GDT: 12/01/15 - Wild @ Hawks - 7PM Central / 3AM Suomi - NBCSN

[57special]

I know Vanek is useful for his net front presence, but being a right-handed shot, and with his playmaking and shooting abilities, I think he'd be perfect in Granny's spot.

Not a chance. He gives up the puck WAY too much, and makes a lot of high risk passes. Plus, he's scoring this year. I don't want him to think he is a playmaker, and having him getting in the habit of not shooting. He was doing that last night.... he's got to shoot as much as possible.

 

[borisbadenough]

Not a chance. He gives up the puck WAY too much, and makes a lot of high risk passes. Plus, he's scoring this year. I don't want him to think he is a play maker, and having him getting in the habit of not shooting. He was doing that last night.... he's got to shoot as much as possible.

As in the four times Zach lost the pp zone last night or the three Dumba zone departures ? I think TV found the puck and held the pp zone in traffic at least 3-4 times last night. So my point is players bring +/- and TV losing the zone any more than any other player is probably a myth if you use touches to calculate your numbers. They do have him playing to close to the net minder. Three feet out is his productive zone imo

The PP does not look as effective as it did in the last five games before Zach returned . imo.. I wonder what the stats say? I will have to look. . You are right on the money with Granny on that side . That is a product of Zach being back.

 

[BigT2002]

I wanna see Zucker on the top PP

 

[57special]

As in the four times Zach lost the pp zone last night ? I think TV found the puck and held the pp zone in traffic at least 3-4 times last night. So my point is players bring +/-.

The PP does not look as effective as it did in the last five games before Zach returned . imo.. I wonder what the stats say? I will have to look. . I do agree Granny is a minus on that side . Was he there when Zach was out?

Agree 100%. ZP is not right. Think he came back too soon. He doesn't have his legs under him.

Same ol, same ol with the PP. Passing is too slow and deliberate, movement is turgid, and there is a lack of willing shooters.

Sometimes it seems as if Granlund and Suter are ragging the puck and trying to kill OUR PP. Not all their fault. Everyone else is stationary, making it easy to defend them.

Am I wrong, or do they only have one formation on the #1 PP? Seems like opponents can study it, understand tendencys, and defend it pretty easily, I.e. Play the pass with Granlund, same with Suter, same with Koivu, play the shot with Parise and keep a body on Vanek.

 

[borisbadenough]

1. Our net minder gifted the team a needed win
2. The PP is not working as well as it was three games ago, chance wise
3. Dumba continues to shoot when he should pass 5x5
4. Pom wins a game
5. The outlet passing looked better, with the exception of the second period. We may have discovered the middle of the ice?

 

[Dee Oh Cee]

Not going to come down so hard on the PP yet. Still in the top half of the league, regardless. Didn't like the set up of the first unit, but oh well. If you're going to get Dumba involved a bit more, might not be a bad idea to put him in Granlund's spot there. Or like Russo suggested, maybe even try Coyle.

 

[Harvest]

I wanna see Zucker on the top PP

I don't, I mean has he ever done anything on the pp? He's an amazing player but his strength's arent on the PP. I think Dumba or even Coyle would be better option on that top PP.

 

[Minnewildsota]

I don't, I mean has he ever done anything on the pp? He's an amazing player but his strength's arent on the PP. I think Dumba or even Coyle would be better option on that top PP.

Has he done anything in the past few games? To me, he's been nearly invisible.

 

[00xtremeninja]

Glad to see Dubs was able to bail us out for that horrid 2nd period. Good to get a win. now they should be able to lay a beating down on the Leafs.

 

[Harvest]

Has he done anything in the past few games? To me, he's been nearly invisible.

I wouldn't say invisible, he is still geting chances but sure he hasn't had a point in the past 5 games.

 

[Dee Oh Cee]

Zucker/Parise have oddly struggled the last few games for sure. Zucker seems to have lost a touch in terms of speed, whether that's related to his knee thing I have no idea. Not worried in the least about either, of course.

 

[57special]

1. Our net minder gifted the team a needed win
2. The PP is not working as well as it was three games ago, chance wise
3. Dumba continues to shoot when he should pass 5x5
4. Pom wins a game
5. The outlet passing looked better, with the exception of the second period. We may have discovered the middle of the ice?

Don't understand tHe Dumba comment. This team needs willing shooters. Good things happen when the puck is shot on the net. Wild are guilty of over passing, if anything.

Dumba has all kinds of faults, but his shot is not one of them.

 

[BigT2002]

Another fun coincidence I found out through some Hawks friends of mine down in Chicago, the Hawks typically lose or play very poorly at the very least the day after the Circus leaves United Center.

 

[BigT2002]

I don't, I mean has he ever done anything on the pp? He's an amazing player but his strength's arent on the PP. I think Dumba or even Coyle would be better option on that top PP.

Well when you have players like Parise, Koivu and Granlund (so basically the entire top PP line) playing over 1:40 of a 2 minute PP, ya I would imagine he isn't going to generate anything other than hopefully getting it back in the OZ before it expires.

The only way Dumba works on the top PP is if they move Suter off of it because he is the one shooting from the top. Good luck with that one. And if you take Coyle you just removed 3 of the 4 centers to put on the top PP line then. So you have to move Granlund off of it, who was put on it because he is the better forward passer and Koivu is the behind the net presence and taking the face offs.

 

[NHLPodium]

He's an amazing player but his strength's arent on the PP.

I think he lead either the aeros or the AHL in PP points so there's that.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

No point in putting Zucker where Granlund is, he's not a net front guy like Vanek and he's obviously not going to play the point. Only options would be Koivu's or Parise's spot. He'd probably do well in Koivu's spot in the high slot for the quick-twitch one-timer, but Koivu is doing just fine there, and he needs to be somewhere for the faceoffs. Zucker isn't bumping Parise off of the top unit anytime soon, so unless they completely re-draw their scheme, it's not going to happen.

He's fine with the 2nd group anyway.

 

[borisbadenough]

Don't understand tHe Dumba comment. This team needs willing shooters. Good things happen when the puck is shot on the net. Wild are guilty of over passing, if anything.

Dumba has all kinds of faults, but his shot is not one of them.

There is a time to shoot and a time to pass . He does not appear to know the difference between the two. He absolutely killed four dangerous offensive zone possessions that I can remember (I am sure there were more) with silly decisions to shoot. He could learn a lot by watching Suter. Sometimes a 40-50 mph shot with traffic in front of the net is better than a no traffic goaltender clean look give me .A shot that misses the net at 90 mph or is cleanly caught by the goaltender is a waste. Suter knows that an assist is as important as a goal and that the game is about the time you spend in the offensive zone.

 

[llamapalooza]

There is a time to shoot and a time to pass . He does not appear to know the difference between the two. He absolutely killed four dangerous offensive zone possessions that I can remember (I am sure there were more) with silly decisions to shoot. He could learn a lot by watching Suter. Sometimes a 40-50 mph shot with traffic in front of the net is better than a no traffic goaltender clean look give me .A shot that misses the net at 90 mph or is cleanly caught by the goaltender is a waste. Suter knows that an assist is as important as a goal and that the game is about the time you spend in the offensive zone.

Let's remember, the kid's 21. He will absolutely develop better instincts over time. If the unproductive shots can be managed a bit better, I think it will ultimately be good to have a guy who's a little less conservative than Suter with the puck. You want a mix.

 

[BigT2002]

No point in putting Zucker where Granlund is, he's not a net front guy like Vanek and he's obviously not going to play the point. Only options would be Koivu's or Parise's spot. He'd probably do well in Koivu's spot in the high slot for the quick-twitch one-timer, but Koivu is doing just fine there, and he needs to be somewhere for the faceoffs. Zucker isn't bumping Parise off of the top unit anytime soon, so unless they completely re-draw their scheme, it's not going to happen.

He's fine with the 2nd group anyway.

If Zach is indeed still hurting, don't you think they should switch it up though? I'm tired of egos getting in the way of this team trying something new just to even see if it works.

 

[Spurgeon]

Not a chance. He gives up the puck WAY too much, and makes a lot of high risk passes. Plus, he's scoring this year. I don't want him to think he is a playmaker, and having him getting in the habit of not shooting. He was doing that last night.... he's got to shoot as much as possible.

He'd have a lot more room in Granlund's spot and his passing is strong. I want someone there that can pass and shoot, Granlund can pass but his shooting isn't strong and he's a left handed guy. Vanek seems pretty useless in the spot they had him in last night, PP looked ineffective the whole night.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

If Zach is indeed still hurting, don't you think they should switch it up though? I'm tired of egos getting in the way of this team trying something new just to even see if it works.

Power play minutes are relatively soft minutes. If we were talking about him getting beat up in front of the net, then maybe we'd think about sitting him down. But right now he's just hanging out on the left side waiting for his shot. I don't really see the issue.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

He'd have a lot more room in Granlund's spot and his passing is strong. I want someone there that can pass and shoot, Granlund can pass but his shooting isn't strong and he's a left handed guy. Vanek seems pretty useless in the spot they had him in last night, PP looked ineffective the whole night.

Vanek is very useful in front of the net. Probably his most useful.

 

[57special]

Vanek is very useful in front of the net. Probably his most useful.

this. He's a big guy, and has great hands for tipping pucks, and slipping pucks into areas of the net others can't.

It's more obvious when seen live. Not saying that Nino or Coyle couldn't do their own version of this job.

My thing is this. Why do we have to run the PP off the half wall? Let Suter run it from the top, and have Spurgeon or Dumba be(prefer Dumba as Spurge is the best choice to run the 2nd unit, AND having Dumba eat some PP TOI) on the off side. You don't need a brilliant passer from there, you need someone who is a threat to shoot. Right now defenders are keying on Parise.

Also would like to see some more movement between positions causing defenders to make decisions on who to cover.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

I thought, in the Chicago game, that they were actually keying on Koivu. Zach was left open a few times.

I get why the setup is the way it is, and actually still like it, but teams are adjusting and now we should too. But unless we're going to change the entire schematic, and stop running it off of the half-wall, I'm not really sure what the answer is. Maybe run more through Vanek down low, and look for the cross crease play for Parise. Or low to high with Vanek/Koivu.

 

[Spurgeon]

Vanek is very useful in front of the net. Probably his most useful.

Yes, he's definitely most useful as a net-front presence, which I didn't see at all last night. He was down around the net, but never seemed like we were able to establish anything. I like Vanek in front of the net, but also think he'd be great at creating offense from where Granlund is.

As you mentioned, he'd probably be great at generating those cross-crease chances. Our PowerPlay just doesn't get close to the net, way too much perimeter play it feels like.