Central Division Race Part II [warning in the OP and #355]

[Minny Lakes]

Preds are getting their mojo back, on a three game win streak and currently winning 3-0 against the caps.

 

[rynryn]

flying under the radar, avoiding jinx. smart.

 

[DeuceMN]

As Wild fan, the two teams I want to avoid playing against in the first round are the Blues, then the Preds.

I pretty much just hate the Blues, for just about every reason I can think of That's right. You guys are a great team and IMO, a top 3 pick to win the S.C. and I truly do detest the team, but not because of that.

And I have a real bad feeling about us playing the Preds.

 

[Nino Noderreiter]

Lol the one team I'm definitely not worried about is Chicago...especially if Kane is still out.


The Wild dominate the hawks basically everytime we play them. (Last two games I think shots are like 90-45) They've beat us cuz our shakey goal-tending, but with Dub in the net I don't think Chicago even gets to 7 games against the Wild...

 

[HighNote]

Lol the one team I'm definitely not worried about is Chicago...only if Kane is still out.

ok, now it makes sense. I read it a few times and it didn't sound right

 

[Digitalbooya]

Lol the one team I'm definitely not worried about is Chicago...especially if Kane is still out.


The Wild dominate the hawks basically everytime we play them. (Last two games I think shots are like 90-45) They've beat us cuz our shakey goal-tending, but with Dub in the net I don't think Chicago even gets to 7 games against the Wild...

I'd be very worried if Kane plays. The man is a Wild killer. He's Mr. Clutch.

 

[Billy Mays Here*]

I'd be very worried if Kane plays. The man is a Wild killer. He's Mr. Clutch.

They also have Wild killer #2 in Bickell.

 

[Dave is a killer]

Preds ticket punched

 

[deytookerjaabs]

They also have Wild killer #2 in Bickell.

Well you could solve that problem after the postseason with a conditional 6th rounder if you like.


As for teams "dominating" the Hawks it's a mix of things. Great players are slumping, yes, but more so Quenneville has now got us playing almost Tortorella like hockey in our zone where we let the point men walk around all they like, which kills our offense because everyone is well set by the time we transition. Add to that our Dmen start pinching and voila: odd man opportunities flying the other way. So even when we win we still didn't dominate much of anything. Kane is one of the few guys in the league that can really upend a set defense which is why he's still our leading scorer..

 

[TaLoN]

Agreed...Chicago without Kane is nothing to fear...with Kane its a completely different story! Kane was THE reason Chicago won that series last year!

 

[hisgirlfriday]

Just how were the Wild any more of an afterthought than the Blues?

You're really gonna argue the Wild were as relevant as the Blues heading into the past two postseasons?

I mean... I have no problem with you crowing all you want about the success the Wild are having right now... but you don't get extra credit to apply to accomplishments and perception of the Wild in past years where the Wild barely made the playoffs and the Blues were President's Trophy contenders based on Dubnyk playing lights out now.

 

[hisgirlfriday]

This thread is eerily void of any Predator discussion. They are still on top of the Division.

They sold their posts to Hawks fans so they didn't have to interact with them.

 

[TaLoN]

The Wild have actually won a series....the Blues didn't. That makes the Blues more of the afterthought, wouldn't you think?

I'm not saying the Wild accomplished anything here, I'm just pointing out that the Blues haven't either.

All the Blues have done is proven they know how to play regular season hockey...nothing more.

 

[hisgirlfriday]

The Wild have actually won a series....the Blues didn't. That makes the Blues more of the afterthought, wouldn't you think?

I'm not saying the Wild accomplished anything here, I'm just pointing out that the Blues haven't either.

All the Blues have done is proven they know how to play regular season hockey...nothing more.

In the last two playoffs, the Blues lost a lot of OT games in the 1st round to the previous year's Stanley Cup champion who then advanced to the WCF. They were legitimate Stanley Cup contenders in those seasons despite falling early in the playoffs.

The Wild were never at any point perceived as legitimate Stanley Cup contenders the last two seasons. I'm not sure what's so hard to understand about this?

I'm not saying the Blues accomplished more. I'm saying they had a better team than the Wild did the past two seasons, because they did.

And if I, as someone who hates the Blues more than any other team, can give them this credit, why can't you?

 

[deytookerjaabs]

Agreed...Chicago without Kane is nothing to fear...with Kane its a completely different story! Kane was THE reason Chicago won that series last year!

I don't think so, I thought Crow was the biggest reason we won. I don't like watching how the team plays right now but if we get crazy goaltending we could eek out almost any series just like any other team in the west.

 

[rynryn]

They sold their posts to Hawks fans so they didn't have to interact with them.

i had to LOL


just trying to figure out how many gd jets fans will be at the X if a Jets/Wild series ever happens. hard to pass up the kind of money that would be thrown at you as a season ticket holder.

 

[bleedblue1223]

The Wild have actually won a series....the Blues didn't. That makes the Blues more of the afterthought, wouldn't you think?

I'm not saying the Wild accomplished anything here, I'm just pointing out that the Blues haven't either.

All the Blues have done is proven they know how to play regular season hockey...nothing more.

Discussing playoff accomplishments of any team that hasn't won the Cup is pointless, it's like discussing who failed better, at the end of the day you still failed.

The Wild isn't a team of great playoff success either and so far the 2 cores of these teams have both won 1 playoff series' against the Sharks and Avs, other teams not known for great recent playoff success.

The only series a fanbase should brag about winning is the Finals and the only other acceptable series wins that could be justified is if you knock of a big team like the Hawks or Kings, not Sharks or Avs.

 

[rynryn]

all we want is to be feared. :'(

 

[TaLoN]

In the last two playoffs, the Blues lost a lot of OT games in the 1st round to the previous year's Stanley Cup champion who then advanced to the WCF. They were legitimate Stanley Cup contenders in those seasons despite falling early in the playoffs.

The Wild were never at any point perceived as legitimate Stanley Cup contenders the last two seasons. I'm not sure what's so hard to understand about this?

I'm not saying the Blues accomplished more. I'm saying they had a better team than the Wild did the past two seasons, because they did.

And if I, as someone who hates the Blues more than any other team, can give them this credit, why can't you?

I absolutely give them credit for having a good team, and have never done otherwise. I take exception to the Wild being an "afterthought" last playoffs, when they absolutely weren't is all. The Wild were giving the Hawks all they could handle last year in the 2nd round, then Kane bailed you guys out almost singlehandedly (such a clutch playoff performer).

 

[bleedblue1223]

all we want is to be feared. :'(

The only really feared teams in the West IMO are the Hawks with Kane and the Kings when they are in form. After that, there are still more levels, but there isn't a team that should be truly feared. There are a couple others that have potential to be feared though.

 

[TaLoN]

Discussing playoff accomplishments of any team that hasn't won the Cup is pointless, it's like discussing who failed better, at the end of the day you still failed.

The Wild isn't a team of great playoff success either and so far the 2 cores of these teams have both won 1 playoff series' against the Sharks and Avs, other teams not known for great recent playoff success.

The only series a fanbase should brag about winning is the Finals and the only other acceptable series wins that could be justified is if you knock of a big team like the Hawks or Kings, not Sharks or Avs.

Completely agree!

 

[bleedblue1223]

I absolutely give them credit for having a good team, and have never done otherwise. I take exception to the Wild being an "afterthought" last playoffs, when they absolutely weren't is all. The Wild were giving the Hawks all they could handle last year in the 2nd round, then Kane bailed you guys out almost singlehandedly (such a clutch playoff performer).

Knocking the Blues for something and the talking highly of the Wild for the same thing just reeks of homerism.

 

[TaLoN]

Knocking the Blues for something and the talking highly of the Wild for the same thing just reeks of homerism.

For the record, my intent was not to knock any team, but to show that in the post season, both the Wild and Blues were on equal footing, because it was claimed that the Wild were a playoff afterthought last season while the Blues were not.

I think it's obvious that last season's playoffs, neither team was an afterthought, but both still fell victim to a quality Hawks team.

 

[Total Bender]

Holy ****... can we please give the Wild fans there own thread. If they pump their own tires anymore they might explode. Just calm down... you'll know if your team is any good in a few weeks.

 

[bleedblue1223]

For the record, my intent was not to knock any team, but to show that in the post season, both the Wild and Blues were on equal footing, because it was claimed that the Wild were a playoff afterthought last season while the Blues were not.

I think it's obvious that last season's playoffs, neither team was an afterthought, but both still fell victim to a quality Hawks team.

And for the past 2 years, you have been, Dubnyk's play and the devlopment of some players has changed that for this season.