Tired of listening to the latest drama regarding Vikings’ running back Adrian Peterson? Are you not wanting to wait over half the game for the Golden Gophers football team to complete a pass? I have the perfect solution for both ailments. Wild pre-season hockey! NHL training camps are in full swing with many young and hopeful (not to mention) nervous players hoping to earn a roster spot. It certainly is not the same level of play as the regular show, but its a chance to win or lose a job. Both clubs are already very familiar with one another as Central Division foes but they come into this season most hockey pundits would agree they are traveling along two very different trajectories. In the State of Hockey, the experts believe the Wild have a strong chance to finish as well as they did a season ago in the super tough Central (knock on wood) despite its odd goaltending conundrum.
(Cue the Days of Our Lives theme song) Like sand through the hourglass, it has been a very frustrating summer for the Winnipeg Jets and its fans. First of all the Jets failed to make any real significant improvements to its roster via free agency, nor did it address some its problem areas in finding a solution for the disappointing play of goaltender Ondrej Pavelec and power forward Evander Kane. Like a good soap, it needs a villain or a character that stirs things up to get the drama going. Kane is that character for Winnipeg, and at times I wonder if he wished he was still playing in Atlanta instead of a Canadian market where the media coverage is 24/7. Whether its walking out on paying a bill at restaurant or a tweet about an ambiguous statement that implies he may have requested a trade or making a bold declaration that he thinks he can have 50 goals in a season after teammate Blake Wheeler stated he felt Kane needed to step up you can at least give him credit for keeping things interesting. However the bigger truth is the NHL’s coldest market would like to see the team start to show some tangible progress, so the pressure is on the Jets to show they really can compete in the dog eat dog Central Division. If it doesn’t change soon, Jets’ bench boss Paul Maurice could be swapped out with another actor, ah hem, another coach pretty quick despite him signing a 4-year contract extension.
For the Jets, there is a bright side. The Jets’ AHL affiliate, the St. John’s Ice Caps won the Eastern Conference before being shellacked 4 games to 1 in the Calder Cup Finals by the Texas Stars. Compared that to the laughingstock performance of the Iowa Wild who finished with the 2nd worst record in the league with just 27 wins in its first campaign in Des Moines. Winnipeg’s own sub-par performance means there is certainly room for younger players to step up into primetime roles. Defenseman Josh Morrissey who impressed with his poise in the Calder Cup playoffs and the super quick Dane (2014 1st round pick) Nikolaj Ehlers have real shot to make the big club.
Wild Head Coach Mike Yeo already hinted that the team will send a younger group of players for Monday’s game against the Jets. You can download the Wild’s Training Camp roster here. I would expect the team to send a lot of players who spent their first professional season in Iowa last year. Players like Tyler Graovac, Zack Phillips (who is now listed as a right wing as opposed to a center), Raphael Bussieres, and young defenseman Gustav Olofsson, Mathew Dumba and Christian Folin who are all in the hunt for that last roster spot on the big club’s blueline.
Its hard to say whether the Jets will dress a similar lineup filled with young guns, but you would think that is likely for a team searching for more offense and skill to want to evaluate just how closely these ‘kids’ are ready for primetime. I would expect the Jets to dress ‘Team White’ against the Wild. You can see the Jets’ two teams here. Update: The Jets announced they will be starting Ondrej Pavelec at goalie with Michael Hutchinson as his backup. The blog PuckGoneWild has also posted the Wild’s lineup for tomorrow’s game here.
Maybe the most intriguing question going into this first pre-season game is who will be between the pipes? With Josh Harding‘s fractured foot and subsequent suspension, you’d have to think the pre-season will be about an audition for the starting and backup goaltending roles. Based on contracts alone, veteran Niklas Backstrom and newly re-signed Darcy Kuemper would appear to be the favorites but do not count out Ilya Bryzgalov who joined the club on a professional tryout for camp. Bryzgalov, who admitted to reporters he did absolutely nothing besides working out to stay fit and spend time traveling with his family (“enjoying life”) looked pretty solid in both Saturday and Sunday’s scrimmages. Kuemper, the player many hoped would take the top spot looked very rusty as he gave up some very soft goals. It is interesting to me to see how Wild fans have been discussing the goaltending situation.
The mystery of Harding’s apparent ‘altercation’ has managed to overshadow the fact he’s likely going to be out for the next two months (if not longer). Meanwhile, fans have had mixed reaction to Bryzgalov being given a tryout. For myself, I think its just fine. Bryzgalov is a low-stress goaltender who at least on the outside appears to be a great teammate and his candidness makes for a refreshing presence in what is often a cliche-dominated Wild locker room. Yet beyond his colorful comments, I thought he played reasonably well and he seemed to buy-in to the Wild’s vision and direction with both feet. The fact so many Wild fans have staked their hopes on Kuemper carrying the mail in Harding’s absence tells me faith in Backstrom is severely lacking. Many felt last season that Backstrom had showed signs of losing a bit of his game; especially in his recovery time after dropping to his pads and felt the injury more or less saved him from further embarrassment over his declining ability. Bryzgalov’s realistic shot to at least come away with a contract (I’d guess a two-way if he’d agree to it) is somewhat an indictment on Backstrom because if he had the complete confidence of the team’s brass and coaches, Bryz’s tryout would be more of a gesture of politeness than giving a player a legitimate opportunity to make the team.
Either way, the puck drop for the 2014-15 season is right around the corner and fans all across the State of Hockey have to be happy about that!
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