WildHBcommunity: Same Old Song & Dance for Yeo led Wild
Minnesota Wild Vs Winnipeg Jets Gameday Edition Fresh from the newly instituted Holiday Hiatus courtesy of the new NHL collective bargaining agreement, the Minnesota Wild 20 - 14 - 5 (45 points) will take the ice tonight for a matchup with their rivals the Winnipeg Jets 16 - 18 - 5 (37 points) at the MTS Centre tonight. The Wild has gone 4 - 6 – 0 in their last 10 games and an overall road record of 6 - 11 – 3. The Jets are 3 - 6 – 1 in their last 10 games with a home record this season of 8 - 8 – 4.
The Jets Looking for Rare Success Tonight Against Arch Enemy Wild This Winnipeg Jets team that will square off against the Wild tonight has been involved in 22 one goal games this season, 2nd most in the NHL this year. The Jets have been finding most of their success scoring wise on their power play with goals on the man advantage in each of their last 3 games and 9 goals in their last 8 games dating back to December 10th. These two teams will have their 4th meeting of the season tonight, the previous three having all been 1 goal victories for the Wild including a shootout lose in the last matchup on November 23rd in Winnipeg.
The Jets lean heavily on their core of young veterans to power their efforts, that group is composed of Bryan Little, Dustin Byfuglien, Blake Wheeler, and Andrew Ladd. Little has been the Jets top point producer this year with 14 goals and 32 points on the season. In the month of December, Minnesota native Jets winger Wheeler has been on fire with 7 goals in 11 games. Also the contributions of 20 year old Mark Scheifele 3 goals and 5 assists in a six game stretch have all been positives for the Jets this season.
The Jets have the feel of an organization still struggling for an identity, something Wild fans know something about. It appears as though the Jets are cultivating their young core through recent drafts that should prove fruitful in the next 3 years. In particular Scheifele and Jacob Trouba should be featured very heavily as soon as the end of this season by the Jets. Trouba returned from injury in near the end of November and his playing time and role with the team should increase as the season goes on.
The elephant in the room for the Jets has to be what direction the organization will move on superstar winger Evander Kane. The talent and skill set of Kane is undeniable but he is a young man that just has been able to find his comfort zone with the Jets or at the NHL level. Kane unfortunately is exposed in Winnipeg rather than insulated because of his star potential, possibly a change of scenery to an organization with other established leadership/star players would allow Kane to flourish on his own terms. The relationship between the Jets and Kane seems tenuous and I think the potential for what their future holds together is a very boom or bust proposition. I am interested to see the evolution of it for both Kane and the Jets.
Same Old Song & Dance for Yeo led Wild With the news that Minnesota Wild winger Zach Parise will again be held out of the lineup tonight, the natural reaction for me was to read probably way too much into the timing of it. Immediately I wondered if Parise should have been out of the lineup to protect it in the games after it happened. I also wonder if the current slide and state of affairs for the team created an internal conversation in which it was decided to shut it done because it is not realistic to think this team can compete in the Western Conference this year.
There is no doubt in my mind Parise kills himself every game for his team and his team mates so there is no doubting his will to compete from me. The possibility he aggravated the injury is definitely possible and also it is very accurate that Parise was directly affected by the injury with diminished production and effectiveness since returning to the lineup. The timing of being shut done, sure casts a shadow on a very pivotal portion of the schedule for this Wild squad. It sure feels like another Yeo led December collapse for the Wild in 2013.
I think it is completely fair to declare a state of emergency for the Wild’s 2013-14 season at this point. To make matters worse it seems the combination Yeo and general manager Chuck Fletcher have collaborated to address the Wild’s need for action with a combination move to elevate Dany Heatley from the 4th line and promoting veteran winger Stephane Veilleux from Iowa. If that is not some classic same old song & dance reasoning from this Wild leadership group, I am not sure what is.
The ship has sailed this year for Heatley to be capable or willing of contributing any sort of well rounded effort and energy for the Wild. Heatley has made it clear through his actions and attitude he is more than ready to move on from the Wild. Heatley has shown he is going to use his ice time to float near the top of the zone in the defensive end no matter his assignment or the needs of the team. Heatley’s diminished skating ability and puck handle has meant turning over the puck more often than any other Wild player in all three zones. Point blank Heatley’s only contributions to the team this year have been almost entirely meaningless goals.
I saw that Michael Russo of the Star Tribune was bold enough to directly address the call up of Veilleux instead of any of the other young skilled forwards with Fletcher today after practice. Russo stated he did so already believing he knew what the answer would be. What I have noticed to be true during my time following the Wild organization, is when Russo commits to criticism or critical takes in print he does so confidently that its past the point of no return. Sure maybe the Wild gets back on the rails here in the next 10 games but the outlook at this point with this lineup and this coaching direction sure doesn’t inspire me much.
Fletcher stated today that Jason Zucker, Erik Haula, and Brett Bulmer all need consistency in the AHL. He further went on that it is unfair to them to bounce them between the NHL and Iowa. I suppose I could get on board with that if the Wild was solid throughout their four NHL lines with players performing as well or better than any of those three youngsters right now. It is pretty obvious in my mind though that is not the case and the Wild’s season is in jeopardy as result.
Yeo is definitely coaching for his job but he seems to have zero sense of urgency to break from what has become a broken system and mentality for the Wild. In the end this season I expect Yeo to fall on the sword when/if the Wild miss the playoffs. Yeo’s handling for roles and line combinations has again plagued the Wild this season which should prove to be the fatal flaw of his first NHL head coaching opportunity. Sorry to be bleak but hard not to see the writing on the wall despite it only being the December.
Individual Leaders Minnesota Wild Winnipeg Jets Points: Z. PARISE (27),M. KOIVU (27),J. POMINVILLE (26) B. LITTLE (32),B. WHEELER (27),D. BYFUGLIEN (27) Goals: J. POMINVILLE (17),Z. PARISE (15),D. HEATLEY (7) B. LITTLE (14),B. WHEELER (12),E. KANE (10) Assists: R. SUTER (22),M. KOIVU (20),Z. PARISE (12) D. BYFUGLIEN (21),B. LITTLE (18),A. LADD (16) PP Goals: Z. PARISE (8),J. POMINVILLE (5),D. HEATLEY (3) B. WHEELER (5),D. BYFUGLIEN (4),B. LITTLE (3) SH Goals: Z. PARISE (1) B. LITTLE (2) GW Goals: J. POMINVILLE (4),M. KOIVU (3),M. COOKE (2) E. KANE (3),D. SETOGUCHI (2),O. JOKINEN (1) 3+ Goals: PIM: Z. KONOPKA (55),C. STONER (35),K. BALLARD (29) D. BYFUGLIEN (42),E. KANE (39),A. LADD (38) Shots: Z. PARISE (144),J. POMINVILLE (106),M. KOIVU (87) D. BYFUGLIEN (134),E. KANE (132),B. WHEELER (116) +/-: N. NIEDERREITER (+7),M. COOKE (+5),M. SCANDELLA (+5) Z. BOGOSIAN (+7),A. LADD (+4),D. SETOGUCHI (+4)
ALL-TIME WILD RECORD: 9-3-3 (5-1-2 at Xcel Energy Center, 4-2-1 at Winnipeg) 2013-14: The Wild has won the first three meetings this season…Minnesota has earned two victories at Xcel Energy Center, 2-1 (10/10) and 2-1 (11/17) and won the last meeting in a shootout, 3-2, at MTS Centre (11/23)…C Mikko Koivu (2-1=3) and LW Zach Parise (1-2=3) lead the Wild with three points each…G Josh Harding is 2-0-0 with a 1.00 GAA and a .946 SV% in two starts…G Niklas Backstrom won the last meeting stopping 37-of-39 shots faced…D Dustin Byfuglien, RW Michael Frolik, RW Matt Halischuk and C Bryan Little have tallied a goal and an assist apiece to lead the Jets…G Ondrej Pavelec is 0-2-1 with a 1.97 GAA and a .933 SV% in three starts this season. WILD LEADERS: Parise has 26 points (13-13=26) in 27 games against Winnipeg...RW Jason Pominville has 23 points (11- 12=23) in 30 contests...LW Dany Heatley has 21 points (10- 11=21) in 23 contests. WILD GOALIES: Backstrom is 2-3-2 with a 2.64 GAA and a .906 SV% in seven starts against the Jets...Harding is 2-0-0 with a 1.00 GAA and a .946 SV% in two career starts.
JETS LEADERS: Byfuglien has 16 points (4-12=16) in 20 games against the Wild...C Olli Jokinen owns 15 points (8- 7=15) in 31 games...Frolik has seven points (3-4=7) in 13 games and LW Andrew Ladd owns seven points (2-5=7) in 16 contests. JETS GOALIES: Pavelec is 2-2-1 with a 1.58 GAA and a .949 SV% in five starts...G Al Montoya is 3-0-0 with a 0.97 GAA and a .961 SV% in three starts. CONNECTIONS: Heatley was drafted second overall in 2000 by Atlanta and skated three seasons with the Thrashers... Byfuglien is a native of Minneapolis...LW Devin Setoguchi collected 63 points (32-31=63) in 117 games with Minnesota (2011-13)...He was traded to Winnipeg for a 2014 second-round pick (7/5/13)...D Mark Stuart is from Rochester... RW Blake Wheeler hails from Robbinsdale and went to the University of Minnesota (2005-08). FAST FACT: St. Paul and Winnipeg are located 391 miles from each other, making the Jets the Wild’s closest rival... The Minnesota North Stars went 26-20-3 versus the Jets from 1979-1993.
Just My Take, Tony Dean @TonyDean1204