Tony Dean: MNWild: Wild Battle the Ducks in Anaheim GAMEDAY

Well Fletch certainly cleaning egg off his face now with the decision to keep Dumba after his 9 games. Seems like sometimes his moves are pure genius and other times completely moronic and quite frankly asinine.

BTW, Wild will put up a good fight tonight, but I think they'll lose a tight one 3 - 2

Well Fletch certainly cleaning egg off his face now with the decision to keep Dumba after his 9 games. Seems like sometimes his moves are pure genius and other times completely moronic and quite frankly asinine.

BTW, Wild will put up a good fight tonight, but I think they'll lose a tight one 3 - 2
- MnGump

I don't think there is much egg if any with regard to Dumba, in Red Deer he was isolated as most likely their best player on a not very successful team. His returning there was never the best option for his development even if he wasn't gonna make it in the NHL. Now Dumba gets to compete in WJC and then if he doesn't return to MN go to a team in Portland that will compete at the highest level in Juniors with team mates that have NHL futures. I actually am very impressed with the evolution of options for Dumba given his inability to make an impact at NHL level this season so far.

I don't think there is much egg if any with regard to Dumba, in Red Deer he was isolated as most likely their best player on a not very successful team. His returning there was never the best option for his development even if he wasn't gonna make it in the NHL. Now Dumba gets to compete in WJC and then if he doesn't return to MN go to a team in Portland that will compete at the highest level in Juniors with team mates that have NHL futures. I actually am very impressed with the evolution of options for Dumba given his inability to make an impact at NHL level this season so far.
- Tony Dean

Well that's all fine and dandy for him but all this could have come to fruition without the need to warrant burning a year of his contract just so he could play in 4 measily games. that's pretty damn stupid if you ask me! At least from the stand point of what's best for the organization...

So I guess I'm totally confused as to why exactly we're back to primarily dump and chase again?!... That and in our own end it's get the puck and clear the zone. What happened to those effective 5 and 6 pass breakouts where they possess the puck? Now it's back to nothing but a mad scramble to simply clear the offensive zone.

The play style has regressed and those games of effective puck possession and holding opponents to low shot totals and scoring chances are but a faded memory...

Edit: thru 2; Wild 17 shots. Ducks. 25 shots

Why is Heatley on the ice in crunch time???!!!! So with about 6 seconds left he takes the puck at the blue line and chooses to lazily dump it into the corner with nary a Wild player in sight! GET THIS LAZY TIRED piece of poop out of here!!! So sick of that bumhole!

And how about the garbage officiating in this game?! Hook on Coyle, Zucker gets an elbow to the face in the low slot and Pommer gets tripped with possession of the puck... All seen and uncalled.

No wonder the Ducks haven't lost in regulation at home this season with that kind of home team advantage...

Thanks for the loss,
signed
Canucks fan

No Calls at the end there were ATROCIOUS so was Heatley embarassing.

Thanks for the loss,
signed
Canucks fan
- 4ofaKind

Nobody cares ABOUT THE Fanucks haha. All those years of smugly not claiming a rivalry with the Wild now we are on to bigger better things no time for the red-headed sister and isn't Burrows out with a broken jaw? Haha tough times for the Fanucks!

No wonder the Ducks haven't lost in regulation at home this season with that kind of home team advantage...
- MnGump

The Ducks routinely get away with murder at home.
After watching their games the last few years, the amount of obstruction etc. they do at home is mind boggling, and almost all of it is not called.

The Ducks routinely get away with murder at home.
After watching their games the last few years, the amount of obstruction etc. they do at home is mind boggling, and almost all of it is not called.
- kingcong39

Well there were some seriously blantent and obivous infractions last night that were inexplicably ignored by the officials. They had no problem calling back to back hooking penalties on Brodin though which both were borderline calls at best I thought.

I'm certainly not trying to say the Wild lost because of bad officiating, but when the bad calls, non-calls or one sided calls pile up like they did last night, it definitely doesn't help the cause.

Hoping the Sharks can turn it around tonight on a tired Wild team.

Hoping the Sharks can turn it around tonight on a tired Wild team.
- keithward

Well if Heatley is in the line up, there's advantage number one...

I think it's safe to say that the Coyle at center position experiment needs to come to an end ASAP. He's done nothing but regress after being forced into the position. Far more effective playing wing.

For God Sake:
Parise-Koivu-Coyle
Neiderriter-Haula(until Granlund comes back)-Pominville
Cooke-Brodziak-Fontaine (Zucker) or some combo of the 4
Rupp-Konopka-(Mitchell, Bulmer, Heatley) or some combo of the 5

Or make a (franken) trade!

What has happened to Backstrom. Not that I am really blaming him but he does not look like himself. Father time?

So I have to once again start questioning the ability of Mike Yeo to effectively coach at the NHL level or at the very least his ability to effectively mangage player personell.

Several players obviously struggling and having issues on the ice during games creating offense and playing team defense. But my focus right now is on Dany Heatley and Jason Zucker.

Jason Zucker seemingly always in Yeos dog house for his on-ice play every time he's brought up and given a chance with the big club. He's young, he's speedy and he's got considerable offensive potential that has yet to come to fruition but also only has a total of 32 games under his belt at the NHL level. All signs are that he appears to be trying to acclimate his style of play to how Yeo wants him to perform with the big club.

Dany Heatley seemingly seldom even acknowledged by Yeo unless he happens to contribute something positive while he's on the ice and often times lauded by Yeo just for his past achievments alone, but never in Yeos dog house even in spite of his poor play and often times pure laziness on the ice. In other words, really don't hear to many negatives from Yeo in regards to Heater, but conversely any real negatives are turned into "team" issues should the need arise to defend Dany boy.

This brings me to my point of what to me has become a glaringly apparent hypoctratic double standard with young coach Yeo.

Very quick to call out young players like Zucker (especially Zucker) when they don't perform up to Yeos standards. Verbally assaults him in the media and constantly sending him down and/or making him a healthy scratch.

Heatley could very easily be the biggest detriment to this team on and off the ice at this point yet we never hear Yeo berate him in the media, threaten to or actually send him down or scratch him. In fact most recently when asked about Dany Heatleys attrocious turnover rate he side stepped the issue during an interview by saying that it's more of a "team issue" than a Dany Heatley issue....

So just to summerize my point; High paid veteran player who is lazy and loafs around the ice, turns the puck over at an alarming rate and is the most consistent minus player on the team gets rewarded with more ice time and is seemingly allowed to operate with impunity.

Low salary and young second year player who is busting his butt trying to do what he's told and with 100% more upside than a player like Heatley at this point is constantly forced to pay the price for his shortcomings. Although making mistakes and struggling at times to acclimate to the NHL game is berated in the media, thrown under the bus and continuously sent back and forth from the AHL to NHL and even scratched in order for Yeo to get his message accross.

So if this aint the "good 'ol boy network" in play, someone please explain it to me. Also begs the question of what sort of influence the GM and ownership have in this organization. Some fans are brutally stupid, but in the case of Heatley I think even the lowest of IQ's can see what's going on yet somehow he's still on the ice every single night without as much as an eyebrow raised from anyone in management. Yet a player like Zucker is constantly under fire for every mistake even though he's still developing.

So I have to once again start questioning the ability of Mike Yeo to effectively coach at the NHL level or at the very least his ability to effectively mangage player personell.

Several players obviously struggling and having issues on the ice during games creating offense and playing team defense. But my focus right now is on Dany Heatley and Jason Zucker.

Jason Zucker seemingly always in Yeos dog house for his on-ice play every time he's brought up and given a chance with the big club. He's young, he's speedy and he's got considerable offensive potential that has yet to come to fruition but also only has a total of 32 games under his belt at the NHL level. All signs are that he appears to be trying to acclimate his style of play to how Yeo wants him to perform with the big club.

Dany Heatley seemingly seldom even acknowledged by Yeo unless he happens to contribute something positive while he's on the ice and often times lauded by Yeo just for his past achievments alone, but never in Yeos dog house even in spite of his poor play and often times pure laziness on the ice. In other words, really don't hear to many negatives from Yeo in regards to Heater, but conversely any real negatives are turned into "team" issues should the need arise to defend Dany boy.

This brings me to my point of what to me has become a glaringly apparent hypoctratic double standard with young coach Yeo.

Very quick to call out young players like Zucker (especially Zucker) when they don't perform up to Yeos standards. Verbally assaults him in the media and constantly sending him down and/or making him a healthy scratch.

Heatley could very easily be the biggest detriment to this team on and off the ice at this point yet we never hear Yeo berate him in the media, threaten to or actually send him down or scratch him. In fact most recently when asked about Dany Heatleys attrocious turnover rate he side stepped the issue during an interview by saying that it's more of a "team issue" than a Dany Heatley issue....

So just to summerize my point; High paid veteran player who is lazy and loafs around the ice, turns the puck over at an alarming rate and is the most consistent minus player on the team gets rewarded with more ice time and is seemingly allowed to operate with impunity.

Low salary and young second year player who is busting his butt trying to do what he's told and with 100% more upside than a player like Heatley at this point is constantly forced to pay the price for his shortcomings. Although making mistakes and struggling at times to acclimate to the NHL game is berated in the media, thrown under the bus and continuously sent back and forth from the AHL to NHL and even scratched in order for Yeo to get his message accross.

So if this aint the "good 'ol boy network" in play, someone please explain it to me. Also begs the question of what sort of influence the GM and ownership have in this organization. Some fans are brutally stupid, but in the case of Heatley I think even the lowest of IQ's can see what's going on yet somehow he's still on the ice every single night without as much as an eyebrow raised from anyone in management. Yet a player like Zucker is constantly under fire for every mistake even though he's still developing.
- MnGump

Let's not forget, unless I am mistaken, it is Fletcher sending Zucker down. With Yeo reccomendation I am sure.

Let's not forget, unless I am mistaken, it is Fletcher sending Zucker down. With Yeo reccomendation I am sure.
- Mersch

Well in my mind there's no doubt that Zucker is currently failing to dazzle anyone, but the point of my rant is much less about Zuck as it is about Yeo and the handling of Dany Heatley.

How can he justify lamb basting Zucker on a regular basis when the kid is still making developmental mistakes and Heatley is the grizzled veteran that makes all the same mistakes plus some because he just doesn't give a poop?! Yet Yeo continues to coddle him and deflect attention with damage control tactics.

Personally I'm getting really tired of this crap and my patience as a fan are about as short as they've been since Yeo took over. It's one thing when you can't put your finger on whats going wrong and who is to blame, but when there are painfully obvious issues right there in plain view and no one is doing a damn thing about it except justifying and deflecting then someone has to be held accountable, and I'm not referring to players. Fletcher and Yeo need to have their feet held to the fire if something doesn't change pretty damn quick...

So I have to once again start questioning the ability of Mike Yeo to effectively coach at the NHL level or at the very least his ability to effectively mangage player personell.

Several players obviously struggling and having issues on the ice during games creating offense and playing team defense. But my focus right now is on Dany Heatley and Jason Zucker.

Jason Zucker seemingly always in Yeos dog house for his on-ice play every time he's brought up and given a chance with the big club. He's young, he's speedy and he's got considerable offensive potential that has yet to come to fruition but also only has a total of 32 games under his belt at the NHL level. All signs are that he appears to be trying to acclimate his style of play to how Yeo wants him to perform with the big club.

Dany Heatley seemingly seldom even acknowledged by Yeo unless he happens to contribute something positive while he's on the ice and often times lauded by Yeo just for his past achievments alone, but never in Yeos dog house even in spite of his poor play and often times pure laziness on the ice. In other words, really don't hear to many negatives from Yeo in regards to Heater, but conversely any real negatives are turned into "team" issues should the need arise to defend Dany boy.

This brings me to my point of what to me has become a glaringly apparent hypoctratic double standard with young coach Yeo.

Very quick to call out young players like Zucker (especially Zucker) when they don't perform up to Yeos standards. Verbally assaults him in the media and constantly sending him down and/or making him a healthy scratch.

Heatley could very easily be the biggest detriment to this team on and off the ice at this point yet we never hear Yeo berate him in the media, threaten to or actually send him down or scratch him. In fact most recently when asked about Dany Heatleys attrocious turnover rate he side stepped the issue during an interview by saying that it's more of a "team issue" than a Dany Heatley issue....

So just to summerize my point; High paid veteran player who is lazy and loafs around the ice, turns the puck over at an alarming rate and is the most consistent minus player on the team gets rewarded with more ice time and is seemingly allowed to operate with impunity.

Low salary and young second year player who is busting his butt trying to do what he's told and with 100% more upside than a player like Heatley at this point is constantly forced to pay the price for his shortcomings. Although making mistakes and struggling at times to acclimate to the NHL game is berated in the media, thrown under the bus and continuously sent back and forth from the AHL to NHL and even scratched in order for Yeo to get his message accross.

So if this aint the "good 'ol boy network" in play, someone please explain it to me. Also begs the question of what sort of influence the GM and ownership have in this organization. Some fans are brutally stupid, but in the case of Heatley I think even the lowest of IQ's can see what's going on yet somehow he's still on the ice every single night without as much as an eyebrow raised from anyone in management. Yet a player like Zucker is constantly under fire for every mistake even though he's still developing.
- MnGump

I wish I knew what the story was with Heatley. There's got to be something there that we just don't know that has taken this situation in the direction it has gone.

I don't think Yeo is an incapable coach. I don't know that he's the guy to lead this team either. I think the jury is still out on that. But I also don't think he is foolish enough to think Heatley isn't a problem given his level of play. The dumbest hockey person in the world knows Heatley just doesn't have it anymore. So to suggest otherwise and try to make excuses for him is insulting and just doesn't have any logical basis to it. If Yeo really believes the bullpoop he is spewing on Heatley, then he definitely is not the right coach for this team.

I just wonder if this goes a bit beyond Fletcher and Yeo. Could it be that Leipold has told them that he will not pay Heatley $5 million to play in Iowa or not at all and they better find a way to work with him? I have no idea. They've tried just about everything with Heatley. I can understand doing that because they were stuck with the guy. They did the best they could with what they had to work with and it hasn't worked out. Guy needs to be a pretty regular scratch or just waived. Doing nothing but letting Heatley wreak havoc with the lines is just stupid. So, I hope there is something to this that isn't obvious. Because if Fletcher and Yeo think Heatley is someone they can work with, this team is in serious trouble.

this team is in serious trouble.
- Chinaski

Indeed!