and getting more results than the vets, yet they aren't getting rewarded with more ice time. Not exactly motivating, and it's one hell of a mixed message. He's gonna play the same big names no matter what....and Coyle.

BTW, I want Granlund put on wing, damnit!

 

[AKL]

BTW, I want Granlund put on wing, damnit!

Can't put Granlund on the wing, we have no other decent offensive centers (not that Granlund has been any good this year either), and no one on these boards seems interested in getting one either.

 

[Billy Mays Here*]

Can't put Granlund on the wing, we have no other decent offensive centers (not that Granlund has been any good this year either), and no one on these boards seems interested in getting one either.

Oh come on, do you realize how awesome Brodziak or Carter as our 2nd line center would be? The goals would flow like wine.

 

[AKL]

Honestly Ryan Carter has been a pleasant surprise this season. He's first on the team for centers in P/60 by a fair margin. Not saying he should get anywhere near first line minutes, but I don't think it would hurt if his TOI went up.

 

[Billy Mays Here*]

Honestly Ryan Carter has been a pleasant surprise this season. He's first on the team for centers in P/60 by a fair margin. Not saying he should get anywhere near first line minutes, but I don't think it would hurt if his TOI went up.

Yeah aside from him racking up the penalty minutes in his first 6 games or so, I haven't minded him at all.

 

[NHL1674]

Also agree regarding Carter. Wasn't sure what to expect with him, but I can now see why many Devils' fans wanted to keep him around.

 

[thestonedkoala]

2. Stop playing Suter for 30 minutes a night and let the lesser defensemen get minutes and grow a little.

3. No trades for bandaids or shakeup purposes.

4. Bench the vets and let the kids run the show so they can grow a bit more.

Pretty much what I was saying back during the half-season. Funny how this is about 3 years too late. Oh well, I guess better late than never. But I agree; if we're going to tank this season, let's trade off what we can, let the kids play and rest Suter and Parise.

 

[Avder]

I'd be willing to give Carter a shot at 2C for a game or two just for the "why the **** not" effect.

 

[Sharppi]

Anyway, yay a moral victory. I guess we will get into moral playoffs this spring.

 

[thestonedkoala]

Can't put Granlund on the wing, we have no other decent offensive centers (not that Granlund has been any good this year either), and no one on these boards seems interested in getting one either.

Let's just take everyone and just put them in different spots.

Pominville? He's a center now.

Vanek? 4th line enforcer.

Koivu? 3rd line left wing

Cooke? First line center

Why not?

 

[Billy Mays Here*]

Let's just take everyone and just put them in different spots.

Pominville? He's a center now.

Vanek? 4th line enforcer.

Koivu? 3rd line left wing

Cooke? First line center

Why not?

Bickel? Starting goalie

Brodziak? 3rd pairing d-man

Prosser? The guy that stands there and checks IDs at the new beer dispensing machine unveiled tonight at the X

 

[thestonedkoala]

Bickel? Starting goalie

Brodziak? 3rd pairing d-man

Prosser? The guy that stands there and checks IDs at the new beer dispensing machine unveiled tonight at the X

Can't we get that beer leaguer to be our goaltender again? Can't get much worse than that, right?

I'd like to see Spurgeon as a winger and Suter as a center!

Maybe Fontaine as a goaltender? I mean he's not doing much of anything.

 

[Billy Mays Here*]

Can't we get that beer leaguer to be our goaltender again? Can't get much worse than that, right?

I'd like to see Spurgeon as a winger and Suter as a center!

Maybe Fontaine as a goaltender? I mean he's not doing much of anything.

We already have too many pass first centers.

 

[Sharppi]

Scandella for the 1st line C.

 

[Alexandrov]

The second period was the worst period the Hawks had played whole season, and what did the guys have to show for it? One goal.

After the second I went to bed because I pretty much knew the game was over.

 

[Nharris31]

The second period was the worst period the Hawks had played whole season, and what did the guys have to show for it? One goal.

After the second I went to bed because I pretty much knew the game was over.

They had 53 shots the other night and had zero goals.

 

[Sharppi]

They had 53 shots the other night and had zero goals.

Avs have a world class goaltender in Varlamov. We have two gym class goaltenders in Kuemperor & Baeaeaecks

 

[DANOZ28]

other than the first hawks goal i thought we played great. 5 plus golden chances that should have went in and we win 7-3. good effort , wish we brought that every night.

 

[Sharppi]

We could really use a guy like him.

 

[AKL]

We could really use a guy like him.

Let's trade away some future pieces for a goalie so we can finish between 8th and 10th in the West and draft in the 10-14 range. I'm sure we'll find someone like him there.

 

[Sharppi]

Let's trade away some future pieces for a goalie so we can finish between 8th and 10th in the West and draft in the 10-14 range. I'm sure we'll find someone like him there.

But that's what will happen, because Leopold & Fletcher and the business side of things. It's a bit short-sighted MAYBE, but this season MIGHT be salvaged. I understand why we could really use a top-5 pick, but I also understand the business reasoning side.

 

[AKL]

But that's what will happen, because Leopold & Fletcher and the business side of things. It's a bit short-sighted MAYBE, but this season MIGHT be salvaged. I understand why we could really use a top-5 pick, but I also understand the business reasoning side.

If I'm running a business, I'm thinking about the long term. If my business can do well for a year, before it fizzles out and no one's interested anymore, well then that's not a very good business.

If I have one bad year of business that could potentially lead to 10+ years of much better business? I'm going to strongly take a look at how I can make that happen.

And you're kidding yourself if you think this is hurting business all that much. People are still buying merchandise, and I was just at the game Tuesday where the announced attendance was over 19,000. The arena was plenty full.

Think of how much excitement having a young, game-changing stud bring to your team. Just take Patrick Kane for example. Ask any casual hockey fan if they know Patrick Kane and the answer is yes. Ask any casual hockey fan if they know anyone on our team and you might get a "Parise?"

 

[AKL]

Continually trying to patch the leak year after year is no way to operate. Sometimes you need to sacrifice the money to repair the whole structure.

Look at Colorado. They've had a few good years mixed in with a few bad years recently, and they're doing fine from the business side of things. They understood that MacKinnon isn't a bad thing. They didn't try to right the ship halfway through for a mediocre finish. They'll make the next step one of these seasons because they have the high end talent to do so.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

If you could somehow guarantee the kind of performance that we had in this game for the rest of the year (or the majority of it), I'd greenlight any deal for a goalie upgrade within reason. I mean, we legit dominated a fully healthy Hawks team without 3 very key pieces in our lineup.

Play like we did last night with the talent added back into the lineup and improved, reliable goaltending, and I have no doubt that we'd find our way back into the playoffs and be as dangerous as we were last year. But based on the season so far, I don't really have much confidence that this level of play would continue.

 

[Nharris31]

Avs have a world class goaltender in Varlamov. We have two gym class goaltenders in Kuemperor & Baeaeaecks

I know that just saying even the Blackhawks can have nights like the wild did to.