New GM Fletcher knew what he was getting himself into

From the Strib...

Jim Souhan: New GM Fletcher knew what he was getting himself into

He will have to be every bit of the sharp operator he appears to be to revive the Wild.

Here in the State of Hokey, the Wild will invite just about anyone to yell, "Let's Play Hockey."

If they need help finding "celebrities" to fire up the "Team of 18,000," I am here to help.

Next game, they should bring back Doug Risebrough. That way Risebrough could get the fans riled, and then the Wild would get to fire him all over again.

Thursday night at the X, it was hard to tell if there were more empty seats or empty Wild jerseys, as the Fighting Christmas Trees played pathetically while losing 5-2 to the beat-up Canucks.

There are four prime figures you could blame for the Wild's lousy play so far: Risebrough, new GM Chuck Fletcher, old coach Jacques Lemaire or new coach Todd Richards.

Richards is the easiest to pick on because his players have looked so confused and tentative, but every rookie coach should get a little time to learn on the job.

Fletcher strikes me as a sharp operator, and he inherited a difficult assignment: rebuilding a franchise with a dearth of young talent while trying to retain sellout (or alleged sellout) crowds.

It is even more obvious now than it was last year that Lemaire, despite the kind of overthinking that led him to play Brent Burns at forward, held this franchise together with a defensive style that hid many of the Wild's flaws.

So, as I did last year, I'm prepared to cast most of the blame for the Wild's mediocre 2008-09 season and lethargic start in 2009-10 on The Riser, who made the classic sports-management mistake of overrating the young talent in his organization, and talking about building for the future when he should have been pushing to win.

He kept selling James Sheppard as the future. Sheppard has zero points this season. As many as me. Sheppard should be benched after the way he played Thursday, but so should another half-dozen Wild players.

Here's where Fletcher is culpable: His big acquisition was Martin Havlat, who hasn't been much better than Sheppard. Havlat is a pass-first player on a team with no outstanding shooters.

Thursday morning, I spoke with Fletcher. He admitted to being disappointed by his team's first 14 games, but praised Richards' ability to rethink his approach after the Wild's 4-3 loss to Nashville on Oct. 28.

"That game seemed to be a really disappointing game," Fletcher said. "We didn't speak a lot that night, but the next day we got together and I really appreciated his mind-set, which was, 'OK, it was incredibly disappointing, but what can we do? What, realistically, do we need to do to get better?'

"He came up with a lot of ideas, in terms of pulling back a little bit and having some fun and easing the tension. ...

"We were getting into a vicious circle, where the more we lost, the harder it was to see straight. I thought Todd and his staff made some great decisions that day."

The Wild won two in a row after that. Then came Thursday, and a well-rested, supposedly chipper Wild team looked lost and uninterested.

Fletcher knows he needs to restock the Wild's talent pool. Richards knows he needs to find a way into his players' heads.

In the wake of Risebrough ruining the franchise's relationship with the best player in Wild history, Marian Gaborik, this team needs, simply, more scorers. It also needs to show a little gumption in the wake of an unsightly home loss that included three first-period shots and left the Wild with just 10 points and buried in its division.

"I felt I had studied the team and had asked a lot of questions, and I think I took the job with my eyes wide open," Fletcher said. "Certainly, there's a core of really good hockey players here, and we feel we can be competitive this year and next year and for the foreseeable future. But there's no question in my mind that going forward we have to continue to find more young assets and find some more talented players through the draft, and continue to build the foundation of this team to be successful long-term."

Some sports executives talk about the future, and you feel like they're trying sell you to get you to buy an AMC Gremlin. Fletcher strikes me as smart and credible, even if his team stinks right now.

"I really believe we're going in the right direction," he said. "I believe in what we're doing, and I believe we'll get there, because we will stay true to what we believe in, and it will work out."

Of course, Fletcher said that Thursday morning, before Havlat & The Have-Nots meandered through another ugly loss.

Posts : 138 Join date : 2009-09-22

A couple of thing about Souhan's article bug me, and I typically like him.

#1 -

Quote :: There are four prime figures you could blame for the Wild's lousy play so far: Risebrough, new GM Chuck Fletcher, old coach Jacques Lemaire or new coach Todd Richards.

To hold JL culpable for our play this season is a weak argument. And no mention of the players lack of execution. There have been times they look like a bunch of ECHLers out there.

#2 -

Quote :: Here's where Fletcher is culpable: His big acquisition was Martin Havlat, who hasn't been much better than Sheppard. Havlat is a pass-first player on a team with no outstanding shooters.

Nobody was complaining when Fletch signed him. The only thing people were concerned with was durability in Havvy. So much like my first point. Let's look at the player more than the GM that landed him. I think with what we went through losing Gab, this was a signing that had to be done.

Like you have said many many times Talon. We are going to have to do some big roster retooling to be successful with Richards style. Patience is a must for this season. You can put all the fancy fiberglass aero package and whatnot, but we are still trying to roll an '84 Fiero against the GT2s in this endurance race.

right. Havlat as a player has been a disappointment, not the GM who signed him. Everyone has big expectations for him because they have seen what he can do. It is frustrating when you know you have a goal scorer not out there scoring goals.

He is really going to need to step it up now that Petey is out.

Posts : 1813 Join date : 2009-09-21 Location : Chilliwack

Sykora had a mere 3 points in 10 games so how does that translate into Havlat needing to "step it up"?

The biggest reason the Wild are 5-10 is the fact that the offseason acquisitions are all underachieving.

but at least Sykora from the games he has been in put forth a lot more effort, well in my eyes anyways.

i dunno, maybe i am grabbing at straws for who I want to see start bombing pucks into the net. unfortunately we have more guys who put up numbers in the A column and not the G column.

cehnehdeh wrote:: Sykora had a mere 3 points in 10 games so how does that translate into Havlat needing to "step it up"?

The biggest reason the Wild are 5-10 is the fact that the offseason acquisitions are all underachieving.

Sorry, but Greg Zanon has been as reliable as anyone on our blueline.

werd, zanon has been solid for us. i like him as a pick up

00Xtremeninja wrote:: werd, zanon has been solid for us. i like him as a pick up

Indeed, when you consider Komisarek got 4.5M and Scuderi got like 3.5M as defensive D, and we got Zanon for 1.9, I consider it a steal.

» Fletcher Q&A
» Fletcher Disappointed In Season
» Fletcher for GM of the year! Bye Sheppard!
» Fletcher Sees Trades as Avenue to Improve
» Is the hiring of Rick Wilson a sign of a Rift between Richards and Fletcher?