Is this a lost season for Gaborik??

[The Nhl's Conscience]

Guys,I wanted to debate this a little and see what you thought....I will start off by saying that I've only seen a couple of Wild games this year but I always try to keep up on them,and I've been shocked at the lack of production that Gaborik's had so far.....He's one of my favorites so what gives?? Could the hold-out be the main reason right now or is he just snakebitten?? I heard Lemaire critisize him a little while back and was just wondering whether that's had any effect at all......I know the common rebutal will be that he doesn't play with any talent around him , but look what Nash is doing in Columbus,and I can't believe that he's playing with that much better talent then Gaborik is......I guess the bottom line is,I love Gabby but his production needs to pick up bottom line.......Is it possible that It's just a matter of time before the goal's start poring in??What do you guys think??

[ceber]

Well, he hasn't looked the same this season...yet. I still think he's going to get it back. Last night he looked a lot better defensively, IMO, and I think the offense will follow in a bit. The whole team's been having trouble stringing a decent attack together... that, along with typical post-holdout slump is what we're seeing, I think.

[NyCoN]

I agree with ceber. He did play alot better in the last game against Calgary.

Gaborik has had slumps like this before in his short career. Wild fans know how last year he lit it up in the first 30-40 games then did nothing until he led the team in points in the playoffs last year. When things don't go Gabby's way(like not scoring goals, not getting ice time) he tends to sulk and then ends up in long scoring droughts. As he's shown in the past though, he can be a superstar when he's playing well. I think its only a matter of time until he's back to top form.

[Bookman]

It's somewhat a continuation of the regular season slump he had over the second half of last season, where he scored what, 5 goals in his last 30 games?

I wonder if other teams have figured out how to neutralize him. Until the Wild have more options, this might be what we can expect.

Here's my suggestion to the coaching staff: roll three regular top lines with a 4th line available for limited action, instead of the constant juggling act. Let these guys build some chemistry, because they sure don't seem to have much of it these days. Once Chouinard gets back and can assume checking line duties, I'd do this:

Walz Dupuis Gaborik
Zholtok Bouchard Brunette
Chouinard Daigle Brandner
Weimer Park Laaksonen

I'd like to see what that top line could do with their speed. Cut them loose a little bit and see what happens. I like Lemaire, and know he's been instrumental in the Wild's success, but these guys need to play some damn offense.

It's bad to say but it's a normal season for a young player who missed the training camp (and some of the season). Some years ago, Vinny Lecavalier did have the same kind of season because of a strike that force him to miss the training camp.

A young player like Gaborik should never miss a training camp because the consequence are to big