For one, love watching the Wings play because they move so well without the puck. The whole team does this. They create so much space for themselves. Combine that with the skill and creativity they possess up and down the line-up and you see what we all seen last night. The Wild played pretty poor, but that was a very strong team that came into town.
The first line better get something clicking soon. Koivu and Heatley are playing poor hockey right now. Setoguchi's doing what he can, but he's being dragged down by the play of his linemates.
Gillies continues to impress me and outside of Harding, he might have been the best player on the ice for the Wild. Which isn't a good thing.
All in all, they stole a point last night. One they had no right to at all given the game they played. Ticky tack penalty in OT or not, they weren't even in that game for the majority of the 60+ minutes played.
Probably will post more thoughts when it isn't before 6am...
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After Meaningless Win - 3/29/12 - Game 77 | SoH-"Who knows, that could have cost us a Cup tonight." | Dooohkay
I didn't get to watch any hockey last night. (date night)
I did get a chance to talk to one of my friends at the bar who had been at the bar since before 7 to watch the game. He was almost incoherent after 10 so I assume we played horrible. We came out with a point though. He also told me someone had paid the officials off.
I didn't get to watch any hockey last night. (date night)
I did get a chance to talk to one of my friends at the bar who had been at the bar since before 7 to watch the game. He was almost incoherent after 10 so I assume we played horrible. We came out with a point though. He also told me someone had paid the officials off.
I would appreciate a brief overview of the game.
The wild played relatively well in the first period, with a great forechecking and causing a lot of turnovers. Then come the second and we scored in the first 2 min of play and after half period the team disappeared for the rest of the game. We improved a little in the OT but then come Cullen's penalty and it was all over. Yeah, the referees "missed" at least 3 penalties including some that caused turnovers.
Other than that, we stole a point, and looking in the bright side, no one got hurt.
I think we do have a good team, but as expected, it may take some time for the team to get used to each other, Yeo plays and overall system. I like to note that even as we lack puck moving D, Spurgeon was easily knocked of the puck, gave a lot of space for red wings players and although Scandella did some good plays and seems to be improving, i not a fan of a pair of him and Spurgeon, especially against a very tactical and experienced team like Detroit.
Yeah, I enjoyed watching Scandella and Bulmer. While they may not be very good right now, you can tell that they have a lot of room to improve and can be very good players in the future.
Gillies was impressive, too. He had a few hits but with his size it'd be nice to see him develop a bit more of a mean streak and nail people a lot more frequently.
The wild played relatively well in the first period, with a great forechecking and causing a lot of turnovers. Then come the second and we scored in the first 2 min of play and after half period the team disappeared for the rest of the game. We improved a little in the OT but then come Cullen's penalty and it was all over. Yeah, the referees "missed" at least 3 penalties including some that caused turnovers.
Other than that, we stole a point, and looking in the bright side, no one got hurt.
I think we do have a good team, but as expected, it may take some time for the team to get used to each other, Yeo plays and overall system. I like to note that even as we lack puck moving D, Spurgeon was easily knocked of the puck, gave a lot of space for red wings players and although Scandella did some good plays and seems to be improving, i not a fan of a pair of him and Spurgeon, especially against a very tactical and experienced team like Detroit.
For one, love watching the Wings play because they move so well without the puck. The whole team does this. They create so much space for themselves. Combine that with the skill and creativity they possess up and down the line-up and you see what we all seen last night. The Wild played pretty poor, but that was a very strong team that came into town.
The first line better get something clicking soon. Koivu and Heatley are playing poor hockey right now. Setoguchi's doing what he can, but he's being dragged down by the play of his linemates.
Gillies continues to impress me and outside of Harding, he might have been the best player on the ice for the Wild. Which isn't a good thing.
All in all, they stole a point last night. One they had no right to at all given the game they played. Ticky tack penalty in OT or not, they weren't even in that game for the majority of the 60+ minutes played.
Probably will post more thoughts when it isn't before 6am...
Detroit's subtle interference certainly helps them have the space that you mention; especially when retrieving the puck in their own end.
Yeah i noticed later in the game when the puck was dumped in by Heatley, Setoguici was skating to the puck while he was being being prevented by one of the Detroit defenders, looked like clear interference but was not called
I agree, it drives me crazy too since it is intentional interference but never...
Quote:
Originally Posted by J22
I dont think its very subtle at all. It drives me crazy everytime i watch the Wings
gets called as you already know. I say subtle because they normally do this with their back to the player; they just skate in your way instead of holding you up with a check. Its very much intentional, but they try to make it look like ,"oops, did I just cut you off, my bad?!?!" This has been a Mike Babcock trademark for years as the Ducks used to do the same thing.
Love listening to Yeo's press conferences and reading what russo says about him in the strib.
I know its early in the season and the Wild still have some of the same issues we had under HCTR but you just cant help but feel that Yeo has a plan and knows how to go about implementing it.
Glad to see Yeo actually did something productive today in practice. Hopefully this team makes progress instead of Richards' team just getting a vacation day.
Glad to see Yeo actually did something productive today in practice. Hopefully this team makes progress instead of Richards' team just getting a vacation day.
Good to see a coach that can recognize problems the team is having and addresses them in practice. I think Richards would still be looking at the tape of game.
I think Yeo just brings more confidence to all of us, and doesn't sound stupid in his post game press conferences. I think most of us can give him a passing grade even if we don't make the playoffs as long as we see improvement in the team's play. He has some horses to do the work, but he's lacking on the back-end as there was a huge hole created by the Burns trade. The crazy part is we're on a good pace for points. I think playoffs could still be in the cards this year, but we just have to keep going and keep pressing along.
I think playoffs is not at all out of the question.
We pretty much knew it was going to be a rough start to the year as the team adjusted to the new system that Yeo was going to bring in and also tried to develop chemistry with all the new pickups we have and the youngsters we have playing on the team now. The only part of our game that is really lacking in talent is the defense, and once Lundin gets back from injury, that should pick up a bit.
I'm not worried right now. Yeo seems like he's got the team working toward what he wants it to be, and weve seen flashes of that in a couple of games, especially the first game. Against Columbus is pretty much how the Wild should eventually look once the system is fully in place and the chemistry is fully developed, and I cant wait to see that.
I think as Yeo improves this team over the course of the season, were going to see a lot more of what we saw against Columbus, and were going to see it on a more consistent basis. If we can keep stealing points until everything starts clicking there is no question we'll be in the playoffs.
And then once we get Granlund and those guys... well, let's just say I'm really looking forward to seeing what the team is like in the next two seasons.
I think playoffs is not at all out of the question.
We pretty much knew it was going to be a rough start to the year as the team adjusted to the new system that Yeo was going to bring in and also tried to develop chemistry with all the new pickups we have and the youngsters we have playing on the team now. The only part of our game that is really lacking in talent is the defense, and once Lundin gets back from injury, that should pick up a bit.
I'm not worried right now. Yeo seems like he's got the team working toward what he wants it to be, and weve seen flashes of that in a couple of games, especially the first game. Against Columbus is pretty much how the Wild should eventually look once the system is fully in place and the chemistry is fully developed, and I cant wait to see that.
I think as Yeo improves this team over the course of the season, were going to see a lot more of what we saw against Columbus, and were going to see it on a more consistent basis. If we can keep stealing points until everything starts clicking there is no question we'll be in the playoffs.
And then once we get Granlund and those guys... well, let's just say I'm really looking forward to seeing what the team is like in the next two seasons.
This year I think a low seed in the playoffs would be a great end. I hope that next year and the following years that the Wild are in a position to be favored top end talent in the NHL. I can't remember the last time a pro team from the state was favored to win the championship when the season began.
Well I'd be very surprised if this team finished outside the 7-13 range...they're going to need to either make a move for a defenseman and/or play perfect team hockey to even hit 8th. The lack of offense is disappointing given the big names up front, but it's the inability to move the puck up the ice. Yes we've got 6 points in 5 games, but it could easily be 3 or 4 points if it wasn't for some great goaltending.
The big thing I want to see, and I've been saying it for about five years now and disappointed pretty much every year, is the young players taking steps forward and the core players playing well almost every night. The former is a mixed bag and the latter is definitely not happening.
gets called as you already know. I say subtle because they normally do this with their back to the player; they just skate in your way instead of holding you up with a check. Its very much intentional, but they try to make it look like ,"oops, did I just cut you off, my bad?!?!" This has been a Mike Babcock trademark for years as the Ducks used to do the same thing.
It's probably harder to catch on the ice, but from the TV shots it's so obvious and makes me stabby. One of many reasons I hate Detroit.
The positive things to look at for the team are the flashes of quality play. The team's obviously capable of playing well. It's just a matter of getting them to play a whole game like that. After two full seasons of being allowed, no, encouraged to play half a game, it should take some time to shake that nasty habit. The goaltending has been great too.
Of course, the negatives are the fact that we just can't put together a whole game. Sure it seems like we don't get any lucky breaks (Good god the officiating has been painful in the few games I've seen. Auger needs to be banned from the league.), but good teams need to win despite the lucky bounces, not because of them. Our top line needs to get on the same page. Setoguchi is supposed to be the inconsistent one who disappears for games on end. Koivu just needs to be better.
All told, I still expect us to narrowly miss the playoffs. Zanon seems to be improving his trade value slowly but surely. Brodziak seems to have maxed his value as well. If we're not strongly in playoff position at the deadline, I really want to see both of them sold off. None of this "stand pat and hope for the best" business.
I would be curious as to how many people notice the subtle interference. I have in the past, although I missed this game. I know exactly what you are talking about when people say unintentional, but intentional. It's how they create space and have done so for years. Another thing they do is fall down in front of forwards trying to get back on defense.
