Pre/Post Game Minnesota Wild Banter

[Spearing Machine]

Boy, I tell you that was one heck of a good game!! I watched start to end and the Wild really turned it up after kind of a slow first period. They had some great chances and Backstrom continues to be rock solid in goal.

[Crm7290]

Today was actually my first wild game. Just got home right now. It was an awesome game to watch. A little slow at the beginning with no action but the end was a good one. Sat 17 rows behind the bench it was awesome.

[OnAFly]

That was a ridiculous save by Backstrom in the 2nd round of the shootout. Complete robbery!

[10,000 Casts]

Random thoughts... Wild are 4 pts out of 4th place in the west.. Last night was a great game aginst 2 evenly matched teams. Even though I don't really like Clutterbuck, he should have been at the all star game instead of Havlat.. Havlat may have more points but the ridiculous # of checks should count for something along with the goals.. And did you see some of the moves that Burns put on while running the point on the PP in the 3rd, wow..

[spearchucker]

Why don't you like Clutterbuck?

[10,000 Casts]

it's a love hate deal for me.. I love that he hands out 7 checks a game and hustles his but off but I hate the fact that he is arrogant and he dishes it out and when other players ask him to drop the gloves, he always runs.. I also don't like his long wrist shots that a peewee goalie can save but he has gotten better and has more hockey sense now..

[spearchucker]

Well he is tied for most goals on the team with 14. He has a quick release on his wrister that catches people off guard. I don't think you should have to fight when you lay a clean check on someone. Sometimes he does come off as arrogant, but I think you know what you are going to get from him every night he plays.

[spearchucker]

A win tonight will be huge in the standings. If these guys keep playing as a team they will be able to beat anyone. Look out Avs.

[10,000 Casts]

Quote:

Well he is tied for most goals on the team with 14. He has a quick release on his wrister that catches people off guard. I don't think you should have to fight when you lay a clean check on someone. Sometimes he does come off as arrogant, but I think you know what you are going to get from him every night he plays

agreed on the quick release but now the NHL goalies know about him and his long college type wrist shots, he would be more productive if he was patient and that's why he ony has maybe 8 assists. But I love when he starts the period out with 3 big hits on his shift and for a smaller guy, he can lay some big hits.. I just think that there are too many times when he runs away, I noticed that he isn't jaw jacking as much as last year now that he doesn't have someone to protect him.. And he will only step a in ruckus when the game is close and the refs are on top of it so he doesn't have to drop the gloves.

love his hussle, hate his scared arrogance

[spearchucker]

He does us more good on the ice than 5 in the box though.

[hanronson]

The reason he didn't make the all star game is because they don't let you hit anyone during that game. That is his game...hitting people. I like him though, he is very valuable to the Wild.

[10,000 Casts]

99% of the time you are right, but sometimes it would do more good to go with someone and get the crowd and your team rev'd up and the wild need that once in a while.. But on the flip side, he would get worked and might do the opposite for the other team... I guess I am really into the physical side of the game and I think that other teams should force the issue and go after him.

[JimBuck]

Clutterbuck is a good player. His role is more of an instigator than a fighter/enforcer. I wouldn't say he's scared to fight but is just disciplined enough to know when to mix things up. His energy is contagious and he's a got a pretty good wrister up high. When it comes to fighting, Nystrom and Staubitz can step in and handle that.

Any word on Latendresse or Zidlicky? Man we could use those guys.

[OnAFly]

The Tenderness skated in the past few days on his own. No timeline set yet.

Haven't heard anything about Zidlicky.

Clutterbuck has flashes of skill. He is one of our leading goal scorers...or so I thought.

[spearchucker]

I have read Zidlicky in 2 weeks and Latendresse around March 1st.

[Bear55]

I guess I have more of a problem with players wanting to fight over a clean check vs Clutterbuck not wanting to drop the gloves ever other period when someone gets offended. I mean seriously can't these guys take a check?

Not trying to say guys shouldn't stand up for himself or a teammates if things get a little on the dirty side but man some of these guys think they are above physical play.

[10,000 Casts]

great win over a good team last night. Theodore came up big and played a good game. This offensive minded system has us getting outshot just about every game. At this point, I'd say, if our goaltending stays solid, we might have a chance at sneeking into the playoffs..

Gotta love Havlat's 4 minutes for lazy high sticking late in the 3rd, I thought that was going to lose us the game for sure.. There's our all star...

Why won't they send down Cam Barker??? I suppose the GM doesn't want to eat crow and realize his $3m boy that they gave up Nick Leddy for isn't NHL quality. Can they trade Harding for a solid D man??? That would be huge.

Stabitz sucks, not a good player and definetly not an enforcer, call up Kassian same quality of play and at least he'll hit someone and enforce...

[OnAFly]

Havlat has is bad moments and good moments. He had a nice hit on someone in the 2nd or third. Kept a fumbling of the puck by our team from turning into a 3 on 1.

Barker was better tonight than I've seen in the past, but he still needs to be consistently better. It seems like you either get Capable Cam or Clueless Cam depending on the night. The second coming of Skoula?

I don't completely agree with Fletcher that keeping Theodore is a great idea. We won't have him next year and we aren't making a cup run. We'll have Harding back next year and we have Khudobin in the works. We don't need a rent-a-backup to lose in the first round to Detroit/Dallas/Vancouver.

I'm not saying we should unload Theodore for a bag of pucks, but if someone were willing to give us a 2nd rounder, why not?

Onto Pheonix...the games just keep getting bigger.

[Bear55]

Not a 100% sure but isn't Harding a UFA this off season? So we could lose him too.

[OnAFly]

I thought we extended him a year? Not 100% sure though.

[10,000 Casts]

Both Harding and Theodore are UFA after this season. Even with Zidlicky comming back, we still need 1 more decent D man and it won't be Barker..

I don't mind the idea of Theodore finishing his career here in MN as a backup, he is 34 and still has a few good years in him but I suppose he will get more $$$ somewhere else. Harding should have been trade bait along time ago.

I want to see a playoff run this year! A first round loss is good enough for me this year.

[scsavre]

Who would even want Harding, the guy is hurt every year.

[knoppers]

harding is just a back up any way, so anyone can replace him, and the wilds farm system will be fine. we need backs to stay heathy, if we want to do well in the playoffs. yes you heard that, we will make the playoffs this year.

[spearchucker]

Harding would have been trade bait this year had he not gotten hurt. Harding was never re-signed so his contract is up this year. He could be a starter somewhere, but he will have limited options until he can prove himself again. That is how Backstrom got here. Manny blew out his knee and Backstrom stepped in and never left. A couple years later and Manny is done.

[OnAFly]

OK, don't know where I got the idea we extended him. Maybe I was thinking of a couple years ago.

It would have been nice to have gotten something for him. Instead we waste how many years developing him for nothing. Guys leaving for nothing is one of the reasons we were in such bad shape when DR was fired. I just hope this doesn't happen with such frequency as it has in the past.

[spearchucker]

Who said he was leaving? You can't fault Management for an injury. The injury is out of their hands. The injury is going to hurt Harding's career more than the Wild.

[OnAFly]

Not faulting management for the injury. We had a nice 2-3 month window last year where he was playing well an we were in the can. A trade then would have been nice. But, I suppose hindsight is 20/20.

Well, he's a UFA. He has had injuries, though he has shown the ability to play well also. Someone might be willing to throw a million at him, I don't think we would match that considering our goalies in hand next year.

As for management, my above post was stating that I don't want to see the mistakes we made in the past come up again.

On a side note, we are currently in 10th place, 4 points out of 4th. This is nuts!

[10,000 Casts]

Theodore was a great pick up.. It's nice that we have options.

It is going to be an exciting 2nd half for Wild Fans, I hope they can give the playoffs a go. This will be perfect for finding out if Richards is really a good coach down the stretch..

[spearchucker]

Not faulting management for the injury. We had a nice 2-3 month window last year where he was playing well an we were in the can. A trade then would have been nice. But, I suppose hindsight is 20/20.

Well, he's a UFA. He has had injuries, though he has shown the ability to play well also. Someone might be willing to throw a million at him, I don't think we would match that considering our goalies in hand next year.

As for management, my above post was stating that I don't want to see the mistakes we made in the past come up again.

On a side note, we are currently in 10th place, 4 points out of 4th. This is nuts!

I guess you were referring to last year for a trade. I bet they couldn't find anyone to take him. A lot of good players are locked up on long term deals.

[hanronson]

Last night we beat Colorado 3-2 and we are STILL 2 points out of the play-offs! We still have 27 games to play but I'm gettin' a little nervous. Are we gunna make the play-offs or not?