Speculation: 2014-15 Central Division: how do Wild stack up?

[Minnesota]

you will look like a genius if that works out. bookmark it.

I'd be using your theory! You get all the credit.

 

[Avder]

I've said it before and I will keep saying it until it's no longer true:

Atlantic Division: A bar room brawl
Metropolitan Division: A bunch of kids playing Magic and pretending it's serious
Pacific Division: Open warfare in the Age of Sail
Norris Division: Nuclear. ****ing. War.

 

[Minnesota]

I've said it before and I will keep saying it until it's no longer true:

Atlantic Division: A bar room brawl
Metropolitan Division: A bunch of kids playing Magic and pretending it's serious
Pacific Division: Open warfare in the Age of Sail
Norris Division: Nuclear. ****ing. War.

Pittsburgh is that one kid that developed way faster than the other kids - thus the complete and utter dominance.

 

[TZM]

Pittsburgh is that one kid that developed way faster than the other kids - thus the complete and utter dominance.

Pittsburgh is that one kid with the extra zeros written on its cards.

 

[linusandvarlamov]

Avs fan here :

Your team is pretty darn stacked ! What I really admire about your lineup is that it's very balanced in all areas and it's very deep (having Haula and Niederreiter on the 3rd line shows how deep your talent pool is). Your team doesn't really have a weak spot. If Kuemper has a great year, I can see you guys surprising the big teams in the west. I could see the Wild finishing ahead of either the Blues or Hawks.

I really can't wait for October 9th to come !! It's going to be great fun seeing you guys again.

 

[DANOZ28]

hey avs fan, this year i expect improvement from our young guns & hopefully figure out our goaltending. next year i expect us to be a force of nature! just my one cent. can varlomov stand on his head again? will replacing stastny change chemistry? is the avs D good enough? i think are your teams questionmarks. i was impressed with the avs team speed last year.

 

[purexed]

So Coyle and Brodin got their sophomore slumps out of the way. Also, you gotta remember this was their (and Granlund's) first full 82 game season as the year before was shortened. They now know what a full season takes, as well as the playoffs. I can only imagine how confident and comfortable they'll be in their 3rd season.

Looking forward to see those three mainly in 2014-15.

 

[Sarge58]

So Coyle and Brodin got their sophomore slumps out of the way. Also, you gotta remember this was their (and Granlund's) first full 82 game season as the year before was shortened. They now know what a full season takes, as well as the playoffs. I can only imagine how confident and comfortable they'll be in their 3rd season.

Looking forward to see those three mainly in 2014-15.

I'm really excited to see if Grannys summer workout program this year, yields the same result as last summers did. I doubt it because that would make him a scary freaky

 

[Sarge58]

I've said it before and I will keep saying it until it's no longer true:

Atlantic Division: A bar room brawl
Metropolitan Division: A bunch of kids playing Magic and pretending it's serious
Pacific Division: Open warfare in the Age of Sail
Norris Division: Nuclear. ****ing. War.

Yes you have and the War has gotten bigger since you first said it.

 

[Slick Willy*]

For me, it's WCF or bust. I think we're lacking one really good forward, one really good defenseman, and the right goalie away from a Cup here.

But I do think WCF (after last year's post season) is reasonable to at least hope for.

 

[DANOZ28]

hey slick , may i ask which forward needs upgrading? if our young guns improve we'll have a top 6 group as good as anybody even if we lack "star power". 3 guys capable of 30G; granlund , coyle & nino could step up & score 20G. only player under 20 is koivu but he has defensive qualitys.

 

[borisbadenough]

hey slick , may i ask which forward needs upgrading? if our young guns improve we'll have a top 6 group as good as anybody even if we lack "star power". 3 guys capable of 30G; granlund , coyle & nino could step up & score 20G. only player under 20 is koivu but he has defensive qualitys.

If he has TV on his LW even he will score 20

 

[WILDTATE10]

I think Minny should be a playoff team but that well could be while being 5th in the division.

While Minny is a better all around team than Dallas I think people are grossly underestimating how good Dallas "could" do next year. They have some holes but a better group of forwards is hard to find in the league. Great depth at the forward position.

Hemsky away from the suck that is Edmonton and yet not relied upon either could be a huge addition. Depends on if he can stay focused and keep his intensity through out the season.

Spezza is a guy that will really interest me next year. He has the size to succeed in the Western Conference and most likely will not have to face opponents top shut down players. It's not hard to imagine him racking up 80+ points even on the second line.

Seems the complete opposite to me

 

[Al Lagoon]

Just saw the Puck Daddy predictions for the West - I guess adding Vanek and losing Heatley means we do worse. Boy do they love Dallas.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/nhl-western-conference-2014-15--puck-daddy-s-predictions-222142219.html

Read with caution....

 

[nickschultzfan]

Just saw the Puck Daddy predictions for the West - I guess adding Vanek and losing Heatley means we do worse. Boy do they love Dallas.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/nhl-western-conference-2014-15--puck-daddy-s-predictions-222142219.html

Read with caution....

That is so bad. Especially the part where they say Minnesota progress is static. Yeah, the Wild having 8 young, talent players take their next step in development is static. But Dallas trading quality young guys for a declining Spezza and signing a declined Hemsky is an huge upgrade. Got it.

And OMG the Wild goalie meme is so trite. In the division only Nashville and Colorado are clearly better at that position.

 

[PAZ]

hey avs fan, this year i expect improvement from our young guns & hopefully figure out our goaltending. next year i expect us to be a force of nature! just my one cent. can varlomov stand on his head again? will replacing stastny change chemistry? is the avs D good enough? i think are your teams questionmarks. i was impressed with the avs team speed last year.

As no one has replied yet, I will.

Varlamov never faltered last year, and so far he's started the pre-season from where he left off. He left a bit to be desired in the playoffs, but he still played decent.

Losing Stastny is going to hurt, but not as much as people think. Roy is starting with a top 6 of:

Tanguay - Duchene - Iginla
Landeskog - ROR - Mackinnon

So to answer the question, we actually got stronger in terms of the #2 C position. We'll see how Iginla can work with Tanguay and Duchene.

In Regards to the Avs defense, the big question mark is Stuart. He had a horrible year for the Sharks, but Sakic obviously saw something in him, the same way the Talbot, EJ, and Varly trades were made. At the very least, he can't be worse than Hejda was, who has lost a step. I'd say the rest of the d-corps is pretty underrated, but it's by no means a world beater.

Anyways, good luck! Minnesota would probably be my second favorite team if you guys weren't in the same division. Niedereiter and Haula were complete beasts against the Avs, huge fan of both of them. Hopefully Zucker can bump Cooke out of the lineup... (if you can't tell, not the biggest fan of Cookie).

 

[Lapa]

I love how the knock against the Wild is always goaltending, but these people don't seem to realize that our system is actually pretty good for the goalies. We may not have a clear #1 this year, but I'm not worried about goaltending at all. If Bäcks goes down, call Bryz. If Kuemps goes down, call Bryz. Simple.

 

[rynryn]

if they read this forum they might think MN fans don't think the team will do well, either. of course if they read it they'd think the reason was because we're playing nino on the third line.

honestly this year the west is going to be a gong show and it could be anyone, and while it sounds like a pre-excuse (which could work for nearly every team) I believe it's true that for a handful of us in the West, the parity is such that one key injury could decide your fate. One team stays completely healthy while one team loses a top six wing or top pairing d and their win percentage goes down 33% over the course of 10 games and they're done.
didn't Russo tweet that Bodog has us at 7th best odds to win the cup? someone out there believes in us! even if it is just a computer.

 

[Hall of Faber]

These guys are clowns. I sick of hearing about our goaltending as well. We can plug Greenlay in there and still win games. We have NEVER had a problem with goaltending! Why do these bums think we will now!? /rant

 

[awstaf]

That is so bad. Especially the part where they say Minnesota progress is static. Yeah, the Wild having 8 young, talent players take their next step in development is static. But Dallas trading quality young guys for a declining Spezza and signing a declined Hemsky is an huge upgrade. Got it.

And OMG the Wild goalie meme is so trite. In the division only Nashville and Colorado are clearly better at that position.

I see that static comment on nearly every season preview I have read that was written for a national audience. They'll say some nice things about the young guys but when it comes to actual predictions they disregard their impact entirely.

I understand that using young guys development to predict a teams success is risky but it doesn't mean that you should completely disregard them. Especially when a team is stacked with them.

 

[MK9]

I think the ceiling is second and floor fifth. I'm picking us to get third, with Colorado and Dallas very close.

Chicago
St. Louis
Minnesota
Colorado
Dallas
Nashville
Winnipeg

How much does it suck to be in this division?

It doesn't. The alternative was being in a division with several teams we could really care less about and watching those games at 9:30pm. No thanks. I'll take tougher competition over that any day.

 

[Nharris31]

Joshua cooper thinks because the wild are getting old and think Parise etc are slowing down. I was going to tweet him and tell that Parise had 29 goals last year and Pominville had 30. But I didn't want to be that person.I think that exaggerating saying that for this year. He said this on websportsmedia radio show.

 

[Northland Wild Man]

Just saw the Puck Daddy predictions for the West - I guess adding Vanek and losing Heatley means we do worse. Boy do they love Dallas.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-p...4-15--puck-daddy-s-predictions-222142219.html

Read with caution....

I don't take Puck Daddy seriously. It just seems like some fan boy blog from out East somewhere. They have some interesting stuff from time to time, but they aren't a site I visit much for news or opinions.

The article looks like most of the people who ranked the central were like "oh yeah, Minnesota plays in that division too don't they? I'll just throw them in the middle somewhere because they were sort of decent last season."

 

[BurnsyMN]

Judging by some of the articles posted here, the Wild have a lot to prove. I think they'll do it too. Good core of vets and young kids who have had two years of playoff experience. They got to feel what it's like to get stomped on in the playoffs (4-1 CHI) and how it feels to get your heart ripped out in a series you could have won (4-2, losing in OT to CHI).
Lets get it. Start this season already!

 

[Avder]

I sincerely hope Dallas chokes near the end of the season and misses the playoffs just to give all those writers who listed them above us the karmic finger.