Day Cuatro: Grand Forks
Posted on September 23rd, 2008 – 9:49 AMBy Michael Russo
The players have been split into two practices today, no scrimmage.
Minor-leaguers and NHL guys. Added to the NHL practice are Benoit Pouliot, Colton Gillies, Tomas Mojzis, Erik Reitz and Krys Kolanos.
Looking like there might not be any cuts today. Gaborik is still off the ice with a sore quad.
Here is Columbus’ traveling roster for tomorrow’s exhibition opener at the X. Jackets are in Chicago tonight. Obviously only 20 of these roughly 30 will play:
Kris Russell, Marc Methot, Clay Wilson, Christian Backman, Jan Hejda, Craig MacDonald, Jiri Novotny, Derek Dorsett, Derick Brassard, Andrew Murray, Alexandre Picard, Tom Sestito, Richard Matvichuk, Jason Chimera, Derek MacKenzie, Aaron Rome, Steve Kelly, Jared Boll, Adam Pineault, Maksim Mayorov, Grant Clitsome, Jonathan Sigalet, Jon Mirasty, Ole-Kristian Tollefsen, Mike York, Trevor Frischmon, Blair Yaworski, Jakub Voracek, Fredrik Norrena and Dan LaCosta.
69 Responses to "Day Cuatro: Grand Forks"
Thanks Russo. You have some Red Pepper yet? Makes good breakfast too…
Bullmoose… from the last string…
So, Gaby’s agent is… doing his job? Agents are scum, yes, but that’s what they get paid to be.
If you haven’t had some Pepper yet Russo, send Kolanos to pick it up…
Oh interesting. So, it’s a Pouly/Kolanos and Reitz/Mojo battle?
Guess this means I get my Cal back in Houston. Yay! Well, boo for him personally, but yay for us.
Hey guys, who is the Williams who is injured and out for 3 months or whatever. I’m trying to weed the long-term injured guys out of my draft list so I don’t have to think so hard on Sunday.
Hey ms.C,
It’s Jason Williams, a FW with Carolina. Torn achilles. Ouch.
Its JUSTIN Williams. People confuse him with JASON Williams.
Wild.com is saying that Madsen is with the NHL group, too.
I meant JUSTIN Williams. Sorry.
Ms. C — see what I mean. Confusing the two. Its JUSTIN and I am 100 % correct.
Sorry, Dave. No offense intended.
sunshine is correct. 100% Offense meant or not. She’s still right. 
None taken, sunshine. I knew better, but it’s like it was happening in slow motion. I clicked on “Submit Comment”, and my brain was screaming, “NOOOOOOOOO”! It really is easy to do.
Hockey hockey hockey……..
Wonder if the boss lady will let me turn the overhead to 830 tomorrow night? Most likely not **big sigh** she only wants classical played in the gift shop, but I want hockey hockey hockey hockey hockey…….
One thing I am annoyed at Apple. They make an FM transmitter but don’t include AM? What’s that all about?
If I am out shopping, I can at least listen to the game.
KJ - Not asking the Wild to make bad decisions on players to sacrifice th quality of the team.
We are all the fans that the NHL already have in their back pockets. They dont have thousands and thousands of other fans that would be intersted if more Minnesota talent was present. How about 1 in the entire organization ?? - I said KJ that the Wild should not bring back Parrish if you remember. Of course Mister Know it all was right
No excuse for not having 1 player from Minnesota in your entire organization—
Mister Owner will have to take note that this is not Nashville. He needs to advise his GM to take his Calgary hat off where he lives in the offseason and take note to where the hockey team is located and quit humiliating the hockey community with such horrible decisions
Justin. Okay. Thank you. There’s a Jeremy in Toronto too. Yeesh.
I’ve eliminated him, Whitney, and a few others like Shanny, Radulov (or did that get settled?). I’m still deciding whether to do an autodraft on this one (though I’ll still be on to watch, but without the hysterics of doing the drafting) just to have a little competition between my two teams. I think I’ll eliminate all my other team’s players, too. Hmm… mostly I’m avoiding work.
Current ESPN NHL poll has to do with the Gaby situation.
49% believe he will be traded.
28% believe he plays out the season
24% believe he will sign.
Only 500+ vote right now.
BDS,
One thing Mister Know it all has learned in life is that you cant judge the minute by the hour. You will see a meltdown if the Wild continue on the road they are on by ignoring the local hockey crop and making horrible decisions on local talent.
Sunshine, I have all the food you need above
Poor MacMillan per wild.com
[ A little more about Monday’s day at The Ralph. You want to know how hard-hitting these scrimmages are? Carson MacMillan came to see me in the penalty box after the final buzzer sounded yesterday. He was looking for his mouthpiece. Yep, he got hit into the boards so hard his mouthpiece flew up and over. ]
I know preseason games don’t mean much but if we play 2/3rds of our NHL players and lose to a a team playing 2/3rds AHLers and prospects, that could be demoralizing.
MKiA, from the last thread:
Not asking the Wild to make bad decisions on players to sacrifice the quality of the team
Playing Irmen instead of a more skilled player is doing exactly that!
take note to where the hockey team is located and quit humiliating the hockey community with such horrible decisions
Again, playing a sub-par player (Irmen) just because he is MN born is in fact humiliating the fans. They appear foolish to the rest of the hockey community (other teams’ fans) because they appear to have some delusional idea that the player belongs in the NHL simply because he’s from MN.
Let me try it this way- You think Joe Mauer sells tickets and creates interest for the very overachieving Twins?
Yes, having a MN born player would in fact be a good business decision, IF they were able to contribute to the team at a level consistent with other players and expectations. Irmen (I’m sorry) is not that player at this point!
Well, 28% obviously don’t understand the situation, which tells me it’s probably more like 75% that don’t since half the people in the country think Minneapolis is a state. There’s no way he plays out the season. Riser can’t back down from the “sign or trade early” stance or he’ll look even worse.
You might want some beer, or possibly hallucinogens, with MKIA’s food, Sunshine.
*if we play 2/3rds of our NHL players and lose to a a team playing 2/3rds AHLers and prospects, that could be demoralizing.*
Or it might light a BIG TIME fire under the NHLers asses. And pump up the AHLers.
Buddha:
It’s actually a sign of a lazy agent. With an elite player, it’s easy to sit back and demand an outrageous contract and go to FA if you don’t get it - somebody will overpay. It’s harder to work a market value deal before FA.
MKia…you post was ill conceived the first time and was rendered idiotic by re-posting it.
Provincialism will not get a Cup. Irmen getting the nod over another more talented player from elsewhere is about as stupid as Smuggy expecting a hometown discount from a player in the last year of their contract.
Goody - I said all things being equal- In business I would pick Irmen, and Misses conduct I thought you and I were in Cahoots with each other
Sunshine knows Mister Know it all is on target
MKia: I’m still not buying your argument so let me try this again. You are telling me that, when and if the Wild stink it up, sometime down the road I would continue to buy season tickets becasue the Wild let Irmen be the 23rd player back in the 08/09 season? Yeah right! They are not ignoring MN talent. They would love to have Eric Johnson and other players of that caliber and so does other teams as well but this is not college where the player can choose where they play.
Joel Ward is now on another team thank goodness. I watched replay of Benny getting his head popped off the ice while Ward watched. Goodbye Ward is what I thought to myself
Joel Ward was asked whom he will want to plaster when they play Houston, and he said Irmen.
You know I was just trying to throw a surprise into the mix by picking Irmen as the 23rd player. Again I was the only one on Russo Nation saying the Wild should dump Parrish, remember ?
Sunshine you got your answer who the 23rd player will be by Russos last post , that Mojiz guy is the guy so they likely will go with 8 Dmen
Thank goodness you came to your senses and removed Irmen and Lundblom from being the 23rd healthy-able bodied player.
If I want to see home-grown MN players, I’ll watch the Gophers. All I ask of the Wild is to put the best team on the ice and win, regardless of where the players came from.
MKIA - please go buy your own team and prove us all wrong!
Twins fans would love Joe Mauer even if he wasn’t from MN. He gets the job done on a regular basis, and is becoming a superstar. The fact that he’s from MN just makes it all the more sweet for us fans.
Now, please spare us from further discussion of this irrelevant topic.
Is is hockey season yet?
Oh MKIA… no we’re not in cahoots and now you’re bagging on my boy Wardo. There was a whole team on that ice tangled up watching Benny get his dome bounced on the ice. The person who should have been tarred and feathered is that ref who stood there 1 foot away from them with no hindrance whatsoever and let Byers do that to Benny. Are you freaking kidding me? Ward was one of the primary heart and soul leaders of the Houston squad, worked his ass off, had a career year. Please. Talk to me first before you start making assumptions about the value of Aeros players you don’t see more than a couple of times a year.
Rawr.
BDS, you are failing to see the point- Goody gets it somewhat. When the Wild produce the results of playoff success, and they continue to manipulate the Minnesota public by producing the same results they are now in Minnesota. I say even if they win the fans will lose interest eventually. We all judge the minute
What I mean by manipulation is Terry Crowley, Brian Bonin type players getting a half ass try with the club hoping that if they play with the local team they somehow revive themselves. No risk in trying it and it gives local fans some warm and fuzzies
They took Aj Thelen which was a bad pick and now well thought out. That pick had very little risk becasue I dont think any players are playing hcokey from that draft- It was a late round 1st round pick and smells of the same rational of the Terry Crowley Brian Bonin stuff
Ms Conduct, the Vikings drafted Buster Raimes (sp) a lot of years ago, he was quoted aying “he was going to Mindianapolis”.
Again I was the only one on Russo Nation
Maybe due to the fact that you are the only one IN Russo Nation. The rest of us are in Russoville!
I watched Joel Ward Ms Conduct ! Heck he played in Minnesota. The Wild made the right move by getting rid of him. He was a waste of a player his size. He should go back to school and get an education and be a lawyer or something
Joel Ward is the same type of player as Adam Hall- Big and decent skater but fails to play within his size. No Grit ! He was a big sissy ! Clutterbuck is smaller and that is your heart and sould guy in Houston Misses Conduct- Joel Ward was the biggest guy on that team when Benny got his noggin bounced off the ice….. Goodbye and good riddens to Joel Ward
MKIA,
I remember when I watched that on the boob toob. Joel Ward just sat and watched and wondered what he should do. Probably why he was shipped off
Mister Know it all must have a big brain, but no eyes. I just watched the video of the incident in question. Looks Mr. Ward was a bit tied up at the moment. The only people to blame are the ref and the chimp who committed said atrocity.
I crack up at the names MKIA comes up with — Sally Sue, Roxanne, Beaver, MKIA and so on.
I think MKIA is sweet on sunshine.
Anyway…
How’s that Gaborik negotiation going?
AUGH! Steve Kelly!
Unlikeliest source for Gaborik update from Brad Ratgen of Hockebuzz.com aka Eklund’s site but his reads have been decent. This is what he writes after talking to Salcer:
[ I inquired as to the momentum involved in current negotiations and I got the sense from him that things were moving very slowly. We ended our conversation with him saying that “I’ve put in their hands. They know what they have to do. They could put an end to it right now, if they wanted to.” My guess is that Tom Lynn and Doug Risebrough would say something similar with regards to their last offer, whatever that is, i.e. that Gaborik and his camp could end this at any time also. Thus, the negotiation saga regarding Gaborik continues. ]
Maybe the reason why there is no cuts today is because the Wild brass want to see what the kids will do in a real game setting. Scrimmages are great and provides a baseline but a game setting can firm up the perceptions of certain players.
I think MKIA is sweet on sunshine
who wouldn’t be sweet on sunshine?
Maybe due to the fact that you are the only one IN Russo Nation. The rest of us are in Russoville!
i was just about to ask who Russo Nation was.
“I’ve put in their hands. They know what they have to do. They could put an end to it right now, if they wanted to.”
of course they could. offer 100 mil over 12 years and #10 will sign. agents sure are slick.
Good point, G*. I do find myself agreeing with her posts a lot.
Russo Nation is to Russoville as Bizzaro is to Superman.
Or it could be the illegitimate half brother to Gopher Nation.
If Gaby doesn’t sign how much effort do you think he would put out this season knowing that another groin injury or such would probably cost him some moolah as an UFA?
Think the quad injury came from a last all-night session in the Formula 1 simulator before the trip to GF?
Think the quad injury came from a last all-night session in the Formula 1 simulator before the trip to GF?
right quad, yes
left quad, no.
G*, surely the F1 simulator is a manual!
El G, on the other hand, if he takes it easy and his numbers fall from previous years, that could also decrease his value.
I wonder about his trade value at the moment as he’s out with his quad injury. Brings his injury history to the forefront doesn’t it?
who wouldn’t be sweet on sunshine?
Dracula?
LOL, Iginla50. Good one!
surely the F1 simulator is a manual!
F1 machines have a sequential gear box and drivers use ‘flippers’ attached to the steering column to shift up and down. no clutch pedal. that would be ASSCAR.
[…] Russo’s Rants – […]
Well, Lil Booger got sent to the AHL today.
A selfish player might save themselves for a fatter contract. Stay off the ice, then there is no injury risk in the preseason.
What is this “Nation” stuff? Gopher Nation, now Wild Nation?
It almost makes me want to barf, bad as the Wave.
The Red Sox, have their “Nation”, they invented it. The rest of us can find our own moniker, if it’s necessary to have a moniker at all.
F1 machines have a sequential gear box and drivers use ‘flippers’ attached to the steering column to shift up and down. no clutch pedal. that would be ASSCAR.
Had I thought about it, I probably would have realized that. Maybe he drives with two feet? Left-Brake Right-Gas???
Maybe he drives with two feet? Left-Brake Right-Gas???
I would suspect this to be true. I would ride gas only. it is s simulator. plus, these formula 1 cars have anti-lock brake, traction control. you can basically mash the gas and let the computer make adjustments to keep the wheels from spinning. probably why most races are simply a parade around the track.
I hope they re-sign Gaborik soon.
Then he’ll finally be able to afford taking the coin-op slot off the F-1 sim for his guests… 
Good one, kj!
Might be old news but Former Avs coach Quenneville faces DUI charge… HA HA
Just looking at some of the summaries from yesterdays game and came accross the coverage of the leafs game on TSN. What’s up with Dominic Moore? Sure doesn’t sound like the palyer I remember?
http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=250377&lid=sublink02&lpos=headlines_nhl
I especially like the second sentence,”Moore used his speed, threw some hits, blocked a shot and scored two goals Monday as the Maple Leafs opened their pre-season schedule with a 7-4 victory over the Buffalo Sabres.”
Well, remember with the Wild, he scored 2 goals against the Sabres also. It could be that he has their number.
Wonder if that’s all we’re getting out of the Forks today. *sigh*
Lines based on color from Wild.com:
Boogaard - Pouliot - Kolanos
Brunette - Koivu - Miettinen
Veilleux - Belanger - Nolan
Weller - Sheppard - Gillies
Zidlicky - Skoula
Schultz - Burns
Bergeron - Reitz
Johnsson - Mojzis
I’m laughing at the idea of that first line.
Where the heck is PMB?
AHL… uh oh!
I dunno. Wearing the invisible jersey.
FOOD
wonder who mirasty will try to fight- He will try his hardest to make the team as there tough guy. Piss ant
