Gameday: Minnesota Wild at Philadelphia Flyers, 9/29/2009

Shootout... I hate shootouts.

yyyyyyeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhh beeeeeeeeeeoooooooooooottttchhhhhhh

Wild win...

As the Wild fell behind 2-0 during the first period, it looked like it could have been another ugly night during the final exhibition game for the Wild this year.

Instead, the Wild stormed back during the second period and tied the game on goals by Havlat and Burns and then traded a couple more goals with Philadelphia in the third period and wound up beating the Flyers 5-4 via the shootout.

Despite being out-shot 39-24 during the game, Niklas Backstrom came up huge on several Philadelphia attempts and showed why he finished second in Vezina Trophy voting last season.

The Wild were able to take advantage of Swedish rookie goaltender Johan Backlund in the shootout scoring three out of four times to give Minnesota their first road victory of the pre-season.

While many might bash the Wild for playing an undisciplined game and being burned several times by the Flyers, I think they gave a great effort tonight, especially being that it was the first time this season with all of the Wild regulars in the line-up.

With the pre-season coming to an end for the Wild tonight, Wild fans should get excited as watching the Wild tonight is nothing like Wild teams of the past. Several times I saw Marek Zidlicky or Nick Schultz carrying the puck deep into Philadelphia's zone-something that was just non-existent during the Lemaire era.

With only four days until the start of the regular season, it's time to see what the new-look Wild are capable of. Even if they don't reach the playoffs, it's sure going to be fun watching them compete each night.

Wild State of Hockey's 3 Wild Stars:
1. Cal Clutterbuck-drew several penalties tonight by getting under the skin of Philadelphia's players and also added a goal. Cal was a 1 on the night.
2. Niklas Backstrom-stopped 35 of 39 shots and continually shut the door on several scoring odd-man scoring chances.
3. Brent Burns-finished with a goal and 2 assists and was a 2 on the night. Burns looked liked the up-and-coming star he was before his concussion last season. Looked great all night and led the team in minutes played (25:00).

Article courtesy of The Wild State of Hockey

Man i hope Clutterbuck gets some top line time at least a little bit to see how he goes. Imagine if he could get close to 30 goals that would be awesome

forthewild wrote:

Man i hope Clutterbuck gets some top line time at least a little bit to see how he goes. Imagine if he could get close to 30 goals that would be awesome

That's what I've been saying for some time now....the guy's offensive ability is definitely under rated.

MuckandGrind wrote:

forthewild wrote:

Man i hope Clutterbuck gets some top line time at least a little bit to see how he goes. Imagine if he could get close to 30 goals that would be awesome

That's what I've been saying for some time now....the guy's offensive ability is definitely under rated.

They had him on the PP right? So they must be on to it.

Lot's of teams have had good success in the past with agitators, even with marginal offensive skill, playing on the top line. I think even Tie Domi played a lot of minutes with Toronto's top line back in the day.

Clutterbuck's not really an agitator though. I think he affects the team he's playing for more than the opposition.

Anyways, I don't think Clutterbuck will see any top line time with Havlat, Sykora, Brunette, and Bouchard as wingers...unless Clutterbuck really explodes and 1 of the 4 gets injured.

wukwinn wrote:

Clutterbuck's not really an agitator though. I think he affects the team he's playing for more than the opposition.

Anyways, I don't think Clutterbuck will see any top line time with Havlat, Sykora, Brunette, and Bouchard as wingers...unless Clutterbuck really explodes and 1 of the 4 gets injured.

Cluterbuck >> Brunette.

I think Cal absolutely qualifies as an agitator. His relentless ability to finish every check riles the other team, which is what an agitator's job is in the first place.

Clutterbuck is to a good agitator. He's just not overtly cheap like a lot of others. Still, there are plenty of games where his mouth is flapping against the entire opposition. Maybe pest is a better term.

mplspug wrote:

Clutterbuck is to a good agitator. He's just not overtly cheap like a lot of others. Still, there are plenty of games where his mouth is flapping against the entire opposition. Maybe pest is a better term.

Agitators and pests are the same thing in my book.

What's the best way to differentiate a player like Clutterbuck with players like Cooke or Burrows???

I think its doing a great disservice to Cluts to call him an "Agitator". That term, due due gutless pukes like Cooke, Nash, Jerko Rutroo, D. tucker, et al, had way too much of a negative connotation. When has Cluts ever speared a guy, or suker punched a guy, or done all those cheap, dirt, cowardly things like the punks llisted above? He's going to get a big negative rep around the league just becasue he finishes ALL his checks and it won't be accurate at all IMO.

I laughed when I read Cluts talking about when he checked Mike Richards - how Richards got so mad... Cluts said something about Richards having a short fuze or a short temper or something. I could have told him that!

Sounds like a fun game due mainly to Cluts pissing off the Flyers. But Cluts does NOT want to drop glaoves against Carcillo. That would be a very bad thing for Cluts' face, I think.

There are all kinds of agitators and pests. The spectrum is broad, but the bottom line is you have to get under the other teams skin. When a guy is setting the record for most checks in a season, he doesn't have to do all that other crap. I find pests and agitators that can do it without being cheap more respectable.

But just wait. Its coming. There will be an incident where Clutterbuck pulls something. Most hockey players from goalies to snipers have at least one incident in their career where they stepped out of the boundaries of the game. At that point those who think you need to be a jackass to be a pest will have there official indoctrinating act.

Just because a few who happened to be called "agitators" had a dirty name, doesn't mean that to be an agitator you have to play dirty. IMO those type are the minority. Veilleux wasn't cheap either, but he was the closest thing before Cal to an agitator on the Wild roster.

An agitator just has to manage to get under the skin of the opposition, and Cal does that by being physical with every opportunity.

So how was the game? Could we keep the puck in the offensive zone? I hoped I would find a torrent on the net, but I did not.

Bad first period, very solid 2nd period, lucky 3rd period, squeaked by in OT and won in the shootout.

But did they look like offensive minded team?

Cool Slovak wrote:

But did they look like offensive minded team?

Run and Gun, baby!!!!

MuckandGrind wrote:

Cool Slovak wrote:

But did they look like offensive minded team?

Run and Gun, baby!!!!

Sounds fun when we win.

Nolan vs. Coburn
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRNd7X0iWz0

How did Shepp look? Sounds like from an earlier post he was playing well. And he got a few points?

Sorry.. I just want to hear a detailed analysis on Shepp! haha

wukwinn wrote:

Nolan vs. Coburn
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRNd7X0iWz0

thank you, i get to watch this awesome ass whhooopin again