Lemaire will pull goalie tonight if game tied late
Posted on April 10th, 2009 – 10:50 AMBy Michael Russo
It was decided during a coaching staff meeting this morning that if tonight’s game is tied in the final minute, Niklas Backstrom will be pulled for an extra attacker.
Lemaire said he refuses to assume St. Louis and Anaheim, two of the hottest teams in the West, will go 0-2 (for how they make it, how they miss it charts, go to below blog posts or wild page on startribune.com).
So in his mind, there is only one scenario to get the Wild past the first obstacle toward making the playoffs - getting a win in regulation, not overtime, to keep Nashville from getting a point and thus ending the Preds’ season.
Just had a couple chats with Joel Ward and Ryan Jones, who’s college team, Miami (Ohio), is in the Frozen Four Final vs. Boston University.
Ward never got a chance in Minnesota even though two years ago he was one of the most impressive callups of the year. Now he’s turned into a diamond in the rough in Nashville, playing for a half-million buckaroos — or $25,000 over the league minimum. Ward seems to be in the middle of every one of the Predators’ seemingly nightly rallies.
Check out this quote in the Tennessean by Nashville GM David Poile: “It’s a story that every team is hoping to have every year. This is the speech that every NHL manager gives to his scouting staff — ‘Go and find that diamond in the rough, that player that needs to be given a second or third chance with a new organization, somebody that can fit into our team that maybe didn’t fit with another team.’
“I ask that of our scouts every year because it’s the type of thing that in a lot of cases kind of gets you over the hump — finding a new player.”
Talked to Jones, too. Remember, the Wild signed Jones to a Houston contract after Miami’s season ended last year. After Houston finished, Jones had offseason shoulder surgery in Minnesota, then lived here working out with strength coach Kirk Olson until the day he was called into Doug Risebrough’s office and traded along with a second-round pick for Marek Zidlicky on July 1.
Jones says he’s had a rookie year too inconsistent for his liking and that’s something he aims to correct during his future in Nashville. I talked to a league exec today who thinks he’s going to wind up being a Ryan Smyth-type player in this league.
Wild plans to go with the same lineup tonight. Very loose group of guys.
Huge night of hockey on the horizon. Keep one eye on the Wild and your other eyes on the Blues and Ducks, although that’s one too many eyes. I never was no good at math — or english.
61 Responses to "Lemaire will pull goalie tonight if game tied late"
pretty gutsy move. But I guess it’s no guts no glory.
kinda goes against the idea that JL is conservative and plays not to lose.
Well, since at this point, one point is pretty much means losing, it really doesn’t go against that so much. Do you see my point?
kinda goes against the idea that JL is conservative and plays not to lose.
I think JL does play conservative and not to lose but I think this is just another example of why JL is one of the smartest coaches in the league. I wish I could take credit for whatever Russoville regular said when JL leaves is when we will see the real DR. Those words are as true today as they were when they were spoken.
ryan jones was part of the zidlickles trade right? he looked great out there last night…mabey shoulda let the preds keep him zids is way to unreliable IMO
wcco am has K Falness live with Ms. Jones during 1 am hour. Call with questions if you want and/or able.
11 am hour, not 1 am
Hard to play not to lose at this time of year. If this was game 15 we would play not to lose.
I concur Goody. I don’t see this as all-that-gutsy or as an example of JL’s conservative or non-conservative approach to things.
This is desperation, plain and simple. Giving NSH a point tonight all but assures we’re toast, and as was mentioned, to assume that both ANA and STL will lose out is not very realistic.
Personally, I think it’s over by about 11:30 tonight either way. I can’t see STL, with the playoffs on the line for them, losing at home to a CBJ team that has nothing to play for tonight. I also can’t see an ANA team in the same position as CBJ losing at home to the Dallas team we saw here the other night.
Sorry gang, but hoist a glass around 11:30 tonight to one of the most disappointing seasons in the history of this franchise, ’cause tomorrow night will be more about catching the final weekend of Lobsterfest @ Red Lobster than it will for wasting time watching the Wild / Columbus game. At least for this Lobster-lover, that is.
Anyone else notice Nashville is really good with their AHL call-ups? Where Minnesota calls up a Kalanos or Olvecky and lets them loaf around for 20+ games of not producing much, Nashville calls kids up for a few games to keep them hungry then sends them back down and calls up the next kid to give them a taste of the NHL. I like the way they run the show down there.
[…] -Minnesota coach Jacques Lemaire said he will pull starting goaltender Niklas Backstrom if his team is tied late in its game with Nashville tonight. […]
Oh please Green*…even conservatives get desperate.
lose and you are done
win in OT and you still have a chance. slim but not that much slimmer than what our chance is right now.
[…] Russo’s Rants – […]
even conservatives get desperate
answer for everything i see
answer for everything i see
just following your lead… 
He’s not being bold, he’s backed into the proverbial ‘OT gains us nothing’ corner.
It would be a refreshing change to see the Wild win by 3.
“maxpower says:
ryan jones was part of the zidlickles trade right? he looked great out there last night…”
No we didn’t need a prospect with size who was the captain of his college team who went deep in the tourney (Miami of F’n Ohio (yes I know they’re back this yr)), or the 2nd round pick.
We needed Zitlicker who played for the team that Leipold owned, who Leipold watched play many nights, who Leipold thought was worth Jones and a 2nd.
Stoned or 6GS made a comment that DR wanted more puck moving D to lead Gaby with long outlet passes. I buy this theory.
The only problem is that no one was able to identify Zids true value. Good grief did we overpay.
Yes I’m still bitter about trading Jones.
Craig Leipold had nothing to due with that trade. That we got a player from a team that Leipold used to own was pure coincidence.
Nashville = Salary Dump
Minnesota = Needed Puck Moving D
I gotta say I am hoping that the boys win tonight and that Saturday nights game is relevant (outside of just being the last game of the season), but I’m not really wanting them to make the playoffs.
No Burns, PMB, and Schultz would make us irrelevant in the playoffs anyway and I’d rather see the Blues and the Ducks in as I think both can give the Sharks and Wings a run for their money the way they are playing now.
Just perused the PP version of the Gaby story. Shipley wnet with a longer version of the DR quote:
“I’ve always felt Ron doesn’t want Marian to be here,” Risebrough said. “The kid says he wants to stay, but that never seems to be translated through the agent.”
Asked to respond, Salcer said, “How do you respond to something that’s totally off base?”
Excuse Grabbing™ 101: blame the agent
SGS @12:18: +1. Love the EG101 comment. Thanks.
Michael - great food- with items on Ward and Jones. It is great to hear about other young players in the leauge with your inside angle.
Six Goalie System - In this case I tend to agree with what DR has said. I think Gaby’s agent is a tool and has wanted to get him out of here and was only talking to us with the hopes that it would drive up the asking price.
Its not a state secret but why is Lemaire mentioning it? Shouldn’t he keep it to himself and then reveal it later during the game?
Every time I read that the guys are loose before a big game, I say “uh oh, that’s not good. Loose guys = losing game.”
Greg - you might be right that Gaby is getting bad advice from his agent - i.e. not taking DR’s solid offer in training camp. My beef with DR is that for a guy who came out in the media and ripped the players for making excuses, he certainly points a lot of fingers elsewhere when Wild problems are discussed. When he comes out and admits that not having two better than average centers on the roster over the past two years has been a major problem for the team and toward retaining Gaby, I will gladly admit that DR has emerged from the smugosphere.
6GS - I can agree with that.
for a guy who came out in the media and ripped the players for making excuses
two different things, IMHO. His thing was players using the long road trip in cushy hotels and chartered planes as reason for poor play. this is an opinion on why #10 won’t sign here.
Asked to respond, Salcer said, “How do you respond to something that’s totally off base?”
as if salcer was going to say anything different.
I’d agree with you if DR offered #10 a low ball deal and then blamed the agent when they didn’t sign. it didn’t go down that way.
to add. DR has a lot of warts, no doubt, i just don’t think this #10 opinion is one of them
kj: I was actually kidding about us going after Gaborik. If he came cheap, I’d like to see how well he could do here but I don’t think that’s likely.
As for Sykora: I’m not so sure he’d look good in IRR, trust me. He might have 25 goals and 46 points which would be among your leaders, but I think his skills are declining fast. I wanted to re-sign him earlier in the season but I think I’ve changed my mind now. He can still shoot, but his hands seem to be going, he’s not getting as many chances, not creating anything, having pucks go off his stick, shooting wide of the net more than he hits it…
His scoring touch hasn’t left him yet, but if the Penguins signed him for anything longer than/more than what they gave him before (2 years, $2.5M per) I’d wince and consider it a mistake.
Before he scored Tuesday, he went eight straight games without a point.
The list of problems with the Wild this season is a long one but from a dedicated fan’s position, I never sensed that whinning was a major issue. IMO, this team is short on talent and depth, particularly at the critical center spot, so the effort for me appears to be par for the course. So in this light I thought DR calling out players for making exuses when this guy does nothing but when it comes to other problems was laughable at best, disheartening at worst.
When we waive goodbye to Gaby at the big blue line that runs around our state, the buck stops at DR’s desk, $alcer or not.
i just don’t think this #10 opinion is one of them
I disagree.
First, my Iceman disclaimer: I don’t know all of the details of what has happened behind the scenes with all of the parties involved. All I can do is gather what information that is available to me and put it through my filter of interpreting human nature, the sports business, etc. etc. etc.
He’s saying that he thinks Gaborik wants to stay, but Salcer doesn’t want him to. Or, in other words, Gaborik is being controlled by a guy who works for him, and this puppeteer is for some reason working against Risebrough.
So there’s maybe a few ways I interpret this.
One, is it’s just plain BS or Excuse Grabbing ™
Two, Risebrough is clueless. Gaborik is lying to him and he can’t see it.
Three, he’s right. Really? Does anyone really believe Gaborik wants to stay, but Salcer won’t let him?
Does anyone really believe Gaborik wants to stay, but Salcer won’t let him?
the quote was “the kids says he wants to stay” which #10 has said in the media before. now either #10 really wants to stay or, he is lying. I don’t know which it is. Personally I think he wants to go elsewhere.
When we waive goodbye to Gaby at the big blue line that runs around our state, the buck stops at DR’s desk, $alcer or not.
so when #10 leaves it is DR fault? as in there is no excuse for #10 leaving? I don’t buy it.
But SGS, that big blue line cannot be crossed.
There’s been enough acrimony from both sides of the saga that any reasonable person can conclude that Smug gave up the Gho$t.
a friend of mine has a car he is thinking of selling. i want it and offer him blue book, heck 1000 over blue book. he turns me down.
can i say i didn’t get the car because he decided to keep it or is that just an excuse for my failure?
Smug hasn’t failed in the Gho$t saga yet.
However, it’s just a matter of time.
- G* - there is no excuse for Gaby to leave with the zero return we are looking at today. There might be a lot of bad luck in that, a bad agent, a prima donna, etc. but at the end of the day DR and TooL were at the controls and must be held accountable. As Russo said on Russo Radio last night, why wouldn’t a GM ascertain whether or not Gaby is going to sign and if signs point to no, trade him on July 1 when teams have the max cap space? As IceMan will no doubt say, DR thought he could sign him by paying market value. Well it sure looks like DR was wrong, blaming the agent in the media just makes Smug look worse.
- Smug gave up the Gho$t.
If you thought you had a chance to keep Gaby, would you take a shot at his agent in the media. Way to fight to the end and stand and defend Smug.
- can i say i didn’t get the car because he decided to keep it or is that just an excuse for my failure?
Did you get in a shouting match with him by the Zamboni? Did you fail to get him a quality center in a contract year?
Did you fail to get him a quality center in a contract year?
did #10 tell DR “get me a quality center or i won’t sign here for 15 mil per season”? or are we assuming that is why #10 don’t want to be here? Maybe he has, I certainly could have missed that.
I understand the reasons to say nothing positive about DR, i really do. I don’t see where saying he thinks salcer is coaching his client to play elsewhere, one of them.
there is no excuse for Gaby to leave with the zero return we are looking at today.
absolutely not. i also suggest we trade burns, koivu, backstrom now so that we are guaranteed to get something for them in the event when they become UFA, we don’t get left holding the bag again.
SGS…we couldn’t agree about a subject more completely.
However, Ice could be vindicated. If Smug re-signs Gho$t. But, trading him a day before his rights expire for a 4th round pick still = letting him walk for nothing - especially considering how well the Wild draft after round 1.
i guess if you look at it as if #10 is GM and DR is the CEO of Johnson controls or borg warner. When GM goes bankrupt you fire the CEO of borg because they didn’t see that GM was going under in time to to change their business so they could survive. or they believed GM when it said they weren’t going anywhere.
when i look at it like this, i see better where y’all are coming from.
- But, trading him a day before his rights expire for a 4th round pick still = letting him walk for nothing
Yes - if it was a 4th rounder, the Wild would almost get back what it traded for one year of MAB.
- G* - in the grand scheme of things I will agree that taking a shot at $alcer is not a major factor but it is still bad form for a GM, IMHO, as is ripping players in the media whwn the Wild’s problems transcend the effort on the ice. However, I hope you will agree that if there is any question about the ability to resign Burns, Koivu or Backstrom before they become UFA, the issue is addressed before July 1 rather than at training camp.
they didn’t see that GM was going under in time to to change their business so they could survive.
Yep - that is it exactly. An I wouldn’t fire DR now if I was CL but I sure as heck would expect a return from the Where Players Want to Play™ marketing program in 2009-10.
I guess DR and Tom Lynn are gullible fools. I mean, Rolston said he wanted to stay here and he didn’t sign either.
Whatever. Players say that they want to stay because its the publicly right thing to say.
Shipley had an interesting take on the Wild/Gaborik scenario. He believes that Gaborik did convince himself and probably indicated to the Wild in the offseason that he was willing to stay. He, however, did not indicate as to why Gaborik changed his mind.
Let’s see… Ryan Smyth and a 4th rounder or Zidlicky… which do I want… let me think….
I said it before and I will say it again. JL has done a damn good job of polishing this turd of a team we have. He has done too good of a job and has masked DR’s lack of getting talent. If JL leaves, the true talent level of this team will be exposed. At that point, DR will be lucky to have a job at the end of next season. Almost every player that has been brought into our system has had career years with the wild. To me, that is a coach that can get a player to play at his highest level. So what happens when we get a coach that can’t pull the talent out of the people we have now??
So what happens when we get a coach that can’t pull the talent out of the people we have now??
Lay us down under
A frozen pond
We overpaid for Zidlicky.
I don’t know if anybody ever checks out http://www.Wild.NHL.TV but they have a Lemaire press conference from this morning on there and the tagline underneath it reads, “Jacques talks about how the PARODY in the NHL affects the players and the league”.
Perhaps they meant “parity” but after this year, maybe they truly did mean “parody”?
In negotiations, there is the public knowledge and then everything else that goes on behind the scenes in dark closets.
Gaby has the leverage right now. He would be a fool not to exercise it to get whatever he wants whatever that may be.
It is not unusual for participants in negotiations to rip on each other. Finally when something gets done, or does not get done, and the sides move forward or move apart it will simmer down.
Changes in the situation can make strange bedfellows. And, so from that point of view there is still a possibility of Gaby staying.
Salcer’s job is the get the best deal for Gaby he can possibly squeeze out of someone. I assume Salcer is on a percentage and so it is to his advantage to extract the most money possible too.
Maybe Gaby’s motivation is to drive his Porsche in the sunshine every day where there is no road salt, and there are lots of young pretty’s in bikini’s who want to be in the co-pilot seat.
DR’s job is to preserve as much Cap space as he possibly can because it gives him more flexibility to sign other guys and make more money from Leipold.
So, it is not unusual for there to be some backbiting.
Why wouldn’t it be likely for DR to be more than a little frustrated, to be paying a guy the big bucks and that guy not able to participate all year when you need goals and he has the canon?
More especially, when you need the guy’s goal production.
Why would anyone expect the GM to publicly say “my centers are dirt bags”? What purpose would that serve when you were trying to get ready for games? Does anyone thing his centers would get remarkably better if he said that?
Bottom line for the fans, we ought to want DR to win these battles because it provides the team more money to fill other holes and sign the guys like Koivu when his time comes. And, then we have a better product to follow.
With FA, it is not nearly as important for DR to get something for Gaby. He frees up Cap space if he leaves and lots of it.
With it he can buy other players so the fans will have the opportunity to find lots more fault in DR. So, the fans win too! ;~}
Why would anyone expect the GM to publicly say “my centers are dirt bags”? What purpose would that serve when you were trying to get ready for games? Does anyone thing his centers would get remarkably better if he said that?
Well he did call everyone on the team an excuse grabber and they didn’t get better or worse. However, I am glad you agree that DR failed to have adequate talent at the center spot over the past two seasons. That’s a growth post for someone born the child of the strong and Wild
With FA, it is not nearly as important for DR to get something for Gaby. He frees up Cap space if he leaves and lots of it.
It is imperative that a GM does not let an asset walk away for nothing. Just to ‘free up Cap space’ does nothing to prevent the talent drain on the organization. Besides, it’s been painfully obvious that players of Gho$t’s caliber are loathe to Play Where Players Want to Play™.
Ice, your positivity is admirable…your constant defense of Smug is really hard to understand. Sure he has done some things right…but like I said before…he is a minus GM.
If you can take 5 minutes away from hockey talk, here are two items worth your time courtesy of Michael’s counterpart, Mr. Rand.
See the story on Jim Boyer: http://blogs2.startribune.com/blogs/randball/
a hot link to the third story down on Randball. I cried. http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-shaikin-angels10-2009apr10,0,1635015.story
crackers. moderating. me.
Pleae check out Randball, the second story on Jim Boyer and the third story, a link to the LA Times article on the tradegy of the young pitcher, his father, the team. Well written.
http://blogs2.startribune.com/blogs/randball/
Mister Know it all is confused for the first time in his life
Minnesota does not need St Louis to lose tonight. St Louis can tie and the Wild cant be eliminated if they win.
St Louis has 39 wins and the Wild have 38 wins. The Wild win both of its games and they have 40…. Here is the confusion, every time I hear a media person explain the details of the Wilds playoff scenario they say St Louis needs to lose both of its games ???
Seems Mister Know it all is confused, maybe someone can shed light
You dont need to speak for my confusion GOW, as I am plenty capable of speaking for myself
Of all the people on this board M 03, it seems you are the least likely to ever write anything needing moderation.
KJ, if we ever see a Hershel Walker deal I will be on your frequency in a heartbeat. Tori Hunter left the Twins and they did not receive compensation, and they seem to be just fine.
The Wild proved that even with a young team and even without sufficient time to replace Gaby they have a life without him.
They just need to be a team and so maybe that is what DR was referring to in his comments.
It has been often said here DR ought to have known Gaby was damaged merchandise. My opinion is that in a league where every player is damaged goods nearly all of the time injuries are taken for granted and guys just play. So, the fact that Gaby went “out of order” between the time he would not sign and before he could be traded is just incredibly bad luck.
But, FA can provide replacement talent. It will not be Gaby but that is not to say they cannot find guys with a combination of skills to fit our needs.
I know this is a generalization and so not entirely fair. But, my observation has been that if people do not like DR, they tend to seize on all he says or does suspiciously. And, they read stuff into his comments that I do not read in.
And, sometimes those same people read stuff into what I write to. And, sometimes it is because my writing is ambiguous but sometimes not. So, I think some of what DR says is distorted in translation.
I do not think much of the criticism of him is fair and so I will continue to battle on that issue.
He seemed to start the Father-Son and Mother-Son Wild trips. So far as I know it was unique until the Wild took the Fathers on a road trip. To me, it was a great team building idea. They did not seem to repeat it this year and maybe with good reason.
What??? DR’s job is to preserve effing CAP SPACE? Really? Cause he could saved himself $500K to $1 million each if he signed Backstrom and Schultz earlier. Cause he surely did a horrible job with Parrish — $900K of dead-CAP SPACE-weight.
Guess he’s not doing such a good job at preserving CAP SPACE.
I just read Shipley’s version that M 03 and others did.
Probably DR has mis-read Salcer’s situation and I think if I was him I would not make that comment to the public.
So a quick during warmup note. I have been a season ticket holder since year two. I do not think I have ever seen so many people standing around the glass on the wild end. Ever. Kinda like when sid and ao were in town, but on the other end of the rink. Guess everyone wants to wave goodbye to gabby.
It would seem to be a better situation playing Nashville after a big come-from-behind win in Detroit. They might be less desperate. Hopefully, the Wild is not too tight.
Wally,
Currently the Preds, Ducks and Blues all have 88 points.
Wild have 85, with 2 games left. Best point total would be 89.
Ducks and Blues also have 2 games left. A single win by either would get them 90 points and the Wild are out, regardless of number of wins.
If some how, both Ducks and Blues only pick up 1 point in those 2 games(both going 0-1-1), I’m not sure of the tie-breaker status between the Wild, Ducks and Blues would play out.
Sure, the Wild won’t be making the playoffs, but look at the scoresheets at the end of today — these are the players that are carrying their teams when it matters. Sullivan, Bergeron, Arnott, Tkachuk? Playoff performers.
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Ruth
