• Recently Browsing   0 members

    No registered users viewing this page.

Sign in to follow this  
Hockeytown0001

WCQF - (8) Wild vs. (1) Blackhawks

Rate this topic

Recommended Posts

I think this will be a good series. In the regular season, they played them tough, won the first meeting, lost the next one, then lost the last one 1-0. Teams play differently in the postseason than in the playoffs. The Wild are one of those teams that could be a total PITA to play in the postseason. Not saying the Wild will win, but they'll make the Hawks work for it. Probably Hawks in 6, maybe 7.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Such a weird vibe here in Minnesota. This is a "good" fanbase, but it's a very insular one, and they're a bit locked in the past by missing out of 7 years of NHL hockey, and having North Stars and Wild teams that were largely uninspired bookending that absence.

That Edmonton 6-1 debacle on Friday did some serious damage to the good will they built up with the July 4th signings and the emergence of young players like Brodin and Zucker. But in a perverse way, I feel like the expectations for the Wild have now suddenly been lowered to fact where people will jump right back on the bandwagon if they even split in Chicago. Nevermind the fact that they competed for the 3rd seed for much of the season, or that it looked like they were going to be anywhere from 5th to 7th a week ago, before they decided to completely back the truck into the Playoffs. There was no doubt Yeo was going to be fired if they lost that Colorado game Saturday, and really, they only got in with the help of a bizarre reversed call on a kicked in goal and a tiebreaker with Columbus.

I'm of the popular belief that Chicago is too much for them, but this is the NHL Playoffs. Minnesota HAS talent that can flash at times, but when you spend 196 million and none of it addresses the center position, we've seen time and time again how that is rarely a recipe for playoff success around the league.

If I'm just predicting, I say Hawks in 5. But my predictions are garbage, never listen to them.

Edited by StormJH1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

hawks sweep the olson twins, and parise is left with a bitter taste after what could have been if he wasn't so greedy and just stayed in NJ, and Suter regrets not joining the wings more and more with every passing second

Edited by Euro_Twins

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

hawks sweep the olson twins, and parise is left with a bitter taste after what could have been if he wasn't so greedy and just stayed in NJ, and Suter regrets not joining the wings more and more with every passing second

Suter has regretted that from day one. Just wait until they out of the playoffs early and don't even make the playoffs next season because they are going to lose some players. They have $9M available cap space, but have at least 8 players to sign including their current $6M goalie Backstrom. Will he take a pay cut to re-sign everyone? I still think that the All-Star is going to be traded or bought out, which would be the only way to clear enough room to keep Backstrom happy and still have most of their team... Suter will wish he signed here, of course I don't miss his salary, and with the emergence of Kindl, I don't think we need him anymore...especially with Diesel coming home...

BUT, for giggles this is what he could have been playing with:

Suter - Kronwall

Ericsson - Dekeyser

Quincey - Kindl

Smith (Lashoff)

He would have been much happier here from a winning standpoint, but the "Man" of the house spoke and she said "We are staying in Minny..." But his loss is our gain, we have a great young D corps and really don't even have a need for him...

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Suter has regretted that from day one. Just wait until they out of the playoffs early and don't even make the playoffs next season because they are going to lose some players. They have $9M available cap space, but have at least 8 players to sign including their current $6M goalie Backstrom. Will he take a pay cut to re-sign everyone? I still think that the All-Star is going to be traded or bought out, which would be the only way to clear enough room to keep Backstrom happy and still have most of their team... Suter will wish he signed here, of course I don't miss his salary, and with the emergence of Kindl, I don't think we need him anymore...especially with Diesel coming home...

BUT, for giggles this is what he could have been playing with:

Suter - Kronwall

Ericsson - Dekeyser

Quincey - Kindl

Smith (Lashoff)

He would have been much happier here from a winning standpoint, but the "Man" of the house spoke and she said "We are staying in Minny..." But his loss is our gain, we have a great young D corps and really don't even have a need for him...

I think the "man" of the house would have no say in the matter if Lids didn't retire

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Suter has regretted that from day one. Just wait until they out of the playoffs early and don't even make the playoffs next season because they are going to lose some players. They have $9M available cap space, but have at least 8 players to sign including their current $6M goalie Backstrom. Will he take a pay cut to re-sign everyone? I still think that the All-Star is going to be traded or bought out, which would be the only way to clear enough room to keep Backstrom happy and still have most of their team... Suter will wish he signed here, of course I don't miss his salary, and with the emergence of Kindl, I don't think we need him anymore...especially with Diesel coming home...

BUT, for giggles this is what he could have been playing with:

Suter - Kronwall

Ericsson - Dekeyser

Quincey - Kindl

Smith (Lashoff)

He would have been much happier here from a winning standpoint, but the "Man" of the house spoke and she said "We are staying in Minny..." But his loss is our gain, we have a great young D corps and really don't even have a need for him...

Hmmmm. I can tell you from living in this market, if Suter has regrets about coming to Minnesota, he certainly hasn't said anything, nor does anyone perceive that to be true. His first 10-15 games were largely awful. Since then, he's been a Norris candidate. Some people even have him as the favorite (I don't), but I think Subban might win it. Suter's a passive personality - I've compared his body language to Jay Cutler on the ice. He wasn't even the best defenseman on Nashville, so he has no expectations of being an alpha dog and no problem being a "follower."

I was very upset last July 4th that we couldn't land either, mostly at Suter. Parise had the much stronger ties to Minnesota, and made his choice to go home. But my initial anger at Suter has faded because of this: If the Detroit Red Wings offer you almost $100 million and you decide you don't want to play for the Detroit Red Wings, I don't need to spend too much time wondering what might have been.

I've tried arguing with Minnesota fans that they have cap issues, but they either don't agree or don't get it. They talk about all the money they're going to free up next year because Cullen and PMB come off the books. The fan base really has regretted the Backstrom contract for several years, but I think they've also never experienced what it is to have legitimately bad goaltending. Backstrom is likely gone next year, but I really don't know what the plan is. Harding's career (tragically) is more or less over, they traded Matt Hackett, and Darcy Kuemper looks like a prospect, but doesn't have nearly the track record to just hand the keys to him next year. They wouldn't even play him down the stretch, which probably wore out Backstrom.

Wild have about $56 million committed to 17 players next year, and that's ASSUMING they don't resign Clutterbuck, Cullen, PMB, and Backstrom. It is expected they will amnesty (or trade) Heatley to free up $7.5 million. But the defensive corps past Suter and Brodin is pretty scary. This year, the Wild couldn't score enough. Next year, I wonder how they keep pucks out of the net! Minnesota had to pay two players almost $200 million just to prevent them from being a terrible hockey team again next year. They had to pay out contracts so egregious that they are clearly illegal under the new CBA, and exacerbated the animosity in the 2012-13 lockout. They both made about $25 million in salary and bonuses to play for a hockey team that had a negative goal differential this year. Nuff said.

Edited by StormJH1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I am really rooting for a Hawks loss in game 1 just so the radio freaks and bandwagon fans can go crazy tomorrow like ants after you dump water on their anthill.

(I am an Illinois resident so I have to listen to Hawks crap on radio all day)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Bulls*** penalty. Refs apparently think hits are hooks. Hawk on the ice has to be a penalty.

Let me put it this way....

The Wild had a partial breakaway, and the Hawks shoved the player into Crawford. That should have been a penalty IMHO, but it wasn't.

Its hard to judge how the series is going to be called on one game, but so far, they are letting a lot go.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Let me put it this way....

The Wild had a partial breakaway, and the Hawks shoved the player into Crawford. That should have been a penalty IMHO, but it wasn't.

Its hard to judge how the series is going to be called on one game, but so far, they are letting a lot go.

That's fine by me.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Let me put it this way....

The Wild had a partial breakaway, and the Hawks shoved the player into Crawford. That should have been a penalty IMHO, but it wasn't.

Its hard to judge how the series is going to be called on one game, but so far, they are letting a lot go.

Hawks have been back a step so far and have hauled down or otherwise obstructed Wild players at least twice already not counting the partial break play, and yet the one penalty so far was a phantom hook on the Wild. Too early to say fishy, but...

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this