WildHBcommunity: Zach Parise Named Team USA Captain While in Calgary
The Minnesota Wild Look to Extinguish the Flames in the Saddle Dome Tonight
The Minnesota Wild 29-21-6 (64 points) will battle the Calgary Flames 20-27-7 (47 points) at the Saddledome this evening looking for an important two points. The Wild enter this one on the heels of a 5-4 loss in Colorado needing to get a win tonight to protect their place in the Western Conference standings. Minnesota has gone 5-4-1 in their last 10 games and a road record of 10-14-4 on the season, meanwhile the Flames are 5-4-1 in the last 10 games and 11-14-3 on home ice this season.
Currently sitting in seventh place in the West with 64 points, the Wild are just two points behind the sixth place Los Angeles Kings and one point ahead of eighth place Vancouver. The Kings play the Flyers tonight in Los Angeles so a win tonight by the Wild could see them catch the Kings should they lose to the Flyers. The Avalanche team that just handed the Wild a loss is now nine points ahead in the fifth place spot leaving the log jam at the bottom of the playoff seeding making every point so important for the Wild going forward.
The Flames are currently in transition from the Jay Feaster regime to the current front office led by Edina native Brian Burke. I realize that Feaster ran out of real estate in Calgary as his veteran core got old and his prospect pipeline dried up but in his last couple moves as the top personnel guy I liked the young players he added to the organization. The Flames organization was prospect bankrupt not unlike the Wild in the wake of Risebrough's ouster, added
Sean Monahan,
Ben Hanowski, Kenny Agostino, Morgan Klimchuk, Corban Knight, Joe Colbourne,
Karri Ramo, and
Reto Berra.
Sure the Flames will be moving pieces around especially given that Burke is going to put his finger prints all over this roster but this team literally had
Sven Baertschi and
T.J. Brodie as the only prospects close to contributing and John Gaudreau as their highly regarded breakout prospect but content to return for junior year at Boston College.
Zach Parise Named Captain of Team USA
There was little doubt in my mind that Team USA would select Parise to lead them in Sochi despite other qualified candidates. Having the pleasure of watching Parise play in a Wild sweater for 80+ games now in the last two seasons, there is zero doubt in my mind that he was the best choice to lead. I refer to Parise affectionately as a top tier talent grinder skill set, which is to say that I believe him to be the hardest working superstar in all of sports.
Parise is a gifted athlete for sure but he works harder than any hockey player I have seen in a Wild jersey from top line superstar to fourth line energy guys on a nightly basis. Parise's energy and effort is infectious and he earns the right by the example he sets to hold his team mates accountable. Parise is leadership by example personified.
Ryan Suter was named as an assistant captain which comes as no surprise to me either as he is just such a stabilizing presence and seems to never leave the ice. Parise and Suter choose to pair up in signing identical deals in free agency here with the Wild and they will be tied together in Olympic competition for years to come assuming the NHL continues to allow players to participate. Suter and Parise beyond their statistics have shown their worth since coming to Minnesota and will put their intangibles on display on the international stage.
Yeo's Insistence On Proving a Point With Jason Zucker Hurting the Wild
There is just no reasonable explanation for a lineup that includes
Mike Rupp with Jason Zucker as a healthy scratch for four games while every point is needed for survival in the Western Conference playoff picture. Yeo's fatal flaw has been a lack of accountability and actions with underachieving veterans. Yeo has completely avoided taking appropriate measure to hold
Dany Heatley accountable all season. Heatley's effort and attitude should have warranted him being out of the lineup but instead Yeo has elevated him at the cost of players like Zucker,
Nino Niederreiter, and
Justin Fontaine.
Zucker is getting a raw deal being the poster child for Yeo taking a hard line stance not unlike a player with a similar scorer's mentality and offensive gifts last season Devin Setogucci. To begin last season
Mikael Granlund (who has been outstanding this year) was terrible and out of his depth trying to center the second line. Yeo also had tabbed
Matt Cullen to play left wing on the second line to begin last year which was a complete disaster.
Cullen was not strong enough to play on the wing and because Granlund was shellshocked the second line was putrid. So who does Yeo choose to take issue with for the 2nd line's failure to produce? You guessed it: Setogucci goes to the press box and the fourth line.
Sure Setogucci had his flaws but he was most definitely not the issue and he in my opinion had elevated his play adding more physical play and effort.
Zucker and Setogucci are similar in my mind because of their skill sets and scorer's mentality with the puck. Neither players is ever going to be a two way forward but both add more offensively than most players in the Wild lineup. Zucker's assets are being squandered in my opinion trying to make him into a player he is not. Instead of playing the game of yo-yo that has been common place with Yeo, maybe put him on a line with
Mikko Koivu and
Charlie Coyle once both are in the lineup to balance it out. Zucker should be empowered by Yeo as his speed and aggressiveness is exactly what the team has been missing and craves. Yeo is quickly coaching himself out of a job elevating Heatley into the top six and if he continues to do so once Koivu returns, he should be fired.
Just My Take,
Tony Dean
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