WildHBcommunity: Long Island Let Down Would Be Disaster for Yeo's Struggling Wild
The Minnesota Wild Seek to Get Back on Track Versus New York Islanders Tonight
The Minnesota Wild (35-23-10 (80 points), 7th in Western Conference, 4th in Central Division) will matchup tonight with the New York Islanders (26-34-9 (61 points), 14th in Eastern Conference, 8th in Metropolitan Division) at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Beyond being the return to Long Island for Matthew Moulson and Nino "KnightRider" Niederreiter, tonight has evolved into a much more important game for the Wild as they look to right the ship after suffering 5 losses in their last 6 games. The Islanders have a home record of 16-17-1 this season while the Wild have raod record of 12-16-5 on the year.
Wild Head Coach Mike Yeo Making Adjustments To Lineup Not Producing
I have been a vocal supporter of Jason Zucker dating back to last year despite all the condescending naysayers who just laughed off the idea that his underutilization and lack of equitable opportunity was an indictment of Wild head coach Mike Yeo. I will never make Zucker out to be a complete player by any means but not taking advantage of his abilities to generate his own shot with speed and a scorer mentality has always been a short coming in my mind of Yeo.
Plenty of my fellow bloggers/writers/super geniuses laughed it off and parrot'd the same train thought that calling the decision to pull Zucker from the lineup and chastise him while other veteran players were underachieving, was just Wild fans being crazy or not knowing anything about hockey. Well I got my popcorn ready for all those same bloggers/writers/super geniuses to try and keep it together today while dealing with Yeo's decision that the remedy to his lineup will be to healthy scratch Erik Haula bring back Cody McCormick while moving Charlie Coyle back to the center position! Just wait for it too, bet that we see an elevation for Dany Heatley from 4th line as well.
This is nothing new, lets rewind back to last year when Yeo started out the year with Dany Heatley on the top line for far too long refusing to acknowledge reality. Or maybe this will remind us of how the second line was a mess and instead of identifying that Mikael Granlund was not up to the task of playing second line center or that Matt Cullen was failing to gain any traction on the wing, Yeo demoted and called out Devin Setogucci.
Haula being out of the lineup tonight just compounds what has been apparent to me. Yeo's team requires major intervention and directives on roles and assignments to which he will take the past of least resistance which is safe minimal action. This is not a new issue, it is the same issue that plagued the team last year. Wonder when the last time a Yeo team suffered a late season collapse was? Oh yeah last season under nearly the same set of circumstances.
I think if Haula was not scratched tonight, the Yeo apologists would be able weasel out of reality that he avoids confrontation and decisive action with players other than young players. Just look at the Star Tribune story about Heatley from yesterday. Yeo wants Heatley to demand a greater role? In reality it should be the Wild fan base demanding Heatley spends enough time in the press box for the rest of the team to be able to buy into an idea that there exists accountability for every player on the roster and the coaching staff will follow through should anyone not display effort or ability to fulfill the role they are assigned.
Sure young goaltender Darcy Kuemper was unbelievable during crazy January and February, also this team has faced some of the best opposing netminders in the entire NHL but here we are another late season collapse looks like it is looming. Anyone not wondering when it becomes time for Yeo to act with a sense of urgency is already hedging for the let down.
How about this idea, Haula centering the 2nd line with Moulson and Niederreiter which would then make the 3rd line Justin Fontaine, Mikko Koivu, and Charlie Coyle. The 4th line could then be fully bogged down with Cooke, Kyle Brodziak, and Cody McCormick/Heatley. This alignment allows you the opportunity to interchange Cooke and Fontaine while limiting three players who have been doing more harm than good in Heatley, Brodziak, and McCormick. I am sure somewhere deep down Yeo wants to find a way to put Mike Rupp back in the lineup just to prove some sort of point to someone somewhere.
Mike Yeo After Loss in Boston
Harsh sure it is, frustrated sure I am. Shouldnt we all feel a certain way about this? Or is it just a bad bounce thing?
Individual Leaders Minnesota Wild New York Islanders Points: J. POMINVILLE (48),Z. PARISE (44),M. MOULSON (40) K. OKPOSO (69),J. TAVARES (66),F. NIELSEN (49) Goals: J. POMINVILLE (26),Z. PARISE (23),M. MOULSON (18) K. OKPOSO (27),J. TAVARES (24),F. NIELSEN (22) Assists: R. SUTER (31),M. GRANLUND (30),M. KOIVU (29) K. OKPOSO (42),J. TAVARES (42),F. NIELSEN (27) PP Goals: Z. PARISE (12),M. MOULSON (8),J. POMINVILLE (5) J. TAVARES (8),K. OKPOSO (5),F. NIELSEN (4) SH Goals: M. COOKE (1),Z. PARISE (1),E. HAULA (1) C. CLUTTERBUCK (3),M. GRABNER (3),F. NIELSEN (2) GW Goals: J. POMINVILLE (5),Z. PARISE (5),M. COOKE (3) K. OKPOSO (4),J. TAVARES (4),M. GRABNER (2) 3+ Goals: R. SUTER(1),J. FONTAINE(1) J. TAVARES(1) PIM: C. STONER (78),M. COOKE (52),C. MCCORMICK (45) M. CARKNER (108),E. BOULTON (88),M. MARTIN (86) Shots: Z. PARISE (201),J. POMINVILLE (191),M. MOULSON (151) J. TAVARES (188),K. OKPOSO (185),C. CLUTTERBUCK (144) +/-: M. SCANDELLA (+11),N. NIEDERREITER (+10),E. HAULA (+9) T. HICKEY (+6),A. LEE (+5),R. MARTINEK (+4)
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Just My Take, Tony Dean
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