Minnesota Wild (18-18-5) 41pts 7th in the Central
2.66 Goals For (17th)
2.93 Goals Against (24th)
14.3% Power Play (26th)
84.8% Penalty Kill (8th)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #29 Jason Pominville ~ 9G 23A = 32pts
2. #11 Zach Parise ~ 14G 16A = 30pts
3. #26 Thomas Vanek ~ 7G 18A = 25pts
4. #20 Ryan Suter ~ 1G 21A = 22pts
5. #9 Mikko Koivu ~ 6G 15A = 21pts
Top 3 PIM’s:
1. #18 Ryan Carter ~ 46 PIM’s
2. #11 Zach Parise ~ 27 PIM’s
3. #3 Charlie Coyle ~ 24 PIM’s
Top Goaltenders:
1. #35 Darcy Kuemper (13-12-1) 2.68GAA .902%SP 3SO
2. #32 Niklas Backstrom (5-6-3) 2.75GAA .893%SP
3. #33 John Curry (0-0-1) 3.81GAA .826%SP
Vs.
Pittsburgh Penguins (25-10-6) 56pts 2nd in the Metropolitan
2.93 Goals For (10th)
2.32 Goals Against (4th)
21.6% Power Play (7th)
88.2% Penalty Kill (2nd)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #71 Evgeni Malkin ~ 19G 28A = 47pts
2. #87 Sidney Crosby ~ 12G 32A = 44pts
3. #72 Patric Hornqvist ~ 13G 16A = 29pts
4. #58 Kris Letang ~ 8G 18A = 26pts
5. #14 Chris Kunitz ~ 12G 13A = 25pts
Top 3 PIM’s:
1. #23 Steve Downie ~ 141 PIM’s
2. #71 Evgeni Malkin ~ 56 PIM’s
3. #47 Simon Despres ~ 54 PIM’s
Top Goaltenders:
1. #29 Marc-Andre Fleury (21-7-4) 2.16GAA .926%SP 6SO
2. #1 Thomas Greiss (4-2-2) 2.59GAA .919%SP
http://gty.im/457976119
Wild defenseman Ryan Suter told Michael Russo of the Minneapolis Star Tribune after Sunday’s 4-1 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks, “I was talking with Zach (Parise), and we’ve never been through anything like this, we’ve never seen anything like this. I don’t know what the heck is going on.” Raise your hand if what Ryan Suter just shared sounds like a huge endorsement of confidence in the direction of this team? I didn’t’ see any hands go up, are you not confident? Afterall, the team is 7-11-5 in its last 23 games and continues to spin its wheels. Yet their Corsi and Fenwick numbers aren’t too bad, so shouldn’t good times be right around the corner, right? You don’t seem to believe me.
To quote KFAN‘s Brandon Mileski‘s Twitter feed, “If you believe changing the coach will solve this team (the Wild’s) problems at Goaltending, Center and Defense then I have a timeshare to the Bahamas to sell to you.” Its getting so bad the hockey media outside the State of Hockey has taken notice as we see with this Yahoo! Puck Daddy article from Ryan Lambert here. When the Eastern-based hockey media takes notice in what they call ‘flyover country’ then you have to figure its along the lines of a Chernobyl-like meltdown. After the Wild’s last game against Chicago on Sunday, NBC Sports‘ Jeremy Roenick suggested that Wild head coach Mike Yeo needs to get the axe. Roenick mentioned how the team went from playing one way early in the season where it was dominant and being discussed as a team on the cusp of being among the Western Conference’s elite to where it appears as a shadow of its former self. We know J.R., we know.
However how would a new coach suddenly make Niklas Backstrom or Darcy Kuemper good? Goaltending is certainly the team’s main issue right now, but I don’t see how the coach on the bench is going to suddenly turn Kuemper or Backstrom into world beaters. The Wild are not giving up a ridiculous amount of shots on goal, they currently rank 4th best in shots against allowing an average of 27 per game. So even if a new coach adopted some super defense-first philosophy would that really matter? Let’s face it folks, its NHL ’94 and everyone knows the money moves that score every time on both Kuemper and Backstrom. I don’t think so but there many Wild fans out there who believe Yeo’s time with the team should come to an end.
I am not a Mike Yeo apologist, but I’m not a hater either. I do believe he gives preferential treatment towards the veterans and that has been a detriment to the team this season, however I do believe the puck possession system which he promotes is extremely effective when properly executed. I think the system does work and I think the team would be in better shape if it stayed more disciplined in playing its system. I don’t put that all on Yeo, I put a fair portion of that on players, particularly those who feel they play the game their way regardless of who is on the bench which again is why I question those that feel we’d be so much better off with a new coach. As a coach, I know first-hand that you can practice something over and over and over again at practice but somehow, someway it never quite translates to the field or ice. It is beyond frustrating because the fans don’t know that you’ve been spending oodles of time working on those things they shred you for.
You might be working a lot on fast, crisp puck movement on the power play but once the game begins the players decide to hold onto the puck longer and may not send the passes with the same zip they did at practice earlier that day. As a coach, once the game starts all bets are off. You hope the team executes the way they did at practice but you also realize the player can throw that time, energy and focus to the wind and revert to what is ‘comfortable’ for them at any moment. Trust me folks, coaching is not nearly as easy as it looks. If you could do one drill and suddenly every player would hit every open window on a goaltender they all would’ve done that a long time ago.
Do I think Yeo is a perfect coach or even the best at his profession? No, but I know that no coach is going to tell his players to miss shots wide every time, or tell goaltenders to let some easy goals either. A coaching change would mark a superficial adjustment at best in my opinion. With one half of the season behind us; by time the ‘adjustment’ to a new coach was complete how would we really know how much better or worse the new guy is?
With all this being said I haven’t said a thing about Minnesota’s next opponent, the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Penguins are in a mild slide of their own going 4-4-2 in their last 10 games. Yet they’re still in 2nd in the Metropolitan behind the phenomenon that is the New York Islanders. With Sidney Crosby back and healthy from his bout of the mumps, the Penguins have the two-headed monster along with Evgeni Malkin. Although the Wild would be wise to be wary of small-time Wild killers Nick Spaling, Blake Comeau and Brandon Sutter. Minnesota’s defense will need to be tough around the crease to keep goalmouth sniper Patric Hornqvist from running amok. The Penguins would add David Perron in a trade with the Edmonton Oilers to give Pittsburgh another sniper.
The Wild would be wise to stick to its puck possession game so it does not turn into a track meet that it would be ill-equipped to play in. The Penguins will not let up on the Wild just because they’re going through some tough times. Minnesota would be well-served to play like a team with nothing to lose because its really true. Everyone is expecting Pittsburgh to blitz the Wild tomorrow night. Suter doesn’t know what’s going on? Fine by me, play with a chip on your shoulder and take it to a team that expects to win.
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