Dan Wallace: Willd Look to Rebound In Vancouver

Like it or not, agree or disagree, Kaprizov and his camp played games and toyed with BG and the Wild brass in order to land a ridiculous deal. He needs to live up to that deal in spades, 5 games in he has not. End of discussion. Most Wild fans with any brains understand the Wild are not supposed to be a contender this season, but that doesn’t mean we don’t expect high quality hard nose hockey. Obviously they were riding high on 4 straight wins but we knew that high wouldn’t last.

Now that they can put the streak to bed, time to start getting back to basics and gel as a squad.

We are now obviously 5 and 1 and when I look at the roster I shake my head, I predicted a 7th place finish for the Wild before the season started and I stand by It, So Is It magic? Is It to early wonder? Or Is It possible that Dean Evason Is the world's greatest button pusher? As far as Kaprizov Is concerned It's entirely possible that Guerin blinked first because of his ego and or lack of experience or read to much Into last year's season, I will repeat once again what I said last summer about Kaprizov, 3 years, 15 total million and then we can go from there, I will remind some of you that I took some heat from those comments and that's cool.

Sturm the best player on the ice for the Wild. Great shutdown play in the 3rd for the Wild except for Fiala coasting allowing the breakout and a goal against. Wild competed well. Did Kaprizov win even one puck battle? He’s struggling out there. Talbot solid. Should be interesting to see how they play the Kraken. Pitlick should play over Rask again.

Easily the most solid performance by the squad to date.

Another “no show” by Kappy. And Fiala is yet again another over paid mess. Squad looked much better without Rask in the line up.

Rest of squad looked very solid tonight.

Love that you keep that chat board alive Shady, but I think you need some new material. We get it, you think the Wild actually suck and Kaprizov is overpaid.

Kaprizov will be alright. Remember, this is actually a team game, not a single player game. If that were the case, Edmonton would have won the last 4 Cups with McDavid. Glad to see a basically complete game from everyone, with only a couple of head scratching moments. The most glaring one being Fiala coasting in on a puck...not really sure what he was thinking there. Teams have targeted Kaprizov and not Fiala, so he should be happy about that. The thing is, the Wild are now 5-1 and Kaprizov is still the 2nd leading scorer on the team, with his linemate leading the team in scoring.

I get the elevation of Bjugstad to the Gaudreau/Fiala line, I think he has earned it. He is noticeably faster and more engaged this season. But I just don't see the skill set matching with the other 2. I still would prefer to see Sturm skating with those 2. Is Greenway going to be able to ever wrap it all together in a complete package? It was nice to see him literally throwing bodies around in Vancouver, but he really didn't do anything with the puck. Was Rask wearing bunny slippers in the press box? The defensive pairings have not been all that bad either. I do think all 6 have been more offensively engaged then I expected. Hope that doesn't cause problems defensively down the line.

On a different note, does anyone know what the line combinations in Iowa have been? I see Rossi has only played 2 of their 4 games. Has he gotten hurt or are they just limiting his games, trying to work him back into hockey shape. I see their Nov 5th game is $2 beer night. Too bad that is the night before deer season opening, or I might have been thinking of a road trip.

[quote=Gusrichards

Too bad that is the night before deer season opening, or I might have been thinking of a road trip.



Gus, my brother lives in Duluth and always gets a deer each season. When I was in that area, I used to hunt around the area of Cook.

Reports are that at least 2 players are going into COVID protocol for 10 days. Rau, Dewar and Lizotte have been recalled. This is worth watching. Hope it doesn’t get worse.

I know I tend to be more optimistic however getting 10 out of 12 points is pretty darn good. Soft schedule? You can only play who's on your schedule. More importantly, the points you get now will help as the season goes on. Drop games early, cannot make up much for lost points or games. As I previously stated, this looks to be a more balanced Wild team and that has been on display so far. Anyone who has played the game or been around the game understands the pressure KK has put upon himself to live up to his expectations and his contract. He'll come around. Again 5 and 1 without much production from KK, that in my opinion is good thing because when he does get going, he can carry a team.

Minny, I hunted for a few years around Cook as well. Actually, on the north side of Lake Vermillion. Wolves had run that area pretty hard now though. Now I stay closer to home, hunting just northwest of Duluth. Being in the deer stand is great, it where I can my best sleep.

This game against the Kraken should be interesting with Zuccarello and Pitlick out. We all know how Zuccarello is playing so far, but Rem didn't look out of place the other night either. Not surprised, maybe disappointed, to see that Rau was called up. Nice to see Dewar rewarded though. I wonder if there are questions about one of the three 3rd pairing dmen as well, with Lizotte coming up.

It will be games like these that will show whether Evason is a really good coach or not. Does he skate Fiala with Ek and Kap, or does he try to keep 2 real scoring lines and put someone else up on that top line?

Minny, I hunted for a few years around Cook as well. Actually, on the north side of Lake Vermillion. Wolves had run that area pretty hard now though. Now I stay closer to home, hunting just northwest of Duluth. Being in the deer stand is great, it where I can my best sleep.

This game against the Kraken should be interesting with Zuccarello and Pitlick out. We all know how Zuccarello is playing so far, but Rem didn't look out of place the other night either. Not surprised, maybe disappointed, to see that Rau was called up. Nice to see Dewar rewarded though. I wonder if there are questions about one of the three 3rd pairing dmen as well, with Lizotte coming up.

It will be games like these that will show whether Evason is a really good coach or not. Does he skate Fiala with Ek and Kap, or does he try to keep 2 real scoring lines and put someone else up on that top line?
- Gusrichards

Gus, we had a hunting shack for years in rural Cook. My brother owns about a 100 acres in Duluth but it’s kind of rural Hermantown down Sandberg Rd. A few years back he got 4 himself in a party of 4. Like you, he hunts from one of his stands on the property.

Rau is scoring in Iowa. I think bringing him up is more that he has some NHL experience so they don’t have 2 guys making their debut. Hope there are no more coming. Good luck, hope you get a deer.