Driving around the metro area you see kids on their ‘Winter break’ out on ponds and outdoor rinks just enjoying the chance to skate and be ‘future NHL stars’ in their minds. I remember those days, where you just had the sound of your skates scraping through the slightly rough ice, your wooden stick and a lone puck. With no one in goal you were free to pretend that you were weaving your way through imaginary defenders and then beating the goaltender with a well-placed improbable shot to win the game. At least that was common place when I was growing up. Now, sadly not so much as we’ve kind of replaced that with organized practices. In a way we’ve tried to replace art with science. I wonder how many players on the Minnesota Wild and New York Islanders spent their time on outdoor frozen sheets like I just described?
I am sure a few did at least. Before I get too carried away with talking about the importance and significance of unstructured, creative play for young hockey players, I just hope we all take a moment to relive those times in our mind. The Islanders come to town after a 4-3 win over the Washington Capitals so they’re feeling confident, but suffice it to say the Wild are feeling a little confident themselves so can Minnesota give its fans another reason to celebrate?
I am going to change up my normal post-game report format due to the fact I was not able to watch the game closely as I normally do. I instead spent the time with my family as we celebrated Christmas. We couldn’t do so on the 25th as many people do, so for us tonight was it and I hope you understand. So instead of a detailed report, I will simply provide some general observations on what I saw.
~ Passing was a bit sloppy all game long, lots of passes to skate as opposed to the tape-to-tape variety that we saw prior to the break. The Wild have been getting away with some area passes by using their speed but against another fast team that could be problematic. Poor passing also led to some turnovers and tonight the Islanders were able to capitalize on those mistakes.
~ Minnesota continues to backcheck well and that certainly helps make the team frustrating to play against. This is especially important as I see our defenseman joining the attack more frequently. While we haven’t been caught pinching all that often, we had a few gaffes tonight and were lucky it didn’t cost us the game (cough Mathew Dumba cough).
~ Offensively, Chris Stewart is showing more glimpses of his earlier budding star days with some of the goals he’s burying lately. Stewart’s goal tonight was huge and he is playing with a ton of confidence. His goals really have come in some clutch moments and to me its very reminiscent of what Bryan Bickell used to do for Chicago. He may not be on the scoresheet all of the time, but for whatever reason he seems to provide offense at those key points in a game to swing momentum to the Wild’s favor. Jordan Schroeder is having a similar effect as I think in a way the whole team is kind of rooting for him to earn an NHL roster spot after biding his time in the AHL for so long.
~ Mikael Granlund registered 7 shots on goal tonight to lead the Wild. Honestly, when did we ever think we’d see anything like that? The once pass-first center is now looking to shoot far more often while playing on the wing and go figure he’s finding the back of the net more frequently because of it. Sure he had an empty netter tonight, but he’s playing more assertively and is exhibiting some great chemistry with Mikko Koivu and Jason Zucker to be a line that is stingy defensively but dangerous offensively too.
~ Devan Dubnyk is struggling a little. I say this only because he has set the bar so high with his strong start to the 2016-17 season. Yet Dubnyk gave up a few tonight that were a little on the soft side. Do I think he’s getting worn out? No, but he may be feeling the pressure of the (you know what) and the belief he has to be the hero. He doesn’t, and if he is feeling fatigued the Wild needs to use Darcy Kuemper and keep Dubnyk fresh for games against top opponents like Columbus, Chicago, etc.
~ The team is almost playing a little too confidently. During this latest run, the Wild have had games where Dubnyk stole them and others where the team was so defensively stifling our opponent never really had a chance. The defensive part of the game has slid a bit and Minnesota was almost too confident on the attack as they attempted fancy, tic-tac-toe type plays only to have them thwarted and finding themselves scrambling back to defend. Even though Minnesota is certainly scoring as well as it ever has been, the team’s identity and its strength is team defense. As Jacques Lemaire used to preach, good defense will create offensive opportunities the other way. Minnesota is at its best being the counterpunching team that waits for the right chance to strike when its opponent over-commits. Right now we’re trying to play a more up-and-down track meet style and while you might get away with it once in a while its not playing to our team’s identity.
~ I haven’t mentioned this team’s (you know what) because quite frankly I don’t think it matters. What matters is that we keep gaining points and I’m more pleased with the fact we’re up to 50 points prior to the halfway mark of the season. It should be a great head-to-head matchup on Saturday with a capacity crowd to cheer it on. However, the team needs to re-focus and worry about getting 2 points and not think about which streak continues or not. As a coaching friend of mine used to say, its about us. The Wild need to worry about themselves and fix the mistakes they’ve made the last two games since the holiday break. History will take care of itself, just win baby.
Wild Notes:
~ The Wild roster was as follows: Mikko Koivu, Mikael Granlund, Jason Zucker, Eric Staal, Zach Parise, Jason Pominville, Erik Haula, Nino Niederreiter, Charlie Coyle, Tyler Graovac, Jordan Schroeder, Chris Stewart, Ryan Suter, Jared Spurgeon, Jonas Brodin, Mathew Dumba, Marco Scandella and Christian Folin. Darcy Kuemper backed up Devan Dubnyk. Nate Prosser was the lone healthy scratch.
~ The 3 Stars of the Game were: 1st Ryan Suter, 2nd Star Brock Nelson, 3rd Star Jared Spurgeon
~ Attendance was 19,252 at Xcel Energy Center.
Wild Prospect Report:
LW – Kirill Kaprizov (Russia, WJC’s) ~ the Russian captain is playing like a man among boys as he tallied a hat trick and two assists along with 7 shots on goal in his team’s 9-1 victory over Latvia on Tuesday. He added another goal in a Kaprizov has 5 goals, 8 points, 2 PIM’s and is +4 in 2 games played in the tournament thus far.
C – Joel Eriksson Ek (Sweden, WJC’s) ~ the Swedish captain is leading the way as he lit the lamp twice in Sweden’s against Switzerland and had 7 shots on goal on Wednesday. The skilled forward chipped in an assist in Sweden’s 3-1 win over arch-rival Finland who continues to have a disaster of a tournament. Eriksson Ek has 3 goals, 5 points, and is a +5 in 2 games played in the tournament thus far.
C – Luke Kunin (USA, WJC’s) ~ the American captain has had a decent start to the World Junior Championships as he chipped in an assist in USA’s 5-2 win over Slovakia on Wednesday night. Kunin has no goals, two helpers and is a +2 in 3 games.
High School Hockey Report:
The final rankings for 2016 for boys and girls hockey for Class A & AA respectively have been released by Let’s Play Hockey yesterday. These are the Top 10 rankings as of December 28th, 2016.
Girls Hockey
Class A:
1. Blake
2. Breck
3. St. Paul United
4. Warroad
5. Proctor / Hermantown
6. Thief River Falls
7. Delano / Rockford
8. New Prague
9. Princeton
10. Red Wing
Class AA:
1. Edina
2. Maple Grove
3. Eden Prairie
4. Elk River / Zimmerman
5. Hill-Murray
6. Blaine
7. Lakeville South
8. Centennial
9. Minnetonka
10. Cretin-Derham Hall
Boys Hockey
Class A:
1. Delano / Rockford
2. Hermantown
3. St. Paul Academy
4. Breck
5. St. Cloud Cathedral
6. Mahtomedi
7. East Grand Forks
8. Greenway
9. Alexandria
10. Hibbing / Chisholm
Class AA:
1. Stillwater
2. Elk River / Zimmerman
3. Grand Rapids
4. Eden Prairie
5. St. Thomas Academy
6. Holy Family Catholic
7. Edina
8. Centennial
9. Lakeville North
10. Hill-Murray
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