Wild vs. Syracuse Crunch Saturday
Posted on January 9th, 2009 – 2:04 PMBy Michael Russo
Coming to you from my hotel room in Columbus, where I decided to drink plenty of fluids and not eat.
If I lose weight from this, the last 16 hours would be worth it.
I just got off the horn with Jacques Lemaire, who was nice enough to call me after the team got off the ice. He was happy I was nice enough to stay away from the team while ill. Of course, it was the bug running through the dressing room that made me ill, but hey, call it payback for some recent bad press (or “balanced” press, as I like to call it) and perhaps some upcoming balanced press.
In fact, to try to nip this thing in the bud, every Wild player got his own room here at the Columbus hotel last night, and again tonight. So not only is this a nasty stomach virus, it’s an expensive one at that.
I feel for the hotel guests who have to stay at this joint over the next week or so. It’s going to be like that Dustin Hoffman movie, “Outbreak.”
The good news is the virus didn’t make anybody miss practice (minus the injured Derek Boogaard and Niklas Backstrom, who was at the rink but given the day off).
Of course, this thing quickly strikes. For instance, Martin Skoula practiced Wednesday in Philly. He was even jovial, cracking jokes. And then, boom, Skoula was down for the count.
So let’s say, everybody’s day-to-day for tomorrow’s game against the Blue Jackets. The Blue Jackets aren’t as fortunate.
You’ve got to feel for this team. It was running hot, having won four in a row in dominant fashion behind the great goaltending of Steve Mason. Now, check out the Jackets’ laundry list of injuries. Every player is supposed to be out tomorrow against the Wild: LW Rick Nash (knee), LW Kristian Huselius (concussion), C Derick Brassard (shoulder), D Rostislav Klesla (foot), LW Raffi Torres (knee), LW Jason Chimera (groin), C Jiri Novotny (concussion) and G Pascal Leclaire (ankle).
And then, to make matters worse, Columbus Dispatch’s Aaron Portzline just emailed me from Washington, where the Jackets play tonight. Mason, the star rookie goalie, is now questionable for tonight’s game against the Caps with “tightness” in his upper body.
Portzline called the Blue Jackets the Blue Cross/Blue Shield Jackets. Good line, Portzline. Use it.
The Wild may be playing the Syracuse Crunch tomorrow night.
Back to Lemaire’s call, he said the Wild “obviously” practiced the power play for the majority of practice today after going 0 for 8 last night in Philly. I talked to him a lot about Andrew Brunette, who’s supposed to call me this afternoon, and Mikko Koivu. Both have dried up.
Brunette has one goal and three assists in his past 16 games. Koivu has one goal and seven assists in his past 15 games.
Lemaire said the Wild had a team meeting before practice, and then again continued the seasonlong theme of GETTING THE PUCK TO THE NET. He said the Flyers tried to give the Wild the game last night, and the Wild refused to take it.
As good as the Wild power play’s been this season, it’s had a few games like this. Remember when it went 0 for 10 in a one-goal loss to Montreal?
Lastly, check this story out about Wayne Fleming being fired in the middle of a KHL game. I should go cover hockey in Russia. These are the type of stories I love.
Back to work.
82 Responses to "Wild vs. Syracuse Crunch Saturday"
Why haven’t we heard anything on Marc-Andre Bergeron except for that one update that he was skating in sweats? What’s his status?
Good point Jobu, especially with an 0 for last night on the PP.
Both have dried up.
Pretty much the only ones who haven’t is Nolan and SRV. When SRV is one of your hottest scorers… Oy!
I updated Bergeron before the trip. he was skating, but every time he turned or did stops and starts, his knee felt weak. We’ll update more when we return to Minny, but he’s not traveling, so it’ll be awhile because he’s nott practicing.
Toivo, I put a similar line in my story tomorrow.
shouldn’t it be…
nash (lower body)
Huselius (way upper body)
Brassard (upper body)
Klesla (way lower body)
Torres (lower body)
Chimera (middle body)
Novotny (way upper body)
Leclaire (lower body)?
when did teams start with this ankle, shoulder, concussion stuff?
Luckily, the Syracuse Crunch are a pretty decent team. Well. They’re really mean anyway. The Wild are half-Aeros at the moment. Should work out just right.
good luck with the sickness boys…..hopefully we will be back to full strength soon.
[…] Russo’s Rants – […]
russo……chicken noodle soup my friend….that and sprite
That is the redneck cure for every ailment….(ha southpark reference!)
let us know when burnsie catches it….if he is sick and I see him in bby again I will hide in the warehouse…then spray the rockband demo with disinfectant!
Russo, shame on you for disclosing the type of injury for MAB. it’s supposed to be “lower body injury.”
Toivo, I put a similar line in my story tomorrow.
Great minds think alike! Maybe your magic pen can get a few guys going with that one. 
I just hope you used the appropriate verb “are” instead of “is.”
hey all-good to see russo is still feeding the goods. just filed for unemployment. ick. good luck to the boys- stay healthy.
join the club M. it sucks.
and it won’t matter if we’re playing columbus’ B squad. we still can’t score goals!
For those who are interested in a North American perspective in coaching in the (then) Russian Superleague (KHL, now), read “King of Russia”. A great book. Lot in there about Malkin, too.
I know we like to think that Burno and Franchise have “dried up”, but what exactly do fans expect? Bruno is AT BEST a 20-goal scorer which is the pace he is on right now. And I’d have to look, but has Franchise ever scored more than 20 goals in a season? I think he’s on pace for about 22 or 23. Point is, hopefully folks aren’t expecting too much from these guys. When he was resigned this summer, did people think Bruno had magically last 5 years of age and had learned how to skate quickly with the puck? As far as Franchise, he is clearly one of the top defensive-forwards in the League and the true leader in the Wild lockerroom. But that doesn’t make him a sniper. If the Wild can get 25 goals out of him, I think they should be happy with that. What would be nice is if Ballgame would stop allowing our goal scorers to walk out the door with nothing coming back in return. Demo was a 20+ goal man; Huggy was a 30+ goal man and Gaby was a 40+ goal man, although the Gaby situation still has to be played out. We cannot keep asking JL to squeeze offense out of players that simply do not have the capabilities. How else could you explain Shepp on the ice with the team “enjoying” a man-advantage? I mean he does have 27 points in 118 games.
2:47 by argon was my post. i still don’t understand why it does that!
kiovu scored 20+ two years ago i think and probably would have last year if he didn’t break his leg.
I thought he has never broken the 20-goal mark.
sunshine says:
January 9th, 2009 at 1:55 pm
On Saturday, I am going to invite some friends over to have a game-watching drinking party. Take a drink or a shot for every time Terhaar says “X shoots wide of the net.” Only Wild players no CBJ players.
Just be sure to collect keys at the door! 
Deep, you’re right. He has never scored more than 20 goals in a season.
Uh, whom was that at 2:58?
had 20 in 06-07
11 last year with 57 games played
so technically correct, never broke 20 goal mark
Deep, you’re starting to sound like MKIA, responding to yourself like that. 
I’m not trying to impune Franchise’s value to the team or his standing as a top-flight, 2-way forward. I just don’t think we should be looking at him to be a 35+ goal scorer. To be perfectly honest, I think he focuses too much on both ends of the ice for that to happen and that is certainly not a bad thing.
ms. I am waiting for whomever that was to fess up. Anyone, anyone? Buehler, Buehler?
R.I.P. Timothy Walmann the best beer vendor at the X. He will be greatly missed by his Wild friends.
DB,
True, but Mikko & Bruno have been on a 5-goal pace over the last 15. That means that eventually they should revert back to the mean and start scoring again, but if those two aren’t scoring, that’s a pretty big hole to fill on offense.
As for Demo & Rolston, again it’s true that they’re gone and their offense is missed and I would add Parrish and his 16 goals, but they did add Nolan (16 last season), Mittens(15) and Bruno(19), which should mostly offset those losses. It would also be reasonable to expect Sheppard, Pouliot and Clutterbuck to add a bit of scoring (and maybe they will in the second half). Anyway, the big obvious glaring gap is Gaborik and his 0.6 goals per game over the last three seasons.
Assuming all else was equal(though often a player like him raises the offense of the entire team) and he was in and scoring at the same clip, the Wild would, by my estimate, have four more wins, and possible some more OT losses as well.
Fedotenko out 4-6 weeks for breaking his hand decking Colby Armstrong.
Amen to that Rinkrat. He was an ambassador for the team in the concourse. Couldn’t find a more customer service driven individual in the building.
toivo: I agree that more was expected of some of the younger players, but I never thought Olden, Mittens and Bruno would make up for the loss of Huggy and Demo. I am still under the belief that Demo was painfully mis-used last year. Once again, however, that was putting JL in a bad spot where he had to try and make things work. Don’t discount the notion that PeeWee looks completely lost on the ice without a true finisher to play with. Some folks complained about Huggy, but all he did was play every night and score 30+ goals in all three seasons for the Wild. Mittens was a bit piece when he was with the Stars, playing in a more “wide-open” system. Hopefully we weren’t expecting 25+ goals from him. Just frustrating that the current Wild roster looks like it is LOADED with bit pieces and very few true “players”, especially up front. Oh, well, at least they have another chance to score multilpe goals tomorrow night. Will be interesting to see how they react to a JV BJ team. (sorry, couldn’t resist)
A warm heart and cold beer. He was a good man through and through.
6 games left before the break. If the boys can somehow punch in 10 goals in that stretch, they may be able to go 4-1-1.
Good analysis @ 2:51 DeepBreath.
I mean he does have 27 points in 118 games.
I can’t believe there are still people out there that defend Doug for not pulling the trigger with FLA last season for OJ.
Shep will get better, but he’ll never be a 1st line center in the NHL, which is what we could’ve had for him and Mr. Disappearing Act. I wonder what either of their trade values is now? Nowhere near what it was at the deadline last year, that’s for sure.
So was the proposed deal last year Bouchard and Sheppard for OJ?
Hindsight is 20/20. Last year at the deadline, PMB was having a career year in terms of point production, and Sheppard was just 19 and in his first year.
I can’t believe there are still people out there that can project that Sheppard will average less-than 0.654 points per game over the first 759 games of his NHL career. That, over the next 641 games he will not garner at least 463 points.
I didn’t realize Miss Cleo was a Wild/Russoville fan! That’s awesome! What are the winning lottery numbers tonight? Who will win the World Series this year? What will the S&P finish at this year?
The Wild may be playing the Syracuse Crunch tomorrow night.
They would still score 2 goals or less.
I was a Shep hater at the beginning of the year, but I’ve got to say that worm is beginning to turn. He’s shown some nifty stick work in front of the net and he seems to be pretty strong on the puck (guys trying to check him with the puck, and bouncing off) This kid is still a pup so I’m not ready to write him off.
Here’s some trade fodder from TFP.com.
What is the % chance of dealing Gaborik to Pittsburgh for Stall and a pick/prospect? Capologists, what are the roadblocks.
gabby get’s to go to a more wide open offense and play with STK or Geno and we get a young up and coming center.
I hope the people b!tching about not trading Sheppard at the deadline aren’t the same people who cry everytime Patrick O’Sullivan pulls on his Kings jersey. You have to give something to get something and chances are that thing you are giving up will eventually break out and be a solid NHL player… unless you are DR and you get prospects like Kalus and Bell.
lucky, you should tell the guys in my fantasy leagues that same thing. ‘you have to give something to get something….’ one guys asked me last week if i’d trade PMB and gomez for iginla and zetterberg!!!
All you need is 2 years of Pouliot on your team to appreciate that Shep IS learning and working at it. Maybe the curve is steeper and slower for him than people want, but that’s okay. As long as there’s progress.
I can’t believe anyone thinks James Sheppard is ever going to put up 70-80-90 point seasons, especially since today’s NHL is being dominated by players in his age/peer group. Shep is who we thought he was.
It’s not “hindsight” to say that Doug made a huge mistake. You could see it right then and there that it was a mistake. A bonafide stud center, a position you’ve needed to fill for years, for an expensive free agent who has a habit of disappearing for long stretches at a time and a kid, who, no matter what you think of his potential, is clearly NEVER going to be as good as OJ. Shep’s ceiling, even if he reaches his full potential, is still lower than Oli’s. He is what he is, and that is a 3rd or 4th line center. If you think 2 or 3 years from now he’s going to be putting up 30 goals and 40 assists every single season (like OJ does) you’re nuts.
i don’t think anyone’s expectations of shep are quite that high. he’s 20! he definitely still has some learning to do.
Mrs. Conduct is hot.
I recall fans bashing another first round pick that took a long time to develop. Brent Burns anyone? I’m not saying we should expect a future all star from Sheppard but don’t be so quick to write off a player. The kid isn’t even 3 years past his draft year yet. It usually takes 5 years to fully judge a draft and the player taken. Hell look at franchise and how long he took. He didn’t even come over until 3 years after we drafted him and his rookie year was nothing to brag about.
…almost as hot as Lucky.
Shep is who we thought he was.
HA HA HA - Nice one there, coach!
Carlton, I have no delusions of Sheppard putting up 70-90 pts. He doesn’t have the heart/drive/stones for it, IMO. Sheppard is a little too timid and let’s the game come to him instead of taking over the game. If shep had Scuttlebutt’s heart/drive/stones we’d have quite a player on our hands.
And I think your point is valid: “today’s NHL is being dominated by players in his age/peer group.” Sheppard’s age isn’t a good excuse for a player taken 9th overall.
The reason I’m upbeat on Shep is that after the first 15 games of this season I wasn’t sure that Sheppard was ever going to be a productive NHL’er. Now I’m thinking he could turn into a 20 goal/20 assist player.
It is rather warm in Houston today.
Houston? Is that what you call it? Meow.
“I recall fans bashing another first round pick that took a long time to develop. Brent Burns anyone?”
Touche~. I remember Burns looking pretty clumsy his first couple years.
Oh my…
um…that’s not me. i never said that ms.C i wouldn’t know if you were!
I’m not feeling well either. Good thing I saved that diaper from last years Halloween costume (You know how most people say all babies are cute?…..I was the exception).
I know Net… I didn’t think it was.
u should need a password to be on here. and they should fix the glitch with the names too.
hello all, Bergi is skating everyday and he has rehab treatments on his knee. It’s getting better and better everyday. He should be ready for the next home game on Jan 13th. He’s getting used to a new brace to support the knee.
The Wild may be playing the Syracuse Crunch tomorrow night.
Don’t the Crunch play at BlueCross BlueShield Arena? There’s where the comment from the Columbus Dispatch writer came from. (If the Wild were playing the Crunch in Syracuse, chances are they’d draw a bigger crowd than tomorrow night at Nationwide.)
BTW: ‘Rally Towel Night’ tomorrow in C-Bus…
Russo: Get some PediaLyte (ask Bruno, it really does help you over the flu.)
Clutterbuck. Say it. You’ll giggle. Like watchin a bull in a china shop. Clutterbuck. Is it just me or does the puck actually go into slow motion everytime Brunette or Johnnson touch it?
weird
Tell me someone drafted after Sheppard in the 2006 draft that you’d rather have?
Even with his supposed deficiencies, he’s still going to get better.
PeeWee on the other hand is stealing.
Same for Poul-Loaf.
Oh good lord, the Aeros look bad tonight. Yeesh.
Holy crap. My boys are getting schooled. Um. Can we have Scotty back? Could use a big man apart from Kassian out there.
who r they playin msC
Hershey Bears. Best team in the AHL. They’re just smoking us in every possible way. Just got their second goal, short-handed. Shots are 11-3 in Hershey’s favor. Yuck.
Shep will get better, but he’ll never be a 1st line center in the NHL
I’m not sure you can say that with such certainty. For example: Olli Jokinen really didn’t break out until he was 24, his fifth season. He was plodding along at about 20 points for his first three seasons, 30 in his fourth. Some players just take a little longer than others. I’m not saying Sheppard will be a first line center. I just don’t think you can say where he’ll top out at just yet.
Okay, Clowe’s ‘Day in the Life’ episode on NHLN is GOOD. Not all babies and wives and drinking coffee like Schultz’s was since he’s on the road. All hockey, like it should be.
If Lemaire continues to coach the Wild and DR continues to give him mostly stiffs, Sheppard will never hit 70 or even 80 points. It took someone 8 years on this team to hit above 80 points and he wasn’t even a center. I doubt Koivu will hit 80 points. The personnel on and off the ice would need to change before another person hits 80 points.
I saw Weight’s or was it Guerin’s and it similar to Schultz’s. Kids, pregame skate, and the game.
That’s what kids will do to you.
And, I agree, sunshine, about the point totals, JL, and DR.
It’s all well and good but if I want to watch the Disney Channel, I’m sure I can find it in the line-up. I really don’t want to watch Schultzie read to his kid or his wife whinge about how few players have kids when I could watch him hanging out with his teammates or doing other hockey things. Everybody has a spouse and spawn. Not everybody gets to go to work at an NHL rink everyday.
Not that I have a strong opinion about it.
Butch’s brother just put the 5th goal up on the Aeros. *ugh*
Good lord. I don’t think the Wild could beat this Hershey team. This is a friggin beat down. Literally and figuratively.
Mason just put up a 45-save shutout in Washington to give CBj a 3-0 win, so Russo’s source may not have given him the best info.
I guess Mase plays better with upper body tightness.
even if mason doesn’t play tomorrow, wild get their backup backup! we all know what happens when the wild play against backup goalies!!!
Ahh, its a good thing to wake up and see that the nucks lost to the blues.
Well, I’m scratching Mikko for Jokinen for the first time this season. So, this is gonna be a breakout game for Mikko, no doubt.
Nibble
