Minnesota Wild (29-21-6) 64pts 4th in the Central
2.34 Goals For (26th)
2.43 Goals Against (8th)
17.7% Power Play (19th)
79.8% Penalty Kill (24th)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #29 Jason Pominville ~ 22G 17A = 39pts
2. #11 Zach Parise ~ 18G 16A = 34pts
3. #20 Ryan Suter ~ 6G 27A = 33pts
4. #64 Mikael Granlund ~ 5G 22A = 27pts
5. #22 Nino Niederreiter ~ 9G 17A = 26pts
Top 3 PIM's:
1. #4 Clayton Stoner ~ 69 PIM's
2. #24 Matt Cooke ~ 46 PIM's
3. #39 Nate Prosser ~ 35 PIM's
Top Goaltenders:
1. #37 Josh Harding (18-7-3) 1.65GAA .933%SP 3SO
2. #35 Darcy Kuemper (6-3-1) 2.50GAA .917%SP 1SO
3 #32 Niklas Backstrom (5-11-2) 3.02GAA .899%SP
Vs.
Calgary Flames (20-27-7) 47pts 6th in the Pacific
2.30 Goals For (28th)
3.09 Goals Against (28th)
14.6% Power Play (24th)
80.5% Penalty Kill (20th)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #24 Jiri Hudler ~ 14G 28A = 42pts
2. #5 Mark Giordano ~ 9G 17A = 26pts
3. #11 Mikael Backlund ~ 11G 14A = 25pts
4. #23 Sean Monahan ~ 15G 7A = 22pts
5. #22 Lee Stempniak ~ 8G 14A = 22pts
Top 3 PIM's:
1. #16 Brian McGrattan ~ 93 PIM's
2. #55 Shane O'Brien ~ 58 PIM's
3. #3 Ladislav Smid ~ 46 PIM's
Top Goaltenders:
1. #31 Karri Ramo (11-10-4) 2.70GAA .907%SP 1SO
2. #29 Reto Berra (6-14-2) 3.17GAA .893%SP
3. #35 Joey MacDonald (3-3-1) 3.17GAA .885%SP
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Well my friends, if you're like me and many Wild fans, and you're perplexed by the Jason Zucker – Mike Rupp – Mike Yeo love triangle that belongs on a soap opera, you should have tuned in to Beyond the Pond on KFAN this morning. If you missed it, here's the link to today's second hour. Today's guest, like many Saturday's, is Michael Russo of the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
You really need to start around the 8:30 mark of the above link.
We all know, that for whatever reason, Zucker is Yeo's "whipping boy." As fans, we just sit there with our mouths hanging open over why the head coach would sit a young, much more offensively talented player over a guy who really brings little to the plate. Rupp is not offensively minded. He should bring a physical element to the game based on his size and history, but we don't get that. The Wild remain soft and goal-starved. I think if Zucker sits out again tonight, there just might be an all-out Mutiny on the Bounty amongst the fans. Between playing Rupp and Dany Heatley night after night, the fans are getting punchy and calling for Yeo's head.
But back to today's episode of Beyond the Pond. Russo was asked specifically about the Zucker situation. It seems that there are most likely many layers to the Zucker-Yeo battle. First off, is Zucker's defensive play. Russo specifically mentioned his play in the game against Chicago. I will admit, Zucker isn't always the best person to have in our own zone, but let's face it, he's young and still learning. I don't know about you, but I learn more from making mistakes than from doing things perfectly. I remember my mistakes and the unfortunate results from mistakes than the perfect project and grade. Case in point, I had a music history class in college where I was happy to have earned a C in that class. I worked my butt off, I stumbled in that class, but I learned more in that class than in classes I got an easy A in. And to add to that, the professor was an absolute tyrant in her classes. I'm going to say this right now, but Mike Yeo doesn't have that kind of personality. Structure and discipline don't appear to be his strong suit. Sorry Mike, but young players (and vets for that matter) need to know who the boss is, not their friend. We had a coach like that, and his name was Jacques Lemaire. I can't picture Lemaire going on team bonding activities. His idea of team bonding, was a hard practice. That is what we need. And Mike, as for Zucker not being great in his own end, neither was Marian Gaborik, and somehow Lemaire was able to get him to function adequately. Lemaire never asked for defensive perfection from Gaborik, he only asked for his young Slovakian forward to not make glaring errors. So I don't think Zucker is the problem, maybe you need to look a little closer to home Mike.
Secondly, and Russo admitted that he's going to need to do a little research, but he's wondering if Zucker's contract status has a little to do with the tendency for Zucker to be the scratch. Russo specifically mentioned the Jared Sprugeon situation. When we signed Spurgeon, we were stuck for defensemen and had to play him. Because of the number of games we played him, we couldn't just send him back to Houston for fear of risking him to waiver rules. The Wild would hate to lose an offensive player for nothing if he was grabbed in waivers. Which begs the question, is it possible that the Wild front office is looking to move Zucker? With the Olympic break fast upon us, that means the trade deadline isn't far behind. Depending on where the Wild are in terms of the Wild Card race as we near the deadline, I wouldn't be shocked if the Wild (foolishly) moved Zucker. If that happens, Minnesota better get something decent in return.
What also needs to be discussed is that as Minnesota hockey fans, we are beyond familiar with what Zucker can do. He played for Denver University for four years, and for Minnesota fans (regardless of which Minnesota, or gasp North Dakota, school you cheered for) we saw Zucker on a fairly regular basis. We saw a player that was fast and could score. Even better, we saw a player that had a cockiness to him. He was confident in his ability, and it paid off on the ice. Right now, the Minnesota Wild don't have that kind of personality on this team. We're too "Minnesota Nice." A player with a cocky attitude can get under the skin of the opposition. We don't have a physical team, but if you can play with the opponents psyche, you can often get them off of their game. Instead, we're just playing "happy" hockey, while the fans are not happy about it. I know being around cocky people can often annoy the hell out of me, but usually those people have reasons for being that way. Sure, he was successful in college and has yet to truly prove himself in the NHL. However, if he's not given a chance to prove himself he will have little chance of finding success. And if he's not allowed to find success or fall flat on his face, that will be one of the biggest mistakes this team has ever made.
The truth of the matter is that Yeo is probably trying to out-ego his player. Because he has not been as successful at being a head coach, he's taking it out on a player who hasn't even really been given a chance. Is it because Yeo didn't have NHL success as a player that he's trying to hold a young player back. And while Yeo is holding Zucker back, he needs to remember that Charlie Coyle isn't perfect either in both ends of the ice, yet for whatever reason, he keep playing.
Hockey politics….about as bad as office politics.
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