Minnesota Wild (11-8-4) 26pts 3rd in the Central
2.78 Goals For Per Game (10th in the NHL)
2.09 Goals Against Per Game (2nd in the NHL)
17.6% Power Play (16th in the NHL)
82.6% Penalty Kill (14th in the NHL)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #12 Eric Staal ~ 5G 11A = 16pts
2. #20 Ryan Suter ~ 4G 12A = 16pts
3. #3 Charlie Coyle ~ 8G 7A = 15pts
4. #22 Nino Niederreiter ~ 7G 7A = 14pts
5. #64 Mikael Granlund ~ 5G 9A = 14pts
Top 3 PIM’s:
1. #7 Chris Stewart ~ 31 PIM’s
2. #24 Mathew Dumba ~ 18 PIM’s
3. #3 Charlie Coyle ~ 18 PIM’s
Top Goaltenders:
1. #40 Devan Dubnyk (9-6-3) 1.67GAA .945%SP 4SO
2. #35 Darcy Kuemper (2-2-1) 3.36GAA .897%SP
Vs.
Edmonton Oilers (14-10-2) 28pts 3rd in the Pacific
3.00 Goals For Per Game (7th in the NHL)
2.58 Goals Against Per Game (14th in the NHL)
19.8% Power Play (10th in the NHL)
85.3% Penalty Kill (5th in the NHL)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #97 Connor McDavid ~ 11G 23A = 34pts
2. #29 Leon Draisaitl ~ 20G 11A = 21pts
3. #14 Jordan Eberle ~ 7G 13A = 20pts
4. #27 Milan Lucic ~ 7G 12A = 19pts
5. #19 Patrick Maroon ~ 7G 5A = 12pts
Top 3 PIM’s:
1. #19 Patrick Maroon ~ 28 PIM’s
2. #44 Zack Kassian ~ 27 PIM’s
3. #67 Benoit Pouliot ~ 22 PIM’s
Top Goaltenders:
1. #33 Cam Talbot (13-9-2) 2.55GAA .916%SP 3SO
2. #50 Jonas Gustavsson (1-1-0) 2.04GAA .914%SP
I don’t care your age, your profession, your gender. Everyone has used a calendar at some point. Sure we access them in different days. For the longest time, I clung to my paper calendar. I liked paper ones, because in my mind, if I wrote it down it was easier for me to remember the event on a particular date. For me, it was like taking notes in a college lecture. Write it, remember it. Even when I got my first smartphone (which is later than it was for many of your reading this), I still used a paper calendar. I was almost defiant in my insistence in hanging on to the old school calendar. However, now I’ve pretty much cast aside the paper calendar and using the calendar on my smartphone exclusively. Now part of that I suppose is due to the fact that I’m helping people use their smartphones all day in my day job. In order for me the best I can when helping others, I need to know all the tools at my fingertips. Yet the main reason I’ve dropped the paper calendar, is that it’s simply easier and more convenient to just look at my phone. Plus, I can set an alarm to remind me of an event, which of course simply isn’t possible with scribbles on paper.
Now some of us have a bit of an internal calendar. Right now, my internal calendar is a bit on high alert. While I know it’s December because of what my phone tells me, my computers tell me, and all the holiday decorations tell me, as a Minnesota Wild fan I have another way of telling me that it’s December. It’s the month of the year that is often unkind to the team. Some years, injuries play a large roll in the dreaded “December Slump.” Although more times than not, it has everything to do with the team itself. A ‘slump’ can be described as “undergo a sudden severe or prolonged fall in price, value, or amount.” A slump always has an origin. Some are accidental or bad luck, but when it comes to the Wild, one can usually tie it to lack of effort, mistakes, and miscommunication. Two of the biggest issues I’ve witnessed lately are the inability to clear the zone and turnovers. Sadly, it feels a bit contagious, because for the most part, you can’t blame one player over another. Everyone is struggling, and therefore the slump is upon us.
Now while I just said it’s hard to blame one player over any others, I would like to temper that statement a bit. So after Friday’s disappointing game, head coach Bruce Boudreau stated that he was going to talk to the trainers about one Zach Parise. Boudreau’s concern was whether or not he was really healthy. If Parise was hiding an injury, it could explain so much. However when Michael Russo of the Minneapolis Star Tribune talked to him on Saturday, the report is that Parise is healthy. So now the question that needs to be answered is why Parise is playing a lazy, sluggish game. It’s a question that desperately needs an answer, as Parise spends considerable amount of time on the ice. If he can’t pick his game up, his playing time and playing situations need to be adjusted. Both Parise and Charlie Coyle had long meetings with Boudreau on Saturday with a later conversation to be had with Eric Staal. This is the line that has had numerous turnovers. During those conversations, there was video evidence for Boudreau to back up his concerns. Now these meetings are all well and good, however I am beyond disappointed that Saturday’s practice was optional. I’m sorry, but with the way this team has played lately, not one player deserved a day off. These players need to take a look in the mirror and say “did I really play so great that I can afford a day off?” If they would ask that question and were 100% honest with themselves, each and every player would have been at practice. However, they’re either not asking them that question or they’re not honest with themselves. Until that happens, the December slump is going to continue.
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