As we get closer to election day in November it is almost impossible to turn on the TV and not see political ads. Whether the candidates are telling you how great they’ll be for the state or country in which they reside or if its a nasty 30-second commerical slinging mud at their opponents the ads are something you can’t escape and as a voter (or not) you may wish to change the channel to get away from it all. Times have been tough, people are frustrated and its no big shock that politicians are going to play into that by drumming up bad feelings for the other person. You can survey Americans and despite the fact its proven that those types of ads turn voters off, candidates still run them figuring they’ll still cost their opponent a few votes each time they go on aire. Is that a case of diminishing returns? Perhaps. Meanwhile the Minnesota Wild are becoming familliar with that feeling of diminishing returns. After listening to the post-game comments of Wild Head Coach Todd Richards and team beat writer Michael Russo of the Minneapolis Star Tribune after their most recent contest against the Carolina Hurricanes in Finland last week Friday you’d think the team was simply unfortunate in their 3-2 shootout loss. However, take a look at the message boards and you already have a “dead pool” where fans are voting on the date when the Wild gives Todd Richards the axe and most date selections are not even a month away. See a divergence here? One side is talking about a team’s progress, and the signs its on the verge of turning things around and the fans hoping the axe falls sooner rather than later. Get the sense that as far as the fans goes this is virtually to the point of no return? When I asked Wild fans just about two months ago about their expectations for the season they were none too hopeful which may make you wonder why they would appear to be so outraged to want to see the hometown coach lose his job so early into this season. Check it out for yourself.
http://fans.wild.nhl.com/community/topic/21885-official-wmb-pool-when-will-todd-richards-get-fired/
So if the team decides to stick it out with Richards what other hope does the Wild have apart from the club turning it around on its own? The answer to that question is pretty simple, don’t expect them to do much. The Wild are simply to close to the cap ceiling, at just about a $1,000,000 under the roof when you factor the organization suspending disappointing center James Sheppard just a few days ago after deciding they should not pay the Sackville, Nova Scotia-native after he injured his knee in an ATV accident just a little over a week before training camp opened. Sheppard will not be collecting his $803,000 salary owed him this season, and that also comes off the cap giving Minnesota a little breathing room. Needless to say it is highly doubtful we will see Sheppard in a Wild uniform ever again, even though the team said it will be paying for the costs of rehabbing his knee. Afterall, we’re not the Tampa Bay Lightning (cough, Stephane Veilleux, cough). We do have some compassion in our organization. The other hope lies in the possible return of Pierre-Marc Bouchard who the coaching staff said is getting ever closer to returning to the Wild lineup. Bouchard is a gifted offensive player, but he didn’t even last one full period of hockey last year before being put on the shelf for the entire season. Its tough to believe Bouchard will just be his normal self or will have a lot of chemistry with his teammates considering how little he played and only participated in non-contact portions of pre-season training camp. He is never been a big goal scorer throughout his career but he is very creative with the puck and that may give the team an offensive boost, if at the very least on the power play.
Click on “Read More” to read the rest of the article…
Minnesota sent down one of its more creative youngsters by assigning Casey Wellman to the team’s AHL affiliate in Houston. Wellman got just 9 shifts in Friday’s game against the Hurricanes and the organization decided it wasn’t helping his development by giving him just 4th line ice time. While I think if given time on the top 2 lines, that Wellman could be a productive player if the team doesn’t wish to place him there just yet its probably in his best interest to give him loads of ice time with the Aeros. This is the type of mood that is a significant shift in paradigm from the previous Wild administration which often fast-tracked talented young players hoping they’d just suddenly figure how to perform well at the NHL level. As in the case of the aforementioned James Sheppard that fast-tracking perhaps stunted or warped their potential development. So even though it may mean the team is depriving itself from a potential contributor, in the grand scheme of things Wellman’s departure will probably have little effect on this team’s trajectory good or bad. Yet, if the team fast-tracked him and he just got limited ice time I don’t think you’d see his development progress nearly as much. Most NHL teams take this approach, and often reap the rewards from their patience. In fact, the Wild should’ve realized this back in 2004-05 during the lockout when organization saw significant development in forwards Mikko Koivu (who led the Aeros in scoring that season), Pierre-Marc Bouchard as well as Brent Burns who gained valuable confidence through the more plentiful amount of ice time than if they were stuck languishing in bit roles with the Wild.
So is there hope for this team? I am not feelin’ it. Sure, its just 2 games but let’s consider our lone opponent thus far. The Carolina Hurricanes have lots and lots of young and inexperienced players. Yes the Colorado Avalanche had success with this “youth movement” formula but that is not the norm. In the early years of Pittsburgh’s resurgence, even with Sidney Crosby they were still a lousy enough team to land the pick that netted them Jordan Staal 3rd Overall. However the Wild made this collection of Carolina rookies look poised and refined as the more veteran-laden team found itself chasing all over the ice as Zac Dalpe, Drayson Bowman, Jeff Skinner, Zack Boychuk and Jamie McBain made Minnesota look overwhelmed. After the game there was plenty of talk about improvement and I have to admit it was a better effort than what they had on Thursday, but that isn’t saying too much. Most AHL teams could’ve put up more of a fight than the Wild did on Thursday. After returning from Finland with just one point, some fans were hoping the axe would fall as soon as the plane landed at Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport. I really do believe these first few games at home could have a huge bearing on Todd Richards’ job security. A poor start akin to last season, could mean he’s out of work by the end of the month. Some fans point to the team’s hiring of former Penguins bench boss Michel Therrien as a hint to Richards that this team is more than prepared to replace him if they feel a coaching change is necessary. Therrien is a noted defensive guru in the Jacques Lemaire mold and could that be what they need?
Very rarely does a coaching change mean an immediately turnaround in the standings. You can see some level of improvement but more often than not the adjustment period between different coaching styles usually means your team struggles. It should also be noted that current Wild assistant coach Rick Wilson has more than enough experience to run the show if Richards is given the boot. I do not believe the Wild would suddenly morph into a defensively responsible or a high scoring team with a new coach behind the bench. Does that mean I’m not for a coaching change? No, I think Richards hasn’t proven himself one bit and the improvements should be far more apparent than they currently are. I really think that is what has been mismanaged the most by the team. Its the expectation for improvement. It is obvious having talked to a wide variety of Wild fans that most were expecting to not make the playoffs, but they all stated they hoped to see hints of the team playing his system more effectively and having less lapses in effort. After two games most of the same problems seem to be in place which calls into question the culture of the locker room and most of all the coaching ability of Richards. If it is more about the players’ mentality, whether its just complacency or the denial of their mistakes something needs to change because the fans are not going to tolerate erratic play that features great differences in effort and energy from game to game. Expect the boo’s to be unleashed early and often if the team continues to struggle. Yes Wild fans, I fear its going to be a long and painful 2010-11.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
