Grading the Minnesota Wild's Defensemen And Goalies

We're halfway through the 2013 NHL regular season, and the Wild find themselves in the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. With half the season left, can the Wild hang onto a Playoff berth? Or, will they suffer another late-season swoon that causes them to miss the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season? 

One way or another the answer to those questions figures to lie in the play of the club's defensemen and goaltenders down the stretch. With the Wild still struggling to produce consistent offense, their defense has been the major catalyst for their success throughout much of the season. And their  defense will be the reason they either make or miss the playoffs, because this club is not going to turn into a goal scoring juggernaut overnight.

So, what better time than the season's mid-way point to hand out grades to the Minnesota Wild's defensemen and goaltenders.

Handing out Grades to the Minnesota Wild: Part 1- Forwards

Amazingly, the Minnesota Wild has already played 16 games so far this season, which represents one-third of their schedule for this season. Due to the compressed schedule, this season has flown by rather quickly. With eight wins, six losses and two overtime/shootout losses, the Wild find themselves tied for seventh place in the NHL's Western Conference standings.

The Wild have had an up-and-down season to say the least. They continue to have trouble scoring goals. And they have yet to play a truly complete 60-minute game were they are firing on all cylinders. Despite all of that the Wild would find themselves in the Playoffs if they began today.

**The following grades are based on the first 16 games of the season**

Minnesota Wild: Week In Review- Analyzing the Minnesota Wild's first week of play

Well, we're five games into the Minnesota Wild's season, and the results so far have been mediocre at best. The team's record sits at 2-2-1, which is OK. The problem is, they have just one point in their past three contests( two regulation losses, and an overtime loss to St. Louis). So, panic is beginning to set in here in Minnesota. With that said, let's get to three observations and some quick hits I have about the Wild after the first week of the season.

Wild vs Stars Recap- Harding Shines

--Reviewing the Minnesota Wild's 1-0 victory over the Dallas Stars --

The Minnesota Wild, led by goaltender Josh Harding and forward Zach Parise, shut out the Dallas Stars 1-0 on Sunday night. This victory was especially sweet for Harding, as this marked his first NHL game since being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. The fact that he was able to shut out the Stars, while playing in his first game with the disease, is a remarkable story and accomplishment.

Minnesota Wild vs Colorado Avalanche- Live Blog/Diary

Pre-Game:

• 8:00 PM- Finally, the wait is over. After being locked out for over four months the puck is finally about to drop on the 2012/2013 Minnesota Wild season. Now that the puck is about to drop, all of the lockout garbage is rendered moot. Yes, it was a terrible ordeal for the sport. But, the game is back. And instead of bitching about the lockout, hockey fans can now bitch about their team. Which, in all honesty, is exactly what was wanted all along. Anyway, the following is a live blog/diary of the Minnesota Wild VS Colorado Avalanche game. (That was the last reference to the lockout in this post, I swear.)

Analyzing the Minnesota Wild's 2013 Schedule

• For a look at the entire Minnesota Wild schedule:http://shagsonsports.blogspot.com/2013minnesota-wild-schedule.html 
• The Minnesota Wild open the season with three straight home games, and six of their first eight games are at home. This is the perfect opportunity to pick up some early points, while at the same time gaining an idea of how to play with each other(#hockey porn) on the ice. As mentioned before, I expect the Wild to struggle just a bit to start the season, due to all the new pieces joining the team, and so little time to prepare for the season. But to open with three consecutive home games is more than the Wild could have hoped for. Now it is up to the team to take advantage of the schedule and produce some wins early in the season. They will need them as the season unfolds. 

Minnesota Wild Season Preview Part 2: Q&A TIme

Minnesota-Wild-2013-season-preview-part1
For part one click on the link above.

By the time the puck drops on the Minnesota Wild season, January 19th, it will have been over eight long months since they last took the ice in an NHL contest. A lot has happened since the Wild lost 4-1 to the Phoenix Coyotes on April 7, 2012; Zach Parise and Ryan Suter signed with the club as free agents; the NHL lockout (remember that?) robbed the team of half its games; team owner, Craig Leipold,-reportedly a hawk during the lockout- was involved in a shouting match with free agent defenseman Chris Campoli during the intense labor negotiations; elite prospect Mikael Granlund made his long-awaited North American pro debut; and, last but not least, goaltender Josh Harding was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. With that said, let's get to the second part of the 2013 Minnesota Wild season preview, and answer some questions.

Minnesota Wild 2013 Season Preview Part 1: Line Combinations and Defensive Pairings

2013 Minnesota Wild Preview Part 1: Line Combinations and Defensive Pairings

The Wild enter the abbreviated 2013 season with high expectations; thanks to the free agent signings of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter and the arrival of star prospect, Mikael Granlund. Will the team meet these expectations?  Will they succumb to the pressure and fail to produce the expected results? What will the lines look like? What prospects will make the team out of training camp? Can the Wild win the Northwest Division? Those are just a few of the many questions surrounding the Wild this season. Let's try to answer some of those questions.

5 Predictions for the Minnesota Wild in 2013- Plus Bonus Predictions

The following predictions are based on my belief that there will be an NHL season in 2013. The NHL and NHLPA can't possibly be dumb enough to lose another full season, right? RIGHT? Especially, when they are so close on so many issues. Both sides know that losing another full season would irrevocably damage the game and it's popularity; causing each side to lose money and sponsors. Plus, it would create a smaller revenue stream in the future. And if there's one thing we know the NHL and NHLPA can agree on: it's the fact that both sides like making as much money as possible. With all that said, let's get to the predictions.

The 2012 NHL Lockout- Greed, Ego, and Stupidity

As the NHL lockout continues to drag on, it gets harder and harder to comprehend how greedy, moronic, shameful and egotistical both the Players Association (NHLPA) and the Board of Governors (NHL Owners)have acted, throughout it all. After last Thursday's charade, the damage both sides are doing to the league and the sport of hockey is palpable.

NHL Lockout Ramblings

Here are some stream of consciousness NHL lockout ramblings:

Ramblings

Vikings Thoughts-
Adrian Peterson is practicing with the Vikings again.............This guy is a beast.........He tore two ligaments in his knee just 8 months ago.............And he is already back.............Filthy........

random thoughts

 Twins Thoughts:
The Minnesota Twins continue to lose baseball games at an alarming rate. This week it's the bullpen that can not get the job done....This team needs to trade away Liriano, Willingham, Span, Morneau, and anybody else on the team that will fetch prospects....The Twins are a good 3-4 years away from competing again.......Now is the time to bottom out and acquire prospects, who will hopefully blossom into integral parts of the next competitive Twins era............Bottoming out, will also allow young players, such as: Aaron Hicks, Joe Benson, and Chris Parmelee to play in the big leagues.....There is no better time than now to see if these guys can contribute at the major league level........What do the Twins have to lose? Besides more baseball games.

Minnesota Wild 2012-13 Updated Depth chart

This is an updated Minnesota Wild depth chart for the 2012-2013 season. I Still can not believe the Wild have Zach Parise, and Ryan Suter. Those two players alone, give the Wild so much more depth than they had all of last season.  Add on the Torrey Mitchell, and Zenon Konopka signings, and this team has more talent and depth then they have ever had.

Wild signs Parise, Suter

  


What a coup. Signing Zach Parise, and Ryan Suter instantly transforms the Minnesota Wild into one of the NHL's highest profile teams. And makes the Franchise relevant.  Having those two players aboard; guarantees a Winter Classic will be held in Minnesota in the next two years, it guarantees the Wild will be a featured team on NBC; and most importantly it guarantees the Wild will be successful, relevant, and important for at least the next decade. Even if you do not like hockey, you have to be impressed by what this team did yesterday. Never before, has a Minnesota sports team pulled off anything like this.

Minnesota Wild/NHL Comprehensive Free Agency Preview

NHL Free-Agency is just two days away. The start of free-agency, will mark the beginning of the biggest and most important off-season in Minnesota Wild history. This team has missed the playoffs in each of the previous four seasons. Wild fans, are growing restless and want to watch a winning team. In fact, the Wild is playing to 1/3 empty buildings nowadays. This is a franchise, that once sold out every single game for the first ten years of its existence.

5 Thoughts on a variety of Sports Subjects

 

5 Thoughts on a Variety of Sports Subjects

1. Pavel Bure Makes the Hockey Hall of Fame-

This is long overdue, as Bure definitely deserved to be a first ballot Hall of Famer.  Bure scored 437

MInnesota Wild Draft Preview and Trade Preview

The NHL Entry Draft takes place tomorrow night in Pittsburgh. The Wild hold the seventh overall pick in the draft. General Manager, Chuck Fletcher has done a great job of accruing prospects in his previous drafts. Hopefully this draft will include more of the same. This draft is very heavy on defensive prospects. But does feature a few potential impact forwards. Minnesota currently has more Forward depth in it's prospect pool then defenseman. But the Wild will select the player they think has the most potential, regardless of position.                  more after the jump.

Late Morning Stream of Consciousness

  


RIP Dark Star........The Sports Show will not be the same without you.........Hope you are somewhere were you can drink and gamble............It has been just one day without the NHL, and I miss it already......Stoked for the Wild to not suck next year(hopefully)......I also hope the NHL is not dumb enough to lockout its players again.........But this is a league that missed an entire season, so you never know.......Terrible officiating in game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals......Two hits from behind 10 seconds apart.......No call on the home team, and a 5 minute major for the visiting team.....not saying it was rigged(boxing) or manipulated(NBA) but that was a terrible call.....Does not take away from the fact that the Kings deserved to win the Cup..........Zach Parise just stated that he would not play for the Rangers next year........One less team the Wild has to worry about competing with......I think he ends up back in Jersey, or with Detroit........Those two teams have a track record of making the playoffs and competing for the Stanley Cup most years.......Sadly, the Wild do not.......The boxing match on saturday night was definitely fixed.....Manny was a huge favorite, but his odds dropped dramatically in the two days before the fight, meaning all the smart money was bet on his opponent, Bradley......This was the most egregious fix of a sporting event, since the 1919 Black Sox,......Kevin Durant proved that he is the best player in the NBA with his performance last night.....In his first Finals appearance he scored 36 points; becoming the 4th youngest player to score 35+ points in a Finals game.....He scored 17 of his 36 in the fourth quarter...I hate Dwayne Wade......I never used to, but after watching him stink up the court, for the most part in these playoffs, his whining and false bravado have really soured me on him.....He never used to do that.....Wade will be the reason the Heat lose in the Finals from a Heat perspective, but Lebron will get the blame.....The fact is the Thunder are the better TEAM....The Twins should not trade Denard Span.......He is the best all-around player on the team and he is still improving......I can not famoth why they would even discuss trading Denard......Somehow the Twins are only 8.5 games out of the Division lead......Just goes to show the AL Central is always winnable........Byron Buxton has been compared favorably to Mike Trout of the Angels.....If he is half as good as Trout, the Twins will have hit a Home-run that pick, which they need.......Trout is already third in the MLB in winshares, and he has only played 38 games in the big leagues this year........Imagine the attention he would garner if he played on the East Coast......He is better than Bryce Harper, the Nationals phenom............that is not a knock on Harper who is having a great season......it is a compliment to Trout, the best rookie since Ken Griffey JR........

Ramblings

 The NBA Conference Finals have been amazing....Watching my boy Kevin Durant take over the Spurs has been thrilling....Durant has shown that he is the best player in the NBA with his play in the Western Conference Finals....Unlike certain players, Durant gets better in tight games.....James Harden has been clutch as well.....his step back three to ice game 5 in San Antonio was cold blooded.....The way the Thunder and Celtics have come back to take 3-2 series leads after being behind 2-0, is what the NBA needs....unpredictability.....Kevin Garnett appears to have found the fountain of youth.... he looked washed up at the beginning of this season, but has played some of the best basketball of his career in these playoffs....His competitiveness and fierce determination to win have led the Celtics within one game of the NBA Finals....He just wants to win more than Lebron and Wade.....It is that simple.....If Lebron had KG's tenacity and will to win, he would have at least three NBA titles, and would be gunning for a fourth.....Instead Lebron is still looking for his first title, and is still shying away from the big moment in close games......The Heat's struggles are not all Lebron's fault though......Wade has been hit or miss in this series.....his play depends on the referees calling fouls when he barrels into the lane....when they do he puts up good numbers....when the refs don't call the ticky tack fouls his numbers are not good.....The rest of the Heat are terrible......Without Lebron carrying them, this is a lottery team........Battier and Mike Miller are just cadavers at this point in their respective careers.....When Udonis Haslem is your third best player, you can not win an NBA title.......Also working against Miami in this series is their coach......Erik Spoelstra is getting schooled by Celtics coach Doc Rivers.......The Celtics seem to score a basket after every time-out, while the Heat only run isolation plays for Wade, or Lebron.....The Celtics are just a better TEAM than the Heat.......The LA Kings have been the most dominant team in the NHL playoffs that I can remember....they don't score as many goals as Gretzky's Oilers or Lemieux's Penguins, but they score enough and they dominate teams with their defense and puck control.....The King's are 10-0 on the road in the playoffs this year....That's an NHL record.....LA is also 15-2 in the playoffs overall....With a win tonight they will equal the 1988 Edmonton Oilers for the best record ever in the NHL Playoffs(16-2)..... Kings goaltender, Jonathon Quick, has got to be the Conn Smyth winner(MVP of the playoffs) his play has been ridiculous.......he has 15 wins......he has saved 95% of the shots he has faced.....he also has a 1.36 goals against average.....Quick and the Kings have allowed just 24 goals in 17 playoff games.......The confidence Quick gives the Kings in front of him is incalculable.....LA's forwards and defenseman can just go out and play and take chances, because they know their goalie will make stops at the other end of the ice....The Twins have played much better lately.....They actually look like an MLB team, and not a glorified AAA team anymore.....The team has been much improved at the plate and in the field......The teams pitching has improved somewhat thanks to Scott Diamond and PJ Walters(huh), but still is the worst in the league.....Getting rid of the human rain delay Jason Marquis was helpful......at least I don't have to watch him labor through 3 innings at an hour per inning pace.....The Twins are still along way from respectability though......Finding a way to get rid of Joe Mauer's contract should be GM Terry Ryan's top priority.....Mauer's contract is just too expensive for this team to afford....If he can turn it around and hit like he did in 2009 then I could see keeping him, but you can not pay a guy 25 million plus a year to hit 300 with 10 HRs and 80 RBI.....even if he is from St. Paul......This is a guy that will most likely be playing first base exclusively two years from now(when he is not hurt that is).....You need a power hitting first baseman to win in the MLB....You do not win with a slap hitter at first base.....At this point if some team offered to pick up Mauer's whole contract(unlikely), I would take a washing machine back for him, or a bag of baseballs.......How dumb is Jaguars WR Justin Blackmon??? How do you get a DUI before you sign your multimillion dollar rookie contract???? At least wait till after you sign the dotted line, before you get behind the wheel hammered......He cost himself a lot of money......The best part is this is the second DUI he has gotten......Some peoples kids......It pains me to say this, because I loved Reggie Miller as a NBA player, but he is a terrible announcer....TNT needs to demote him and let Kerr and Marv(kinky)Albert do the games......They are the best announce team in the world for any sport.....TNT's Inside the NBA is the best show on TV......I almost like listening to Chuck, Kenny and Ernie bicker and talk basketball more than I like watching the games.....Shaq has got to go though.....He mumbles way too much.....The ESPN version of Inside the NBA is garbage.....Magic is terrible at TV work, Jon Barry is a moron and Mike Wilbon is not comfortable as the host of the show.....The fact this is on ESPN at all is pathetic.....the guys have no chemistry and look like public access analysts, because they are so nervous and out of their elements.....