Koivu named January captain; Gaborik: ‘Call me back later’
Posted on January 2nd, 2009 – 11:17 AMBy Michael Russo
As expected, Mikko Koivu named captain. We’ll call it a lesson in, ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’
Although I asked Jacques, in hindsight, would you have kept Koivu captain considering how well the team was going in October and November. Lemaire said, “What would that do if we kept him? Won’t change nothing. Same guys, same players in the room.”
On Koivu, Lemaire said, “Even though last month we took the ‘C’ and gave it to Johnny (Kim Johnsson), Mikko kept playing as hard as he could, so it shows what type of guy that he is.”
No official word yet on Marian Gaborik, although I talked to Gaborik via phone this morning for a little bit and I do expect a decision today. In fact, I’m pretty sure it’s made. He told me to call him back at 5 or 6 after he talked to the team, but I think we all know where this is going, and that’s Vail, Colorado.
Maybe I’ll get to drive up the mountain when we’re in Denver Sunday. Imagine how happy Gaborik will be to see that I’m the first one waiting for him in post-op.
Great town Vail. The Panthers’ owner, Alan Cohen, owns a home in Beaver Creek, so the Panthers used to always train in Vail for part of training camp. You should have seen the suite I always got at the Marriott there. OK, I digress.
Onward.
Defenseman Marek Zidlicky didn’t practice for a second straight day because of illness. The Wild doesn’t have an extra defenseman right now, so if he can’t play tomorrow against Detroit, it’ll have to call somebody up. Assistant GM Tom Lynn says he’s working on that, and Zidlicky’s questionable (updated).
Lemaire on the Red Wings: “San Jose and Detroit probably the two top teams. Another team in the East that really plays well is Boston, and you know what, we’ve all got to play them this week. And then Philly … to rest (he was being sarcastic obviously.
“You look at [Detroit’s] lines, they have four lines that can score. That’s why they won the Cup last year and that’s why they’re one of the top teams this year. They’re great on defense, and they’ve got power on offense. So when you’re on the other side of the fence, you say, ‘Check. You’ve got to check well.’”
Asked if he hoped the Wings got frostbite in the outdoor game, Lemaire said, “And more than that. That won’t stop them.”
Asked if he’d wear a Toe Blake hat like Wings coach Mike Babcock did in the outdoor game: “No, my Russian hat. That’s what I’d wear.”
Lemaire’s nephew, Manny Fernandez, and cohort Tim Thomas were named co-stars of the month for December.
Fernandez posted a 5-1-0 record with a 1.58 goals-against average, .946 save percentage and one shutout in six starts, while Thomas won all seven of his starts with a 2.40 goals-against average, .922 save percentage and one shutout. Their efforts helped the Bruins conclude the month with a 28-5-4 record, their best start to a season since 1929-30 (32-4-1).
That’s it for now. I will update you after I talk to Gaborik or the team makes an announcement.
82 Responses to "Koivu named January captain; Gaborik: ‘Call me back later’"
This will be a trivia question some day. Name the obscure player who was given the C for one month at the beginning of Koivu’s eventual 16 year reign as captain of the Wild.
But isn’t something better than nothing?
how do you predict that you get nothing if you don’t take something?
Koivu is a solid choice. I have to believe it was between him and Nolan.
But isn’t something better than nothing?
i’ll give you 50 cents for that dollar you have today because you might lose it in the next year. something is better than nothing, don’t ya think?
I’ll give you 55…
With all thats in the news lately with the vikings, its making me think this gaborik stuff is nothing compaired to what it would mean if CL was threatening to take the team someplace else if the state didnt build a new stadium and couldnt sell out the x if wild made it to the post season.
I will give you 25 cents, because what if I give you 50 and you lose that too?
Green*…just when I have you pegged as a DR apologist, you criticize him. When someone criticizes him, you defend him.
I think you’re becoming Green*, Green* quite contrary…either that or you’re really smuggla and have decided to ’show’ yourself…LOL
Sorry, I had to post something other than ‘what would DR do’… 
someone take mikko to a good tattoo shop and get that C permanently placed on his chest. enough of the month to month this guy deserves it for rest of season and then some!
i’m not an apologist but i also don’t feel the need to run him out of town.
if that clears things up 
We can all sit here and play monday morning quarterback. This situation hurts UM just as bad as it does the Wild. WHo will sign him now? At any price, he is a gamble until he can prove he is healthy enough to take the rigors of the NHL again. It’s just too bad, because that is what fans will remember him for, and that is just wrong. I will choose to remember his performance in the NHL All Star Game, and the skills competition. I will also remember a 5 goal game against my beloved Rangers. If Wild Management had known this would be an “issue”, they would have, could have, should have traded him last year. But, alas, we can all sit here and second guess. I just want to move on…
Bye Gab’s Wild. Hello Koivu’s Wild.
Is there a chance now that Gaborik signs here for a 1 year deal? If we offer him a 1 year deal now, it shows that we are committed to him for atleast another year so he can come back and have another shot at a healthy contract year.
Yeah! Koivu should have never lost the C… Let’s hope our January is like our Oct and Nov… let’s forget Dec!
Good point richard b… I see what you mean, if he is willing to sign for cheap maybe he can re-establish himself so we can at least trade him
koivu!!!!!!!!
anyone else think they gave kimmy the captaincy so that his resume looks better for potential trade takers….
“Solid defensiveman” doesn’t look as good as “solid defensiveman who was a team captain”
Wouldn’t be opposed to the 1 year deal if it is the 3-4 mil range or under….I do still want Bowmeester on the team next year, and either cammerelli or the other koivu. (I will take all three if we can afford it…you can never have enough centers!)
anyone else think they gave kimmy the captaincy so that his resume looks better for potential trade takers….
You can’t be serious.
I don’t mind the idea of signing Gabby to a reduced money deal. Maybe a two or three year deal - with a games played incentive clause built in. We offered him 8 million as the season was getting started. i say we offer him around 4 million as a base with incentives. No one year contracts!
He either signs cheap now or say goodbye.
just throwing ideas out there.
I really didn’t think kim deserved the captaincy when he got it…..
I would say it worked for the willie mitchell trade, but dr botched that one.
If he wasn’t going to sign expensive back in September, why would he sign cheap now? He will have the opportunity to sign “cheap” come July 1 with most likely a bevy of teams if the number is right. If you’re talking about a 1-yr deal in the $2 or $3 million range to “prove he can handle the rigors”, you have to belive there are lots of teams out there that would be willing to take that opportunity. If the Wild can pay more money for Kimmie J and Butch than it does for Franchise, there will be GMs out there that would take a 2 or $3 million 1-yr flyer on Gaby.
Deep Breath - Probably right. He might want and need a fresh start somewhere else. Just hate to lose him and get nothing in return.
Slappy- Alex Henry. Do I win anything besides the acknowledgement that hockey trivia stays in my brain longer than the latest mechanical codes?
Thanks for the tip on the C-buck wallpaper! I hadn’t seen it, but I’ll go check it out.
I need mutual funds explained to me in hockey terms. To explain hockey in mutual fund terms is like putting mud on the windshield.
And finally… may I just say… Ahhhhh, Captain Mikko! All is right with the world now.
No way the Wild offer Mary Ann a 1 yr deal. He has already been more hassle than he’s worth dealing with this season. This Soap Opera can’t go on for another entire season. Irregardless of what the players tell the Don, Gaborik has been a distraction and to consciously put your team through another year of this would be absurd.
Cut bait and move on.
Michael- thanks for the info. My guess based on motivators was Koivu, Nolan or you. Does the “A” rotate during January?
I suppose I am violating blog protocol by reposting this from the end of the previous thread. I am a little slow on the uptake and once there is food, I forget everybody moves on.
>>>>Last spring, I suggested that DR offer Gho$t the maximum he was willing to pay - on the first day of negotiations<<<<
That violates every basic rule of negotiating and these parties are high level negotiators. He could have offered $10M per year and Salcer still wouldn’t have accepted it right away because he would then figure if he is willing to pay $10M he might pay 11. Time is an element in the negotiations that is necessary to determine a party’s earnestness.
Also, for those suggesting a trade last summer of before the season started, I will guarantee that Smug had a reasonable expectation of what they were hoping to get for Gaby if they had to trade him at the deadline. If there had been anything remotely close to that on the table this past summer or somewhat beneficial, he would have taken it. You could argue that they should have traded him at the draft, but at the time, the plan was to play him this season and trade him at the deadline. The draft argument only holds weight in hindsight because of the injury.
Beat the Flames in the regular season and I’ll give DR a pass for awhile.
Yeah Mikko!
Gaborik will not sign in the 3-4 million range. His cap hit currently is 6.3M, although he is making 7.5M this year. If we sign him to a 1 year deal, realistically, he would want atleast 7M.
[…] Russo’s Rants – […]
He might not get it- unless he wants to play for the Panthers or something like that.
Wow, as an outsider, your comments are incredibly harsh towards Gaborik. Yes, the guy’s injured, but didn’t he score 5 goals in one game for you last season? Seems to be as an outside observer, you are taking out your frustration of all your team’s woes on one guy. Why is it that people at the top always escape blame?
You really need to be blaming your GM and coach for creating this Wild system. When you put 99.9% of your team’s strategy on defense and the Trap, of course there will be problems when your one and only goal scorer goes down.
PS: when I say harsh comments, I mean the comments in the last thread, the one about Gaborik, not so much this thread.
No one is more frustrated than Gaborik about this.
Honorable mention for Owen’s testicular fortitude!
If I was a Wild player and I was dogging it, I would be more concerned with Mikko taking out his competitive wrath on me in practice than getting chewed out by Jock-U.
He might use the move that Jules Winnfield teaches the goalie in the Chelios spot. I’ve never been able to exactly translate what he called that. A little help if you have please.
Gabby is a flat out wuss!! He and Salcer can go F themselves.
DR has to go!! There hasn’t been one deal DR has ever made to improve this team, he’s clueless.
alan, the system is not the problem….don’t fall for the crap the media throws at you guys, lemaire is still one of the best coaches in the league….and being defensive first is a good philosophy…..about 75% of the teams out there are defense first oriented.
Gabby only shows up when he wants to…sure he scored 5 goals against the rangers (at the time the rangers were playing like crap anyway)
but he is just too inconsistant, and too fragile to be a 7 mil a year player.
the anger is directed at the fact that he is a money first player who doesn’t produce when the pressure is on (playoffs), coupled with the injuries, and the money demands…..
Bottom line, he is demanding iginla/crosby type money….and gabby isn’t even close to those two.
oh boy, here we go again with JL’s defensive system and trap again! like no other team in the league uses a neutral zone trap! gimme a break, alan!
Deep, thanks for the healthy dose of reality at 12:01pm.
Now someone will come back with “now if DR can put together a deal where we trade Reitz and Pouliot for Crosby and Malkin, things will be looking up. And DR doesn’t deserve to be fired, he’s just misunderstood”
SoTB…
I comprehend the art of negotiation, but:
Gho$t had intimated that he’s not for JL’s ‘restrictive’ system.
If Gho$t was willing to stay, and you offer him your max contract upfront, let him know that’s it, and he refuses - then you deal him. If you can play hardball with SRV, why can’t you with Gho$t?
$alcer made it clear that he was looking for a ‘market’ (i.e. record setting) contract. So, there really wasn’t a true negotiation.
also alan almost every team uses the trap….they just call it a different name. If you blame management, it is because they over paid for kimmy j, and skoula, and failed to bring in another solid forward to play with bouchard so we had some scoring depth….now we have 7-8 great to solid defesiveman (not a horrible thing), and about 5 solid forwards and Mikko/Gabby. (not enough, and theiren lies the problem)
Also too much pressure on sheppard, Pouliot, and not enough depth so Giles can go to houston to learn.
Because kj, no one would believe that your opening offer is your max offer. So, if you are negotiating and think you have a legitimate chance to sign him as I think DR did, you don’t start with your last offer.
kj nice touch on “market value”
I almost peed my pants on that one
It’s clear by now that Marianne is not JL’s kind of player and JL is not Marianne’s kind of coach.
A good GM realizes this and does a deal before it gets to this point. Either replaces the coach or replaces the player.
The only way I see Gabby back is if it becomes clear that Jock is done after this year and the Wild let Gabby (and his slack jawed brother) have a say in hiring the next coach AND the Wild pay Marianne in the 5-7M range. Injury or not, I don’t see how a team get’s Gabby’s services for less than $5M.
That may be the case wood…but…in your own mind, you know that you gave your best offer, and now you move on.
Shop him ‘cuz you know you don’t have any more dough to give.
It takes the guesswork out of the negotiating and lets you plan for the upcoming season.
Where we differ is that I believe Gho$t wouldn’t have signed here for ANY amount.
rather see gabby go then see him hold that much power
Stoned: the move you asked about is the “Englewood Jack.” Burns gave it a try last year after PMB got hammered by a Canuck.
Gawd. It still makes me feel all squidgy inside when I see Butchy “fighting.” *squirm*
belated props to russo…..good to have someone good covering the wild…..
hopefully management cans our tv announcers and hires good ones for next year!
then we can enjoy watching the team and not have to mute the tv
If you can play hardball with SRV, why can’t you with Gho$t?
let’s see…
SRV is replaceable 9 ways to sunday.
SRV is being paid under 1 million, #10 was looking for 8 to 10 mil per season.
#10 was the face of the franchise and considered around the league as a top 10 player, SRV should be happy to have a job.
Picking up from the previous thread, where some criticized by comments abou the Wild front office “coasting”: What I mean by the notion of coasted is that I don’t think they have felt any pressure to “win now” at any point in the team’s history. They keep talking about the long term and the plan, but show no recognition of the fact that at some point the idea of the plan should be to build a championship team in the present instead of continually positioning for the future.
I love that Mc Iver nails Butch while he is squaring off with Burrows. Was he afraid Butch might hurt him. God, I hate the Canucks… I feel that Russoville needs a two-minute hate ala 1984. Anybody?
absolutely. 7 years is more than enough time to win a cup. if they’d only go out and spend some money…
Which D-man is coming up Ms. C? Did they say it was Scott that missed the flight to Calgary? ST memory isn’t my strong suit…
I’m just saying that at some point, when a team’s having a bad season, somebody at the top needs to take the fall not just 1 player.
The anger on this thread towards Gaborik is misplaced, in my opinion.I know how frustrating it is to have a player who is always injured. We Canucks are going through this with Sami Salo, who is a good defensemen, but who is injured for the 4th time this season alone and gets injured repeatedly every season and yet keeps getting re-signed.
But at some point, not just one guy is to blame for the entire team’s problems.
A GM or coaching change can shake things up and spark life. That’s what happened here in Vancouver with our GM change.
Yeah, it was Scott, but I don’t know this time around. Mosey’s on fire and has a very Zidlicky way about him. That might be who I’d call on before Scotty.
Nor, IMO, should DR have felt any pressure to date to “win now.” I subscribe to the “plan” completely in that the idea is to build a team that consistently is in position to compete for the Cup. I just have serious doubts about the team’s progress in that regard.
That said, the Aeros play in Binghamton tonight and then Wilkes-Barre tomorrow night, so they’ll need to make a decision pronto.
Ms.C:
Basic premise of mutual funds is the pooling of money to purchase stocks. This pool allows for greater diversity to limit exposure.
In hockey terms: You buy one stock, say Gaborik, and by putting all of that money into one stock, you have a big exposure to downside, with minimum upside, because he is not consistant year to year with his numbers.
You buy one mutual fund, say Chicago Blackhawks, and by pooling your money with others, you have a great investment that should pay off over the years. If Toews gets hurt, he could be offset by an increase in Kane, limiting your exposure, like what happened to gaborik.
I guess the Wild should tank the next 10 years like the Pens and Hawks did and just accumulate enough top 5 draft picks that finally work out.
You buy one mutual fund, say Chicago Blackhawks, and by pooling your money with others, you have a great investment that should pay off over the years. If Toews gets hurt, he could be offset by an increase in Kane, limiting your exposure, like what happened to gaborik.
so are you saying we should suck for 10+ years in order to get consistent top 5 draft picks?
Nicely done, Gregor (though I actually do work for a brokerage so I know what mutual funds are… I was just being cheeky)
My point was that using mutual fund language to explain hockey is like using rocket scientist language to explain making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Really should go the other way for most folks. Of course, Nick isn’t most folks. 
chicago 1st round picks
2008 11th overall Kyle Beach
2007 1st overall Patrick Kane
2006 3rd overall Jonathon Toews
2005 7th overall Jack Skille
2004 3rd overall Cam barker
2003 14th overall Brent Seabrook
2002 21st Anton Babchuk
2001 9th Tuomo Ruutu
pittsburgh penguins
2008 no pick
2007 20th Angelo Esposito
2006 2nd Jordan Staal
2005 1st Sidney Crosby
2004 2nd Evgeni Malkin
2003 1st Marc-Andre Fleury
2002 5th Ryan Whitney
2001 21st Colby Armstrong
minnesota wild
2008 23rd tyler cuma
2007 16th colton gillies
2006 9th james sheppard
2005 4th benoit puliout
2004 12th AJ thelen
2003 20th Brent burns
2002 8th PM Buchard
2001 6th mikko koivu
Gregor, very nice.
So we have a bunch of penny stocks in Houston which is our ‘rainy day’ fund.
Expansion teams are by definition a team that has sucked for 10+ years. That’s where this team started, and it’s beginning to look like it’s on a downward arc. After Koivu, Burns, and even PMB, who in the system is going to be our Toews/Kane/Versteeg etc.
Pass the Kool-Aid again. Gonna need the whole pitcher.
Expansion teams are by definition a team that has sucked for 10+ years.
wait, so the Wild has sucked for it’s entire existence?
funny, Green* … great minds do think alike.
G*, looks like the tailspin started with Thelen (this is a MN too, so someone should have known that he was a problem child). I’m still holding out hope for Sheppard. Haven’t seen enough of Gillies to have an opinion. If Cuma is the next Paul Coffey, I could get myself ok with our drafts. Wow did Pitt have a nice run for a few yrs.
when I look at those draft records, I notice that we picked, on average, farther down in the first round than Chicago and Pittsburgh. The average pick for Chicago was 8.625th, for Pittsburgh it was 10.375th (including a 31 for their one non-pick) and for Minnesota it was 12.25th.
In other words we’ve been “too good.”
new food. though it’s really a sh*t sandwich.
Nick, no they haven’t sucked. They’ve been a serviceable team with a few over-achievers. And that’s fine for an expansion team but at this point the Wild are well out of expansion mode, or should be. I’m saying an expansion team comes out of the gates looking like a team that has sucked for 10+ yrs. Expansion teams have a roster full of Journeymen grinders and about 3-5 years of very high draft picks. By year 6 or 7 the NHL team should be decent (like the 2007-2008 team was) and the prospect pipeline from the ‘A’ should be full. I can’t say that either of those are true right now.
SRV is replaceable 9 ways to sunday.
SRV is being paid under 1 million, #10 was looking for 8 to 10 mil per season.
#10 was the face of the franchise and considered around the league as a top 10 player, SRV should be happy to have a job.
Yeah, but who’s playing?
Seriously, if I am a GM, I position myself to have the upper hand in bargaining - like DR did with SRV.
Gaborik might not have liked it in MN, but feedback from his BFF would indicate he would have liked ATL a lot less.
Regardless, DR needs to fix what’s broken and not tinker with what ain’t. Like ‘C’ on Koivu. Nolan playing whenever he wants. Getting Burns to overtime so he can score. Poultine making popcorn.
You’re such a new team, you can’t bitch about not winning a cup yet when other teams (ie: Canucks) have gone
35+ years without one. Step in line, folks!! Be prepared for 20 more years of this anguish…and you will know how we feel, except we don’t even have an NFL or NBA franchise to turn our attention to.
BoS says: “Stoned: the move you asked about is the “Englewood Jack.” Burns gave it a try last year after PMB got hammered by a Canuck.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2qrvuuWGHs”
Thanks BoS. I get that part. Its the one where he takes the goalie’s stick in the beginning and gives him a shot between the pipes. 50 Russobucks to anyone who can tell me what he calls that.
Hockeydad, I guess if you want to argue that “the plan” should be to build a team that can consistenly contend for the Cup, you can sign me up for that. I guess I don’t see the Wild’s “plan” as doing that. If your goal truly is consistently contending for the Cup, you don’t make the decisions that the Wild has made. They’re clearly spending more money the last couple of years (only after the fans started chirping about how cheap they were), but they have clearly sacrificed the now for the later on many occasions. The only real time they’ve gone the other way is the Demitra trade. At some point, you have to decide to make some moves to make your team better now. As it is now, they’ve put themselves in a really bad spot — they’re mediocre now and with not much to look forward to in terms of bright young talent.
Mikko….please convince your brother to sign here next year so we can get rid of this bum known as Maryanne Gaborik!!!!!!!
[…] Russo’s Rants – […]
MG is not going to sign here for one year.He doesn’t like it here. He doesn’t like JL. He’s been waiting to leave forever. MG would have been gone the season DR “saved” him by trading for Demetra. Wasn’t that great we got Demetra for 2 years, lost O’Sullivan and a first, kept MG and between MG and PD who knows how many games they actually played.
Slovak Power!
You know DR would have salvaged the year
if Gaborik and Nolan had been healthy.
We forget how well the season started.
All of the weaknesses understood, but one leader who can score and one scorer who loafs could have helped the last dozen games. We might still be in first place.
Long term we know the pantry is empty.
But MG should have been gone on a safe play before the season started.
