GDT: G15: Wild at Sharks - 9:30 pm (FSN)

[Wabit]

Who: Minnesota Wild (8-6-0) at San Jose Sharks (7-7-2)
Puck drop: 9:38 p.m. CT
Watch: FOX Sports North, FOX Sports App
Listen: KFAN FM 100.3, Wild Radio Network, Wild NHL App



Wild Warmup: Minnesota at San Jose

Carson Soucy and Brad Hunt have been off the COVID-19 protocol list for several days but did not return Saturday. At least one of them is likely to play Monday after the team assigned defenseman Calen Addison to the Iowa Wild.
Goaltender Cam Tabot, who has also been off the COVID list for a few days, was unavailable Saturday but could be edging closer to a return.

Lines:
Greenway/JEE/Fiala
Zucc/Rask/Kaprizov
6 more FWDs

Brodin/Dumba
Suter/Spurgeon
Cole/Soucy

Kahkonen

Lets Go Wild!

Click to read more...

 

[16thOverallSaveUs]

Doob

 

[StateofCelly]

Lines:
Greenway/JEE/Fiala
Zucc/Rask/Kaprizov
6 more FWDs

My favorite part of this post.

 

[ThatGuy22]

WTF is with the 9:30.

9 isn't late enough?

 

[StateofCelly]

WTF is with the 9:30.

9 isn't late enough?

It really is underrated how bad it sucks for fans and the team to conform to PST during this. I get the need to level divisions with amounts of teams, but to me it seems like no coincidence what happened to the Wild as far as the outbreak did. Team stuck traveling together for much longer than the other teams it is bound to happen. (Don't check my math on who is traveling the most during this time, idk if its accurate.. just spit balling in 2021 lol) That being said I feel like Dallas would have made sense for a Central team to play out west, logistically.

 

[Victorious Secret]

Also, I thought games were already designed to be a certain time to allow for fans to get off work and contend with traffic. Why can they not be earlier, even an hour or half hour?

 

[MNNumbers]

It really is underrated how bad it sucks for fans and the team to conform to PST during this. I get the need to level divisions with amounts of teams, but to me it seems like no coincidence what happened to the Wild as far as the outbreak did. Team stuck traveling together for much longer than the other teams it is bound to happen. (Don't check my math on who is traveling the most during this time, idk if its accurate.. just spit balling in 2021 lol) That being said I feel like Dallas would have made sense for a Central team to play out west, logistically.

I kept looking at this also. There are 3 CTZ teams in the mix: Min, StL, and Dal. Two of them were going to need to play in the Pacific. That much is clear.

Now, who is the best fit? Well, StL is farther west already, for sure. Between Dallas and Minn, Dall is closer to the Pacific teams than Minnesota is, because only San Jose is really "Northwest" in any way that you can argue. So, Dallas would have less travel.

But, the reality is that it's bad for whichever 2 teams get stuck doing it. It's just one more example, to me, of how Minnesota generally is an afterthought all over the country. "Oh, well, just stick them here."

You see the same thing in the NBA alignment. The Wolves have the worst situation by a long distance.

I can see why they did it, but I still think the NHL would have done better to have the US teams do a 4x6 rather than a 3x8 this year.
SJS, LAK, ANA, VGK, ARZ, COL
MIN, STL, CHI, DAL, NAS, ??
NYR, NYI, NJD, DET, BUF, BOS
CAR, PIT, PHI, TBL, FLO, WAS, CMB (One of these plays in the Central)
(There are lots of ways to adjust this if you want)
And, the playoffs could easily have been....Top 3 from each division = 12 teams.
Central Division #2 or #3 plays in the Pacific bracket
Central Division #1 plays in the SE bracket
Central Division #2 or #3 plays in the the NE bracket.

This would have been much fairer for travel. Details obviously lacking, but still.

 

[StateofCelly]

I kept looking at this also. There are 3 CTZ teams in the mix: Min, StL, and Dal. Two of them were going to need to play in the Pacific. That much is clear.

This would have been much fairer for travel. Details obviously lacking, but still.

This was my blank space thought while driving to workt this morning thinking how I was going to stay up and watch the game. My kids are die hard Wild fans but are 6 and 4, and get mad they never get to stay up and watch games. Sucks because I like talking and watching through their eyes, makes me less upset when things don't go right and makes me re appreciate the game I fell in love with. But I imagine it is just as frustrating for fans out West. They aren't hardly off work our stuck in traffic while the games here start.

I feel like had this been next year with Seattle in the mix, things would have looked far more balanced.

 

[MNNumbers]

This was my blank space thought while driving to workt this morning thinking how I was going to stay up and watch the game. My kids are die hard Wild fans but are 6 and 4, and get mad they never get to stay up and watch games. Sucks because I like talking and watching through their eyes, makes me less upset when things don't go right and makes me re appreciate the game I fell in love with. But I imagine it is just as frustrating for fans out West. They aren't hardly off work our stuck in traffic while the games here start.

I feel like had this been next year with Seattle in the mix, things would have looked far more balanced.

Had Seattle been included, then you might have seen a 7-7-9-9. Obviously, there is no cross border traffic to Canada. Since a pure 8-8-8-8 wouldn't be possible, then 7-7-9-9 would seem just as 'not bad' as 7-8-8-9. At least in my vies.

 

[MuckOG]

WTF is with the 9:30.

9 isn't late enough?

Just hoping I'll be able to stay awake long enough to watch the 1st period.....

 

[StateofCelly]

Had Seattle been included, then you might have seen a 7-7-9-9. Obviously, there is no cross border traffic to Canada. Since a pure 8-8-8-8 wouldn't be possible, then 7-7-9-9 would seem just as 'not bad' as 7-8-8-9. At least in my vies.

I just think it would have potentially kept the Wild in the Central/Eastern time zone. Most likely like you said, it would have been St.Louis that got to stay and for reasons unknown that are still obvious, we would have been in the West. Such is life.

 

[MNNumbers]

I just think it would have potentially kept the Wild in the Central/Eastern time zone. Most likely like you said, it would have been St.Louis that got to stay and for reasons unknown that are still obvious, we would have been in the West. Such is life.

I think you are missing the point.

Put Seattle in then you get:
Pacific: SEA, SJS, LAK, ANA, ARZ, VGK, COL
Central: MIN, CHI, STL, DAL, NAS + 4 (eg...TBL, FLO, CAR, CMB)
East: All other ETZ teams (9 of them)...

Put in a WC component if you need to satify the PA - like:::
Top 3 Pacific are in
Top 4 in Central and East are in
Next team by points gets the last spot in the PAC bracket.

 

[jcbeze]

Any educated guess as to who is in goal for MIN tonight?


thanks

 

[StateofCelly]

A

I think you are missing the point.

Put Seattle in then you get:
Pacific: SEA, SJS, LAK, ANA, ARZ, VGK, COL
Central: MIN, CHI, STL, DAL, NAS + 4 (eg...TBL, FLO, CAR, CMB)
East: All other ETZ teams (9 of them)...

Put in a WC component if you need to satify the PA - like:::
Top 3 Pacific are in
Top 4 in Central and East are in
Next team by points gets the last spot in the PAC bracket.

Ahh yes I get your breakdowns if they were to split out that way. That makes sense. Trying to work and double task. What you're saying makes sense. My biggest thing was agreeing with your point that

It's just one more example, to me, of how Minnesota generally is an afterthought all over the country. "Oh, well, just stick them here."

because that is what we are used to.

 

[Olcoach]

Also, I thought games were already designed to be a certain time to allow for fans to get off work and contend with traffic. Why can they not be earlier, even an hour or half hour?

You need to move west, or take a pregame nap.

 

[Dee Oh Cee]

The NHL is just insanely stupid when it comes to most of this stuff with the schedule and the times. In a year without fans that'll (hopefully) not happen again, how do you not do a bunch of weird things with the schedule and the broadcasts to get more people to watch? Start games at 4PM (5 Eastern) every day. Stagger them so that you can watch other games during the intermissions. Do whatever you can to make the product more interesting for people who are not able to go.

There is absolutely no reason whatsoever for an NHL game to begin at 9:30 PM Central time...and I don't want to hear anything about TV or any of that BS. It's a middle finger to the fans. But at the same time none of this is surprising with the NHL, a league that is so incompetent when it comes to marketing itself to potential fans that it starts eight games at the same time and then the next slate of games an hour later so that they all go to intermission at the same time.

 

[DeagleJenkins]

I actually enjoy the late games so maybe in weird.

 

[Drewcifer]

I get off of work at 9 so the late games are great for me. When the games start at 7 I am lucky if I can catch part of the 3rd period.

 

[PhysicX]

Any news on Marcus Johansson?

 

[Webster]

Lineup for tonight..
Most guys back except Talbot who says he needs to work on his conditioning. And Johansson day-to-day.

Greenway-Eriksson Ek-Fiala
Kaprizov-Rask-Zuccarello
Parise-Hartman-Foligno
Sturm-Bonino-Bjugstad

Suter-Spurgeon
Brodin-Dumba
Soucy-Cole

Kahkonen

 

[Wabit]

I kept looking at this also. There are 3 CTZ teams in the mix: Min, StL, and Dal. Two of them were going to need to play in the Pacific. That much is clear.

Now, who is the best fit? Well, StL is farther west already, for sure. Between Dallas and Minn, Dall is closer to the Pacific teams than Minnesota is, because only San Jose is really "Northwest" in any way that you can argue. So, Dallas would have less travel.

But, the reality is that it's bad for whichever 2 teams get stuck doing it. It's just one more example, to me, of how Minnesota generally is an afterthought all over the country. "Oh, well, just stick them here."

You see the same thing in the NBA alignment. The Wolves have the worst situation by a long distance.

I can see why they did it, but I still think the NHL would have done better to have the US teams do a 4x6 rather than a 3x8 this year.
SJS, LAK, ANA, VGK, ARZ, COL
MIN, STL, CHI, DAL, NAS, ??
NYR, NYI, NJD, DET, BUF, BOS
CAR, PIT, PHI, TBL, FLO, WAS, CMB (One of these plays in the Central)
(There are lots of ways to adjust this if you want)
And, the playoffs could easily have been....Top 3 from each division = 12 teams.
Central Division #2 or #3 plays in the Pacific bracket
Central Division #1 plays in the SE bracket
Central Division #2 or #3 plays in the the NE bracket.

This would have been much fairer for travel. Details obviously lacking, but still.

I've thought that the NHL should go with the NFL 4 team Divisions once they get to 32 teams. 4 Div winners and 4 WC teams per Conference get the Playoff slots. Add SEA or BUF to the 7 Canadian teams and have those be 2 of the 8 Divisions. The other 6 are based on loccation.

 

[Wabit]

My favorite part of this post.

I have no clue on how the coaches are going to set up the lines most days.

 

[MNNumbers]

I've thought that the NHL should go with the NFL 4 team Divisions once they get to 32 teams. 4 Div winners and 4 WC teams per Conference get the Playoff slots. Add SEA or BUF to the 7 Canadian teams and have those be 2 of the 8 Divisions. The other 6 are based on loccation.

Not to take up more room in the GDT.....PM me with this fleshed out a little more. I don't really understand what you are getting at here....

 

[Wabit]

Not to take up more room in the GDT.....PM me with this fleshed out a little more. I don't really understand what you are getting at here....

Not much else going on in the GDT.

2 Conferences of 16 teams each
8 Division of 4 teams
4 Divisions per Conference
16 team Playoff Bracket, 4 Div winners + 4 WC from each Conference

Rough Divisions:
1. EDM, CGY, VAN, SEA
2. MTL, TOR, OTT, Jets (could be BUF, but I like an all Canada Division)
3. SJS, LA, ANA, Vegas
4. FLA, TB, NSH, CAR
5. PIT, Philly, WSH, BUF
6. NYR, NYI, NJD, BOS
7. DET, CHI, STL, CBJ
8. MN, DAL, COL, AZ (this Division gets hosed on travel)

6 games vs the each team in the Division (18 total). 4 games vs the rest of the Conference (48 total). 1 game vs the other Conference teams (16 total), alternate home/away each season. 82 games total.

 

[MNNumbers]

Not much else going on in the GDT.

2 Conferences of 16 teams each
8 Division of 4 teams
4 Divisions per Conference
16 team Playoff Bracket, 4 Div winners + 4 WC from each Conference

Rough Divisions:
1. EDM, CGY, VAN, SEA
2. MTL, TOR, OTT, Jets (could be BUF, but I like an all Canada Division)
3. SJS, LA, ANA, Vegas
4. FLA, TB, NSH, CAR
5. PIT, Philly, WSH, BUF
6. NYR, NYI, NJD, BOS
7. DET, CHI, STL, CBJ
8. MN, DAL, COL, AZ (this Division gets hosed on travel)

6 games vs the each team in the Division (18 total). 4 games vs the rest of the Conference (48 total). 1 game vs the other Conference teams (16 total), alternate home/away each season. 82 games total.

Division 8 is the big problem here. There are several ideas built closely to this idea.

First the schedule matrix:
You can do 6x3 (that's your own division). 4x4 (that's the other division nearest your own. 2x24 (that's everyone else). This option is very close to what I think they will do next year, especially if you combine the first 2 pieces into one 8-team group.

You can do your idea, where each conference spans the whole continent (I assume you mean Divisions 1, 8, 4, and 7 make a conference, or something similar. The drawback there is the continual cross continental playoff travel.

In general, I dislike 4-team groups, because there is too much chance that every one of them is a bad team, and then the playoff qualifiers are not what they should be.

I've tried to do alignments with that system before, and I can't get it to work the way I want. The problem is always 2 pieces: The CTZ , MTZ and PTZ teams don't break up into a fair arrangement very easily (see your #8). And, with 7 Canada teams, some US team is always playing across the border, and that's not so fair, really.

But, it sure is an interesting idea.