Everything Else

Game #33 – Wild vs. Hawks Preview, War On Christmas – Don’t Want To Know If You Are Lonely

By Matt McClure 1847 0

 vs. 

Game Time: 6:00PM CST
TV/Radio: NBC Sports Chicago, WGN-AM 720
Paisley Park: Hockey Wilderness

After a brief and suprisingly victorious jaunt to Manitoba on Thursday, the Hawks return home tonight having now had a couple days worth of rest, and will face of against the Wild, with whom they are tied, who played last night, and are beat the hell up by injuries.

Everything Else

Game #33 – Wild vs. Hawks: Q&A with Ben Remington

By Sam Fels 1781 0

Once again we dig out Ben Remington of ZoneCoverage.com from under the usual mountain of snow in Minnesota to inform us about the Wild. Follow him on Twitter @BenRemington. 

The Wild have won four in a row, and five of six, though four of those have come after the 60 minutes. Any big changes during this streak or just a bounce or two in overtime?
Little bit of both. They were having a hard time putting things together before that, and Kyle Quincey was somehow tanking this team singlehandedly, which is a fitting tribute to just how bad he really was. Since he was jettisoned they’ve been winning, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence. Part of the overtime success is a change in philosophy, directly from the analytics department, the former War on Ice folks. I was at the Devils-Wild game when they got destroyed with a slow lineup on the ice in the first minute of overtime, after that, Boudreau has prioritized putting the young faster players on the ice in OT more, and it’s paid huge dividends. They were 5-17 in 3-on-3 overtime games all time before the change and 4-0 since. So I guess you could say things are getting pretty serious.
How has the Matt Dumba thing going lately?
Pretty good. Two of those OT winners came from Mr. Dumba. He’s a classic risk/reward player, like a Burns Lite, so if he can get someone to cover his tuchus, he excels. Well, Boudreau has finally paired him with the painfully responsible Suter after Spurgeon’s groin injury, and it’s worked like gangbusters. He’s still going to have some frustrating moments in the neutral zone and his own end, but he can make up for it on the other end. After being the favorite whipping boy of Wild fans to start the season, his loudest critics have promptly STFU.
Jason Zucker is well on his way to a career-high in points and goals. Anything different about his game this year, other than his impending new contract?
There’s been a few analytic articles on him this year locally that have highlighted his improved playmaking ability, so that’s definitely a thing. Before he was more of a pure scorer, but he’s used his speed to set up some beauties this season now that he’s garnering a little more attention. As far as his contract situation goes, it’s a little bit of a worst-case for Chuck Fletcher that he’s really tearing it up this year as a pending RFA, and it might be yet another Fletcher failure from this summer that he didn’t give him an extension before the season started.
What’s been Devan Dubnyk’s problem?
Well, he’s dinged up with a knee issue right now, but otherwise he’s just been inconsistent, which is kind of his M.O. He strung together three straight shutouts in between some pretty bad stretches, but hasn’t looked terrible lately, and I think he was just as much of a victim of Kyle Quincey as the team on the whole was. Dubnyk usually heats up pretty good in December, .937 sv% in seasons past with the Wild, so he really got hurt at the worst time. Luckily, the Wild have a semblance of a back up this season in Alex Stalock, who’s playing well, so you’ll probably see the former Duluth Bulldog Sunday night.
What do the Wild need to add to get out of the muck in the Central?
The Wild have been as inconsistent as Dubnyk in years past, not coincidentally, so they need a hot streak something fierce. It’s easy to forget that this team won 12 games straight last December because of how horribly the season ended, but they’re capable of that kind of stretch if they get decent goaltending. Also, pin cushion Parise may return soon, which should help the overall depth of this team, and get some guys who should be playing in Iowa off the big sheet of ice. All of that and a sniper at the next Perds-Blyeos game might get us somewhere.
Everything Else

Game #33 – Wild vs. Hawks: Douchebag Du Jour – Welcome, Mikko Koivu…

By Sam Fels 3114 0

His candidacy has been around for years, but we’re finally ready to announce our latest member of the “Team Photo Looks Like It Was Taken After He Was Caught Masturbating” Hall of Fame…

Mikko Koivu

Congratulations, Mikko. You join such luminaries as Cam Barker and… well, that’s the only one we remember but we’re sure there are a few others.

Game #33 Preview

Preview

Spotlight

Q&A

Douchebag Du Jour

I Make A Lot Of Graphs

Lineups & How Teams Were Built

Everything Else

Your Friends And Neighbors – ’17-’18 NHL Team Previews: A Division-Less Boudreau Is No Boudreau At All

By 1345

The Wild suck so hard that they’re the only team Bruce Boudreau hasn’t coached to a division title when he’s had a full season behind the bench. And really, if you don’t get that basically meaningless bauble out of our favorite Haagen-Dazs slathered bocce ball, then what’s the point at all? You’re still going to get a coach with both hands around his own throat in the playoffs but not to get to raise a silly banner aloft. Well, the Wild probably aren’t going to win the division this year, and they’re probably not going to get out of it in the playoffs. It’s almost if Brucey is now just in an abyss of meaninglessness. Which is how most people feel about the state of Minnesota.

Minnesota Wild

’16-’17 Record: 49-25-8  106 points (2nd in Central, out in 1st round to STL)

Team Stats 5v5: 49.3 CF% (20th)  50.5 SF% (14th)  52.6 SCF% (3rd)  9.2 SH% (1st)  .925 SV% (11th)

Special Teams: 20.9 PP% (9th) 82.9 PK% (8th)

Everything Else

These Aren’t The Droids You’re Looking For: Wild at Hawks Preview/Bonfire

By 1247

 vs. 

RECORDS: Wild 27-9-5  Hawks 27-13-5

PUCK DROP: 6pm

TV: NBCSN

ANIMALS STRIKING CURIOUS POSES: Hockey Wilderness, Gone Puck Wild

PROJECTED LINEUPS

ADJUSTED TEAM CORSI %: Wild – 49.8 (18th)  Hawks – 49.8 (17th)

ADJUSTED TEAM xGF%: Wild – 54.2 (2nd)  Hawks – 47.2 (26th)

POWER PLAY %: Wild – 19.5 (13th)  Hawks – 18.8 (14th)

PENALTY KILL %: Wild – 84.6 (6th)  Hawks – 76.3 (28th)

Repeat this to yourself, because it’s important: There are no big games in January.

We’re sure the Wild are using this as some sort of exam. The Hawks have been doing this contender thing long enough to know that it doesn’t matter. However, after getting their ass rubbed in the moonshine by the Capitals, the Hawks probably don’t want that to snowball into anything worrisome. So they won’t be completely disinterested tonight, or at least you’d hope not.

Everything Else

Stuck In The Middle – Wild vs Hawks Preview, Tree Lighting

By 1205

wildthings vs evil empire

Game Time: 7:00PM Central
TV/Radio: CSN, NBCSN (National), WGN-AM 720
Labour Issues In The Toy Department: Hockey Wilderness

As the broadcast will assuredly punish the listening audience with 7 million reminders of by puck drop, the first game back at home after a road trip is always a TRAP GAME. And it’s even moreso of one by some moronic logic because the Wild have lost 6 of 7 coming into tonight. Or it could just be that they’re just perpetually mediocre.

Everything Else

Kick Your Door Down – Game 4 – Hawks at Wild Preview, Pregame Thread, Asphalt Resealing

By 1280 0

oldschool vs wildthings

Game Time: 8:30PM Central
TV/Radio: NBCSN, SportsNet (Anglo), TVA2 (Franco), WGN-AM 720
Blood Makes The Blade Holy: Hockey Wilderness

Mark it 2-9 in road Game 3’s now. On Tuesday night the Hawks won their first road game three since 2010 in the second round against Vancouver, and even in that series it was to take a 2-1 series lead. And now for the first time in the Renaissance Era the Hawks have the opportunity to end a series unblemished on opposition ice.

Everything Else

Here Comes A Regular – Game 3 – Hawks at Wild Preview, Pregame Thread, Paradigm Shift

By 1319 0

oldschool at wildthings

Game Time: 7:00PM Central
TV/Radio: NBCSN, CBC (Anglo), TVA (Franco), WGN-AM 720
Raspberry Beret: Hockey Wilderness

With the series now shifting back to the Twin Cities for games 3 and 4, the expectation is that the momentum will naturally shift back to the Wild, given the Hawks’ abysmal record in game 3’s on the road under Joel Quenneville. The only victory in 10 tries has been Game 3 in 2010 in Vancouver, but that doesn’t mean that anything is a foregone conclusion tonight.

Everything Else

Left Of The Dial – Game 2 – Wild vs Hawks Preview, Pregame Thread, Student Recital

By 1205 0

wildthings vs oldschool

Game Time: 7:30PM Central
TV/Radio: NBCSN, CBC, Sportsnet360, TVA2 (Franco), WGN-AM 720
Twin/Tone Records: Hockey Wilderness

While it took a little bit of a roundabout way of getting there, the result in game one on Friday was the same as it has been for now three years and counting for the Hawks and Wild. And if this is going to be a series, the Wild are going to need to empty the tank this evening in hopes of returning to the Twin Cities with a split.

Everything Else

Seen Your Video – Game 1 – Wild vs Hawks Preview, Pregame Thread, SVU Marathon

By 1278 0

wildthings vs oldschool

Game Time: 8:30PM Central
TV/Radio: NBCSN, SportsNet (Anglo), TVA3 (Franco), WGN-AM 720
Mall of America: Hockey Wilderness

And so it was fated to be, for the third year in a row, and the second in the West semifinals, that the Hawks and Wild would meet. And for the first time out of those three, there is a feeling across the hockey community that the Wild will be more than just a foil or a speedbump for the Hawks.