Risebrough, Lemaire Q&A’s
Posted on April 21st, 2008 – 10:21 PMBy Michael Russo
Alrighty, I’m back. Here are some partial Q&A’s you can peruse at your leisure. I’ll probably throw up some player quotes Tuesday.
Wound up trimming this out of Tuesday’s notebook, but Mikko Koivu will play for Finland in the upcoming world championships in Halifax and Quebec City. Niklas Backstrom has also been offered a spot.
Marian Gaborik has not decided whether he’ll play for Slovakia, while Pavol Demitra has declined. It’s believed Brent Burns and Pierre-Marc Bouchard will be offered spots with Canada.
Both Brian Rolston (U.S.) and Kim Johnsson (Sweden) said they would not play
Partial Doug Risebrough Q&A
On disappointing finish? “I felt that the team was at a way higher competitive level this year in the playoffs than last year. I felt that some guys made huge strides, not only during the season, which is what we expected. Koivu and Burns. Yes, I wish we had advanced, but I can’t look back and say that the team didn’t give its best. We did end up winning the division in a very competitive division. It took us 79 games to find out we’d be in the playoffs. But we ended up on top. I thought the team played well in stretches it had to play well. And I look at it, this is a league right now where you’ve got to have a real balanced perspective. The two Stanley cup finalists are out of the playoffs. That’s got to say a lot about what the product is.”
Overwhelmed by the summer laundry list? “No, because I could have done something about this. It’s my choice, and the advantage is flexibility. Some teams don’t have the same flexibility. That just means you can do something that’s the same or different. Some teams can’t do anything. They have to have the same. It was set up this way. Now, do I think it’s going to be a lot of work? Yeah.”
Have you decided who you want to keep? “No. I want to talk to the coaches. I always believe time is a better thing, see what’s evolving in the games, looking for trends. I haven’t come up with any ideas.”
Can you only sign one of Brian Rolston or Pavol Demitra? “Well, I don’t know. The reality of it is they’re both unrestricted and they both have a choice. It’s easy to say you’re only realistically going to sign one, but it depends what the negotiations end up. The difference today is the cap prevents you from doing everything. But we have opportunities. It’s just again, what’s the money and what’s the term? As a manager, I’ve got to start looking at what next year’s contracts are going to look like to decide what the flexibility’s going to be down the road. That could have an implication.”
Like you’re looking at James Sheppard’s third contract and he’s on his first type thing? “Exactly. As you’ve pointed out, you do have to retain the core. Clearly, the core that is youthful is more important than the core that’s older. Fortunately we’ve signed some of them long-term already. That reduces the concern for the flexibility. But if those contracts stretch beyond that, then I’m running into a problem.”
Rolston irreplaceable? “I don’t want to comment on Rolston and Demitra. But I will say this about Roli. I remember when we were trying to get legitimacy here. We were just an expansion team that was working hard and we were getting the same types of players. Then Rolston wanted to come here. That seemed to change a lot of people’s opinion of Minnesota. For a general manager that likes to remember a lot of things, that plays into it. I remember when players play hurt. I remember when players play hard. This has a bearing on how I’ll deal with Roli.”
Do you want to comment on Demitra? “No.”
Gaborik wouldn’t commit publicly that he’d sign an extension today, but he did say he doesn’t want a Hossa-type situation? “I think it’s a very good time for a very good conversation with Gabby. Obviously that discussion is about what does he want to do in the future and what do we want to do in the future, which gets down to contract discussion. But it’s even more than that. Players have to make choices and team’s have to make choices, especially when you’re going to make choices on significant players. You want to make sure everybody’s comfortable with where everybody’s going.”
Does his playoff performance change your opinion of him? “No. No. Let’s talk about that. Marian’s a streak scorer. You know more than anyone. I remember early in the season. I remember Pav saying to Marian, ‘Russo wants to talk to you. I don’t know why. You’re going to end up being a four-goal scorer this year.’ He had one goal in the first [10] games. He is a streak scorer. Why we want the players to work on being a team is that if we had advanced, maybe Gabby gets on a roll in the next one and we forget about the first one. I’m a realist about what his abilities are. Did he try? He tried like hell. Did he sometimes over-try? Yeah, he did. He was squeezing the stick. But that’s because he’s the best player, he’s trying to contribute. He did what he can do. This has no bearing. This just confirms to me some of the things about him. He is a streak scorer. But he also scored 42 goals being a streak scorer. He is somebody that can score five goals a game. But he’s also somebody that can go without scoring in five games. It hasn’t changed my opinion.”
You going to bring Branko back? “I’m not going to comment.”
What’s the difference with you telling me you’d bring back Foster? “One’s restricted and the other’s unrestricted. One really didn’t know what the choice the team was going to make. I could have made Foster unrestricted by not signing him. I wanted to alleviate that. If Foster was in his unrestricted year, he wouldn’t be treated any differently than Radivojevic. There is a distinction there. I would say Radivojevic’s injury is not a career-ending injury. This general manager doesn’t think ”
Has Toronto asked permission to talk to you? “I wouldn’t know that. They can’t ask me.”
Has Craig Leipold been asked permission? (Laughed, ignored question)
Would you be interested? “I don’t feel comfortable ever commenting about my own situation and I’m not going to deviate from that. All I’ll say is that I’m very happy with the present situation and I’m very comfortable specifically with the new ownership change. I arguably might have the best job in hockey right now. That’s all I need to say.”
Jacques back? “We always have a discussion about the team, about what our goals are, and about the staff. That’ll be the same discussion.”
Expect him back? “Yeah, but I’ve got to talk to him.”
Did the players tune him out at a time. I’m told by players his frustration level hit an all-time high in Raleigh, and you know about what he said to us in Atlanta? “Jacques is a coach that tries everything to make the team better. There were probably moments where he was frustrated. I think some of those frustrations were poor management decisions. I’m always a guy that believes players have to earn their contracts. So I don’t have any problem with players playing in the last year of their contracts. I might have had too many guys playing in their unrestricted years this year. That led to potentially more guys playing outside of the team. That was my mistake and that became Jacques’ problem. Now in saying that, it doesn’t mean I would have signed all of them. I might have traded some of them.”
Should you have done more at the deadline? “No, because you didn’t see the phone calls. I wish I could have done something more. And that’s why we tried. But it wasn’t going to be at the expense of any of the young players. Yes, I got tested by my counterparts, but I didn’t change that. And I’m glad I didn’t because those were the same people that gave us a lift in the playoffs and give us hope for the future. And predominately, it was not that type of trade deadline outside of Colorado. Most of them were minor additions, outside of Hossa, too. Colorado was unique. Foote says I’m going to waive my no-trade, I’m going to one place. And Forsberg says I want to go back to Colorado where I came from. I have to be realistic about that.”
What are your needs going into the summer? “Have to be realistic what’s out there. There will be change obviously. I just don’t know where that’s all going to be.”
You’re not adding stars, right? “How am I going to pay them?”
There are a lot of competitive, mid-range players available? “There’s always a chance to improve. I’ve never believed, you can’t begin to tell me that free agency on significant players works. You can’t. I’m looking at it and saying, ‘Why would I do it?’ I’m not going to do it. You’ve got to pay your own. Improvements, but it’s not necessarily going to be earth-shattering.”
Partial Jacques Lemaire
How disappointed are you? “You’re always disappointed when you’re out of the playoffs. You come next day and you see that the ice is gone. It is disappointing. But you’ve got to look at the season, at the playoffs how you played. I think we did well achieving the division title, especially when you look at how tight it is. Little things could make a huge difference by making or missing the playoffs. We stayed strong and finished first.
“We started the playoffs as well as we could start because by winning the title toward the end and only two, three games before the end of the season and reaching that first place, meant that our team’s ready for the playoffs. It’s a good way to get in the playoffs, feel good and all that. and we could see it. we started the playoffs, you could see the edge. We were on top, we were skating, we were aggressive. We didn’t have breaks.
“Individually, you could see well if Gabby would have scored, if Nik would have stopped the puck, a shot here or there or Johnny would have gotten a goal or butch or roli would have gotten two more, it’s easy after. But overall, I’m very pleased the way we played.”
That’s the biggest shame? “It is. It’s bad, the team was exactly what I wanted. That was my easiest time as a coach in the playoffs because the guys were at their best. Not winning the fifth game here, at that time, well we’re going to get the next one because we’re playing good and our confidence was there. It just didn’t happen though”
Seemed your defensemen simply were cooked by Game 6? “We never mentioned it. we were a little scared about the injuries we had on defense. We knew we were going to tax certain guys and at a time, we didn’t know if they were going to last. It caught up the last game. You could tell.”
Are you coming back? “Every year we sit down. Some years it’s always easier cause you’re young and you want to keep going because you’re young. Now I’m getting older and I just want to talk to doug. We do this every year though. This isn’t new. Every year we sit down and we talk how long we think we can go.”
I can’t imagine you just living the rest of your days not coaching? “It’s true. I love it. I love when I see the guys playing as good as I want, that I have a good team - team, team. the word team. not individuals. I love that. I enjoyed the playoffs. It’s too bad that we didn’t go further because everything the guys were doing, I just loved it.”
Did the players tune you out in the regular season? “The regular season, I think we did really well achieving the division title. That was a good accomplishment from our guys. But we had ups and downs and it was really hard. It was the most competitive season and the season that was the hardest to get the guys to play for the team. It was very frustrating at a time there. I was very frustrated at a time there, and maybe them too.”
What do you want to accomplish in your meeting with doug? “I can’t say. It’s between doug and I. I want to know certain things about things that I think about. And I want to get some answers.”
Do you feel Rolston has to be back? “Roli is a guy that I appreciate to coach. He’s a guy that is devoted to his job, knows what to do, takes his own responsibilities, doesn’t send his responsibilities to other players. Very easy to coach. I’ve really enjoyed Roli, but I can’t put Doug in that position.”
Does it bother you that you haven’t been given more at the last two trade deadlines? “I’m coaching the guys given me. We talk about different stuff, but I know how tough a job GM is. It’s hard to get players with the cap and everything that surrounds it. a GM job is not like the past. It’s a tough job now. I’m telling you. It’s hard, it’s unreal, unbelievable how hard that job is. You want certain guys and you’ve got eight other teams that are going to raise the price for that player and you’ve got a budget. It doesn’t stop. You can get players that the other team doesn’t want, but they don’t want them. But if you want a guy, you’ve got to pay.”
Timetable on decision? “Next few months. By the draft.”
158 Responses to "Risebrough, Lemaire Q&A’s"
wow..great stuff in here. I’m going to have to read it again.
Thanks for all the info, Russo!
Beat me to the punch, NiNY - exactly my thought. A lot of really good info. Thanks again, Russo.
Good stuff Russo. Much appreciated!
Odd thing: “Individually, you could see well if Gabby would have scored, if Nik would have stopped the puck, a shot here or there or Johnny would have gotten a goal or butch or roli would have gotten two more, it’s easy after. But overall, I’m very pleased the way we played.”
Who’s Johnny?? Kimmy Johnsson?
Its a shame the way the season ended…outplaying the Aves almost every game…..but thats hockey I guess. I would love to have both Roli and Demo back but I know thats not possible. I guess I would take Roli over Demo(2years younger) I hope Doug makes the right decisions this summer and brings in some new guys to help out Gabby and Kiovu
Johnny is Kim Kohnsson (pronouced Yawny)
Great Stuff Russo! This is why your the best in the Biz!
Thanks sunshine. That post above was me. Now that my wife started posting I keep forgetting to switch my handle back.
Here is a quote from Gaborik about Lemaire
“I don’t think the team would be at this position without him,” Gaborik said. “He made a great impact, and we’ll see how he’s going to decide.”
From Associated Press article.
ATX: you welcome. I learned that from reading the Pio’s piece on the nicknames of all the Wild players. At least how shows up in the paper.
ya, Johnny is Johnsson.
Very good stuff Russo.
Wow, that was a long post. I have plenty of time to read it since my Directv went out due to the storm….
Is the UFA and RFA market that bad this year? DR doesn’t sound too overly thrilled, or is playing a poker hand…
I think you could make some nice moves with the UFAs on this list…
Do you want to comment on Demitra? “No.”
That says it all..C-ya Demo, you lazy punk!
Very good Russo!
I think the biggest loss in the offseason would be Russo to espn. Don’t do it Russo!
I say the Wild offer a sheet for Marc Pouliot so another team can have PBP guys call a couple players by their first names.
Sheppard and his flock of Pooh-Bahs
Boogaard making 1.25 Million in 09-10 is baffling.
Now how could Russo leave us? 
Wow, didn’t realize there were so many C. Flames on that UFA list.
Would it be bad karma to bring back Brunette? It seemed to work well for Foote….
Interesting stuff. Some of it… not sure what the hell Risebrough is saying.
You going to bring Branko back? “I’m not going to comment.”
What’s the difference with you telling me you’d bring back Foster? “One’s restricted and the other’s unrestricted. One really didn’t know what the choice the team was going to make. I could have made Foster unrestricted by not signing him. I wanted to alleviate that. If Foster was in his unrestricted year, he wouldn’t be treated any differently than Radivojevic. There is a distinction there. I would say Radivojevic’s injury is not a career-ending injury. This general manager doesn’t think ”
Huh?
There’s a few others in there where I’m really not sure what his point is exactly.
Great Blog! Thanks for all the info!
Man there’s a bunch of UFA Ds I wouldn’t mind having….Hedican, Rozsival, Commodore, Are Campbell and Streit due for big raises?, Sauer, Orpik and Stuart. As for Forwards…Conroy/Langkow, Brunette, Hagman, Ryder: but he is a career - player, maybe Straka…
Great info Russo!! You must have a great relationship with DR for him to answer your questions so directly. While methinks he should have done something at the trade deadline, it sure makes it easy to root for an organization with leaders that value loyalty and hard work as shown by the Foster signing and DR’s comments about Roli. As mentioned by earlier posts, great stuff!
Time for bed out here on the WC.
Excllent job, Russo….thanks again for everything this season.
I don’t want to read too much into what DR said, but it sounds optimistic for re-signing B-Roll, which is good. He’s a quality player, gets 30 goals a year and does his defensive work. At $3-3.5 mil, he should have a home here. If he wants $5 mil, he’ll probably have to get it elsewhere, but he also seems smart enough to appreciate what a good situation this is.
My wishlist would include either Mike Commodore or Jason Smith on D. Both would toughen up the D and bring what Hill and Carney couldn’t last year. Kurt Sauer would be a good substitute as well.
Mike Peca is the center this club needs and also the leader they need. They need a heart and soul player and Peca wears his heart on his sleeve.
Jay Pandolfo knows how to play a Lemaire type system and could really shore up the PK and replace Branko if he’s gone.
Of course Brunette would be welcome back as well….but only so much money to go around.
And MNhockey32: I second your comment on Calgary. What a nightmare for their GM. He has to make decisions on Conroy, Langkow, Nolan, Huselius, Yelle, Hale, Vandermeer and Godard all in this off-season. Plus, if you look at the numbers, they have four players - Kiprusoff, Iginla, Phaneuf and Regehr - tying up $24 to 26 million a year for the next four year. That’s almost half the cap to four guys!
It’s hard enough going through life being as ugly as Darryl Sutter, now he has those headaches as well.
phil: Shero’s gonna trade Malkin for Russo…
Slovak fans desperately wants Gabby on World Championships in Canada.
check this banner - http://www.hokejportal.sk/index.php?p=uvod
Believe it or not, word here in the Czech Republic is that our coach also wants Marty Skoula for the World Champs. However, Marty supposedly has a knock from being hit by Hejduk and doesn´t know if he will be able to play.
By the way, I read that some of you want Hejda in MN. Was he really that good in Columbus this year? I remember how he was being laughed at here in Europe because he was awfully slow and made a ton of silly turnovers every game.
second your comment on Calgary
back when calgary extended dion warwick i mentioned their cap issues and how they were tight for next year. my guess then, as is now, is they will be inactive this off season and take a step back next year while tanguay and acoin’s salaries fall off.
same with the fowl. they are at the cap for next year already and speculation was they knew neids was going to retire again, opening up a little space.
These are the cap problems that DR is trying to avoid here. the flamers are now in a very unflexible situation and their roster is being dictated to them.
as for the confusion on DR’s comments on radio/foster, here is my interpretation.
Radio will play again if he wants, foster may not. What is foster’s timeline? maybe by the end of next season? because foster is restricted they can qualify him and then i believe they can stash his salary on a longterm IR thing. boston did this with manny. so to take some stress off a kid who just may have had his career ended, they said what they said.
Radio will have the ACL repaired and probably be back on the ice at the beginning of next season.
Toivo, maybe DR is saying I do not want to be caught tampering?
that Slovakian hockey site is awesome…and I don’t even speak the language!
NiNY: do you want any translation? I actually do speak the language. The banner says: Gabby come, we need you!
MartinPL: that’s great! To be honest, the feeling and excitement of the sport comes across to me regardless of my ignorance of the actual language.
I had the distinct pleasure of sitting right behind a big group of Slovakian supporters during the WCoH at the X - and those guys were absolutely nuts. It was just so much fun to watch that unbridled enthusiasm all game.
Somebody in an earlier thread mentioned whether people like Chorske and Brian Lawton would be good analysts for television games.
I heard both being interviewed at length on WCCO radio last week by Mike Max and they were both very interesting.
Mostly, the people coming here regularly, who do not like the tv broadcast team, are pretty savvy fans.
But, maybe there is a different side for the uninitiated … maybe people who do not understand the game but tune in are having the basics described to initiate them to the game by D&D?
Maybe that is what they bring?
NiNY: If you enjoyed their company you should come over to Europe to watch games. Fans are much more into it, it´s kind of like the English Premier League in football. Singing, clapping, yelling all game. So even though arenas are smaller the noise level is much higher. Although playoff games in the NHL get quite loud, I admit.
Ice: I don’t really think it’s the “dumbing it down” that bugs me about them.
It’s the blind homerism by Terhaar coupled with his incessant editorializing (often things like “there’s another hit on a Wild player with no penalty called) at the expense of actual play-by-play (you know, doing his JOB) that drives me most nuts.
I really think Greenlay improved this year both in the impartiality department and in the “add value by offering some insight into the machinations of the game that the average lay-viewer may not have picked up on/known about”. But even he’s not very good at what he does.
If they were explaining what icing is I really wouldn’t have a problem with it, on the face of it.
But Greenlay would say, “that’s an icing call. Icing is where blahblahblah…”
And then Terhaar would say “right Dan, and you know, I feel like the refs are calling way to willing to waive it off on the Wild and…OH AND SEDIN SCORES!!!”
nice…it might be good if I can type clearly when I’m ripping on someone…D’OH!
I MEANT to say that Terhaar would respond “right Dan, and you know, I feel like the refs are way too willing to waive it off on the Wild and..OH AND SEDIN SCORES!!!”
I will now go sit in the box and feel shame.
FRom TSN explaining Neidermayers fine by the Ducks
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=235404&lid=sublink01&lpos=headlines_main
MartinPL: It is a dream of mine to take a hockey trip through greater Europe. I’ll get there one of these days.
terhaar doesn’t know who is on the ice half the time. he thought forsberg scored that shortie that guite scored in game 6. he can’t see. consistently gets players names wrong. more on the opponents side but on the home clubs side as well.
it can happen occasionally, i understand that but terhaar has made it commonplace.
Hedican could be easy to talk into coming here. I wonder how much he’s making these days.
Now a few days removed from the final game of the season and my blood pressure back to normal, I can see some of DR’s points for not getting us in a bad cap situation.
I still don’t buy all DR’s “homegrown talent” stuff. Not all the same, but similar thinking to Dougie Woog. We all know how many NCAA Championships the Wooger brought to the Gophs. Now he’s just someone else annoying me on FSN.
G*, I think the Avs announcers got some of our players wrong pretty often in the playoff series. It is annoying to say the least. It’s your job to know the players by number! Study up fools!
Hedican’s like 50 years old, isn’t he? I think he was also kind of injury-prone this year. Do we really have to keep taking chances on these guys who are in the twliight of their careers and hoping they still have something left in the tank? Nothing against Hedican personally (he is “one of us”), but I’d rather have a younger guy like Sauer who’s maybe entering his prime. If the money’s the same, I’m saying (DOWTC). If it’s not, then that’s a different story.
twliight=twilight.
I still don’t buy all DR’s “homegrown talent” stuff
you might not buy it but how can one be successful without it? I don’t see how a team can win, buying all its talent from other franchises, with the cap in place. you have to invest in youth and raising your own talent.
DR is different from woog in that DR has a much larger talent pool to choose from where dougie stayed in the state and also didn’t always get the best the state had to offer.
That Neids situation is pretty silly. Saying it is a hard rule but then saying he doesn’t get affected, I don’t get the rationale.
Great stuff as always Russo!
hedican = 2.432 mil last season and he is 36.
i bet carolina is happy to get out from under that salary.
I somewhat agree with DR’s “homegrown talent” because you see it happening to the Canadiens, Devils, and Red Wings. However, when there is a very much needed position filled, he shouldn’t wait for homegrown talent, to well, grow.
He needs to get aggressive in the free agent market but what worries me is that we will be stuck with a Johnsson-like contract that we will bemoaning until the end.
I’ll come to their defense on the name thing even though I can’t stand D&D.
Sometimes it’s hard to tell an 8 from an 18 or a 3 when all you can see is the right half of the 8. These guys are sitting in the rafters so they most likely can’t see faces. Even player size is hard to distinguish from that distance unless they are standing right next to another player.
They should put their numbers on the tops of their helmets to make D&D’s job easier.
Also, Hedican is likely to retire this year. He has had back and knee problems the last couple of years.
Thanks. G*. If he was willing to take a one-year deal for maybe half of that, I’d be interested.
I am sick of getting mediocre players to fill gaps (read: HILL!). Please spend that money on guys that still have some legs!
Goody - Jim Hughson and the CBC broadcast didn’t have any trouble with names or numbers from the rafters of the X for either team.
Granted Jim Hughson worked mostly with the NW Division all season but I’m going to go out on a limb and guess D&D did as well.
Good broadcast teams are just good and bad ones are just bad.
Let the countdown to my first Aeros playoff game begin. Just over nine hours until faceoff.
I’ve seen numerous college playoff games in person but this will be my first professional playoff hockey game in person. My seats are seven rows up from the visiting bench and I’m so charged up right now I’m worried I’ll be tossed from the arena in the first period!
Will Colton Gillies play on a line with Benoit Pouliot? Just the thought makes me salivate.
Some great discussion on here.
What is the veteran minimum for a player like Hedican, does anyone know?
AiH, that is awesome! Go Aeros!
Yeah, that’s why I said “not all the same, but similar.” I agree that DR has tons more to work with. He has developed some great homegrown stuff. Burns is the best example. That said, if you have holes to fill and the homegrown stuff isn’t cutting it, you need to look elsewhere.
AustinTX, I agree with you. Young legs….I’m tired with the Wild being the place for aging players to “resurrect” their careers.
A few thoughts for next year:
Set up a kid line by signing Gillies and playing him with Pouliot and Shep.
Bring back Brunette and put him on a line with Gabby and Koivu for a KGB line.
Sign Vinnie Prospal (or Mike Peca) and put him with Rolston and Butch, for a PBR line.
That’s cool. AiH! Please keep us updated with your inside insights (is that redundant?).
VoR:
- doesn’t Prospal have a bad rep for playing D?
- your roster would leave Parrish and Belanger with SRV on the 3rd line - might be a good chance for Parrish to better develop his checking skills
- Nobody ripped DR harder than me for bailing on Bruno, but I would think JL would want someone with some speed on Gabby’s line. Not sure if Parrish and Bruno on the same team makes sense.
the wild will have about 20 mil to sign 10 or 11 players. maybe less money if they want to keep a little cushion.
hill was a value play. he was cheap and maybe had some gas in the tank but he was on E.
unfortunately, there will be some low cost risk players that will get signed this off season. the cap says so. that and yawnson’s salary.
VoR: stuff
Because I was being totally serious 
What is wrong with home grown? You draft players and then develop them. And, not all draft choices do work out.
But, Burns, Koivu, Gabby, Sheppard, Veilleux, Boogaard, Voros, Schultz, Foy, Bouchard, Harding, Reitz from the last game.
That is a dirty dozen and mostly an impressive core.
Woog is different from DR in that he is evaluating players who are far from maturity and guessing on their upside development.
Woog had no national titles but I have no quarrel for his tenure at MN.
Though I was not impressed with a particular situation about how he handled a neighbors son (who incidentally became a Hobey winner), generally he was good for the U.
In fact, I think Woog has handled the color job with class.
What is wrong with home grown?
I think the problem is with bringing players “home” to the Wild. I don’t think anyone has an issue with developing talent.
Thanks for that link to the Slovak website, that is pretty neat!
Voice of Reason — I like those lines, if for no other reason than the nicknames. What about other UFAs? I like John Michael-Liles and Sauer. What about Mike York or Niko Kapanen from Phx? Michael Ryder? I think it’s safe to say they’re not going to make a run at someone like Hossa.
I forget who made the comment/criticism, but it had nothing to do with DR bringin in MN players. I understood the comment as a criticism of DR’s rationale for not bringing in lots of FAs, particularly the higher end ones, but instead relying on the development of your own young players. I don’t frankly understand the comparison to Woog’s MN-only recruiting - the two situations are apples and oranges, IMO.
Isn’t Liles comparable to Johnsson? I would rather have someone like a Sauer than a Liles — a big, physical D-men.
Parrish needs to go back to Jefferson and enroll in the Lake Coaches Power Skating program (they still have the Lake Coaches camp?) because he looked like his skates were made of concrete this season. Hopefully he can get healthy this summer and come back next season and contribute…too big a hit to the cap to be a healthy scratch all season.
Yeah, Sunshine…you are right. Liles is more a puck mover. We may need some more brawn back there, i.e., guy like Sauer. Does anybody know anything about D in the Wild system? Is there anybody in Houston worth taking a look at?
OK, I’ll leave the Wooger alone. 
My family member used to date him way back when, so I guess I’ve listened to too much about him over the years.
Ice: Woog is to color commentary as Greenlay is to color commentary. You would think the “State of Hockey” could find a couple of guys, or gals for that matter, who could formulate complete sentences and thoughts while watching a game.
Aaron in Houston is the blog’s foremost expert on the Aeros roster, WIC. Hopefully, he’ll be back on to answer your questions about the D down there. Reitz is the best, obviously. I think he’ll make the team next season. Beyond that, I’ll defer to AiH.
You would think Reitz would have a decent shot at making the team depending on which, if any, FAs that Dougie Ballgame is able to persuade to come here for moderate dollars.
Bruno only made $1.6 this year, age 33. Definitely worth $2 mil for a couple years, hopefully he hasn’t fallen in love with CO yet. I heard somewhere that Bruno comes back to MN for part of the offseason? If that’s true, maybe it’s a good sign that we could get him back.
re: “persuade to come here for moderate dollars”
isn’t his ability to do this directly correlated to his ability to sell Mr. Free Agent on the Wild’s chances/willingness to “go for it” in the immediate future, though? I mean, if I’m a FA who MIGHT get a few mil a year for one or two more seasons, I’m really only disposed to go to a team where my chances of getting my mitts on the Cup are pretty good and secondary to that is the quality of life (for my family) is not awful.
And, if I’m going to take LESS than FMV (as determined by the market), then doesn’t that just shorten the list - along the same criteria?
So, if DR goes to I don’t know, Naslund, and tries to sell him on moving from scenic Vancouver to Prior Lake, doesn’t part of the pitch have to include verbage along the lines of “plus, you’re the biggest of the few remaining pieces we need to make a serious run for the Cup in 08/09″??
I guess what I’m getting at is: do we REALLY think this team is one or two FAs away from challenging for the Cup next year?
RE-SIGN ROLSTON!!!
I think if we had a healthy Schulz and Foster we could have challenged this year. No? I would rather have this squad set up the way it is going into next year than say, the Flames, Ducks, Canucks, Stars, or even Avs.
O.K., you’re really kind of bumming me out now, NiNY.
sorry, Dave, not trying to be a downer at all…my point is more: what’s realistic? Before the playoffs started we all talked about what our expectations were for the team and they averaged somewhere around “hopefully win this first round”.
I’m just saying - even with Schultz back - how do we go from “win a round” to “win the conference and at least put up a good fight in the SCF” with one or two FAs?
Reitz has been with the Aeros for six years now, it is probably do or die time for him next season. I think his dedication and improvement will be rewarded with an opening day spot with the Wild.
Strictly speaking about players in Houston the defense prospects are limited. I think Clayton Stoner could really break out next season. Shawn Belle will always be a question mark and his window of opportunity is closing. Other than that it would be a stretch to see Albers or Noreau compete for spots with the Wild out of prospects/training camp.
If Carney and Hill leave along with Nummelin I believe the Wild have to make a FA defense signing. At least one.
Johnnson
Burns
Skoula
Schultz
Reitz
????
????
Random Aeros Fact:
Last season the Aeros had 64 points. This season they had 96, a 32 point improvement.
AiH: what is the AHL’s version of the Jack Adams trophy? One would think a 50% improvement in points would be worthy of such an award.
I think we were one or two FA from a much deeper run. A center and another a d-men. That was what was missing. Could we have gone all the way? I don’t know.
We couldn’t beat the Sharks and Red Wings in regulation. I think we were 0-4 against the Sharks, but we came close.
Maybe getting the right players to supplement our core might be enough for us to go deeper.
Foster will be back, the question is when will he be back.
A big, hard hitter like Orpik would be the perfect fit. Also go get a reserve defenseman at a low cost to fill out the roster until Foster comes back.
I know what you’re saying, NiNY. Still, I think DR would be wise to not lead with that in his conversations with JL about coming back.
Who’s this Orpik guy, VoR? I don’t think you’ve mentioned him before.
lol…point taken, Dave! On the other hand, if DR doesn’t think we’re at contender status yet, then maybe that’s GOOD for Lemaire. If JL thinks he has another year to help teach these guys how to be winners, maybe that motivates him?
If the flip side is that the team might stagnate from where they are now, then maybe JL sees the frustrations of this past season continuing and is less-willing to endure that again.
I have no idea if there’s ANYTHING to this at all, obviously.
If DR somehow got a Naslund or some other top line power forward to play with Gabs and Koivu, plus a depth center to take the pressure off Shep and Pouliot (assuming Pouliot remains at center next season), then yes, the Wild are a couple FAs away from a cup.
If they keep Rolston and Gabs happy, then you’ve got proven scoring, strength (read: Good D) up the middle, and a fantastic defensive core in Burns, Schultz and Yawnson (as much as he is maligned, he is an asset to the team). The only question mark is goaltending, but as we just saw, a hot goalie can steal a series for you.
The big question next season is where does Mark Parrish fit in? If Branko is gone, then I could see him playing a strong defensive role on the team by being SRV’s wingmate. He’s also available for PP duty as necessary.
At center, I see the depth chart being Koivu, Shepp, Belanger, with Pouliot learning the position the way Shepp did this season, by being a plumber. Shepp is young, but by crikey he really came a long way this year, and I see him having a great sophomore campaign.
from the PP on frustrated lemaire i found this to be telling…
“That today is more of a challenge than ever because of the agents, the surroundings of the players because of the money, because of the individual records,” he said. “It’s more challenging to get your team to play together. Everywhere in the league, it’s the same way.”
this is the first time i’ve thought there to be a serious chance JL walks away. He left montreal because of the media, now he seems frustrated with the “distractions” players face such as agents, contracts, records. This wasn’t much of an issue when you have a roster full of rookies and castoffs. Now with success and players making money, all this evil rears it’s ugly head.
JL wants a world where you get up, pet the dog, kiss the wife, go to the rink and play hockey with the only goal in mind is winning the game. then go to bar have a beer and bang the mistress. wash, rinse, repeat.
I’d like that world but reality says its gone.
great points, G*.
moving from scenic Vancouver to Prior Lake,
if we were serious, i’d drive them by st thomas university on a warm spring day such as i did yesterday. if those sights don’t make you want to stay, i don’t know what will.
I like Sauer or Orpik. With Burns and Johnsson we have puck movers. I’d like a hard-hitting defensive D. Maybe Langkow at wing. Just hard to tell if Foster will make it back next year.
Lemaire will be back next season. I don’t think he can stay away.
I think the Wild would be stupid not to sign Rolston unless he wants $5mil or more. But I guess it is possible that he could make way more. NYR was stupid enough to sign both Drury and Gomez for 7+ million a piece (Seriously, Gomez? For $7mil? GOMEZ? WTF were they thinking?), so you never know what kind of money teams will through around.
Will Foster be able to return next season? What are the odds? Any ‘experts’ willing to speak up on that one?
since i stayed at a holiday in express last night, i’d say foster won’t be ready until january at the very earliest
Aaron - someone like Commedore would be a good pickup - 6′5″ and he can fight - then we wouldn’t have to waste a roster spot at F for an enforcer.
Also - I wonder if there is a link between Walz retiring and the “dressing room issues” being discussed the past 48 hours. Did he see this coming and decided, “Enough is enough?”
lol. You’re on a roll today, G*!
Green*, did you stay at the Holiday Inn Express with one of those co-ed’s last night? Just wonderin’!
stickboy, do you want a defenseman spending 5 minutes in the box regularly for fighting with teh possibility of 2 and 10 added on? that, i think is why most fighters are forwards.
i think you are on to something or on something re walz.
phil: Shero’s gonna trade Malkin for Russo…
kevin, consider it done! No offense Don!
What I don’t get, is why a lot of these players(not just Wild guys) don’t understand that they alone are not the key to a SC, that it takes a team full of good players..so why try to squeeze every last nickel from a team? What? You can only get a 12,000sf house as opposed to a 15,000sf house? C’mon, how ’bout coming together and winning a SC by not being so ego driven!
Whether it’s 5 mil a year or “only” 3.5, you can still live comfortably the rest of your life. Schultzie took a hint, Burns too..maybe the others (e.g. Rolston, Gabby, etc) can follow their noble lead by not bankrupting/hamstringing the team with high demands, even if “warranted”.
Without wanting to sound like everyone else here i think we need to show some thanks to some of the things we all have gotten from being here.
#1 our “DON RUSSO” thank you for ALL the work you have done this year to keep us informed. SUPERB
#2 AiH for your work in letting us know if and what is going on in houston and NOT being biased about it. truly thank you!!
#3to fellow bloggers like greenstar, SS6, NiNY, and there are others to mention as well but i feel i have not only found proof of the intelligence of the state of hockey fans but the willingness to share and debate or defend the things that they talk about.
these things said and i do apologize for not mentioning more names to #3 but i am still not ready to let this season end. I am to dissappointed in how we ended and just dont feel like there is no more wild hockey for months to come.
bummed to the max and no help for that right now!!!!!
But thanks to our DON RUSSO and all again i can at least read and hope things will seem brighter in days and months ahead
I think a Gaborik/Mikko/PMB line could be awfully scary to a lot of teams. Mikko could provide enough defensive support and with PMB’s playmaking ability he could really help Gabby score more. If you wanted more grit on the line you could move Fedoruk there. Benny centering Rolston and PMB/Fedoruk could be effective. Belanger is a checking line/4th line center tops. Shepp could be the new checking line center between Vellieux and Radio/Parrish/free agent. 4th line is for all others since you’re only getting 3-6 minutes a night. I think if you bring in an Oprik, Commedore or maybe even Vandermeer on D to help solidfy that bunch and then maybe convince Carney to hang around for 40 games until Foster can come back you will have a solid defensive grouping.
el gato, what co-ed’s are we talking about?
Yeah stick, I think you’re probably on to something, but i think it was probably because Walz left that those problems started getting out of hand.
Green*’s 11:33 comment phil.
Wild in Chicago, good point.
The Wild had a quarter of their regular roster injured and unable to play the entire series against the Ave’s.
Put those guys back in the lineup, it must make a difference.
When we evaluate the Wild’s record against other teams in the regular season remember Bud Grant’s pronouncement about the importance of “when you play another team”.
So, I don’t think the fact that they did not beat San Jose or Detroit is an indictment … when the Wild played the Sharks, when Foster got hurt, just before the end of the season they were very close.
Gaborik-Koivu-PMB would be scary. I worry less about Gaborik being defensive and more so with PMB. I don’t understand why JL never gets on PMB’s case about being more defensive.
If we take PMB away from Rolston, would he still be effective?
Got it el gato, but missed it the 1st time…the “U” will cause neck injury in the summer time too OMG..so many lovelies…
Green*, did you drive by the Alpha Beta, Tri Lam’s, Omega Mu’s or the Pi Delta houses while you were there?
Add Sauer to my list of possible D-men to bring in.
Looking at FA’s vs cap space.
I simply do not understand how other teams can drive up the price of good journeyman players? Or, for that matter, how can any other team sign a Gabby for $10 mil?
They cut their own throat when they do.
So, the value of an individual player who is a FA can rise or fall on a particular teams need. It is not a true indicator of fair market value.
If this level of parity in the NHL is what we can come to expect in the future, it will be really interesting to see just how much GM’s will be willing to spend in the future!
sunshine, that is the question, maybe for the 1st 2 periods have Fedoruk on Gabby’s line and keep Roli with PMB, that could work. Then if you need some offensive spark move PMB up to play with Gabby. Most of this would depend on where Benny is in his development. If he can be a playmaker and a scoring threat, things will open up more for Roli.
Wallshot, I am far from an expert, no medical training since a Boy Scout first aid class.
But it seems to me that Foster is a long long way from the NHL right now. He may not ever make it back.
Nice ROTN pulls at 12:00, El Gato.
“What the f*ck are robster craws?”
It still sucks the Wild season is over but you have to be fired up for two game 7s tonight in back-to-back fashion!
I’ve noticed some of you speak of Belanger as being in the lineup next year. He was terrible, why would they not try to get rid of him?
What cap hit do the Wild take if they dump him?
NiNY: I mentioned the “moderate dollars” comment because Dougie isn’t going to have a lot of money to play with this summer.
Who are some other players who’ve come back from serious leg breaks like Foster’s? Didn’t Dino break his femur at some point early in his career?
mnhockey, I think Belanger stays because he’s a veteran, he now is familiar with the system and he may be effective on a checking line and can provide depth. I’m not advocating that he continue to play on the 2nd line and get power play duty, we saw how that played out. He’s better than Dom Moore, which isn’t saying much, and he would need to improve his faceoff percentage.
IMO, mnhockey23, Belanger is still useful in a (hopefully) more limited role. I don’t know if he’s built to be a checking line guy, though, because he really seemed to wear down. He showed me plenty of heart by coming back pretty quick after the shot he took off his toe, and he’s pretty good on the PK. He scored almost 40 points, which is typical of him over his career and seems about as good as he’s capable of. Whether we could find someone to do what he does for less money, I don’t know.
I think the only way you’d be able to say he was terrible is if you were looking for 50-60 points. That’s never been him, and you’re probably looking in the wrong place.
Belanger has a cap hit of $1.75 million. Not too bad.
I guess I’m looking at his +/- too much, I dunno. I know we have guys with worse +/- that we will definitely keep next season.
EB sure came into the season on fire and left as, uh, well, you know. He seems to make too much $ when compared to the rest of his usual line, but who knows how much Radio will want, even with ACL issues.
If we are already going to take a cap his of 1.75M, I hope JL can find the right use for him.
You need players like Belanger to fill out a roster. His salary is reasonable, and he can play on a 3rd or 4th line.
He doesn’t cost that much, and it isn’t like you’re going to get someone significantly better for the same salary.
We simply cannot afford for Parrish to have 3 more years like this year. Especially for almost $3 million/year.
Not to pick nits or anything, El Gato, but Belanger’s FO% was 49%. Not great, admittedly, but good enough for 2nd-best on the team next to Mikko’s 52% and a damn sight better than any of the other Centers.
mnhockey32: Belanger had exactly the kind of output he has always had in his career. I think some people got their expectations up when he had a good streak early in the season.
For what it’s worth, Todd White did virtually the same thing this year. And isn’t that how he was advertised intially, a replacement for White with a bit more speed and defensive ability?
Russo what exactly happened in Atlanta? Do you care to go into detail?
Russo, can you give any news on DR’s stance on PMB? I think they should make signing him a priority. Do you think he could be given an offer sheet? And if so, what kind of money do you think he would garner? I understand that if PMB got an offer sheet for some astronomical amount that the Wild would have to let him go and take the picks, but I honestly don’t see that happening. I would be shocked if someone offered him more than 4-5 mil. Would that put him out of the Wild’s price range?
He doesn’t cost that much, and it isn’t like you’re going to get someone significantly better for the same salary.
Brunette = $1.600MIL/yr.
Belanger = $1.750MIL/yr.
I am intrigued by the PMB-Koivu-Gabby line. For all the line combos that JL threw out there this year, I don’t recall seeing that one.
In re Belanger, I think it was an issue of with whom he was playing. Playing on a line with Roli and PMB you will pick up some assists and find some open ice. Playing on a checking line with Veilleux and Radio…not so much. I don’t want to kick a guy when he’s down, but Radio couldn’t hit the end boards from the face off circle if he tried.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen PMB and Gaborik on a line together except on PP. They are both RW, so that’s part of the reason. But there has to be more to it than that considering how JL likes to mix it up.
According to the other resident hockey writer across town, the Wild will have about $12mil in FA money. I do not know if he is right or wrong.
Keeping in mind that maybe some of our own FA’s are a better value with less risk to upsetting a locker room, where do any of you want it spent to improve the team?
Brunette = 59 points.
Belanger = 37 points.
Do we think Brunette will sign for that kind of salary again? I have my doubts.
I understand that if PMB got an offer sheet for some astronomical amount that the Wild would have to let him go and take the picks, but I honestly don’t see that happening. I would be shocked if someone offered him more than 4-5 mil.
Should be interesting to see if he does receive an offer and, if so, how much:
Kevin Allen, USAToday:
The compensation can be discouraging for a premium player, though. up to four first-round picks for an offer sheet of more than $5.85 million a year. The compensation for a player offered $3.51 million to $4.68 million a year is a first-, second- and third-round pick. For an offer of $4.68 million to $5.85 million, it’s two first-round picks, a second and a third. And a player earning more than $5.85 million would require four first-round picks as compensation. There would be no compensation for players getting an offer of less than $773,000.
Brunette is a Left Wing, Belanger is a center so why are some of you comparing the 2? Did Brunette play center when he played for the Wild?
Is anyone else excited to see how Shepperd starts out next season? I know myself and a few other people I watch games with were talking about how he really looked a lot better towards the end of the season. Maybe not statistically, but he seemed to make a lot better plays.
bfw, that is interesting. I never knew how the compensation worked. Thanks!
Good question, kgopher. The point appears to have been raised in response to the question of whether someone could be found who could do what Belanger does for less money. You’re right, is kind of an apples-to-oranges comparison unless you look strictly at point production.
Demitra and Parrish both consume lots of Wild money.
Actually, I must be missing something because the scribes all think Simon, Carney, Radio, and Voros are gone.
What is that assumption based on? They are all on the cheap side.
I’m excited about Shep, Yoke. I don’t think they envision him playing on the 4th line for his whole career, so I hope he gets liberated sooner rather than later.
AiH, your first post made me smile. I’m not quite as pumped, but maybe it just hasn’t hit me yet. I’ll be freaking my freak by game time, I’m sure. But I’ve been thru a few rounds of playoffs with the Aeros (including the last cup win).
Those are good seats you have. We sacrifice visibility a bit in order to sit on the second row next to the visitor’s penalty box. We’re the off-ice Clutterbucks…
ATW,
Y’r welcome.
Maybe not statistically, but he seemed to make a lot better plays.
I’m a big Shep fan. Since his first Wild training camp, he’s shown tremendous hockey knowledge and anticipation, along with great puck protection. That’s in addition to the obvious speed and power. I look for big things from him and Colt’.
Iceman –
Radio is hurt, Simon was old, ineffective and about $1M/yr, and Carney was near $2M/yr. Voros was cheap, don’t know why he’s automatically gone.
Do we know the cap for next season? Has that been determined yet?
kgopher, scoring.
why would carney want to sign here when he rarely played last season?
unless simon had a miracle end of the season, or DB had back surgery, i don’t think he was in the 08 plans. radio is broken. voros, while impressive for the first 10 games or so, was less than average the last 2/3’s of the season. I’m thinking the wild may make him a minimal offer and he will have to decide on staying here or making a little more elsewhere.
Wallshot: not yet, I’ve heard as high as $56M as a guess, FWIW.
Actually, I must be missing something because the scribes all think Simon, Carney, Radio, and Voros are gone.
What is that assumption based on? They are all on the cheap side.
Simon - wasn’t he scratched a lot. I believe the assumption was he was brought in to fill in for DB when he couldn’t play. DB seems to be back. Also brought in to up toughness. Obviously toughness didn’t get the job done.
Carney - Made a lot of popcorn and rode the pine more than once. Really showing his age even though he still has great vision.
Radio - ACL. We also saw quite a few open net chances where he just couldn’t finish.
Voros - Don’t know. Quite a few undisciplined penalties. Came up hot but quickly faded to mediocre.
Just what I can see.
G* beat me.
Late lunch
I’m guessing we won’t know cap #’s until The Cup has found some summer traveling companions (other than that dude who has the sweet job of going everywhere with it - man that would be a sweet job!).
The point appears to have been raised in response to the question of whether someone could be found who could do what Belanger does for less money.
I will give you the fact these two players have different roles, but I’m looking at value: dollar for dollar. My point is this: With very limited dollars to allocate to improving this teams obvious lack of scoring depth, Bella was a flop at that contract amount. There is no way that management can be happy with that production/results and be satisfied.
Better example? How about this:
Josef Vasicek (C/LW)
27yr old
6′5″ 214lb
81gp/16g/19a/35pts
Stanley Cup, ‘05-’06.
$750k/YR.
Lidstrom, Chara, and Dionne Warwick are your Norris Trophy finalists. Yawn. Why don’t they just give it to Lidstrom at the start of the year?
I expect to see Burnsie there before long.
I hear what you’re saying, bfw. Dollar for dollar, Brunette was more valuable than Belanger. I think what you’re also saying, though, is that Bruno was underpaid.
Good stuff Ms Conduct.
Time to check for Aeros Audio updates. I’m really interested to see where Pouliot gets played. I think Colton Gillies could make Pouliot look really good.
Whoever mentioned putting together a kid line next year for the Wild could be on to something. Sheppard and Pouliot have always been more of the finisher type and from what I’ve seen Gillies can make some nice passes around the net and get the puck out of the corner.
Pouliot is a natural left wing and Gililes and Sheppard are both natural centers. I think all three are a left handed shot so I’m not sure how that works or doesn’t work? I guess with Sheppard’s experience he would stay at pivot and Gillies would slide over to RW.
That line could be a lot of fun, a dangler/sniper with Pouliot, Sheppard is a bit of a sniper/playmaker and then Gillies as the power forward. All three of them can skate.
G* beat me.
Uhhhhh…..
Lidstrom, Chara, and Dionne Warwick are your Norris Trophy finalists. Yawn. Why don’t they just give it to Lidstrom at the start of the year?
I expect to see Burnsie there before long.
Agreed. Burnsie = future perennial Norris candidate.
Although, did you see that shot that Lidstrom made vs. Nashville the other night??? He freaking tried to make it bounce in. Crazy!
Sergei Gonchar deserved more consideration for the Norris. He should be a finalist over Phaneuf.
I would agree Gonchar deserved a look, but over Chara rather than Phaneuf. Chara is overrated and I would take Phaneuf over him any day of the week (among others).
