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As a high school coach in multiple sports I understand the feeling of just being fed up with your team. You get to a point where it seems as though your players are lacking the focus and are mostly screwing around through the various drills you are putting them through at practice. You get tired of repeating yourself to have players correct the same mistakes in execution over and over so you wonder if they’re really trying or whether they care at all. You snap, call the team over and line them up and then you proceed to run / skate the crap out of them to compel them to focus. Sure its punitive, but as coach you’re the one who is in charge and its part of exercising your control over a team. I really understand how Wild Head Coach Mike Yeo feels as he ‘lost it’ on his team, after they had a poor start to practice. Especially in the wake of a game where the team again let its foot off the gas and they lost to San Jose in overtime, an uninspired effort at practice can certainly create the environment for a coach to blast his team. Yeo took it a step farther and walked off the ice after smashing his stick into the glass as he left. By everything reported after the incident the players felt Yeo’s tirade was well-deserved and even appropriate. Hopefully that will lead a more inspired effort as the Chicago Blackhawks come to town, fresh off a 2-0 loss to the Avalanche where they fired over 50 shots at Colorado’s Semyon Varlamov but could not get one by him.
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I also know that when times get really tough, sometimes players wither or try to slink away instead of digging in and battling hard. These players often get some phantom injury and avoid the uncomfortable discussion about their poor play or when your team gets involved in a tough conditioning drill. Players that do this quickly lose respect of coaches and their teammates because you question whether you can rely upon them because you expect them to give up when things get a little difficult. So perhaps above whether this team can win against Chicago but rather it can battle for a full 60-minutes. Right now, a full-game effort would seem like a significant step forward.
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1st Period Thoughts: After a heartfelt tribute, the Wild looked inspired and focused to start the game. The Wild had a great chance early as Jordan Schroeder took a pass from Erik Haula and was denied at point-blank range by Corey Crawford. The Wild were outhustling Chicago to nearly every loose puck and Minnesota was spending lots of time in the Blackhawks’ zone. Nino Niederreiter would side step a check by Brent Seabrook and work the puck up to Charlie Coyle who wasted no time in skating off the wall into the faceoff circle before rifling a shot on goal that was deflected aside by Crawford. Unfortunately, as great as the Wild’s effort was, Chicago would strike first as Patrick Sharp made a power move off a strange bounce out front before Christian Folin could get to him to wrap a shot around Niklas Backstrom which deflated all of that early momentum the team had. 1-0 Chicago. The Wild would take a minute or two before they were able to get its forecheck going again. However despite lots of puck possession down low, not a lot of shots were being sent on goal. Minnesota would earn the first power play of the game as Johnny Oduya sent a puck up into the crowd for a delay of game call. On the power play the Wild tried to use Jason Zucker and Thomas Vanek as deflectors as Ryan Suter was the triggerman. Minnesota was not able to create much on the power power play beyond a few point shots that skittered just wide of the mark. As the 2nd power play unit made its way onto the ice, the Wild had a chance to drive the net as Niederreiter had space to work with but instead he tried to pass to Coyle that failed to connect. The game would get ugly as Thomas Vanek obliterated Marcus Kruger with a vicious check with no puck nearby and he’d earn a 5-minute major for boarding as Kruger made his way painfully to the Chicago bench. With the Blackhawks now on a 5-minute power play, they were very patient looking to set up the big one-timer but Minnesota’s penalty kill did a nice job of staying square to the shooter and were able to disrupt Chicago’s power play. At times the Wild missed some chances to mount a counter attack short-handed but they regrouped well and even a bit lucky as Patrick Kane was denied from close range. Moments later it was another failed clearing attempt by Ryan Suter would get Minnesota’s penalty killers out of position as they scrambled in the face of some quick puck movement by the Blackhawks before Brad Richards set up Patrick Kane for an easy goal as Backstrom fell down as he bumped into Jared Spurgeon. 2-0 Chicago. Since it was a major the Blackhawks still had 46 seconds left of power play time but Minnesota would kill the rest of that off and then go on the attack as the penalty expired as Thomas Vanek would set up Jason Zucker for a tip play that was directed aside by Crawford. The period would expire with the Wild down by two goals and out shot 10-7. The Wild were doing some good things out there but a selfish penalty and being a little too choosy in their shot selection came back to bite them. You can’t pass up shots against the Blackhawks, as they don’t need Minnesota to help Chicago defensively. I thought Schroeder and Zucker had a few nice opportunities in the period.
2nd Period Thoughts: Minnesota was buzzing early as Zucker was taking every chance to pull the trigger, and after a few close calls the former Denver University star blistered a heavy shot by Crawford. 2-1 Chicago. The Blackhawks’ top line of Jonathan Toews, Brandon Saad and Marian Hossa would try to work the puck deep in the Wild zone, but Minnesota would collapse down low and take the puck away. Minnesota would counter with its ‘Gopher’ line as the Schroeder, Vanek, Haula line exhibited great hustle as Vanek made a no look backhand pass to Schroeder for a backhander of his own that was stopped by Crawford. The line continued to cause problems for Chicago as Haula and Schroeder’s speed led to a few turnovers in the Blackhawks’ end. Minnesota would get another power play as Brad Richards was given a minor. On the power play the Wild were looking to shoot early and often as Jason Pominville skated into the Chicago zone and let loose with a heavy wrist shot that was fought off by the shoulder of Crawford. Minnesota’s 2nd unit would make their way onto the ice and it was Niederreiter that was shut down from in close by the Blackhawks’ goalie. Even though Minnesota came up empty on the power play, the effort seemed to motivate the team as they began to bottle up Chicago in its own end with great hustle and effort. The Blackhawks were shadowing Jason Zucker a bit but Minnesota was activating its defense to hold the offensive zone and shots started to pile up in favor of the Wild. This was followed up by a great shift by the ‘Gopher’ line and Vanek would ring a shot off the post. The Blackhawks were icing the puck repeatedly and the Wild continued applying good puck pressure. Chicago would take a timeout as one of their lines was caught on the ice for a full two-minutes and was just completely exhausted. Minnesota would draw a penalty as Richards slashed the stick out of Matt Cooke’s hands as the Wild went on a 2-on-1 as Ryan Carter was stopped on the partial breakaway. The Wild moved the puck well on the power play as again Suter was the triggerman from the point that reached Crawford and as he sprawled in the crease after the initial save the Blackhawks were able to tie up the Wild’s forwards before they could pounce on the rebound. The 2nd unit would have a great chance of their own after some nice puck movement that culminated in Coyle threading a cross-ice pass to Spurgeon who redirected it off the base of the right post. Minnesota continued to dictate the pace of play as the shots kept piling up, but another foolish penalty by Vanek after wiffing on a one-timer gave Chicago a needed respite from the Wild’s relentless pressure in their zone. The Blackhawks looked content for the chance to leave their zone as they half-heartedly worked the power play. The period would expire with the Wild holding virtually all of the momentum, but still trailing 2-1. Minnesota out shot Chicago 19-5 in the 2nd.
3rd Period Thoughts: The Blackhawks started the 3rd with 30 seconds left in their power play and an aggressive Wild penalty kill never let it get set up in the Minnesota end. The Wild would try to re-establish the dominant play they had in the 2nd but Chicago was fine with just defending their lead. Minnesota’s 3rd line of Coyle, Justin Fontaine and Niederreiter would outwork Chicago along the boards and their hard work led to Coyle hammering a shot on goal from the slot that was deflected aside by Crawford. The Blackhawks would counter attack as Kane dropped a pass off to Bryan Bickell for a one-timer beating Backstrom cleanly. 3-1 Chicago. The goal deflated the crowd and the Wild a bit but after a few minutes they would go back on the attack. It would start with a nice solo rush by Jordan Schroeder who motored around the Chicago defense and he would rip a shot that was dismissed by Crawford who made a nice leg pad stop. Minnesota would follow that up with its top line and Jason Zucker would race into the corner and win a few nice battles along the wall before moving down behind the Chicago goal delivering a perfect set up pass to Koivu that he drove wide of the goal. Minnesota kept buzzing and the 3rd line would have a great opportunity as Fontaine tried to jam a puck in near the left post but Crawford held the post and the Wild would still trail by two. Moments after that, Fontaine was found with a nice stretch pass to get behind the Chicago defense and he’d bear down on Crawford who moved way out of his crease to challenge and that would effectively make the former UMD Bulldog run out of space before he could get off a nice shot but he was slashed on his approach by Oduya giving the Wild a power play. On the power play the Wild’s 1st unit was too deliberate and slow in their puck movement but they didn’t get much accomplished. The 2nd unit was far more successful by just taking the puck to the paint and trying to jam it in. Bodies would be falling and swinging away trying to get a shot through but Michael Roszival would put his hand on the puck and try to cover it up earning a penalty. The play would be reviewed to see whether the puck was in the crease or if it crossed the goal line but the Wild would get a 5-on-3 power play. Minnesota wasted little time on the 5-on-3 as they set up Pominville for a one-timer that he wired off the post and just inside the cross bar and in. 3-2 Chicago with the Wild still holding 1:49 in power play time. Unfortunately the Wild couldn’t do much with the remainder of the power play as the inexplicably became slower with their puck movement which meant Chicago had more time to get clog up shooting lanes. Minnesota would pull Backstrom with a 1:32 left but it didn’t amount to anything of note as a lost battle along the boards which was more than a bit bizarre as Spurgeon was left to battle by himself against 3 Blackhawks’ skaters and a chip off the boards made for an easy empty netter for Bickell to seal Chicago’s 4-2 victory.
Niklas Backstrom wasn’t good enough, making 16 saves in the loss. I thought his movement in his crease was really slow and ragged. He laid on the ice at least a second or two whenever he dropped to his pads. Backstrom seemed to have trouble tracking the puck and when the Wild needed to have him deliver a few clutch saves and he couldn’t get it done. The Wild gave up just 19 shots on goal and had a lot of pressure the other way, so it wasn’t like he was under siege all game long. The penalty kill gave up one tonight, but overall I thought they had a pretty good night. Folin kind of struggled all game long.
Offensively, the team used its speed and activated its defenseman well which allowed the Wild to keep Chicago contained in its own end, peppering Crawford with 44 shots on goal. I was very encouraged with the assertiveness by Charlie Coyle who was not waiting to pull the trigger tonight. Jason Zucker continues to be the catalyst, firing 5 shots on goal and scoring a big goal. Jordan Schroeder had terrific game, getting involved and using his speed effectively and he would be wise to continue to pull the trigger. I thought the power play looked better and they were rewarded on a quick shot by Pominville and they need to utilize that approach more often.
Vanek’s foolish boarding call really helped Chicago put Minnesota in a hole. The Wild again got sabotaged by a subpar performance by its goaltender. The Wild certainly needed to convert more of its chances, but that was the kind of stifling puck possession game they want to play. Am I satisfied with a moral victory, no. However, it is a bit easier to take than a team not showing up or just giving the game away. So if we wanted to know how this club would respond, effort-wise after the big speech then you have to see that as a positive sign. Crawford and Chicago’s defense was the difference but it doesn’t get any easier as the Predators come to town on Saturday. No rest for the wicked!
Wild Notes:
~ The Wild roster tonight was as follows: Mikko Koivu, Jason Pominville, Thomas Vanek, Erik Haula, Jordan Schroeder, Charlie Coyle, Nino Niederreiter, Kyle Brodziak, Justin Fontaine, Matt Cooke, Ryan Carter, Ryan Suter, Jared Spurgeon, Jonas Brodin, Christian Folin, Justin Falk and Jonathon Blum. John Curry backed up Niklas Backstrom. Stu Bickel, Nate Prosser, and Marco Scandella were the scratches.
~ The 3 Stars of the Game were: 1st Star Corey Crawford, 2nd Star Jason Zucker, 3rd Star Jason Pominville
~ Attendance was 19,060 at Xcel Energy Center.
~ The State of Hockey News would like to give our heartfelt condolences to the Parise family on news of the loss of Jean-Paul Parise, 73, after his struggle with cancer. J.P. was first and foremost a great husband to Donna and loving father to Jordan and Zach. He was a pillar in the Minnesota Hockey community. He helped turn Shattuck-St. Mary’s into the world famous hockey program that it currently is. Parise was also one of the key members of the early years of the Minnesota North Stars and has been an engaging, active and colorful ambassador of the game all his life. He will be dearly missed.
Wild Prospect Report:
RW – Chase Lang (Calgary, WHL) ~ The lanky winger has been quiet through the last few games, but he rediscovered his scoring touch on Tuesday night with a goal and an assist in the Hitmen’s 6-1 rout of the Moose Jaw Warriors. Lang has 17 goals, 39 points, 27 PIM’s and is a +10 in 36 games.
C – Pavel Jenys (Sudbury, OHL) ~ The trading splurge has begun in the OHL with a number of moves being made, but one team not making many moves at all is Sudbury who are the worst team the league. The Wolves made a valiant effort at a comeback against one of the most aggressive buyers in a 6-5 loss at the hands of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. Jenys had an assist in the loss, and now has 7 goals, 25 points, 26 PIM’s and is a -18 in 33 games.
High School Hockey Report:
Roseau 3, Warroad 2
Its one of those high school match ups that you circle every year as the Roseau Rams renew the rivalry with Warroad Warriors. Both clubs have storied histories, but many say the games against each other brings about both clubs best. Warroad got the jump early as Kobe Roth scored twice for the Warriors. Roseau would respond with 3 unanswered with two of them coming from Bryden Stoskopf and then hold on for the victory. Roseau leads the series 96-66-4 all time.
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