3/21 Flames @ Wild

Burnsie is back, Harding starting with Backstrom as backup. Both Wellman and Sheppard in the lineup... yay for Wellman, boo for Sheppard.

Zanon playing on a broken ankle too...not sure why?

Wellman looks GOOD! We need to get him in at center though... Shep as his center sucks!

And another Koivu penalty leads to a goal. Frustration has to be setting in.

Wooooo just as I say that Brunette puts one in! Great season for him.

Koivu, Miettinen, Bruno and Burns were doing a better job of killing our PP than the Flames were... Thankfully Havlat, Nolan and Lats salvaged the worst PP I have ever seen to get that last goal.

Koivu, Miettinen, Bruno and Burns were doing a better job of killing our PP than the Flames were... Thankfully Havlat, Nolan and Lats salvaged the worst PP I have ever seen to get that last goal.

You're right that was a terrible PP....and I agree possibly the worst I have ever seen until the Lats goal. He's convincing me that he is the real deal.

Bruno really needs to stop doing that lame drop pass at the blueline. It leaves the zone every fricking tine he tries it... besides, he's not skating fast enough to even NEED to drop it to someone trialing... either keep it and skate it in further or dump the damn thing in!

BTW - sorry abouth the triple post. My cell said it wasn't going through, then suddenly it does and there were 3 of them...

Sheppard is so bad.

You hate to see this... not sure what you see on TV, but he never moved, and didn't look concious when he was taken off the ice on the stretcher...

TaLoN wrote:

You hate to see this... not sure what you see on TV, but he never moved, and didn't look concious when he was taken off the ice on the stretcher...

russo saying replays show a puck to the neck which can't be too much fun.

also Wellman between havlat and lats would be nice to see

Good new... the real Mikko Koivu finally showed up. He didn't get an assist, nor was he even on the ice when the goal was scored... but that last goal was due to Mikko's hard work in the neutral zone to get the puck... then Burnsie's equal magic in the zone to get the puck to Kobasew...

Just heard an update on Langkow... he wasn't able to move one of his legs when he was down on the ice... but has since regained motion at the hospitol... scarey situation...

Minnesota vs. Calgary

Wild relish the role of spoiler as Kobasew's two goals lift Wild to 4-3 home win over Calgary

Written by Derek Felska
Sunday, 21 March 2010 01:41

"All around me are familliar faces, worn out places, worn out faces, bright and early for their daily races, goin' nowhere, goin' nowhere, their tears fillin' up their glasses, no expression, no expression, hide my head I want to drown my sorrow, no tomorrow, no tomorrow" is the opening verse of the Tears for Fears song, Mad World. It has been covered by Gary Jules more recently and yes it is a bit Emo, but it is tough not to feel that way as the painful reality of another season without the NHL playoffs in the State of Hockey is about to come true. While some Minnesota fans may be relishing the ridiculous 8-year, $184-million ($23 million per season) contract hometown hero Joe Mauer signed with the Twins, for hockey fans the glum fate of their hockey team and the close of another NHL season sooner rather than later is a bit depressing. Oh one last thing about the Mauer signing, just to put that into perspective he will be making per season just over 1/3 of the Wild's salary cap by himself, in fact early on his yearly salary was more than Minnesota's entire inaugural season payroll! Back to hockey, I know for myself it is like going through withdrawal and the offseason seems to be an eternity.

The Wild have a rough home stretch of games as they finish off the 2009-10 season with games against San Jose, Philadelphia, Detroit, Los Angeles, Chicago just in the month of March alone. That almost sounds worse than the road to the Final Four of your favorite 16th seed had to face. So will the Wild manage to relish the role of spoiler and earn a victory over the Flames or will Minnesota be torched the way Mauer just torched the Twins with his gawdy deal (if they have $184 million to pay Mauer why didn't they spend that money for a retractable roof)? (click on the link for the rest of the article)

Wellman looks good, he's as fast of a player as we have, evident on Kobasew's first goal, when he was also on a prolonged shift(his shifts have often been lengthy) after an icing he went to put pressure while his useless linemates(Nolan and Sheppard) went for a change(then again that was probably the easiest and best decision they both made).

Our D is so bad yet well-paid. I feel bad for Harding, I mean we got guys pushing guys into the back of his legs and Zidlicky almost taking his head off. And they can't move the puck. Why did GMCF have to pick Zidlicky not just over KJ, but for an extension as well.....

lolwat wrote:

Why did GMCF have to pick Zidlicky not just over KJ, but for an extension as well.....

I suspect for the same reasons that Lemaire likes Skoula.

Marty has pictures of a naked Jacques, in a hotel room, with a donkey who is wearing a pink bunny outfit.

That's really the only plausible explanation I can come up with as to why Zidlicky got a) an extension and b) a raise.

sqare wrote:

lolwat wrote:

Why did GMCF have to pick Zidlicky not just over KJ, but for an extension as well.....

I suspect for the same reasons that Lemaire likes Skoula.

Marty has pictures of a naked Jacques, in a hotel room, with a donkey who is wearing a pink bunny outfit.

That's really the only plausible explanation I can come up with as to why Zidlicky got a) an extension and b) a raise.

Skoula wasn't as bad as people made him out to be, and he wasn't making huge $$$. I wouldn't mind him on my team, as a #5/6, because when an injury happens his economical style can let him eat big minutes. We're lacking minute eaters right now.

We've dropped over half the league in terms of GAA(#2 to #20). And we're stuck with what we have on the blueline. Can't afford another pricey one.

Our D situation is up in the air atm, Burnsie has looked good since his return, and Barker has potential, Stoner is a question mark.

Shultz is overpaid but does well and Zanon whats there to say he's playing on a broken ankle.

now you all know how i feel about Zits you can see the threads, i wanted his ass shiped, stuffed in a ups box and shipped hell i would have paid for the shipping fee's my self, overnight him, poke a few holes in the box and we're good. He's terrible in terns of boneheaded mistakes, and it pretty much ensured that we can't go after Martin, unless we get rid of shultz and/or Burns.

I know Skoula isn't as bad as a lot of people thought.

Zidlicky, on the other hand...

Makes a monkey on skates look like a million dollar defenseman.

got to listen to the game on the radio while i painted my office. sounds like chuck had a good game. how has this new kid been for us?

He’s light…

However, he’s got some balls for someone as thin as he is, and boy, he makes willow-thin belanger look like boogaard.

I have nothing but praise for the kid, though. He’s out there and you can tell he is puck hungry and I like that. It’s been said elsewhere and I will repeat it anyway, but the kid is seemingly faster WITH the puck than without it.

You know my complaints from earlier this season, where I was blasting certain guys that can be fast without the puck, but have to slow down with the puck in order to carry it into the zone?

Wellman has that speed and skill. He will need to learn how to elevate the puck on his shot a little bit more if he wants to be a true scorer, but, I feel safe in making this prediction for next season.

With a little more weight, we may actually have a decent center for Lats and Havlat, although Wellman is faster than either of them.

No, I ain’t planning the parade yet...

fuckin awesome to hear. good move by CF in getting this kid picked up. Gonna be exciting to see what he will look like next season. You know they are going to be beefing him up

sqare wrote:

He’s light…

However, he’s got some balls for someone as thin as he is, and boy, he makes willow-thin belanger look like boogaard.

I have nothing but praise for the kid, though. He’s out there and you can tell he is puck hungry and I like that. It’s been said elsewhere and I will repeat it anyway, but the kid is seemingly faster WITH the puck than without it.

You know my complaints from earlier this season, where I was blasting certain guys that can be fast without the puck, but have to slow down with the puck in order to carry it into the zone?

Wellman has that speed and skill. He will need to learn how to elevate the puck on his shot a little bit more if he wants to be a true scorer, but, I feel safe in making this prediction for next season.

With a little more weight, we may actually have a decent center for Lats and Havlat, although Wellman is faster than either of them.

No, I ain’t planning the parade yet...

He's thin, but I'd really like to know his actual weight. No way he's 185 like his college site listed him, but he's also not 160 like hockeydb lists him. He's only 6' tall, being a fast skilled guy I'd say 185ish would be where I'd want him, he isn't Cal Clutterbuck, he doesn't have to get to 200+.
I may be the minority here, but watching him play, I think he's more suited to the wing. I want my centers big and strong(I credit Ebbett's effort but he is a stop-gap C if we can't get anyone cheaper), my wingers fast and aggressive on the fore-check. Yes, we have depth on the wings but not true top-6 guys. Koivu and Brunette have had their best success when the RW has been aggressive using his speed on the fore-check and finding open space out front. I see Wellman doing each of those, while Miettinen is streaky with his offensive effort and is not a true finisher. I also am not a fan of Latendresse/Havlat on the defensive side of the game, and Wellman is certainly raw in that area as well. Then again our signed players situation could force Wellman into a center role. Hell, I have seen SMALL strides in James Sheppard's game lately, I honestly think we're going to end up keeping him, maybe let Ebbett go instead. There isn't room for significant changes, and though GMCF seems to be like his dad trader Cliff, he isn't going to give Kobasew away after giving up a 2nd + 4th for him, and Miettinen isn't getting traded for scraps after playing the 3rd most minutes among our forwards.