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MNWild: Stark Reality in the State of Hockey. |
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I think it important to leave a history of the negative and realistic thoughts, ideas, and takes I have rattling around my brain housing group about the Minnesota Wild as an organization from the top on down before this very important season for the franchise begins. I will always own my takes that melt away and are proven to be misplaced or off the mark. I will also pat myself on the back when I get it right. Here is my savagery of the Wild before the season begins.
Beginning at the Top
In purchasing the Minnesota Wild, Wisconsin native Craig Leopold inherited a team/arena/fanbase that was born from a tooth and nail fight to return the NHL to Minnesota. The hockey community here in Minnesota was shaken to the core by Norm Green stealing away NHL hockey from their true home and no Mall of America could ever make that anything other than atrocity. Leopold has attempted to endure himself to hockey fans and has flirted with becoming arguably the polar opposite of the nasty stereotype owners of sports franchises based in MN have earned over the years. Leopold clearly is all in as an owner of an NHL franchise but he must prove capable of pushing this franchise past being just a cute small market sound bite. I think him being guilty of such a blatant double talk figure heading CBA quotes only to spend every dollar it took to bring Parise and Suter to MN shows he understands how uphill the battle is to have the Wild truly become a powerhouse in the NHL. Leopold has yet to leverage the NHL with regard to the winter classic and besides selling out the X regularly the franchise is not a year round mega media entity like the Canadian franchises which has an impact on the business. Leopold has the aspiration and follow through to continue to grow the Wild but this season needs to be the turning point to elevating the Wild’s exposure and evolution. Last year’s ending certainly derailed some of the very positive momentum that was stunted by the lockout. Leopold must be very aware that Fletcher is very invested in his second Head Coach Mike Yeo and if this team goes pear shaped drastic measure are going to be made.
Fletcher the Next Generation
In hiring the son of a legendary NHL personnel man the Wild moved on from the man that had been on the job from the first moments of the franchise. Chuck Fletcher arrived as a first time General Manager in Minnesota replacing the shrewd hardnosed Doug Reisbrough. The state of the franchise upon his arrival could be described as shambles considering how much of the future was mortgaged with failed attempts to add veterans capable of playing the Jacques Lemaire way. I think it is important to give Reisbrough as much credit for piecing together scrappy veteran laden trap defensive minded teams that competed at a high level to included making it to the Western Conference Finals. The greatest failure of the Reisbrough/Lemaire regime was drafting and developing players that later contributed at the NHL level. The greatest accomplishment thus far of Fletcher in his first stint as an NHL GM has been to rebuild the Wild’s organizational prospect pool. The elephant in the room though is whether the prospect drafted and acquired since Fletcher has been on the job can make good on their potential at the NHL level. Fletcher has decided to be patient with the development of the majority of the organizations prospects except ofcourse Brodin being the exception. The fans have been clamoring for Fletcher to start the future instead of muddling through with usual suspect veteran grinder types which has been the long standing practice. I argue that headed into the open of the 2013-14 season if the Wild doesn’t commit to keeping several of their top prospect young players on the roster, it’s a slap in the face to the fans and season ticket holders who have been sold hope in dismal season of years past. Fletcher needs to live and die with the young kids as the time to take the next step is now. Fletcher needs to move on of the bottom of the roster contracts or put guys on waivers that continue to offer little in the way of hockey production.
Shielding The Vision
The other issue plaguing my optimism heading into the 2013-14 season for the Wild is the lingering idea that Fletcher has hired two first time head coaches that have not been up to snuff. Fletcher brought Todd Richards back to MN and he won the press conference selling hockey fans a native son and young talented former gopher. Richards was praised and sold as the next big thing after his stint as an AHL coach and as an assistant with San Jose. Richards was run out of town in short order while being provided arguably some of the worst talent wise Wild teams. It was commonly believed that on the heels of Richards ouster that Fletcher would bring to MN a veteran coach with a proven track record such as Ken Hitchcock or Craig MacTavish. Fletcher instead hired his second first head coach in Mike Yeo who had coached the Wild’s AHL affiliate Houston Aeros to the Western Conference Finals just a year after they finished in last place. Yeo was a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins staff as an assistant when the team won the Stanley Cup, also this is thought to have strengthened the connection and trust Fletcher had in hiring to be the Wild head coach. The issue seems to be Fletcher in his first opportunity as a NHL general manager undertaking a full rebuild of the organization, has avoided hiring a head coach that would interfere with his vision for which players he brought to MN. To avoid hiring an experienced NHL head coach allowed Fletcher to eliminate politics and a power struggle at minimum while he was proving his abilities as the top personnel man. Yeo is likable enough and I think upon his hire and even as I write this I have wanted him to be the right guy for the job but he has yet to make his mark here in MN and could very well be on the way out should the same struggles that plagued the Wild appear again this season. If Fletcher has to fire his second head coach hire while providing Yeo with the Wild’s “Most talented team ever”-Leopold, well things could fall apart quickly between the Fletcher and Leopold.
Dump and Chase
In trying to figure out what Mike Yeo’s system entails the past two season, the term “Dump and Chase” was initially in the description used by Yeo himself attributing the Wild’s lack of puck possession talent to having to be a team that has to get the puck deep and create opportunities. Wild fans have seen this brand of hockey played long before Yeo arrived. There has occurred an evolution during Yeo’s time here in MN to which now he refuses to acknowledge the term “Dump and Chase” and bristles at the mention which at minimum should be a sign of progress to Wild fans. Now Yeo seems to be selling a new system that involves a strategy heavily dependent on puck possession. I think even optimist fans are taking a wait and see approach with Yeo and his new system. I think the most opportunity for improvement in his coaching will be for Yeo to correctly identify roles and line combinations due to the Wild having more time together in camp this season. Yeo made clear mistakes identifying player roles and line combinations once the regular season began last year and the Wild sputtered as result. Yeo basically refused to take ownership for misdiagnosing major roles for players specifically Mikael Granlund as second line center and Matt Cullen playing on a wing. Yeo seemed to refuse to make waves with Dany Heatley keeping him on the 1st line despite his skating taking a clear step back and dooming the effectiveness of the line especially in Yeo’s fore check dependent system. Yeo also was highly critical of Devin Setogucci despite it being clear there were veteran players far more deserving of time in dog house. An easy remedy to the lack of offense last season would be to provide the Wild’s young skilled forwards more ice time in the NHL instead of carrying the likes of Mike Rupp, Zenon Konpka, and similar marginal talent bottom of the roster players like has been the practice in years past. Yeo also was criticized for wilting in games where the officiating and on ice play got out of control with the Wild losing momentum. A classic example last season was the spiraling out of control game in San Jose that saw Heatley injured after the whistle ending his season. With a new season you would hope to get a clean slate as a coach I am sure but I have not forgotten how close the Wild was to missing the playoffs and how overpowered and outmatched the Wild were against many of the Western Conference’s headline making teams.
Leadership In Question
My last issue with Yeo and the Wild organization for that matter is the reality in my mind that if you have a player like Zach Parise on your team he is your captain. Parise is a player that leads with his play and player that teammates will kill themselves for on a nightly basis. The current captain Mikko Koivu is a player that that has earned his respect and can be very good on the ice but he is no longer the center of the universe for the Wild. Koivu is a player that disappears for stretches and is largely complementary in his game. I think the politics surrounding Koivu no longer being the captain of this Wild team will go unaddressed until a new coach is here or until Koivu is no longer a member of the Wild which is a shame because it seems more a burden to him. Parise is a leader for this team along with Suter whether Koivu has the “C” on his jersey or not. A lot of people thinking it is an issue of semantics and that being the captain for an NHL team is of little consequence but I just disagree. I think an issue of accountability has existed in previous years with the Wild and now should the young players be heavily involved this year there would be no better player to lead them as a player than Parise as captain.
Final Thought
So the Wild has yet to play a regular season game this year and I could see all my negativity and criticism proven to be misplaced and illegitimate which I hope proves to be the case. I want to buy in as much as everyone else but I would be remiss not to articulate these concerns as I believe they truly exist. I look forward to being challenged on the ideas I have conveyed here and I hope to spark conversation with this savagery of our favorite NHL franchise. I think any sort of regression for this Wild team means a shakeup will be in order. Wild fans and Leopold are expecting this team to compete with the best of the Western Conference anything less is a systemic failure.
Just My Thoughts,
Tony Dean
@AWKD
Minnesota Wild Blogger • 
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