The Minnesota Wild Season in Review Part 5 of 5: Looking Ahead
Well, it’s taken a lot longer than I’d expected, but here we are—part five of my five part season in review.
I’ve looked at the season on a whole, the forwards, the defense, the goaltenders, the management and now it’s time to take a look ahead to what this off season could bring.
The Wild have a long shopping list for this off season and not a whole lot of money to shop with. They currently have 17 players under contract and have restricted free agents Guillaume Latendresse and Josh Harding yet to sign.
Their shopping list will likely include another defenseman and at least one more forward, but likely two, just to be safe.
So, let’s look at what the team needs, shall we?
The first need that the team will try to address, for sure, will be another stay-at-home, shutdown defenseman. With six defensemen under contract and approximately $16.6 million allotted to these defensemen it’s hard to believe that the Wild will go out and spend on a top-flight free agent blueliner.
What I can see, however, is the Wild spending anywhere between one and two million on a defenseman that is reliable, but not flashy—someone that they can pair with their more aggressive, offensive defensemen.
The problem is that there aren’t too many players available with that description for that price tag.
Possible Targets: Milan Jurcina, Brett Lebda, Kurtis Foster
Another need that the team desperately needs is a second line center.
The Wild do already have someone within their organization that they are hoping will fit this bill in Pierre-Marc Bouchard.
The big question about Butch, however, is his health. While he has been cleared to begin light exercising, Bouchard is still experiencing many post-concussion symptoms.
With that being the case, I would expect the Wild to pursue a center looking to spend between two and four million on him.
With the impending departure of Mike Modano from Dallas, there are a few that are hoping for a nostalgic end to the former North Star’s career. In my opinion, that would be a huge mistake for the Wild.
While Modano would be a significant upgrade from James Sheppard, the fact remains that he’s 41 years old and his production has decreased significantly over the past few seasons.
What they do need, however, is a gritty, skilled center to play on their second line between Latendresse and Martin Havlat.
Possible Targets: Matthew Lombardi, Mike Comrie, Brendan Morrison, Chris Higgins
Another player that the Wild will likely look towards is a gritty forward to replace the likes of Andrew Ebbett, Owen Nolan and Derek Boogaard, all of whom will likely leave in free agency.
This is one thing that there are a lot of in this year’s free agent market.
They won’t have to pay a lot for these players, but these players are going to be invaluable to the Wild in the future and General Manager Chuck Fletcher knows this.
With the trade for Brad Staubitz, Fletcher has gotten some of this toughness but judging from how both the Ducks and the Penguins were built, and make no mistake that those teams had his finger prints all over them, he’s not done with this.
Possible Targets: Adam Burish, Raffi Torres, Colby Armstrong, Evgeny Artyukhin
Finally, I’d look for the Wild to take a shot at trying to acquire another top-six forward; probably a winger.
It won’t be any flashy signing like Ilya Kovalchuk, unless Fletcher can work some serious cap magic, but there is a definite need for a player that can score consistently to play alongside Andrew Brunette and Mikko Koivu on the team’s first line.
Again, I would expect the team to go after someone in the two to four million dollar range for this, as it’s going to need to make sense both economically as well as for the team on a whole.
Possible Targets: Marek Svatos, Alexander Frolov, Slava Kozlov, Alexei Ponikarovsky
Whatever the Wild does, there is going to be a sense of excitement surrounding the team come July 1.
It’s Christmas in July for NHL fans and fans in Minnesota are hoping that the Wild come out on top.
Sheppard’s Inspired Performance Too Little to Late?
I remember quite clearly the message that was being sent to Minnesota Wild fans about James Sheppard following the 2006 Entry Draft.
“He’s going to be the next Joe Thornton.”
“He’s going to be a carbon copy of Ryan Getzlaf.”
“This kid’s going to be good.”
Now hindsight is always 20-20 (and if it’s not, you need to get your hindsight checked), but through 211 games in his NHL career, Sheppard has been none of these things. Call it a mismanagement of assets by Wild management, call it caving under the pressure, call it a bust—call it whatever you want. The fact is that Sheppard has not lived up to his billing.
Last night’s tilt against the Edmonton Oilers saw an inspired Sheppard. He forechecked with a purpose, he was stronger on the puck than I ever remember seeing him before and he created opportunities for he and his linemates and he was rewarded with the most time on the ice he’s seen since the game coming out of the Olympic break.
But with the signing of young Casey Wellman, might this be too little to late?
The truth is that, yes, Sheppard played a great game last night. He was aggressive, he was on the puck and he was physical. The problem is, the Wild’s other two centers (Kyle Brodziak and Andrew Ebbett) both played better.
Sheppard has been a healthy scratch for more than his fair share of games this season but, with no other options at center after the trade of Eric Belanger, he has been inserted into the lineup regularly as the team’s third or fourth line center (depending on the situation and his play).
He’s responded well, especially over the last handful of games, but has nothing to show for it. Not a single, solitary assist. Not even a plus rating. In fact, in the eight games since the trade deadline, he is a minus-two, with just five shots on goal.
For comparison’s sake, here are the stat lines of the three centers not named Mikko Koivu since the deadline:
James Sheppard: 0 G, 0 A, -2, 4 PIM, 5 SOG
Andrew Ebbett: 3 G, 2 A, E, 2 PIM, 18 SOG
Kyle Brodziak: 1 G, 1 A, E, 2 PIM, 11 SOG
Now, given the decision, which one would you scratch? Take your time. There’s no rush.
Did you say Sheppard?
I thought so.
Now, as hockey fans we all know that goals and assists aren’t always indicative of the quality of their play, which is why I included the shots-on-goal number. For a forward, especially a center, creating plays and creating scoring chances has a lot to do with getting shots on net. The more shots you can get towards the net, the more scoring chances your team is likely to have.
Even though Brodziak and Ebbett aren’t necessarily the biggest offensive powerhouses on the team, they’re getting shots on goal—they’re creating.
Sheppard, on the other hand, is not.
I’ll break it down further for you. Let’s look at their shift breakdown:
James Sheppard: 8 GP, 110 shifts, 10:12 TOI
Andrew Ebbett, 8 GP, 200 shifts, 18:10 TOI
Kyle Brodziak: 8 GP, 178 shifts, 15:05 TOI
Looking at the breakdown, Sheppard is averaging roughly 14 shifts per game, Ebbett is averaging 25 and Brodziak about 22. In otherwords, Sheppard’s average shift length is about 44 seconds, as is Ebbett’s and Brodziak’s average shift length is about 49 seconds.
To make it simpler, it boils down to this. Ebbett and Brodziak are averaging a shot once every 11 shifts and every 16 shifts respectively, while Sheppard is averaging a shot once every 22 shifts.
Now, this may not seem like a huge disparity, but when you’re averaging just 14 shifts per game, it’s not the best way to endear yourself to anyone involved when you’re supposed to be an offensive threat. It gets even worse when you take the average shift time into account. He’s averaging just one shot every 16:08 of playing time.
Now if he were getting 16 minutes of playing time per game, we might not say boo about it. But he’s not. He’s in a situation where he needs to earn his ice time and, quite frankly, he isn’t.
This long statistical diatribe is leading me to one conclusion and one conclusion only.
James Sheppard’s “inspired” effort last night was not enough to save his season and to save his job. He will get another chance, to be sure. The Wild are too thin at the forward position to think that his good game against Edmonton won’t be rewarded with another shot against Nashville, and he may make good on that reward and build on his performance.
But the bottom line is that Sheppard is a restricted free agent. In order to stay on the Wild, he will require a qualifying offer of ten percent more than he currently makes (roughly $935K).
He has had all season to prove that he is capable of being the player that the Wild needs him to be and, to me, a handful of games down the stretch with a player behind him breathing down his neck for a chance to do his job better is not worth a second chance at his current pay, let alone with a raise.
This is the exact reason why I believe that James Sheppard will not and should not be wearing a Minnesota Wild sweater when the Wild open up next fall in training camp.
Gameday Thread – Game 43 – Wild @ ‘Hawks
If anyone needed a break, it was the Minnesota Wild.
After a hot December that saw them tally ten victories (a team record for the month), the team proceeded to lose three games in five days, looking like a very tired team for the majority of those games.
But a two-day break in the Windy City and the presence of their fathers has the team rejuvenated and ready for action against the team that is arguably the best in the league—the Chicago Blackhawks.
The Wild have an extremely daunting task in front of them, as their loss on Saturday to the New Jersey Devils kicked off a month of January in which nine of the team’s 14 games are against teams that are currently in playoff contention and three more are against teams currently ahead of them in the standings.
In other words, January will be a good measuring stick for just how good this Wild team actually is.
The good news for the Wild is that Brent Burns has made this trip with the team and, though he didn’t practice, he is getting closer and closer every day to returning.
What’s more is that, by all accounts, the Wild held one of their hardest working practices of the season yesterday—in large part because of the presence of their fathers. The speculation following practice was that the Wild would have heard it afterwards if they didn’t, and I suspect the same will go for tonight’s game.
As for tonight’s game, the Wild will be facing a Blackhawks team that has won three straight and eight of their last ten. In fact, there’s not much that has not been going right for the ‘Hawks this season.
Lineup(s)
I haven’t heard of what the lines might or might not be for the Wild but; the injuries have been talked about. While Burns travelled, he is still out with a concussion. In addition, the Wild might be down one of their more important players and team leaders in Owen Nolan, who is questionable for tonight’s game. Assuming that Nolan doesn’t go, here’s my attempt at the forward lines:
Brunette-Koivu-Miettinen
Latendresse-Ebbett-Havlat
Clutterbuck-Belanger-Sykora
Boogaard-Brodziak-Sheppard
I think that, in the case of these lines, you could easily see James Sheppard and Cal Clutterbuck switch spots. First, because Clutterbuck and Kyle Brodziak have some absolutely sick chemistry with one another and second, because Sheppard is more of a playmaking-type player—something that could be important to getting sniper Petr Sykora rolling after returning from his concussion.
In addition, don’t be surprised if Sykora gets some shifts on Martin Havlat’s opposite wing, with Belanger in between them. The three were showing some fantastic chemistry before Sykora went down and it took the Wild a while to find some other players that fit with Havlat. That said, Havlat is riding a four-game points streak and has five goals and 15 points in his last 15 games, most of which has come playing with Andrew Ebbett and Guillaume Latendresse.
On the other hand, if Nolan is able to go tonight, I’d expect the casualty to be Derek Boogaard due, in large part, to his lack of mobility.
As for defense, I doubt you’ll see much of a change there. Clayton Stoner has recovered from his tweaked groin and continues to gain the confidence of the coaching staff. While he’s cooled off from his “call up” hot streak, Stoner has continued to play solid, physical defense—something that has endeared him to the coaching staff and the fans.
In addition, against the ‘Hawks quick forward group, I’d be surprised if the Wild rolled out John Scott who, as with Boogaard, isn’t the most mobile member of the team.
Zanon-Zidlicky
Schultz-Johnsson
Stoner-Hnidy
In nets, expect to see Josh Harding who will give Niklas Backstrom a much needed break following performances that have seen him give up three goals in six of his last seven games.
Especially in his last few games, Backstrom simply looked tired and, because of this, I would expect Harding to be in the cage tonight regardless of the score—especially with an ever-important divisional match up coming tomorrow night.
What to Watch For
Keep an eye on the Wild’s defense tonight. Against both Los Angeles and New Jersey, they didn’t give their goaltenders much help and that will need to change in a big way against Chicago’s high octane offense.
As was mentioned earlier, the Wild’s fathers are on this trip and I would expect the team (and the defense especially) to play a solid, blue collared, hockey game—lots of hitting, lots of good positioning and lots of hard work.
For the Wild, keep an eye on the usual suspects—Havlat, Mikko Koivu and Andrew Brunette.
These three players have been three of the Wild’s hottest players of late, with Koivu picking up the Wild on his shoulders and shouldering much of their offensive load.
The dark horse for the Wild, however, is defenseman Marek Zidlicky.
While ‘Z’ has driven Wild fans crazy with his play in his own zone, he has certainly come into his own this season and is playing much better defense than he did last season. His pairing with Greg Zanon has turned into the Wild’s top defensive unit and he is showing that he is a true asset moving the puck.
In his last five games, Zidlicky has six assists and is a plus-one. He has had the hot passing hand and his ability to break the puck out will be crucial to the Wild’s transition game.
Key(s) to the Game
Which leads me into the first key to the game.
The Wild need to, need to, need to get their transition game going early. They are simply not going to get a whole lot of quality chances against the Blackhawks team and are going to be pressured early and often.
The Blackhawks give up just over 24 shots per game, while taking around 33. For the Wild to win, they are going to need to take advantage of the ‘Hawks aggressiveness and catch them pinching. If they can do that, they can get quality chances against this team. If they can’t, though, they might not be seeing too many of their pucks hitting the net.
Anyone who watched the Winter Classic can tell you that a solid transition game can change the tempo and the momentum of the game and that a solid transition game can win the game.
My second key to the game is discipline.
The Wild need to a) hope that Chicago remains disciplined and b) remain disciplined themselves.
The reason I say this is twofold. The Wild’s powerplay, of late, has largely been a momentum killer for the team. Much of this likely has to do with the loss of Brent Burns on the blueline but, on a whole, the Wild’s powerplay has been ineffective.
For the ‘Hawks, however, their powerplay has been buzzing of late, having converted at least one opportunity in each of its last seven games. The team is 8-for-25 during that time—an impressive 32% clip.
Finally, it is paramount in this game that the Wild get out to a good start. This is a very potent offensive team that they are playing and stumbling out of the gates could very well lose the game for them.
Minnesota has not started well for most of the season and it is very important that they get their legs under them early. They need to slow down Chicago with physical play and they need to grind it out with them, plain and simple.
The puck drops tonight at 7pm CST on Versus.
Reminder: I’ll be answering my first Wild Nation mailbag here next week. If you have any questions or comments, be sure to send them to blake.benzel@hockeyprimetime.com. So far, I’ve gotten just one response, but I’m confident that I have more than one reader, so be sure to send in your questions.
Gameday Thread – Game 39 – Wild @ Kings
It’s amazing how much difference a couple months time makes.
After a 3-9-0 start, the Wild were looking to be in the running for the Taylor Hall Sweepstakes. The turnaround that the team has made the season, however, has been nothing short of miraculous.
After their horrific start, the Wild are 16-7-3 and were 9-4-0 during the month of December and now are just four points back from the odds on favorite to win the Northwest Division this season, the Calgary Flames, and third place in the division.
More importantly, they are just four points back from a playoff spot.
The combination of new blood being injected into the system and the old blood learning the new system has proven to be a potent mix and the team is looking poised for a solid run at the Stanley Cup Playoffs after missing out last season.
They come into Los Angeles tonight with a record number of wins for the month of December and are looking to increase on that total against a very good and very surprising Los Angeles Kings team.
The Kings are third in the Pacific Division and fifth in the Western Conference despite slumping of late. A testament to how good the Pacific Division has gotten, the Kings dropped from first in the division to third after a stretch of two losses and eight games off in between.
Lineups
The Wild will be short one of their top checking players, as Chuck Kobasew is going to be on the shelf for about 4-to-6 weeks with a sprained MCL. While his injury will certainly hurt the team, it is possible that it may have opened up a spot for Petr Sykora to return to the lineup sooner than hoped.
Sykora is travelling with the team on their two-game road swing but has not yet gotten approval to play. If that changes, though, the Wild could see a big addition to their lineup.
Barring Sykora’s return, though, here are the forward lines for the Wild as predicted by Wild.com:
Brunette-Koivu-Miettinen
Nolan-Belanger-Clutterbuck
Latendresse-Ebbett-Havlat
Sheppard-Brodziak-Boogaard
Now, while Belanger’s line is listed as the team’s second line here, it’s important to note that the Kings will likely see a large dose of Ebbett’s line early and often. They have been one of the hotter lines on the team since Latendresse and Ebbett have both gotten healthy and that could bode well for the Wild. In addition, the injury to Kobasew might just give Sheppard yet another chance to prove himself. He’s played much better of late, but he needs to step his game up another level if he wants to continue to find playing time as players begin returning from injury.
On defense, Clayton Stoner has been an absolute revelation for the Wild and looks to have stolen John Scott’s spot from him. In his five games since being called up, Stoner has a pair of assists, an even rating, a couple fights and is averaging just under 13 minutes per game. His solid skating ability and his willingness to throw his body around has quickly endeared him to Wild fans.
Wild.com lists the defensive pairings as follows:
Zanon-Zidlicky
Stoner-Johnsson
Hnidy-Schultz
The one thing that I like the most about these pairings is that it gives the Wild a 100% legitimate shutdown pairing in Hnidy and Schultz. But what’s more is that the defensively responsible Stoner and Zanon give both Zidlicky and Johnsson chances to step up into the play a little bit more often—something that benefitted the Wild in their 4-3 defeat of the Blues on Saturday.
There was a break between the games, so in net we’re most likely going to see Niklas Backstrom again. Backstrom has been absolutely fantastic in his last eight games, with six wins and a 1.87 goals-against average.
What to Watch For
The Wild have forward on their team that is white hot right now, and he’s not who you’d think.
Guillaume Latendresse has notched four goals in his last four games and six in 13 games with the Wild. In addition, in those 13 games, the Wild is 11-2-0 and is 4-0-0 when he scores a goal.
You don’t believe me? Do the math yourself.
G-Lat has quickly become an important cog in the Wild’s offense and is continuing to get more and more ice time with Minnesota.
The other key is going to be Martin Havlat. He was largely invisible on Saturday night against St. Louis, but has really snapped out of his early season slump with nine points in his last eight games with a plus-six rating.
He is going to be very important to the continued success of the Wild and the continued success of both Latendresse and Ebbett. He has shown great chemistry with both and this looks to be as bona fide a second line as the Wild has had all season long.
If these three start clicking in a game, watch out…It can be scary good.
Key(s) to the Game
Shoot the puck.
Both teams have great records when outshooting their opponents and tonight should be no different.
For the Wild, LA’s Jonathan Quick is a goalie that thrives on confidence. If they can get to him early, they can have success. But Quick gets better as the game goes on and as he gets more confidence, so hitting him early and often will be paramount for a Wild win.
For the Wild, stopping Anze Kopitar will also be a huge task. Kopitar is one of two Kings players in double digits for goals this season and is the only one who is active (Jarrett Stoll is out with a groin injury). If the Wild can stop Kopitar, they’re that much closer to stopping the Kings.
Kopitar, however, is not the only player that the Wild need to focus on. Ryan Smyth quickly asserted his presence in the Kings’ lineup this season before getting injured and has since returned to the lineup and will provide a huge boost for a Kings team playing without Stoll and Justin Williams.
The puck drops tonight at 9:30 CST and will be broadcast on Fox Sports North.
Gameday Thread – Game 34 – Wild @ Habs
Well, well, well. Look who’s back in Montreal.
That’s right, Wild Nation faithful. Guillaume Latendresse is returning to Montreal tonight to help the Wild dispatch his former team.
While the game will likely be much more than just G-Lat versus the Montreal Canadiens, it is certainly a storyline that bears observation.
Since arriving in Minnesota, Latendresse has been nothing short of marvelous. He has played with a physical edge, he has shown a tireless work ethic and he has produced. Since arriving in the Land of 10,000 Lakes, G-Lat has notched three goals and an assist in 10 games, not to mention a shootout goal against the Anaheim Ducks.
The bottom line is that, suddenly he has had the weight of the world lifted off of his shoulders — and it shows.
But tonight the young power forward heads home again, hoping to rub some salt in the wound against his former team.
Lineups
While I have not heard anything of yet regarding the Wild’s lineup for tonight’s game, I can’t imagine much changing for tonight’s game, though Andrew Ebbett has traveled with the team and may see action in either tonight’s or Saturday’s game. Were I setting the lineups, though, here’s what it would look like:
Brunette-Koivu-Miettinen
Latendresse-Brodziak-Havlat
Kobasew-Belanger-Clutterbuck
Earl-Ebbett-Sheppard
This is a quick, undersized lineup that the Wild are facing tonight and it is a lineup that has a wealth of skill on it. The biggest mistake the Wild could make, in my opinion, would be to put Derek Boogaard on the ice tonight. Boogaard has not been able to catch a break over the last few games and, against Vancouver especially, his reputation has worked against him. In a game that will likely be up tempo, it will be important for the Wild to put their best foot forward, so to speak.
Zidlicky-Zanon
Schultz-Johnsson
Hnidy-Stoner
There aren’t many changes here, but I’ll be honest — I want to see what Clayton Stoner can do. He was called up just before the road trip and he’s played very, very well in Houston so far this season. The likelihood that John Scott would play anymore than 10-12 minutes in this game is very small, so I don’t see the harm in giving Stoner a shot and getting him in his first NHL action.
Backstrom
‘Nuff said.
What to Watch For
I already mentioned the return of Latendresse to Montreal, but to me, this is one of the less intriguing storylines of the evening.
What is more intriguing is the match up between two teams that are seemingly on opposite ends of the spectrum. The Wild are coming off of a hard-fought win against the Columbus Blue Jackets and have lost just two games in their last 10. The Habs, on the other hand, have struggled mightily as of late, losing four straight and just three of their last 10 games.
The biggest thing to watch in this game will be special teams, however. The Wild’s powerplay that started out so strong this season has faltered, with the team going zero for their last 19 opportunities with the man advantage. Against a strong penalty killing team in the Habs, that isn’t going to be an easy stat to change. Montreal sits at an 84% penalty kill, good for 8th in the NHL.
The Wild is a surging team, however. Their play has been much improved from their 3-9-0 start and they are slowly clawing their way back up the standings. As it stands today, they are just four points from the 8th place Detroit Red Wings and three behind the Dallas Stars and Vancouver Canucks.
A successful road swing in Eastern Canada could go a long way towards pushing farther up the standings.
Keys to the Game
How will G-Lat respond?
The line of Latendresse, Brodziak and Havlat have been absolutely scintillating over the last couple games. Havlat has six points in three games and has had a hand in six of the team’s last seven goals. He has finally found linemates that he has chemistry with and the line is clicking.
But, the pressure of Montreal had gotten to Latendresse before. Will it get to him again tonight?
I, for one, don’t think so.
In Montreal, he was cast out to the fourth line. His minutes cut and his confidence was shattered. He has said himself that the fact that Richards thinks enough of him to play him consistently has helped and right now his confidence has got to be sky high.
With a coach that trusts him enough to play him and is willing to give him every opportunity to succeed, G-Lat is starting to come into his own and is starting to apply everything that he has learned in his young career.
The Wild also need to continue their trend of shooting, shooting and shooting some more.
In games that they outshoot their opponents in, the Wild are 9-5-2 this season, compared to the Habs record of 8-11-2 when being outshot. Minnesota needs to keep Carey Price busy all night long. While Price is certainly a solid tender, he has not shown the elite level of play that he showed during his rookie season consistently and getting into his head will be paramount for the Wild’s success.
The puck drops tonight from the Bell Centre at 6 pm CST and is televised on Fox Sports.
Gameday Thread – Game 30 – Wild @ Coyotes
The Wild roll into Phoenix tonight riding high.
They are 6-0-1 in their last seven games, including the fact that they are currently on a five-game winning streak.
But tonight, they will face off against the resurgent Phoenix Coyotes—a team that has persevered through their managerial hardships this season to be firmly planted in the playoff picture in the Western Conference in sixth place, just two points behind their division rival Los Angeles Kings and just six points in front of their quarry for tonight’s game.
It’s possible that these two teams could be two of the hottest teams in the NHL at the moment.
The Wild have won their last five and have scored at least five goals in four of them (though one of the five-goal games was the team’s shootout victory over Anaheim on Friday).
While the Wild have been hot offensively, the Coyotes have been hot in their own end, giving up two or less goals in each of their previous five games, starting with their 2-1 loss to the Calgary Flames.
In the previous meeting this season between the two teams, the ‘Yotes skated away victorious with the 3-2 victory as Scottie Upshall rudely ruined the celebration of Antti Miettinen’s tying goal with one of his own just 19 ticks later.
This is a different Wild team than the one that suited up against Phoenix on November 18, however. They are playing with confidence and poise and are looking the best that they have looked all season long.
Lineups
As was the case on Friday, I don’t have any information for the ‘Yotes lineup, but here are the likely lines for the Wild according to team scribe Glen Andresen.
Brunette-Koivu-Miettinen
Nolan-Belanger-Kobasew
Latendresse-Brodziak-Clutterbuck
Havlat-Ebbett-Sheppard
According to Andresen and Mike Russo, of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, team bowling ball Cal Clutterbuck is still feeling some of the effects of the flu that kept him out of Saturday’s game against Nashville, but he is feeling much better than he was. If he is able to go (and the odds are pretty good that, if he’s with the team, he’ll go), look for James Sheppard to get the nod over enforcer extraordinaire Derek Boogaard, as Sheppard played a great game against Nashville and got his first tally of the season.
In fact, for those Sheppard detractors out there (we know who you are), the Shepster has a goal and two assists in his last five games, with a plus-two rating and 11 shots on goal. Now I know he’s been having a bad season, but with those stats? Come on…Let’s start fresh and see what he can do at wing. What do you say?
On defense, you can likely expect more of the same with Jaime “Why Can’t He Spell His First Name Right” Sifers getting the nod over John Scott.
Zanon-Zidlicky
Schultz-Johnsson
Hnidy-Sifers
In nets, you’ll see Niklas Backstrom for the Wild after getting an off night against Nashville.
What to Watch For
The let down.
With two teams riding as high as the Wild and the Coyotes, eventually a let down is inevitable. Both teams have been playing fantastic hockey over the last few games and both teams are “due,” so to speak.
The problem that arises with being “due,” is that it’s much easier for a hot defensive team to force their opponent to lay an egg than the other way around.
I’ll be perfectly blunt. The Wild have not been that hot defensive team over the last five games. While the Coyotes come in with a paltry 1.80 goals against over their last five, the Wild sport a robust 3.20 goals against average over their last five. Their last five have also included a lot of battling from behind—something that will take its toll on any team.
Both teams also distribute their scoring well.
What will be important is to see who has players that step up.
Over the last few games, it has been the Wild’s first line of Brunette, Koivu and Miettinen that have done the stepping up. This line will likely be drawing a bulk of Phoenix’s defensive attention tonight and will, quite simply, need to be effective. The good news for Minnesota, however, is that their bottom three lines are starting to be equally as effective.
In Nashville, Sheppard and Martin Havlat both played their best games of the season and the team continued to get strong play from newcomers Andrew Ebbett and G-Lat.
For Phoenix, it will hinge largely on the play of Ilya Bryzgalov, who has been spectacular this season. With a 1.79 goals-against average and a .937 save percentage (not to mention his three shutouts), Bryz has been on fire this season and the Wild will have to find a way to cool him off.
Key(s) to the Game
Shoot. Shoot early and shoot often. From anywhere and everywhere.
When playing a hot goalie, this is probably your best strategy. Pepper him with shots and eventually you’ll start to see some cracks in the armor.
This is exactly what the Wild have to do in order to break down the defenses of Mr. Bryzgalov.
The team is extremely familiar with him from his time in Anaheim and they know exactly what they are getting with him in net—they just need to get to him. The more shots they can get on net, the better off they will be.
Don’t give up the lead.
The Wild have been scored on first in eight of their last nine games. Against a solid defensive team like the Coyotes, this is a trend that needs to stop.
While the Wild have a team that has confidence while playing from behind, the Coyotes have a team that has confidence while playing with the lead. It is paramount that the Wild get out to a fast start in this game. If they don’t and allow a couple early goals, it may not be as easy to come from behind.
If the Coyotes score first, this game might be all but in the bag because Phoenix can do what they do best. Shut down and play mistake-free hockey.
The puck drops tonight at 8 pm CST and is televised on Fox Sports.
Gameday Thread – Game 28 – Ducks @ Wild
The good news has been few and far between this season for the Wild; however, they will try to make it four wins in a row tonight as the Anaheim Ducks roll into town for the third meeting between the two teams.
Each team has won on their home ice thus far in the season series, with the Wild taking the first game in dramatic fashion, coming from three goals behind in the third period to win the game in overtime and the Ducks returning the favor with a 3-2 victory in Anaheim just eight days later.
The Water Fowl are just one point behind the Wild in the Western Conference standings, but have dropped their last two games and have struggled for most of this season.
Part of those struggles have been because of their goaltending. The usually spectacular tandem of Jonas Hiller and Jean-Sebastian Giguere have both been putting up pedestrian numbers this season—Giguere with a .918 save percentage and a 2.61 goals-against average and Hiller with .909 and 3.09 respectively.
The Wild, meanwhile, are riding a three game winning streak and are 4-0-1 in their last five games, with their current winning ways pulling them to a 12-12-3 record after starting the season 3-9-0.
A large part of the Wild’s new winning ways is the fresh lease on life that new acquisitions Andrew Ebbett and Guillaume Latendresse have. Ebbett and G-Lat were both castoffs from their prior teams and have found stability with the Wild, each playing a humungous part in the team’s five-game point streak. On top of that, captain Mikko Koivu has five points in his last three games.
Probable Lineup(s)
While I have no information for the Ducklings, the Wild should be rolling the same offensive lines as they did against Nashville:
Brunette-Koivu-Miettinen
Nolan-Belanger-Kobasew
Latendresse-Brodziak-Clutterbuck
Havlat-Ebbett-Boogaard
The fact that Martin Havlat has been shifted to the team’s fourth line speaks to just how well this team is playing right now. If he wants to move up, he’s going to need to start showing something to the coaching staff. His assist in Wednesday’s game is a good start, but he needs to start showing that he can be the Martin Havlat that led the Blackhawks in points despite playing second-line minutes last season before he can expect to start being shifted up the lineup again.
On defense, the Wild will again look much the same with the exception of John Scott being shifted in for Jamie Sifers against a big, physical team of Duckies.
Zanon-Zidlicky
Schultz-Johnsson
Hnidy-Scott
That Zanon and Zidlicky are the team’s first defensive pairing speaks to just how well these two are playing right now. Despite his blunder in the first period against Nashville, which led to a Jason Arnott goal, Zidlicky is playing some of the best hockey of his career right now. He’s becoming more responsible on defense, along with being encouraged to jump up into the play on offense. He still has one of the best shots on the Wild and is now feeling comfortable enough to be able to pinch up to use it, but still be able to maintain his defensive responsibilities.
In nets, it looks like we’ll be seeing Niklas Backstrom again, thought it wouldn’t surprise me if the team opted for Harding as a late switch.
What to Watch For
Keep an eye out for Corey Perry in this one. Perry is always dangerous but should be even more so tonight as he will be looking to get back on the scoresheet after having his 19-game point streak snapped last night against Dallas.
Despite being shutout in the game last night, Perry has 12 points in his last ten games.
The Quackers will need Perry in this one, as they have dropped seven straight on the road and I would just like to mention that, by pointing that seemingly inane statistic out, I have just doomed the Wild to a night of failure.
Also, keep an eye out for the Wild’s special teams—most notably, if you can spot them.
The Wild’s powerplay started out strong this season, but with the losses of Brent Burns, Petr Sykora and Pierre-Marc Bouchard, as well as absences from Martin Havlat and Antti Miettinen, their powerplay has fizzled as of late, dropping to 19.3%.
The Mallards are an aggressive team and prone to taking penalties, so don’t be surprised if the Wild’s powerplay unit gets their fair share of action in tonight’s game.
Hopefully, however, that is a good thing for the Wild.
Keys to the Game
The Wild need to stay out of the box.
Against a team as aggressive as the Web-Footed Birds (give me a break…I’m running out of fresh names to call the Ducks) are, it is easy to let yourself fall into the same trap and take retaliation penalties. The Wild need to avoid this at all costs.
More penalties means more time that the Wild can expect to see the unit of Perry, Getzlaf and Ryan and the less time they spend on the ice, the better for the Wild.
Injuries will also play a part.
The Ducks are missing Teemu Selanne, Kyle Calder, Joffrey Lupul and Ryan Carter, while the Wild are still missing Burns, Bouchard and Sykora.
My Predictions
And now I’ll make a few predictions destined to be very, very far from the mark.
First, the Wild will continue their win streak with a 4-3 victory (strike number two against the team in this blog alone).
Second, the newcomers will continue their strong play. Both Latendresse and Ebbett have provided some much needed scoring punch to the lineup and will continue to do so.
Third, Martin Havlat will start getting back on track. I know this one might be a stretch but, come on…The guy’s due.
There you have it, folks. My extremely unscientific and possibly biased view of tonight’s game.
The puck drops at the X tonight at 7 pm CST.
Wild Newcomers Are Starting to Pay Dividends
Right now, it’s looking like Chuck Fletcher might deserve to be locked away for robbery.
Why, you ask?
Because, at this point, that’s what his additions of Chuck Kobasew, Guillaume Latendresse and Andrew Ebbett look like.
Okay. So maybe I’m going a touch strong on the hyperbole, but you can’t deny that the Wild’s newcomers have given the team quite the boost in the last few games.
Chuck Kobasew?
Well, the man with an uncanny resemblance to Brad Pitt got off to a slow start for the Wild with just a goal and two assists in his first nine games, not to mention a minus-2 rating. Since returning from his injury, however, Kobasew has three goals, all of which came as a hat-trick in the Wild’s post-turkey day feast against the Colorado Avalanche, a minus-1 rating and 15 shots. 15 shots in just four games, from a checker?
That sounds like someone who’s making a difference to me.
Then you’ve got G-Lat. Dubbed as such by Wild.com scribe Glen Andresen, I’ve decided to adopt the nickname for my own purposes because, quite honestly, just thinking about typing his name gives me carpal tunnel syndrome.
G-Lat was cast off from Montreal after tallying two goals and an assist in 23 games, including a minus-4 rating. For Minnesota? He’s equaled that output in just three games, with a plus-1 rating.
Not only that, but G-Lat has seemingly transformed from a lazy, uninspired shadow of a power forward to the energetic, physical mountain of a man that he was billed as coming into Montreal his rookie season. Not only that, but somewhere on the road between here and Montreal, he learned how to play defense.
And then there’s Andrew Ebbett. Mighty Mouse himself.
Proving that it is indeed possible to be smaller than Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Ebbett has provided an instant offensive spark to whatever line he’s been put on.
In his first game for the Wild, against Boston? Game-tying goal.
In the second of back-to-back games against Colorado? Game-winning shootout goal.
In Wednesday’s game against Nashville? Game-winning overtime goal.
Now that’s what I call coming through in the clutch.
Now I know what a lot of you are thinking.
For Kobasew, it was likely an aberration, right?
But consider that he has scored 20+ goals in three of the last four seasons. You simply just don’t forget how to score just because you come to a new team. He is capable of putting up goals—it’s just a matter of finding players that he meshes with.
For G-Lat, he’s just trying to impress his new team.
Maybe. I’m still going to hold my judgment on this one until his body of work is a little bigger. But honestly, everyone knew that he had talent. Everyone knew that he was capable of being a solid player in this league.
Consider his circumstances in Montreal. A Quebecois player, playing in Montreal? It takes a special kind of good to be able to withstand the pressure that comes with that. It takes a Maurice Richard-type of talent to be able to withstand that and, no matter how good G-Lat might be for Minnesota, no one will ever mistake him for The Rocket.
So maybe, just maybe he’s playing this way because the pressure is no longer on. His every move isn’t going to be critiqued in Minnesota (just every other move). Maybe, now that he’s free of the expectations that come along with a French-Canadian player in Montreal, he’ll emerge into the player he is capable of being.
But again, I’m going to hold my judgment until he has a larger body of work.
As for Ebbett?
Honestly, I can’t find any reason why anyone should be weary of his performance. Despite his size, the man has put up points at every single level. His last season at the University of Michigan? 14 goals, 42 points in 41 games. His last full season in the AHL? 18 goals, 72 poitns in 74 games. His first season with the Ducks? 8 goals, 32 points in 48 games.
He’s capable of scoring and, honestly, has seemed to be a cap casualty in both Anaheim and Chicago this season. But if he keeps playing this way, there’s no way he’s going to be one in Minnesota.
But to be honest, the biggest contribution that these players have brought to the team isn’t necessarily on the ice.
Yes, they’re helping the Wild win games. But what their additions have done is juiced the locker room, so to speak.
The Wild are 4-0-1 in their last five games and are playing their best hockey of the season. The energy that is flowing through this locker room right now is absolutely amazing.
The additions do two things.
First, it shows players in the locker room that they need to perform, otherwise they might be on their way out.
I can tell you that I was quite surprised when I pulled up TSN’s website and saw the article saying that Pouliot had been shipped off to Montreal.
Pouliot was playing the best hockey of his career and was starting to show signs of improvement on the ice. But it wasn’t enough for Fletcher. He saw an opportunity and took it and now Benny Pooh is a Canadien.
Second, it forces players to actually earn their jobs.
In Wednesday’s game, James Sheppard was scratched and not necessarily because of his play. Sheppard has been a force in the last couple games since he’s been slid over to the wing, but the Wild simply do not have the room for him in their lineup—especially not if they feel that it is necessary to skate Derek Boogaard.
The Wild have a full roster right now, and still have Petr Sykora and Pierre-Marc Bouchard on the IR. When those two players get healthy, who knows what’s going to happen.
Players are certainly going to have to start earning their keep.
Players like Sheppard and Boogaard, whose spots on the roster were once assured? They might not be any more. Or players like Martin Havlat who have been under-performing? They might not be assured a spot in the lineup on a nightly basis anymore.
The bottom line is that Chuck Fletcher is putting his stamp on this team and it’s already starting to pay dividends. As it stands now, not only are the Wild out of the cellar in the division and the conference—they’re just six points back from the seventh seed in the playoffs.
What this has done is sent a shot across the bow of all of the Nervous Nellies in the State of Hockey. It’s sent a message to all of the fans deriding Fletcher, claiming that he hasn’t done a good enough job of setting the team up for success.
It’s told them one thing: Patience is a virtue.
Wild Fall to Bruins 2-1 in Shootout
Finish, finish, finish.
No, I’m not talking about the Finnish trio of Niklas Backstrom, Mikko Koivu and Antti Miettinen.
Instead, I’m talking about the Wild’s lack of finishing skills.
Once again, on Wednesday night, the Wild were stymied by the “hot hand” in net as the team failed to score more than two goals for the eleventh time in 23 games. Despite outshooting the Bruins by a margin of 29-16, the only goal that the Wild could muster was newcomer Andrew Ebbett’s tip-in goal just over halfway through the second period.
Ebbett managed to impress early and often in this one, as his speed and his skill shone through as he centered the team’s best line of the evening, playing pivot to Owen Nolan and James Sheppard.
After being placed on waivers twice so far in this young season, once by Anaheim and once by Chicago, Ebbett tipped an Owen Nolan shot past Rask to tie the game at one.
This is the second time this month that the Wild has failed to capitalize on a big win after a long layoff – the first being the month’s first game against Vancouver.
In addition to their injury problems, which have been well documented, the Wild skated a man down in Wednesday’s game due to a late illness to Miettinen, making him a late scratch.
You wouldn’t have guessed that the Wild were a man down on the evening by their effort, however. The team came out strong and controlled play, not allowing the Bruins to have a shot on goal until 6:30 of the first period.
The Bruins made the shot count, however, as Byron Bitz tipped a shot from the point by Derek Morris past Backstrom to give them the early lead.
Despite tying it in the second, the Wild could never quite get the edge on the Bruins and the game went to an extra frame for the third time in the last six games and, just as in the other two, the Wild suddenly became inept in the shootout.
The story of the game, however, was the play of Tuukka Rask who was starting his fifth straight game in the absence of the injured Tim Thomas. Rask stopped 28 shots in all, including five in overtime (one of which was a marvelous chance by Mikko Koivu at point-blank range) and three of four shootout chances. With the victory, Rask improved to 7-2-1 in the season, while Backstrom fell to 8-9-3 on the season with the loss.
The Wild play again at 1 pm CST against the Colorado Avalance on Nov. 27.
Wild Notes: James Sheppard once again played a strong game at wing, getting his second assist in two games and giving him a season-high two-game point streak. … Guillaume Latendresse, the player the Wild received in exchange for Benoit Pouliot, is currently unavailable to the team due to work visa issues. The team hopes that the issues will be resolved in time for the team’s annual day-after-Thanksgiving matinee on Friday against the Colorado Avalanche. … Pierre-Marc Bouchard met briefly with Boston’s Patrice Bergeron Wednesday morning. Bergeron, who has missed large parts of the last two seasons with concussions, had advice and some encouragement for Bouchard. Bouchard has only played in one game this season due to a concussion. … After starting the season with just one goal and two assists in 11 games, Owen Nolan has five goals and three assists in his last 12 games. … Wednesday’s game was Shane Hnidy’s 499th career game. … In addition to Miettinen being sidelined due to injury, the Wild were missing Martin Havlat, Brent Burns, Petr Sykora and Pierre-Marc Bouchard, all due to injuries.
