Wednesday practice update
Posted on March 12th, 2008 – 2:00 PMBy Kent Youngblood
Greetings. Youngblood here, again. Russo will return tomorrow.
I showed up at the X early for practice today and what do I see? Jacques, on the ice, with a small group of players, skating the heck out of them.
They were: Aaron Voros, Derek Boogaard, Sean Hill and Matt Foy. And, did I mention that Jacques was skating them hard?
So what’s up? Well, this is further proof that, with a dozen games left in the season and the Wild clinging to a playoff spot, Lemaire has gone into playoff mode a little early. This is usually what he would do during the playoffs: He would keep the regular practice to 20 players so that session could be more efficient. The extras would skate early.
Welcome to the playoffs.
‘’It was to get the guys a little more focused, less distraction,’’ Lemaire said. ‘’Playoff time, you always get two groups, because there are a lot of people on the ice, and it’s tough to manage. So this is the reason we cut it down.’’
What should we think of this? Well, Boogaard is still working on his sore back. But the others, apparently, don’t fit into Lemaire’s short-term plan for the upcoming playoff push. But it’s interesting that Lemaire made a point of running the early, extra session.
‘’I don’t want these guys to feel they’re not a part of the team,’’ Lemaire explained. ‘’and, you know, it’s my job to try to keep them as up as possible. I explained the reasons why to the guys, and … Most of them, they understand. The (other) 20 guys, I want them to focus. I don’t want any distractions. I don’t want too many guys on the ice. Four lines, you’re going quick.’’
Lemaire said he wouldn’t be doing this now if the Wild wasn’t in it’s present situation. ‘’But it’s like the playoffs now,’’ Lemaire said. ‘’It’s live or die.’’
Lemaire was pretty interesting on another subject as well: Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur. Lemaire and Brodeur won a cup together in New Jersey in 1995.
Lemaire was asked Wednesday where Brodeur ranked among goaltenders he had seen in his time in the league as a player and coach.
No. 1, Lemaire said.
‘’I’m thinking, you know,’’ Lemaire said. ‘’(Ken) Dryden, he was really good for a short time. And I know, at a time, he couldn’t get ready to play and that’s why he stopped. This guy (Brodeur), he’s been doing it for a long time, and he’ll do it ‘till he’s 40. So he’s got to be the one.’’
Better, even, than Patrick Roy? ‘’Patrick was good at a time,’’ Lemaire said. “You’re talking about (Wayne) Gretzky, (Mario) Lemieux, Bobby Orr. Who is the best player? Every opinion is good.’’
But Lemaire wasn’t near done talking about Brodeur, a big (6-2) goalie who belies a lot of what people think about goaltenders these days. For example, Brodeur wears some of the smallest pads in the game right now and he’s still at the on top of his game. And he is well-known for talking to reporters on game days, something goaltenders don’t often do.
“A lot of times there are a lot of things said (about an athlete) that aren’t really true,’’ Lemaire said. “Especially when you’re talking about a good player, OK? It is always overflowing of how great he is, how good he is, all this and all that. But with this guy, he’s an exception. Everything they say about him is true.’’
Lemaire talked about Brodeur’s competitive nature, how he’s able to play so many games, year in and year out, without wearing down.
“I think his biggest asset is hiw control, his understanding, knowing the game, handling the pressure,’’ Lemaire said.
–Incidentally, Mark Parrish has scored more goals against Brodeur (13) than any other goaltender.
–After practice Eric Balanger talked about how frustrated he is to be unable to help the team at this critical time. An Ilya Kovalchuk slapshot broke his right big toe the other night. Jacques said Tuesday he didn’t think Belanger would make it back by the end of the regular season. Wednesday Belanger said he hoped he’d be back before then, but wasn’t about to set a date.
After the injury – if you’ll recall, Belanger tried to come back for a shift after the initial injury – Kovalchuk came up to Belanger and asked if he’d be OK.
“I said, I don’t think so, buddy,’’ Belanger said. “But it was nice of him.’’
One other note: The AHL has suspended Dane Byers for three games. Byers, if you’ll recall, was the fellow who bounced Benoit Pouliot’s head off the ice a few days ago.
Thats it. Have a good day.
226 Responses to "Wednesday practice update"
Well, on the bright side…the trade deadline acquisition will be one of the 20.
Fellow Russoville residents, I have a bleg:
Sometimes, when the Wild are behind late, they play a video clip on the board in which a guy is giving a speech to what looks like an assembled group of soliders/warriors, and he ends by screaming “We are still here.” Can someone please tell me what movie that clip is from?
Off-topic, I realize, but thanks for the help.
excellent report #2.
anyone want to bet it was Hill that didn’t get it when JL explained why they were in the early group?
maybe voros but i think he is understands roles.
God I hope this means that Boogs is ready to come back soon. This team is brutal to watch (physically wise) without him on the ice. It’d be nice to see him out there down the stretch providing a physical presence and providing the security some of the star players need against some nasty teams down the stretch.
A good thing to see the team finally get serious, and led into the serious playoff approach by Jacques. They need something, or some kind of boost so bad its sick. I honestly, cannot remember the last two goal win we had, nor can I remember the last 3 goal game we had.
Lets go boys! Lets get the job done and take the division back!
Gosh, wish we could get good’ ol’ marty!!
GoalieGuy: That is from the movie “The Matrix: Revolutions”.
GoalieGuy,
That quote you asked about is from The Matrix Reloaded. Lawrence Fishburne is the actor speaking to the last group of human survivors.
Go Wild!
ok, so i just lost 5 minutes of my life reading souhan’s slover. couple assumptions he makes i’d like to address which i’m sure we here all know.
high school and college games are higher scoring because, drum roll, the overall level of talent is lower. the 18th best skater on the wild is an order of magnitude better than most of the best high school and college teams players. the more talented players you put on the ice, the harder it is to score. and i’m not even talking about goalies. with souhan’s logic, the nhl should play like the girls do because they score more. absolute f’n nonsense.
goals does not equal excitement. only a non-hockey dolt would state this. the wild were beat 8 - 3 by the canes one year. by souhan’s expert logic, that had to be one damn exciting game. 11 goals were scored for cripes sake. i recall it being one of the worst hockey games i had been to. there was very, very little skill displayed. i didn’t recall many odd man rushes. what I want are chances. strong scoring chances. not all of them are going to equate into goals. but a lot of time there is more excitement in a great chance that is missed than a weak wrister from just inside the blue line that deflects of the d-man and in. souhan disagrees.
Thank you, Tom…Another assist for the great inhabitants of Russoville!
You may now return to the hockey discussion.
GreenStar, Souhan is a idiot, he has no hockey knowledge whatsoever, same goes for common man, Barrero and all the other no nothings on our favorite “Sports” radio station. Dan Barrero called the Washington Capitals the wizards and called the Vancouver Canucks the Grizzlies? Come on ? and he was actually trying to talk intelligently about Hockey? Russo is the ONLY source for Hockey in this “hockey town USA” and BTW the only time the Wild make the front page is when they sign a Goon. But it was a good move, we need the muscle against Anaheim and Vancouver
I agree GreenStar you look at the skill required by these guys and its sick. Take Marleau saving the game from the Wild on Sunday, did Souhan mention that how much hand eye coordination to do that and an offensive minded player no less. Its amazing they allow him to write anything, by his logic a 2-1 baseball game would be boring as well, such a simple and uninformed way to look at the NHL.
G*: Why did you bother, he isn’t going to say anything in less he is taking about the Twins.
I agree, I don’t mind a 1-0 game with a lot of chances. Maybe being a past goalie effects my opinion on that though.
Does anyone else here think it is a little odd that Mr. Souhan only starts paying attention to hockey (in the Strib) AFTER he starts collecting $$$ for sitting at the FSN North desk?
I guess being a part of the telecast has turned him into the sportswriting equivilent of Nick Coleman…
I’m certain Souhan believes that throwing fastballs at someone’s head to knock them off the plate is a return to the glory days of baseball and, as a purist, believes it should be done more often.
The guy is a hypocrite, plain and simple.
I am not a masochist, therefore I did not read Souhan. I believe Souhan watches more Vikings games per year than Wild games.
I just read all of the comments after Souhans article and a majority of them call him out for being an idiot. The only articles I can read on the Trib anymore or Russo’s, #2 and Levelle E Neal.
Sid - King of the Idiots
Reusse - Prince of the Idiots
Souhan - Village Idiot
Frankly, IMO, Souhan is simply not a very good columnist, regardless of his subject. We can often disagree about what guys like Reusse, Barreiro (when he wrote), Powers et al write in terms of their opinion. After all, their job is to generally stir things up with criticism or other opinion. By and large, those guys did that well - we might have disagreed with the opinion, but generally it was reasoned and, particularly with Reusse and Barreiro, the writing itself was clever and well-done.
IMHO, I don’t find Souhan’s work very interesting and it’s not because I simply don’t usually agree with him. His columns strike me as merely “skimming the surface” without offering any original insight. I liken it to mere regurgutation of the consensus of whiners on, let’s say, the Viking radio post-game shows. Beyond his analysis, his writing style is also very boring - when you compare him to someone like Reusse, who’s an excellent writer (put his opinions aside), he comes off as a high school reporter.
Perhaps that’s why he seems to think H.S. hockey is more exciting than the NHL?
What about the ref that just stood and watched Byers slam Pouloits face into the ice? Did he get fired yet?
I was almost more upset at him than I was at Byers.
Why did you bother
i know better. i’ve ripped him before and was warned.
i’d rather marney fly solo than have souhan as copilot. We all know he is only there for the coin. at least marney tries to appear to like hockey.
Bulldog - it would have been better for us all if those people who called him out as an idiot did not post any comment at all. The way it is, it looks like he’s stirring the pot, which his editors surely love. Again, remember that sports columnists aren’t supposed to be cheerleaders and they are supposed to challenge our local teams, etc. As noted above, I appreciate that and appreciate that some columnists are good at what they’re paid to do. Souhan, on the other hand, is better left unread.
hockeydad i believe you are correct. time to treat souhan like the troll he is.
What it boils down to is that Souhan should write about what he knows. His Vikings and Twins columns are acceptable, I guess.
You don’t see me commenting on The Huffington Post, nor should Souhan be commenting on hockey.
Actually, Weed, for me it boils down to the guy should be a reporter, not a columnist. I thought his work covering the Twins and (and I believe) Purple beats was fine. I just think his analysis, insight and writing style, which is critical as a columnist, is weak, no matter what team, sport or subject he’s discussing.
You nailed it Hockeydad
Exactly, Hockeydad. Thanks.
Hockeydad at 3:04 pm = standing ovation. Well done sir, I award you full credit and the rest of the day off!
Matt Kassian, 2005 2nd round draft pick, was called up to the Aeros today.
I’m not sure why the Aeros called him up because they already brought Troy Riddle up to replace Steve Kelly.
Is another Aeros player headed to St. Paul?
b-b-b-Benny I hope Aaron in Houston,
Hey Aaron, off topic..but I am hoping our fav. hockey team goes on a streak like the Rockets are doing down in Houston.
I use to live in Lake Jackson,Texas for about a month and a half..but was born in Longview, Texas.
and be could you do me a favor and send me a burger WHATABURGER 
Sorry Rob, not a Texan. I made the huge mistake of following a career path that led me out of Minnesota and into Texas two years ago.
No love for the Rockets or Whataburger from me. Check in with the AustinTXWild kid, he might be able to help you out.
AiH…was there any kind of indication from the Aeros that they were going to go on a tear like they have been on?
You know, like losing to a good team in O.T. or something??? 
And now, restaurant ordering in Russoville? 
Hmmm…and I thought we had problems with Souhan, Sid, the Fulda Fatso and trying to bring B-b-b-Benny up!
Sheesh…
hey wrt, keep it up with your long trips and I can find something for you to bring back to minny.lol.
I am a military brat, so I am use to fast food from different parts of the country.
Lets just get Benny up here and I will stop ordering.
Yeah, I am more of a Jack fan myself…
Actually kj, there was an indication; just prior to the win streak they were beaten twice in three days at home by the lowly Iowa Stars.
“I liked the way we played against Iowa,” said Aeros head coach Kevin Constantine. “We’ve been talking more about playing as a team, to get a little edge, and I felt we did that in those back to back crippling losses to a terrible Iowa [Stars] team.”
Constantine continued, “we worked hard, I see everyone working hard, if we work hard and get beat then they were a better team, but what can you do?”
When asked about Constatine’s comments, a lackadaisical Benoit Pouliot repsonded, “first of all, tell coach that he sounds like a damn fool, second of all if “ifs” and “buts” were candy and nuts we would all have a Merry Christmas.”
Just a quick glance at how we have drafted as compared to our NW divisional brothers. The critisism of DR, scouts, and the organization from previous thread had me snooping.
Consider that we have 5 of our 8 first round draft picks on the current roster.
From those 5 players we have:
gp g a pts +/-
133 322 498 820 +76
Colorado 1 of last 8 picks (Wolski)
152 36 58 97 +3
Calgary 1 of last 8 picks (Phaneuf)
230 51 97 148 +26
Vancouver 1 of last 8 picks (Kesler)
225 37 40 77 +3
Edmonton 4 of last 8 picks
(Hemsky, Pouliot, Gogliano, and Gagner)
541 97 247 344 -42
I think we look pretty good.
I should have mentioned both those games were shut outs by the Iowa Stars.
That was supposed to read:
1330 322 498 820 +75
For the Wild numbers
Rb: Next trip next week to Vancouver, Calgary, and Edmonton.
If I don’t become fast-food I’ll be really surprised, especially the way ‘da boys’ have been playing lately.
CENTER ICE TONIGHT: Calgary vs. Washington, 6 PM…Go Caps!!
I like In’n'Out Burger myself…
Prediction for tonight…Capitals 15, Calgary 0 …whoa, that was a great batch of kool-aid!
WRT, that was bad! funny, but bad.
Sid - King of the Idiots
Reusse - Prince of the Idiots
Souhan - Village Idiot
Amen brotha.
LEN3, Russo and #2 all good reads. Judd is usually good as is Joe C. The columnists can pack their shat and go over the rag across the river that no one reads.
AiH,
Gosh that sounds just like… hey wait a second!
Regarding Souhan’s article. I saw the headline and knew I shouldn’t read it. Knew exactly what uninformed BS was going to be in it, but just couldn’t from torturing myself. Arrgghhh! A large number of goals does not equal exciting. As stated above, great chances, great saves, a competitive game make for excitement. By Souhan’s logic, sudden death overtime should be the most boring thing in sport.
NiNY - from a few posts back. I would rather not be associated with the “BJ’s” thank you very much.
I would hope that I could be mentioned with the same respect as our other esteemed Russovilleites. And be remembered for being at least somewhat insightful. Not just “BJ’s and asking GreenStar out on a date. <:l
Yeah, we’ve certainly all seen some games that are more snoozers than others, but I didn’t think the SJ game was a snoozer at all. (excuse me while I take a drink of Kool Aid) The 1st period was frustrating because of the 2 weak goals. But call me crazy, a game that’s tied with the goalie pulled - no matter the bounce that was required - is exciting. The OT was exciting, particularly Marleau’s amazing save, and the SO featured perhaps the best SO goals of the season.
WRT - spot on with the In’n'Out call. I had one last summer driving from Monterrey CA to SF at some exit where there’s a huge outlet mall. Toivo probably knows just where I’m talking about.
Regarding Souhan - Just a question but wouldn’t one have to actually watch hockey to have an educated opinion? Or is that not required of reporters? Call me naive……
SS6 - that is why Souhan exhibits an uneducated opinion….
asking GreenStar out on a date
you make this sound like a bad thing
re: AiH @ 4:48.
No love for TX from me either. I like Austin a lot, but I have only been here 10 months. Not a fan of Whataburger either. I would much rather go to Khan’s or Divanni’s.
ss6…nah…it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. He writes about it therefore he is an expert.
How could he be bothered to watch the NHL…especially the Wild - it’s too boring.
Haven’t partaken in the famed In’n'Out burger, but I gotta go along with Rob. The Whataburgers are pretty darn tasty. After being stuck at work since 9:00, one would hit the spot right now….
Oh yeah, and WRT, In and Out Burger is the best!! I love that stuff! It’s probably one of the only good things about LA.
asking GreenStar out on date
Hey…I got the perfect places to go for the next 3 weeks…
Good to see that timing issue is getting the attention it deserves from the IT staff at the Strib.
is one in vegas, that’s where i’ll be next week
GreenStar - nothing personal, but NiNY made me sound “fast and loose”. I’m only trying to regain some dignity.
kj - thank you. Wild boring? As opposed to the Vikings/Timberwolves? Yikes this guy needs to get out more…..
kj - all 3 locations need sun, sand,water and alcohol…..
all 3 locations need sun, sand,water and alcohol
vegas has sun
vegas has sand
vegas has water
vegas has alcohol
PERFECT!!!!!!
OMG, I have to vent: I assume this is the stupid Capitals TV feed. I’m watching it through Yahoo!.
They have something completely asinine called an “Ovech-cam.” Now the reason this is asinine in every definition of the word is they have it side-by-side with the game feed always. Naturally it’s focused on Ovechkin. But they have it alongside the game feed EVEN WHEN HE’S ON THE BENCH!
But wait, there’s more!
The Ovech-cam is TWICE AS BIG AS THE GAME FEED! This is utterly ridiculous.
If this isn’t a reason to root against Washington, I don’t know what is, and I have a long history of rooting against the Capitals.
I don’t know if this is a one-time thing or if they always do it, but it’s completely stupid.
Maybe Full Circle needs to learn “Matchmaker”???
I’m a southern california resident and I’ll second that In’n'out burgers are excellent. There’s also this place called the Counter Top that’s pretty crazy.
Caps up 1-0
KiPA…under normal circumstances you would have my support but tonight we are all Caps fans here…
As long as you agree that whoever came up with this absurd notion needs a serious beatdown, I don’t mind you rooting for the Caps tonight or in the future against other NW foes.
I have comcast but I may have to switch because of this bit of idiocy they’ve created.
i think when selanne was with the sharks they ran a selanne cam on their telecasts that followed him everywhere in the corner of the screen.
once we all have fiber into our homes, i think broadcasting of live sports will put the viewer in the directors chair. if you want the overhead view, channel 2, iso on SRV is channel 3, etc. similar to what the asscar hotpass is.
KiPA…yeah, that sounds beatdownish.
Just so Ovie has a major beatdown on Cowgary.
That brings up an interesting question, kj.
What do they do if Ovechkin gets hurt and leaves the game? Do they send a camera with him to the locker room? Do they leave it blank and keep the game feed tiny? Static?
Kevin - I just watched the first period of that game on Center Ice as well, toggling back and forth between the regular feed and the “Ovech Kam” feed. And while I agree with you that, for the most part, it’s irritating and tough to follow, there are two considerations:
#1 It’s optional. No one has to watch the split screen, it’s only on a separate Comcast channel.
#2 They’re trying to sell hockey in a non-hockey market. I lived in DC for 4 years and the NHL is almost invisibile there. Suddenly they have one of the bigget names in the game, and they’re trying to leverage that in a way that might attract a new fan or two. As someone who wants to see hockey grow, that doesn’t bother me too much.
But you’re right about trying to follow the game on the split screen…very irritating.
KiPA…that sounds like something I would ask…
I think they would follow him to the locker room and to the hospital if need be.
Incorporate it into an episode of ER or House…
GG:
1) If it’s on an optional channel, that makes it worlds better. Sadly, since I never did get around to getting Center Ice, I’m stuck with the feed that Yahoo gives me, so I didn’t realize that. And in case you’re wondering, I stopped watching it four minutes into the game.
2) I’m quite comfortable with the idea of selling the game, but I don’t see how anything gets sold when you watch a guy sitting on a bench while the actual game is much smaller. If the camera went away when he was on the bench and wasn’t bigger than the other view, I’d have no problem with it.
Follow up on Ash’s comment on the drafts above. Interesting. I expected the Wild to have results that would be no worse than other teams - never would have thought there would be such disparity. I also wondered whether some of the other NW teams had traded some of the #1s, which wouldn’t be counted in the stats Ash lays out, but should count for something if the player is still in the NHL. So, did a quick review of those drafts - I could find only two players that I had heard of that were drafted by a NW team but now played elsewhere. RJ Umberger (wasn’t he a Lawton client, Green*?) and someone else I now forget.
Would be interesting to run the same analysis league wide.
Jacques is so bass ackwards. He should be skating Foster,Skoula, Johnsson Hard and getting their sorry butts off the ice and let players like Hill, Voros,Boogey get ready for the Ducks and Flames.. San Jose just toyed with us Sunday, Wait until they come to hit in the playoffs with that size.
Good luck
RJ Umberger (wasn’t he a Lawton client, Green*?)
a high profile client as a matter of fact.
Hill, Voros,Boogey get ready for the Ducks and Flames
i took you serious until you added Hill.
Oooh, Kevin, that Ovie Kam certainly is distracting. Even when he has the puck I don’t know which camera to watch.
I had a friend who lives in the DC area call me while he was at a bar just so he could complain about the cam. lol
Bulldog…..bingo. Lemaire at times can just be befuddling. Not to mention has he EVER stuck to the same lines for more than a 3 game period? Obviously this guy knows hockey…but does he really know how to coach better than his rivals?
When in SoCal you need to go to Tommy’s for the best burger in the world. You will need about 14 napkins and you may need a Tums after but it is worth it. The chili cheeseburgers and chili cheese fries are awesome. The original is down in LA but there are a few other around. I am pretty sure there is one in Costa Meas off the 405. Every time I go back I make sure I go to Tommy’s and also to In & Out. Nothing in Minnesota compares.
Anyone ever been to the Nook in St. Paul (Randolph & Hamline) for a burger? A client of mine in NYC saw their burgers featured on the Food Network and said he almost jumped on a plane right then to come here. I guess they’re stuffed with cheese - the burgers, that is. Never had one myself.
when in CO check out good times, I think they have In&Out beat…
Caps on the PP with 3:22 left
Ovie Strikes!!!
WRT - spot on with the In’n’Out call. I had one last summer driving from Monterrey CA to SF at some exit where there’s a huge outlet mall. Toivo probably knows just where I’m talking about.
That would be Gilroy, which is also home of the Gilroy Garlic Festival.
Looks like the movie star scored.
Gilroy - yes, and I seem to remember some signs about the Garlic festival. See, I knew you’d know.
Tonight, Mr. Splitscreen is my FAVORITE player…
3-2 final for Caps.
3-2 Caps! Kick arce!
Flames Lose!!!! AO!!!
What was that movie with Jim Carrey? The Truman Show? I hereby dub AO Alex Truman.
Caps Win and Phaneuf got SMOKED by #26 from Caps in the 2nd period. About time someone has the balls to crunch him. He gets away with a ton of garbage so that was nice to see. Good as it gets right now…
Shouldn’t he be Alex Carrie…you know, split screen and all…
I’m fine with that.
I’m fine with anything since Cowgary got ZERO points!!!
Way to go Washington. Lets go Anaheim…
Way to go Washington. Lets go Anaheim…
Oh Yeah!
Damn, I got everyone started on In’n'Out Burger and now I want a couple..and some fries…and I’m trying to shed a few…here and there.
No soup for you tonight, Mr. Keenan…
Watching Carolina-Chicago on NHL CI. 20,000 in the house again at the UC, and the Hawks are just getting frustrated by the Carolina checking. No room for anyone to move and every time Kane or Toews are on the ice, someone is trying to goon ‘em up.
BTW: to make the evening complete..Vancouver vs Anaheim at 9:30 PM Central: Let’s go Ducks!
Sweet to watch the Flickers get bounced by a late goal. Now time to sit back and watch the Fowl pitch a shutout of the Nux.
Anyone ever been to the Nook in St. Paul (Randolph & Hamline) for a burger?
That’s like 3 blocks from my house. I practically live at the Nook.
And yes, HD, the burgers are awesome. A great place to go pre-game, since there’s a bus route that goes down Randolph and straight to the Xcel.
Who caught that on FSN Prime Ticket just now? The play by play guy said: “Marchant, fresh out of the box, shorthanded…!”
Omigod what a misplay by Luongo.
I heard it, but am evidently missing something…what ya getting at?
He came out about 15-20 feet or so to try to poke check and missed and Marchant just shot it into an empty net.
Marchant short-hander.
I just found it a little funny that he was about to call it a shorthanded goal when Marchant was the only one in the penalty box. He seemed to catch himself though.
oh..got cha’ guess I didn’t even think about it..they just got another goal 2-0 ducks
luongo doesn’t look too good tonight
Whoops it was Moen. But now 3-0.
Hiller in goal for Ducks.
Boy, Ducks taking it to the Canucks, eh?
Luongo is the new Cloutier.
indeed…i hate both these teams but, gotta root for the Ducks
Canucks chippy at end of period. Burrows and Kesler–who else now that Cooke is gone.
I am working my way down the postings and am still reading how we feel about the Tribune “journalistic” staff.
If I read Souhan, it is in the paper and not on-line. Because, I do not want any statistical wizzard to be tabulating how many visits he has on his writings.
Also, I wrote him after his Simon story about boycotting the Wild, to suggest he find a tamer sport that fits his tastes and steered him toward badminton.
Devils fan here. Thanks for the comments on Brodeur, great stuff. Lemaire is a class act and one of the best coaches in the NHL.
AiH, “”"When asked about Constatine’s comments, a lackadaisical Benoit Pouliot repsonded, “first of all, tell coach that he sounds like a damn fool, second of all if “ifs” and “buts” were candy and nuts we would all have a Merry Christmas.””"”
This does not sound like anyone we want on our NHL team is it?
4-1 ducks on a 5-3, which will still be a 5-4 for over a minute
luongo yanked
scratch that 5-4 - refs discussed and decided otherwise
Ash, great stats on the Wild drafts, compared to the rest of the NW.
Ash, great stats on the Wild drafts, compared to the rest of the NW.
PS - Shipley is not really so far behind Russo and #2.
Anyone ever been to the Nook in St. Paul (Randolph & Hamline) for a burger?
The Nook is very small and can be hard to get into at times. The same guys have added the Shamrock down the hill on Randolph and W7th. Much larger, same menu, Irish music quite often and a bus to the games if I recall
Ducks > Nucks = Oh Yeah!
Just got home from the John Fogerty concert.
Summary for the evening, NW Division is weak and John Fogerty is strong!
Wow, speaking of the In and Out Burger and John Fogerty, I believe it is time for some Big Lebowski:
Walter: He lives in North Hollywood on Radford, near the In and Out Burger.
Dude: The In and Out Burger is on Camrose.
Walter: Near the In and Out Burger.
Donny: Those are good burgers Walter.
Walter: Shut the f*** up, Donny.
So we were helped last night. Now we all play tonight and we need to take care of business. Lots of scoreboard watching at the X.
Very true Mr. Woodcock, I’m hoping to see an inspired performance by the boys.
Does anyone else agree that that when the team, fans and media put so much stock into the game against DTW in Feb that it probably turned out to be a bad thing? That game was built up like a SC finals game and when we played as well as we did and ended up losing like we did it seemed to start the run of so-so play.
I would like to see them play like that again tonight.
It will be interesting tonight.
Gut check time. Shorten the bench. More minutes for Huggy, PMB, Demtra, Gaborik. Lots more minutes for Koivu, Sheppard.
I bet Burns will be close to 30 minutes tonight.
A in H — You beat me to the Big Lewbowski reference. I figured it was only a matter of time until someone would be telling to Donny to shut it. Nice…
Does anyone else think that Burns looks like Shaggy?
Hope to see a win, we have tickets.
man…I grew up a couple long par-5s from the Nook…that particular reference took me for a ride in the way back machine.
Could Russoville call for a general boycott of Souhan? Would it matter? Would it put Don Russo in a tough spot with his bosses (not that di capo di tutti capi has a boss, but you know what I’m saying)?
PS: Hockeydad and SS6, your edits vis-a-vis the Russoville Cultural Dictionary were noted and all necessary changes made.
Ice — Long drive from up North to the game tonight?
NiNY — You’re right, I don’t think it would matter. On a side note; My buddy called and is taking me to the Swarm game tomorrow. I’m willing to donate my Eric Perkins Jersey Retirement Night Comemrative Bobblehead to you.
Perkins is a living, breathing bobblehead.
NiNY,
Did you go to Cretin?
nope, but my mom went to Derham. Did you?
Nope. Johnson, like kj.
(I are a prawdukt of the Twin Cities private school system.)
I live a stones throw from CDH. I don’t mind it but some of the kids litter in my yard, meaning someday I’m going to be the ornery old man sitting on my front stoop with a shotgun yelling at the kids to get off my yard.
Anyone want to go out on a limb and predict the final tonight?
Dave: sure…take the under.
So is anyone here heading up to Vancouver for the Wild road trip??
Good one, NiNY.
NiNY: I would agree with some sort of boycott of Souhan only if we all agree here and now never to acknowledge another thing he writes again, no matter the opinion expressed. As I was saying yesterday, the more complaining we do about what he writes, the better for him - that means people are interested and discussing, whether we agree or not with his opinions. He’s a poor columnist, IMHO, and I have gotten in the habit of simply not wasting my time reading his work.
If the Capitals have the “Ovech-Cam”, then maybe we can have the “Miko Koi-View” ?
GO WILD!
… or the Marian Cam-orik?
Hockeydad: that’s where I was going with “would it matter”. If we sit around and talk about how vacuous he is, he (and the Strib) still win.
Agreed, NiNY - that’s the last I will mention.
Mmmmm, the Nook. Great burgers. Makes me wistful for going back there. I’m also partial to Matt’s Bar for the classic Jucy Lucy with a basket of fries and a cold pitcher of Grain Belt.
Is it wrong for me to pile on Souhan as well? His baseball writing isn’t bad but his hockey writing is a train wreck.
Oh and speaking of the Caps, I find that they are grabbing on to Ovechkin like the Seattle Mariners did with Ichiro. Big star with a lot of talent, but I tend to like teams who play like, well…teams. Ovechkin spends so much time camping out on the blue line he should get a lawn chair and hang out when everyone else is defending.
Likewise.
BTW: Mikko Koi-VIEW is outstanding. Gold star for Dampland.
That’s a much better idea than my Petteri Nummelin Popcorn Cam.
“Mikko Koi-VIEW is outstanding.”
Agreed. That is fantastic.
Joe Mauer should sponsor Brent “Side” Burns night at the X.
[Two drums and cymbal fall off a cliff…..]
Hey, Branko’s name works too. Much in the same way as AO’s name works with it. Now if he would only do something to make us feel a need to have a camera on him at all times.
The Koi-VIEW cam would need to be a helmet mounted cam so we could see what he’s seeing.
Ok, maybe not.
Goody, how does Radio’s name work? Branco Radi-view-avich?
I get a gold star from NiNY!!
SWEET!!
“doing the happy dance” now (Baseketball movie reference)
Ok, I will admit to being a bit pessamistic, but is anyone out there actually hoping the Wild just flat out MISS the playoffs, so they can have a better draft pick?
Considering they appear to currently be a 1-series and done team anyways.
Dampland, I am definitely NOT hoping for that. I am hoping we see a spark in the team tonight that lights a fire under their arses for the remainder fo the season/post-season.
What?
No Stevie Ray Video???
Stephane Vee-oo?
Lapper, 3.5 hours to the Excel.
kj, it’s the SR-Video cam. The Rada-view-avich cam. The Marion Cam-orik cam. The Mikko Koi-View. The Spin-o-Bouchard cam. Petteri Popcorn Cam. And last but not least, the Bad marty Trip-and-fall Monitor.
HOckeydad, I never read Souhan on the web, then at least the Tribune statiticians need to guess whether anyone is reading him.
Rob, I’ll send you some Whataburger. I spent 18 long adolescent years in Longview, but have mostly recovered now. ;)It does suck being a hockey fan/player in Houston though. I can’t find a goalie coach to save my life down here.
NiNY,
I reread my posting above, and just in case the tone didn’t come across correctly in my previous posting.
I do appreciate the thumbs up for the Koi-View comment.
Okay, I am taking bets (in Russoville Bar tokens only) for tonights game.
I bet that the WILD will score Less than 2 goals tonight.
I bet that Martin Skoula will not score.
I bet that Keith carney will not score.
I bet that Gabby will play suck-hole all night, get 2 breakaways, but not score.
I bet that Koivu, Burnsie, Schultz, SRV, Radio and Steve Kelly will all play “balls out”, giving 110%.
I bet that Rolston will “hug” 3 Devils players during the game.
I bet that PMB will stick handle the puck into the zone before being knocked off the puck prior to passing it off at least 3 times during the game.
and finally, I bet that JL will NOT keep the same lines on the ice thruout the game.
Oh yeah, and the Canucks suck!
Marion “Cam-orik”. That made me laugh.
Dampland, that’s like guessing if the attendance at the X is going to be 18,568.
Niveous,
I never said I was a risk-taking Gambler, just a betting man.
dampland: that’s funny because I realized I might have taken the wrong “tone” with the Gold star thing. It was truly meant to just be a “that’s awesome”.
Damnpland, I’ll take your bet on Gabby. I bet he gets a goal and an assist tonight.
Johnson, like kj
f’n guppies
I’m also partial to Matt’s Bar for the classic Jucy Lucy with a basket of fries and a cold pitcher of Grain Belt.
best in town by far.
We were in high school a long time ago, G*. Let it go. You don’t still wear the letter jacket you got for being on the chess team, do you?
dampland + NiNY = complete dorks
I’ll bet the boycott from the 6 people in here that post daily would have no effect on Souhan’s stats. You people think you are more important that you really are. LOL
Internet: Serious Business.
Looks like Jimmy’s mom reads the blog.
Some cranky people in here this morning.
AUSTIN,
Okay dokey - The bet is on. If Gabby does score on a break away tonight, I will walk out my front door and scream that “I love Matt Cooke, and I wish Martin Skoula was my dad!” at the top of my lungs.
However, I actually do hope that Gabby scores a bunch tonight. I just don’t think it will happen on a breakaway.
Actually, Dampland, you said that you bet Gabby will suck-hole all night. So if he back-checks at all, you’re going to be screaming your man-love of Matt Cooke
Voice of Reason - You are correct.
I hope my neighbors have sound proof windows.
If it’s any consolation, Ohlund is out for the rest of the season (not sure about playoffs though)
I was looking at all-time stat leaders for the Wild, and some interesting things came up. (Minimum 20 games played)
Points per game:
Marian Gaborik - 0.846
Brian Rolston - 0.838
Pavol Demitra - 0.836
Scott Pellerin - 0.672
Andrew Brunette - 0.669
Alexandre Daigle - 0.637
Pierre-Marc Bouchard - 0.627
Todd White - 0.609
Cliff Ronning - 0.600
Randy Robitaille - 0.597
Goals per game:
Marian Gaborik - 0.419
Brian Rolston - 0.397
Pavol Demitra - 0.313
Mark Parrish - 0.254
Maxim Sushinski - 0.233
Todd White - 0.232
Sergei Zholtok - 0.229
Andrew Brunette - 0.220
Cliff Ronning - 0.213
Marc Chouinard - 0.210
Assists per game:
Pavol Demitra - 0.523
Scott Pellerin - 0.483
Pierre-Marc Bouchard - 0.452
Andrew Brunette - 0.449
Brian Rolston - 0.441
Alexandre Daigle - 0.435
Marian Gaborik - 0.427
Randy Robitaille - 0.418
Cliff Ronning - 0.388
Todd White - 0.377
PIM/Game:
Matt Johnson - 3.075
Sylvain Blouin - 2.919
Aaron Voros - 2.686
Derek Boogaard - 2.391
Sean O’Donnell - 2.032
Jeremy Stevenson - 2.029
Brad Brown - 1.935
Andy Sutton - 1.886
Jason Marshall - 1.715
Jason Wiemer - 1.710
Draw your own conclusions.
We were in high school a long time ago, G*. Let it go. You don’t still wear the letter jacket you got for being on the chess team, do you?
calm down, just giving you the needle on a old but mostly friendly HS rivalry.
FYI, i know the rules of chess but cannot play chess.
I think my letter jacket is still hanging around someplace. haven’t seen it in years. haven’t put it on since probably the march of the year i graduated.
Cool, G*. Sorry I blew up.
I don’t know where my letter jacket is, either (tennis team), but I can guarantee you it wouldn’t fit any more.
Maxim Sushinski - 0.233
i didn’t know maxie got 20 games in before he missed the warm comforts of the motherland.
“kj, it’s the SR-Video cam. The Rada-view-avich cam. The Marion Cam-orik cam. The Mikko Koi-View. The Spin-o-Bouchard cam. Petteri Popcorn Cam. And last but not least, the Bad marty Trip-and-fall Monitor.”
*sighing and shaking his head*
Dorks.
Out of love I say that.
Re: Ohlund - I was surprised he was playing regularly last night when Ducks v. Nuks was out of hand.
i didn’t know maxie got 20 games in before he missed the warm comforts of the motherland.
He made it to 30 games.
Re: Maxim Sushinski - I wonder if the Wild accountants are still waiting for that $100k signing bonus to be returned? I was also surprised he made the 20 game threshold - thanks for pulling the numbers.
Not saying Kessler didn’t deserve it, but Fine Upstanding Citizen Christopher Pronger stepped on Kessler, facing possible suspension.
Hey Kevin,
Pens 7, Sabres 3 last night. You wept and drank in the corner for nothing. I no longer even bother coming up with a reason to weep and drink in the corner. It’s very liberating.
Can our squad borrow some of those goals, Kev? We’re a little short right now.
I think it’d be neat if Chris Simon beheaded Pronger. There are few players in the West I just despise and Pronger’s one of them. I don’t think I could hate him any more even if he wore a Flyers sweater.
It was a nice outburst, but I’m not expecting the likes of Chris Minard or Jeff Taffe to continue to provide a scoring touch, and while Miller’s a nice goalie, it still came against lowly Buffalo, who seemed to have no heart last night. You can have Taffe though if you want him! I understand he was a former Mr. Hockey in Minnesota? Or whatever that award is (I pay as little attention to our TV play by play guy as you guys do with D&D.)
And I’m still concerned about Sid’s ankle and Hossa’s knee. I was on the fence about that trade enough to begin with, and if he barely plays… (unless this ends up lowering his contract value and we can re-sign him for a little while…)
i suppose souhan will boycott ducks games now? nah.
i didn’t see the video but there is no way pronger gets more than a slap on the johnson for this, no matter how egregious.
Kevin, we’ll take Taffe if you take Skoula.
G* I looked on youtube for a video too, and I didn’t find anything. Now, I may be wrong here, but a slap on the johnson sounds like a pretty severe punishment! I guess it depends on how hard the slap is, and whom is doing the slapping.
After years of Hans Jonsson and Josef Melichar, I’m not sure I can accept that trade, VoR.
I’d take Taffe, Kevin. He went to my high school for a short time before he left in search of better competition. You’re right about it being called Mr. Hockey, BTW.
Scratch that, Kevin. Taffe never went to my high school. I guess I just remembered him scoring a ton of goals against us. Barry Tallackson went to my school for a short time before leaving in search of better competition.
Good to know I was right. Fox Sports foolishly decided not to renew Mike Lange’s tv contract, so they instead hired a “fresh voice” to do PxP. The fresh voice? The Pens’ RADIO guy, who was Lange’s former partner. What a fresh voice. Steigerwald drives me nuts. He’s my version of D&D. He was fine as a color guy years ago but dreadful at PxP.
This diatribe is to explain that I pay little attention to the voices during games, but I’m pretty sure it was Steigy who mentioned Taffe’s honor.
Just so everything’s clear, Hockeymom above is not related (at least I think). The person I occassionally refer to as Hockeymom was with me when that was posted at our 2nd grader’s parent lunch. Not that there’s anything wrong with today’s Hockeymom.
Maybe I am thinking this message is really so I stay out of trouble with my Hockeymom. I’ll stop rambling now.
I think today’s Hockeymom is really Souhan himself.
I think Taffe was leading Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in scoring when he was called up ages ago. He hasn’t had much of an offensive role yet here, though he’s been on the second PP unit a lot lately (which sort of boggles the mind; I hadn’t been seeing much out of him offensively to merit a spot.)
We better come out strong tonight or it will be the same sucky scenario again-down early and trying to get back in the game after 10 minutes or so of sleepskating through the 1st period. Calgary plays the Thrashers tonight, thats a win for them. I believe Nucks play Phoenix and that will go down to the wire. I like Phoenix as a dark horse in the postseason. They have some good young talent up front and Doan is a good leader, Jovo and a few of the other D-Men are solid, and Bryzgalov is also solid between the pipes. They could make some noise. Oh, and by the way, they HIT guys in the corners and along the boards….even the forwards!
If PHX can “make some noise” so could the Wild. PHX will do nothing in the post season, except maybe a little golfing.
I wouldn’t count the Trashers completely out tonight either. Have a little faith Knight.
Ok, if Bryz is in the Net I could really use a W from the ‘Yotes for my fantasy hockey team. If we lose tonight and Brodeur is in net it also pads my fantasy hockey game. That said, I hope we win. I can agree with Dampland’s 10:28am prediction except I will add in that Gaby does do a little work other then hanging out and waiting for the break away. What happened to the Gaby of last year that was money on break aways (but couldn’t do shoot out or penalty shots, we used to joke that he just needed some one chasing him). Wonder if it was the Dominator making him fly that has him hesitant?
If Taffe couldn’t hack it in the Phoenix Coyote organization I think it is dillusional to believe he is worth anything long term.
Interesting story on Pronger/Kessler. I guess stomping suspensions are a fine line - 30 games or 0 games.
Keep in mind Pronger has a history of suspensions that is in Chris Simon’s neighborhood.
But Aaron, he is Chris Pronger, which means he usually gets barely noticeable suspensions no matter what the offense.
but he is one of us AiH, it don’t matter if he can hack it.
Green*…I suppose you went to Harding HS? Pardon me if I didn’t pick that up from earlier posts, but you know how difficult it is for us guppies to read.
If true, that explains a lot.
What class were you from?
So what’s the mood about tonight? I don’t know why but I’m cautiously optomistic. We have to score first. If there was ever a time for the boys to play with some desparation it’s now. This is a good measuring stick game for us because the Devil’s are a good team.
Devils are likely to be pissed after their 4-0 loss the other night. I know I am (someone, I won’t say who, started Brodeur and sat Price that night in his fantasy lineup.)
All predictions should be adjusted for the fact that Brodeur and the Devils have been sitting on a 4-0 slap in the face for a couple days now.
The Wild will have to really be cleaning up some trash to even come close to scoring 3 tonight.
My prediction, another confidence boosting, ego stroking, playoff propelling overtime/shootout loss for the Wild. After all, there is no shame in playing hard and losing to a good team. Oh wait, that should be a line from a PeeWee coach not an NHL coach.
What class were you from
91, i’m just a pup
GreenStar - One of us? I didn’t know Taffe played for SCSU? Could have sworn he was a rodent?
*heavy sarcasm*
I didn’t know Taffe played for SCSU?
my bad. i generally attach the one of us to anyone from minnesota and anyone that played for the rodents.
Food.
US = SCSU or J-O-H-N-S-O-N…
Sorry, typed my name wrong on previous posts, my computer wasn’t saving them for a bit. kvoge is actually me.
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