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WildHBcommunity: March Madness Proving Ground for Playoffs (WildWednesday)

March 12, 2015, 11:57 AM ET [33 Comments]
Tony Dean
Minnesota Wild Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
WildHBcommunity: March Madness Proving Ground for Playoffs (WildWednesdayShow)



Let's Start out by Providing the Jeff Dubay #WildWednesdayShow Here:





The #WildWednesdayShow I believe is a great source for unfiltered ideas and opinions on the Minnesota Wild. I really hope people download and listen to the show each week because I really think that we have created content and conversation that mirrors what real hockey people are thinking and talking about. You can find it on ITunes and JeffDubayShow.com also which is all apart of the AliveandSocial Network of show.

Minnesota Wild Facing a Gauntlet of Playoff Caliber Teams to Finish March

I have said other places and I will say it here again, I truly believe that the Minnesota Wild is a special group and the depth of talent and skill of this current group is as good or better than any in the NHL.



That being said now they must prove that they are capable of beating top competition to close out March and secure their position in the Western Conference playoffs. The gauntlet stretch begins with a Friday matchup at the Excel Energy Center with the Pacific Division best Anaheim Ducks followed by a Saturday trip to St. Louis to battle the no good dirty cheating Blues.

After this weekend they get a couple days to rest before a Tuesday matchup in Nashville versus the black and blue division best Predators then a return to St. Paul for matchups with Washington Capitals and the Blues again. The Wild will finish the month versus Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Islanders, Calgary Flames, and Los Angeles Kings.

Beyond needing to gather as many points as possible to protect their position in the playoffs, this will be a great opportunity to prove their metal and gain confidence against teams that will be there at the end of the regular season ready to fight for Lord Stanley's Cup.

The Moves Made by Chuck Fletcher Haven Provided Mike Yeo with Tough Choices on the Horizon

As the Wild gets back some players that have been out of the lineup due to injury, the choices made by the bench boss will get tougher. I expect Marco Scandella and Ryan Carter to be close to returning in the next week or so which is just the first set of roster crunch dominoes to fall. Fletcher has been forced to carry 3 netminders on the roster with Devan "The Savior" Dubnyk, Darcy "The Future" Kuemper, and Niklas "The Past" Backstrom all on one way deals and currently healthy.



When Scandella is ready to go, it will mean a decision on who has to move and unfortunately I think it will come at the cost of Christian Folin being sent to the "Baby Wild in Des Moines. I could be wrong but Mathew Dumba is going so good right now and veterans Jordan Leopold and Nate Prosser would require waivers and almost certainly be claimed.

I think there is a segment of the Wild fans that would root for Prosser being the odd man out but the reality is Folin is not going to be paired with Dumba on the third consistently and the top 4 defensive pairs are locked in with Ryan Suter/Jonas Brodin and Scandella/Jared Spurgeon.

I think Yeo has finally come around on the idea that he must deploy Dumba in a specialized role and allow him to use his offensive gifts to create mismatches and scoring. So if the Top 4 is not going to included Dumba than it should mean an elevation to the top power play in my opinion.

Up front the Wild has just a log jam of talented and versatile forwards even with Jason Zucker, Matt Cooke, and Carter missing from the lineup. That is not even mentioning how well Jordan Schroeder has played since getting the opportunity to join the NHL club when Zucker broke his collar bone.

The true catalyst for supplemental secondary scoring this year has Justin Fontaine who has been tied to creating opportunity and goals on every line he has been assigned to this year which just provides more opportunity for Yeo to get it wrong rather than get it right when he is forced to decided who plays and who sits.



I really love that Yeo is empowering Nino Niederreiter pairing him up with Mikko Koivu and Chris Stewart. Thats a huge skill/size line and it is the type of line that will be able to compete against the Western Conference best in both ends of the ice. I am not sure we should expect Zucker to return before the 2nd round of the Western Conference despite positive reports about his progress so giving Nino a chance to play Top 6 before the post season.

Also just a side note but shoutout to Mark R(@mreader13) one of my guys on Twitter who coined the term "PMV" which is so smart and funny. It is a reference Pierre-Marc Bouchard's pass ONLY mentality and the evolution of Thomas Vanek's game her in Minnesota. I have been a steadfast opponent to all the Vanek hate from fans and writers here in the 'State of Hockey' this season. I think Vanek certainly has not been a top sniper goal scorer that maybe we expected when he signed but he certainly has created offense all season long. Is Vanek a floater? Sure he is but everyone knew that about him before this year.

***UPDATE***

I have been educated that 23 man roster rule expires at NHL trade deadline so above I was mistaken in thinking Folin or anyone else would have to be sent down. Instead it will just come down to Yeo's lineup decisions!

23 man roster crunch.
Healthy Right Now
13 Forwards
Parise
Koivu
Pominville
Granlund
Niederreiter
Stewart
Coyle
Vanek
Brodziak
Fontaine
Haula
Bergenheim
Schroeder

Injured but Returning
Carter
Zucker
Cooke

Healthy Right Now
7 Defensemen
Suter
Brodin
Spurgeon
Dumba
Leopold
Folin
Prosser

Injured but Returning
Scandella

Healthy Right Now
3 Goalies
Dubnyk
Kuemper
Backstrom

Buckle up WildHBcommunity its going to a fun month and half before the 1st round begins!

Please seek out the #WildWednesdayShow and share it with your friends and family because i really think we cover the hockey conversation the way fans and hockey people have been seeking out for a very long time!

Thanks for reading I truly appreciate you!


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Just My Take,
Tony Dean




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