WildHBcommunity:MNWild Stars in Saint Paul Tonight in Battle of Central Division Squads
The Connection to NorthStars is Fading in State of Hockey as Wild Flourish NOW
I am a member of the last generation to grow up heading down to the Met Center to watch the likes of Mike Modano, Ulf Dahlen, Mark Tinordi, Derian Hatcher, and Jon Casey take the ice to battle in the green and gold jerseys. I remember every single game of the heart breaking 1991 Stanley Cup Finals including the 8-0 devastating series clinching game.
I feel it has been beaten to death here with all the Norm Green Sucks tee shirts and hatred towards the Dallas Stars so I wont expound on it any longer. The interesting thing for both of these franchises currently is that both have been taken over by new ownership and general managers who have amassed a ton of young talent with which to supplement talented veteran cores.
In the Central Division I believe the Wild and Stars were completely overlooked for the trio of Blackhawks, Blues, and Avalanche before the 2014-15 NHL season began by all of the national media and prediction dealing experts. I venture to guess the Stars fans like Wild fans were completely fine being overlooked because being underestimated is a position of advantage for each of these squads.
Things to Know About the Stars
This duo above Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin are the most dangerous in the Western Conference and maybe the NHL. Certainly everyone can argue which individual player is the best based upon a wide range of justifications and arguments but these two talented forwards are the best two players on a line together every shift right now in my opinion.
The Stars (4-2-4) lost 2-1 in overtime to Anaheim Friday at American Airlines Center. Up front for the Stars they added Jason Spezza and Ales Hemsky this offseason to solidify their Top 6 forwards behind Seguin and Benn allowing for some versatility and fluidity plugging in young players on both top lines with their duo anchors. What has been occurring to begin the season though possibly due to the absence on young right winger Valeri Nichushkin, is that Spezza has been centering Benn and Seguin on the top line.
On the back end for Dallas they have a solid top 4 defensive pairings even missing veteran defender Sergei Gonchar to injury. Older brother of the Stars franchise player, Jordie Benn has been paired with Brenden Dillon. The other top pairing is veterans Trevor Daly and Alex Goligoski the former Gopher defensmen. The bottom pair has been huge 21 year old 6'7" Jamie Oleksiak with Kevin Connauton.
The Stars have a very talented netminder who is former 2nd overall selection in the 2002 NHL draft Kari Lehtonen. The Finnish goalie has found his comfort zone in Dallas after beginning his career with the Atlanta Thrashers. The backup to Lehtonen is the huge 6'6" former Nashville Predator netminder Anders Lindback who has struggled this year.
Things to Know About the Wild
Minnesota Wild Head Coach Mike Yeo shuffled lines ahead of the team's Thursday meeting with the San Jose Sharks which lit a fire under Mikko Koivu. I was out of mind impressed with how Kaptain Koivu played against the Sharks, to which he explained playing with the speed of Jason Zucker and Charlie Coyle was a huge motivator for him. Instead of banging my head on the closest available object(SEE EVERY FREE JASON ZUCKER PIECE I HAVE WRITTEN IN LAST 2 YEARS) I instead just appreciated what had just occurred.
Seeing the Papa Bear Finn pivot have 9 shots on goal and score on a play that had him using his frame to crash the paint was an unbelievable sight given how his offense has been so stagnate to begin this season. Koivu has often played the role of primary distributor with the puck on his stick in the offensive zone but I hope after Thursday he can see that his size is needed to get in the dirty areas and generate some scoring. Coyle and Zucker have worked their tails off this year in both zones making them excellent fits with Koivu who is a premier two-way center in the NHL.
The very interesting thing about a Zucker/Koivu/Coyle line being together long term is it opens the door for a Erik Haula centered line with Thomas Vanek and Nino Niederreiter on the wings which I LOVE LOVE LOVE. Yeo mentioned that for tonight at least if Haula is back from a possible concussion because of a hit to his head by Jon Moore, he may begin on the fourth line with Ryan Carter and Justin Fontaine. I think Haula can play anywhere in this lineup and make and impact so starting him out slow with limited minutes is fine by me. PLUS Wild Sniper Kyle Brodziak is on FIRE right now! haha sorry!
The Wild lost Jared Spurgeon to a shoulder injury because of a Joe Pavelski check on Thursday. Spurgeon had truly picked up where he left off last season playing huge minutes in both ends for this team. His absence will create a butterfly effect throughout the Wild's defensive pairings. It looks like Jonas Brodin will return tonight although it is not guaranteed. Assuming Brodin is back he will pair with Ryan Suter, leaving Marco Scandella to team with either Nate Prosser or Mathew Dumba. The other bit of good news for the Wild is the return from illness of Christian Folin. In Folin the Wild adds so much needed size to the blue line in a player that is skilled enough to contribute to the hockey game as well.
The Wild called up Jon Blum and sent Justin Falk back to Iowa of the AHL today while also activation Folin from the injured reserve and placing Spurgeon on it. The way it sounds right now on Spurgeon, he will miss multiple games which is a tough given how strong he started and how many different roles he was playing for the team. Point blank this is the best opportunity to elevate his game and earn a bigger role that Dumba has been presented with in his young professional career. I have been banging the table for Dumba to get time on the powerplay and be more aggressive with the puck on his stick. With Spurgeon out of the lineup their will be a void of offense from the blue line that will need to be addressed by Yeo.
Darcy Kuemper made some very big saves in the 3rd period of the shootout win versus the Sharks on Thursday. This kid is best when he is aggressive at the top of his crease and during the shootout he gave up a goal in the first round then closed the door on San Jose. It is easy to say that Kuemper can be a basket case at times without truly acknowledging this is a kid that has yet to get a full season of NHL duties under his belt. Sure he has given up some goals you would think were no-brainer saves but he has been a strength not a weakness for this squad so far this year.
Out tonight with injuries for the Wild: D Jared Spurgeon (shoulder), D Keith Ballard (illness) and LW Matt Cooke (lower body) are out.
UPDATE: Ryan Carter is injured and out tonight via Russo! He also said Jon Blum in only if Brodin does not play.
My guess then is this for Wild lines:
Parise/Granlund/Pominville Zucker/Koivu/Coyle Vanek/Haula/Niederreiter Veilluex/Brodziak/Fontaine
Suter/Brodin Scandella/Dumba Prosser/Folin
Kuemper Backstrom
WildWednesday on Jeff Dubay Show:
Series Notes*This is the first of five meetings between the Stars and Wild this season.
*The Stars were 2-1-1 (5 points) vs. Minnesota last season.
*The Wild were 2-2-0 (4 points) vs. Dallas last season.
*The Stars are 32-15-4 all-time vs. Minnesota.
Statistical tidbits
*The Wild are 4-0-0 at home.
*The Stars are 3-2-0 on the road.
*The Stars are 1-4 in games settled beyond regulation.
*The Wild are 1-0 in games settled beyond regulation.
*The Stars are 4-9-1 in the second end of back-to-back games over the past two seasons.
*Minnesota allows a league-low 23.2 shots per game.
*The Wild are tied for tied in the league in goals against at 1.89 per game.
*The Wild have yet to score a power play goal this season. They are 0-27 with the man-advantage.
*Tyler Seguin leads the Stars in goals (7) and points (15).
*Jason Zucker leads the Wild with 5 goals.
*Zach Parise leads the Wild with 8 points.
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— Tony Dean (MNWild) (@TonyDeanHB) November 1, 2014Just My Take, Tony Dean
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