GDT: Game 4: Wild @ Ducks - 8:30 PM CT - NBCSN

[16thOverallSaveUs]

Kaapo still needs a bit of seasoning in Iowa imo. He didn't hurt us, but made some mistakes that lead to a goal and one that almost did. His glove needs work. Still loved he got the win though plus did have some great rebound saves. I'm glad we went out and got a starter instead of listening to the fans that just wanted to throw Kahk out as the first starter.

I don’t think so. He was the best goalie in the AHL last year. He, so far in his NHL career, has had a tencdency to give up some easy goals, often early in the game, but he always bounces back pretty well. To me, that’s just indicative of some nerves playing in the NHL. I think he needs more NHL Games to get comfortable and then he’ll be a fine 1B goalie. I don’t think he’s ever going to be a bonafide starter, though. Maybe we can get Seattle to take him so we can keep greener

 

[57special]

I am completely prepared to give Kahk some time. That flubbed catch reeked of a guy who was nervous. That should go away.

@Dee Oh Cee I completely agree. The Kings and Ducks are complete crap, though they have bright futures with their prospect pools. The fact that we barely beat them is ominous( why isn't it spelled omenous? @Bazeek, explain.).

I would agree about Brodin, but I am expecting more from him this year now that he is playing with Spurgeon. He needs to shoot the damn puck when he is on the PP, and not pass off all the time when he skates past the red line. Time to put those wonderful tools of his to use offensively. He did almost have a goal in the 1st when he rang it off the bar...need to see more of that.

 

[Lapa]

I'm just happy to have competent goaltending again.

 

[GuerinUp]

I am completely prepared to give Kahk some time. That flubbed catch reeked of a guy who was nervous. That should go away.

@Dee Oh Cee I completely agree. The Kings and Ducks are complete crap, though they have bright futures with their prospect pools. The fact that we barely beat them is ominous( what isn't it spelled omenous? @Bazeek, explain.).

I would agree about Brodin, but I am expecting more from him this year now that he is playing with Spurgeon. He needs to shoot the damn puck when he is on the PP, and not pass off all the time when he skates past the red line. Time to put those wonderful tools of his to use offensively. He did almost have a goal in the 1st when he rang it off the bar...need to see more of that.

its definately "ominous"

 

[Minnewildsota]

its definately "ominous"

The irony in this post

 

[MK9]

Johansson is just not a good player. Soft all over the place.

If I recall correctly, that was the pretty much exactly the report on him that was passed on to us by Buffalo fans.

 

[HotDish]

I don’t think so. He was the best goalie in the AHL last year. He, so far in his NHL career, has had a tencdency to give up some easy goals, often early in the game, but he always bounces back pretty well. To me, that’s just indicative of some nerves playing in the NHL. I think he needs more NHL Games to get comfortable and then he’ll be a fine 1B goalie. I don’t think he’s ever going to be a bonafide starter, though. Maybe we can get Seattle to take him so we can keep greener

I think we were just lucky that ducks weren't offensively talent enough to punish him in the 2nd period. I'm fine with him backing up starting next year, but I think his glove will hold him back until that improves. I don't know the plans on him especially once Stalock is healthy, but Id prefer him getting more than 14 games in. He needs as many games as possible to work on that glove. Right now I think the team will put Stalock above Kahk. Rather Kahk get games in Iowa vs sitting as the 3rd goalie.

 

[Wabit]

Goalie KK hasn't played a game in ~10 months. He had some issues with his glove, and misplayed the angle a little on the 2nd GA (Dumba, MarJo, and Suter misplayed it too). It was a decent outing for his first game this year, shake off some of the rust.

He's done all he can in the AHL, now he needs NHL games (and practices) as the next step in his progression. The AHL can't replicate the shot quality that NHL players have. The talent in the AHL will be even more diluted this year because of all the taxi squad players that would normally be in the AHL.

 

[HotDish]

Goalie KK hasn't played a game in ~10 months. He had some issues with his glove, and misplayed the angle a little on the 2nd GA (Dumba, MarJo, and Suter misplayed it too). It was a decent outing for his first game this year, shake off some of the rust.

He's done all he can in the AHL, now he needs NHL games (and practices) as the next step in his progression. The AHL can't replicate the shot quality that NHL players have. The talent in the AHL will be even more diluted this year because of all the taxi squad players that would normally be in the AHL.

I would argue 30+ game in the AHL > 14-19 games in the NHL(maybe even less with Stalock coming back). Even with the diluted talent. Remember Kaapo has yet to play a full AHL season due to injuries and Covid.

The glove issue has been a repeated concern that Russo and scouts have brought up. If anything facing worse shots will encourage him to work on his glove.

Honestly if I was a betting man, Hammond will be the 3rd goal in the NHL with Kaapo and Jones in Iowa. I don't see them stunting Kaapo's development to play a hand full of games in a shorten season.

 

[Minnesnota]

One of the most overlooked things in hockey is what kind of locker room and culture each team has. It's no secret that Boston has/had one of the best team cultures in the league. There weren't soft players on that team for a long long time. Everyone brought it.

I wonder how guys like Foligno, Eriksson Ek, Hartman, Greenway, Sturm, etc. feel knowing that they've got a player on their team who's softer than baby shit getting more minutes than them. If you're talking about building a winning culture where everyone is bringing their lunch pale, BG needs to act and get rid of Johansson.

 

[Wabit]

I would argue 30+ game in the AHL > 14-19 games in the NHL(maybe even less with Stalock coming back). Even with the diluted talent. Remember Kaapo has yet to play a full AHL season due to injuries and Covid.

The glove issue has been a repeated concern that Russo and scouts have brought up. If anything facing worse shots will encourage him to work on his glove.

Honestly if I was a betting man, Hammond will be the 3rd goal in the NHL with Kaapo and Jones in Iowa. I don't see them stunting Kaapo's development to play a hand full of games in a shorten season.

He's had 2 seasons in the AHL as a tandem goalie. The AHL uses more tandems than the starter/backup we see in the NHL. Part of it is scheduling and part of it is so teams can develop their players.

Goalie KK isn't some kid fresh off the farm. He's 24 and played 200 pro hockey games (121 Liiga games, 73 AHL games, and 6 now NHL games). For me he needs to prove that he doesn't belong in the NHL before I'd send him back to the AHL. Stalock shouldn't be blocking anyone, he's not very good most of the time.

I have no idea how the AHL to NHL protocols are supposed to work this year, but I'm not thinking it'll be easy to shuffle players around. Look at the hoops that were involved in the Cole/Pateryn trade.

 

[thestonedkoala]

Not to worried yet about KK, he does need to work on his concentration more than anything. I think that'll hold him back.

 

[Wabit]

One of the most overlooked things in hockey is what kind of locker room and culture each team has. It's no secret that Boston has/had one of the best team cultures in the league. There weren't soft players on that team for a long long time. Everyone brought it.

I wonder how guys like Foligno, Eriksson Ek, Hartman, Greenway, Sturm, etc. feel knowing that they've got a player on their team who's softer than baby shit getting more minutes than them. If you're talking about building a winning culture where everyone is bringing their lunch pale, BG needs to act and get rid of Johansson.

This is the Wild, they've been one of the softest teams in the league since the lockout. So just par for the course.

If you look at 5v5 ToI for FWDs JEE (1st), Greenway (2nd), Foligno (6th), Marjo (7th), and Parise (8th). JEE, Foligno, Hartman, and Greenway are the top-4 FWDs in PK ToI. All the PP time is really skewing the FWD ToI stats.

Edit* Not many would be arguing to get Hartman, Foligno, Greenway, or Strum more PP time.

 

[Minnesnota]

This is the Wild, they've been one of the softest teams in the league since the lockout. So just par for the course.

If you look at 5v5 ToI for FWDs JEE (1st), Greenway (2nd), Foligno (6th), Marjo (7th), and Parise (8th). JEE, Foligno, Hartman, and Greenway are the top-4 FWDs in PK ToI. All the PP time is really skewing the FWD ToI stats.

Edit* Not many would be arguing to get Hartman, Foligno, Greenway, or Strum more PP time.

Rewarding soft players with PP time is criminal. Sends a terrible message. I'd love to see Greenway or Sturm get more PP time. Greenway's big ass in front. Sturm too. Those guys are big bodies.

 

[Dee Oh Cee]

Oh yeah, I just remembered Getzlaf spearing Bjugstad in the nether region. Wonder if there is going to be a fine for that one...probably not with the wheel of justice.

 

[HotDish]

He's had 2 seasons in the AHL as a tandem goalie. The AHL uses more tandems than the starter/backup we see in the NHL. Part of it is scheduling and part of it is so teams can develop their players.

Goalie KK isn't some kid fresh off the farm. He's 24 and played 200 pro hockey games (121 Liiga games, 73 AHL games, and 6 now NHL games). For me he needs to prove that he doesn't belong in the NHL before I'd send him back to the AHL. Stalock shouldn't be blocking anyone, he's not very good most of the time.

I have no idea how the AHL to NHL protocols are supposed to work this year, but I'm not thinking it'll be easy to shuffle players around. Look at the hoops that were involved in the Cole/Pateryn trade.

Actually there wasn't many hoops for the cole/pateryn deal.

IIRC since Iowa is 3 hours away. there is no quarantine for players to shuffle between NHL/AHL. Pretty much if the drive can be done without stopping you don't need to.

 

[57special]

One of the most overlooked things in hockey is what kind of locker room and culture each team has. It's no secret that Boston has/had one of the best team cultures in the league. There weren't soft players on that team for a long long time. Everyone brought it.

I wonder how guys like Foligno, Eriksson Ek, Hartman, Greenway, Sturm, etc. feel knowing that they've got a player on their team who's softer than baby shit getting more minutes than them. If you're talking about building a winning culture where everyone is bringing their lunch pale, BG needs to act and get rid of Johansson.

oh, i thought you were going to say Bjugstad and Rask. Funny thing is that MoJo was well liked in his brief time in Boston, which is not a team or town that welcomes soft players. He was limited by injuries in his time there, though, i believe.

 

[Wabit]

Rewarding soft players with PP time is criminal. Sends a terrible message. I'd love to see Greenway or Sturm get more PP time. Greenway's big ass in front. Sturm too. Those guys are big bodies.

That's not the PP setup MN runs though. They play the hot potato pass it around from the point, to the halfwall, to behind the net, to the halfwall, back to the point; with the 5th guy somewhere around the hashmarks looking for a redirect.

If they ran a heavy net front, and bomb away from the points then Greenway, Bjugstad, or Foligno would be the guy you wanted on the PP. For the umbrella MN runs, none of them have good enough hands to play any of the spots.

I'd like to see Strum get more time as the 3C between Parise and Foligno before giving him any PP time. Looking good in a limited role is different than being good in a bigger role.

 

[MuckOG]

 

[57special]

he seems to be saying two things there.

 

[Wasted Talent]

I didn't realize hand passes we're challengeable. Is that a recent rule change?

 

[HotDish]

You know when I saw it, I was a bit confused that there wasn't a challenge. I definitely thought it looked fishy. I'll take the PP goal after some of the other crap calls against us that game though.

 

[Wabit]

You know when I saw it, I was a bit confused that there wasn't a challenge. I definitely thought it looked fishy. I'll take the PP goal after some of the other crap calls against us that game though.

None of the angles I've seen were very good. Henrique's stick was right there at JEE's glove too. The broadcast crew said it wasn't reviewable at the time of the goal.

 

[chchelseII]

Looked to me like EEK’s hand was moving forward yet the puck came back towards him. Duck’s player hit it?

Meh, don’t care, we won.