Philly, Sheppard, Captaincy, Etc.

The Wild beat Philly tonight 5-4 in a shootout. Fortunately, I was able to watch it on the Flyers' website. Since it was the first time the "A" squad was together, I will look at the win as a positive. There were many things they did well, but, as expected, there were a few times that the Wild looked like they had no clue what they were doing.

To start, I like the forechecking. The forecheck caused some problems for the Philly defense and allowed the Wild to get a few scoring chances. I also thought some of the transitioning through the neutral zone was great--something I have not seen from the Wild since they started in 2000. Clutterbuck, Butch and Mittens have some great chemistry. The powerplay moved the puck surprisingly well, but there is no way Nick Schultz can be on the second powerplay unit. I also thought that all of the forwards did a great job of backchecking.

The defense was outright brutal in my opinion. They made stupid passes right to the Flyers, were beat outside too many times and just seemed confused. Every one of the defensemen made a bad pass that led to a odd-man rush. I guess that is and will continue to be a part of adapting to a new system. I do like Burns/Zidlicky/Johnsson jumping into the play...hopefully Schultz isn't as aggressive in the regular season because he simply doesn't have the offensive touch.

Overall, I think tonight just solidified the fact that the Wild will be much more entertaining to watch. But, us Wild fans will have to be extremely patient because it is going to take a few months for the Wild to be conditioned to react to situations within Richards' system rather than Lemaire's.





Sheppard: It seems that he has been really working on faceoffs with Nolan in practice. He has been much better the last 3 games, not only in the faceoff circle, but being involved offensively.



Captaincy: There is no way Richards cannot give the "C" to Koivu. Brunette won't be here in two years; Nolan might not be here at the end of this year. Koivu is the future and there is no reason to delay the inevitable when Koivu is clearly ready to lead this team. I acknowledge that we need to give time to Richards to implement his new system...but, if he doesn't name Koivu the captain, that will make a bad first impression on his judgment.

Weekend Update

The 2009-2010 Wild season is less than a week away! But, the hockey season has started for the CHL and some of the European leagues. I have updated the prospect sheet to includes stats for Cuma, Foucault, Hackett, Kuemper, Krupp, Sallinen and Ilvonen.

In other news, the Houston Aeros won yesterday 3-2 in shootout.

For game summaries, click here and here.


Time see if the Vikes and Twinkies and come back!

James Sheppard-The Vet?!?

Russo wrote a great article on Sheppard today, which can be found here


Sheppard has good size, is strong down low and has a decent shot--when he uses it. He has good wheels but does not always keep his feet moving. In short, the hockey ability is there, but does he have the drive to reach his potential? Don't worry Wild fans, this isn't another Pouliot. Sheppard will at least be a 3rd line center...but, having another 1st round draft pick with a lot of tools turn into nothing short of a 1st or 2nd line player will hamper a team that is already short of young forward talent.

As Russo's article shows, Sheppard didn't see eye to eye with Lemaire. OK, fine. I understand that Lemaire wasn't the easiest coach on his centers, and since Sheppard was a young center, it was probably even more difficult. But, it is the attitude displayed that worries me. Even now, after having a chance to redeem himself, Sheppard goes on to talk about how he was successful in juniors...

This is the NHL. How many guys are successful in the CHL, NCAA, etc., but never make it as an NHLer?? This is what Sheppard needs to realize; what works in another league might not work in the NHL.

There is a sense of optimism about Sheppard as he does acknowledge that he has recently learned the importance of faceoffs. So maybe, just maybe, the 21 year old is realizing that coaches might know something about the game. And if he can turn in a solid year, then he will be on the road to earning the reputation of being a vet.

Boogaard Out With Concussion; Do The Wild Need Him?

Todd Richards announced today that Derek Boogaard is out with a concussion. As with all concussions, it is hard to predict when he will be healthy. But, even with Boogaard healthy, do the Wild need him??


Pros:

• Boogaard is one of the top heavyweights in the game today. He can stand toe-to-toe with anyone.
  
• Boogaard is a fan favorite. Any time he is on the ice, fans are watching to see who might be his next victim. Boogaard also sells jerseys...
• Boogaard keeps other teams honest. With Boogaard on the bench, our skilled players should feel more comfortable being able to do what they do best.

Cons:

• Based on nhlnumbers.com, Boogaard will make 1.25 million this year. That is quite a bit of money to pay someone who averaged 4.59 minutes per game.
• He will not fit into Richards' forecheck system. Boogaard is a punishing hitter...but you have to have speed to be effective in a strong forechecking system.
  
• John Scott, who looks to be the favorite for the 7th defenseman spot, averaged 9:14 last year, will make 550k this year and also offers a better all around game.

The ultimate question after looking at the pros and cons is whether the Wild have enough toughness by committee to allow Boogaard to go elsewhere. Can Zanon, Hnidy, Nolan, Burns, Clutterbuck and Scott keep teams honest? If not, do the Wild have a potent enough powerplay to punish those teams that would test the Wild's toughness?

If the answer to those two questions are no, then I would thinkBoogaard is needed. However, with Boogaard being injured this early on, perhaps we will get to see if the answer to those two questions is yes.

Cuma, among others, cut from camp.

Photo from here

The others that were cut from camp are:

DiSalvatore, Falk, Kalus, Khudobin, Dubielwicz and Milroy.


I am glad to hear that Cuma was sent back for another year with Ottawa in juniors. He will be the leader on his team and will also get the opportunity to suit up for Canada in the World Junior Championships. I really like this kid's attitude and will be happy to follow him throughout the year.

Falk was another defenseman that I really thought played solid throughout camp. He is a big boy and he should get a lot of ice time in Houston. I would not be surprised to see him up with the big club if any of the Wild's defensemen hit the IR.


Some surprises remaining in camp are Danny Irmen, Robbie Earl, Matt Kassian, Marco Scandella and Jaime Sifers. With injuries to some of the Wild's players, as mentioned by Russo , I would not be surprised to see two of the above stay with the team through the first week of October.

Changes Coming??

With the season almost here, let's take a look at what the Wild's depth chart was before training camp.



Brunette Koivu Havlat
Sykora Sheppard Bouchard
Miettinen Belanger Nolan
Gillies Brodziak Clutterbuck
Weller Pouliot Boogaard

Schultz Johnsson
Burns Zanon
Zidlicky Hnidy
Scott Sifers

Backstrom
Harding





After attending the scrimmages this past weekend at the X, listening to exhibitions over the radio and following Russo's Blog, it would appear that there are individuals that have created interesting situations during the pre-season.

Firstly, Pouliot has been given opportunities to play with skilled guys and has had mixed results. If he were to be kept on the roster, one would think it would be in a top-six role. No one has ever denied the skill-set, but rather the heart and intelligence to put in the effort needed to be a consistent NHLer. The main issue that helps Pouliot is the fact that in order for him to be assigned to Houston, he would need to pass through waivers.

Secondly, Bouchard has been placed back in the middle. Richards has tested him out there and I would be very surprised if that is where Bouchard ends up on opening night. Not only is he simply not good/big enough to be responsible defensively, he also did very poorly in the face-off circle against Columbus last Friday, going 3 for 11.

Another individual that has altered the above depth chart is Jaime Sifers. Coming from Toronto, the small defenseman has been getting rave reviews from everyone. He is definitely the one to challenge Scott for the 7th spot. He has been sticking up for teammates, making solid outlet passes and getting shots on net. Yes, he doesn't bring the physical presence of Scott...but if you are going to pay Boogard, you might as well dress him. (I will be writing a blog on the pros and cons of Boogard in the next few days)

Lastly, Gillies. Gillies, to me, is easy. I would put him in the minors to get 20 minutes per night, so that be can gain confidence in his offensive abilities. But, since he has speed and is a banger, he fits Richards' system quite well.



With that said, there are still two weeks left before the October 3rd opener against Columbus. Between now and then, I wouldn't be surprised to see the Wild involved in a minor trade or buyout since I do feel one of the above individuals will cause one of the following to happen: Pouliot or Bouchard create logjam at center (I'm going with Pouliot before Butch), making Belanger expendable. Or Sifers makes the team as the 7th defenseman and Scott is put on waivers/bought out. I don't see us keeping Scott in the minors, taking time away from Falk/Stoner/Noreau.

That's allllllllllll folks.