Article: Will Fleury Get In A Goalie Fight Before Retiring?

[Mikki Tuohy]

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[Protec]

Man I wish they would have let em go last year. Binnington is an assbag!

[Imyourhuckleberry]

Based on the latest Athletic story, it sounds like Addison might have gotten the message. We'll need to see if his awareness and competitiveness in his defensive zone translates, but at least he's admitting his struggles and working to get better now. Knowing/acknowledging the problem is half the battle.

Sounds like the Wild made tape of Spurgeon, for the Iowa Wild, but Addison has watched it and has gotten notes from the Captain as well now. Addison didn't miss a workout this summer with the Wild guys who stuck around MN.

These things are why I believe in what the coaching staff is doing. They had a guy who was put in a position to succeed in putting up points, but wasn't consistently doing what was being asked of him, and they took away his position. They delivered the message, and reinforced it in exit interviews.

Now, they are likely to get a more complete player with a higher compete level.

[Secord Sucks]

Unrelated to Fleury fighting (or maybe not), but FYI to all:

The Wild / Avalanche game today is being rebroadcast at 11pm tonight on NHL Network. I'll be watching football all day and doing my best to avoid the score ahead of time. Let's Go WILD!

[jabuyer]

I'll take Things People Think About When There's No Hockey on for $200 Alex.

[jabuyer]

1 hour ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

Based on the latest Athletic story, it sounds like Addison might have gotten the message. We'll need to see if his awareness and competitiveness in his defensive zone translates, but at least he's admitting his struggles and working to get better now. Knowing/acknowledging the problem is half the battle.

Sounds like the Wild made tape of Spurgeon, for the Iowa Wild, but Addison has watched it and has gotten notes from the Captain as well now. Addison didn't miss a workout this summer with the Wild guys who stuck around MN.

These things are why I believe in what the coaching staff is doing. They had a guy who was put in a position to succeed in putting up points, but wasn't consistently doing what was being asked of him, and they took away his position. They delivered the message, and reinforced it in exit interviews.

Now, they are likely to get a more complete player with a higher compete level.

You have to learn D by doing.  Its all angles and distances and when to move and when to stay put.  And it happens fast.  You have to visualize it for your self.

Addison never had that training, and because he was such a gifted athlete, he never had to; he could catch up when he made mistakes.  With his offensive abilities, no junior coach would ever bench him for being lousy at D.  

There are a lot of those in the NHL.  The most famous ones ironically win the Norris.  Matt Dumba is another.

Based on his past performance, it is clear Addison never learned D before he hit the NHL ice.  Its hard to teach D at the NHL level. Its too fast and there is no margin for error. 

The best he can do is try to stay back and not do anything stupid.  He was doing better when they yanked him, but I'm pretty sure that is his ceiling.

 

[Killer Coastie]

Four days into training camp and an "almost" goalie fight from 2022 is the story for today? There has got to be better things to write about...

[vonlonster67]

Well there was a practice and it was not well attended. Cant figure why anyone would waste their time across town.

Yes, hockey news and stories.

The Wild had a great practice today and it seemed like there was a lot of energy on the ice. The regulars looked sharp as always.

I'm truly amazed at the level KK plays even in practice, He's all guns, all the time. Zucc and him play pass back and forth during the warmup skate, go figure. Same after the warm up in the mini game.

Boldy was his usual magical hands self, he looks like he's in mid season form. One thing I notice about him this year, he looks very relaxed on the ice.

Hartzy looked good, a little rusty, but progressing.

JoJo was rocketing all over the ice and that line was jet setting up and down the ice with a combo of Boldy and Rossi, not Ek. I really like the look of that lineup.

Ek jumped in here and there and looked awesome, improving on his attack and stick work crashing the net, the goalie didn't know which way to go. Looks like he is trying to further expand his game.

The regular D looked good also, Fabes was highlighted many times on the attack and it a for sure deal they are expanding him and Brodin in the offense. He had some phenomenal passes and entries zig zagging through the D and giving the JoJo line plenty of opportunities. He had a shot was filthy and silky sooth on the one on one drills where he lightly flipped the puck over the frozen goalie's shoulder while passing by. He was playing with Rossi on the 3 on 3 with JoJo, that was fun to watch. I could see these guys on PP2.

The impressive IA youth looked the part. Lambos and Master played a majority of time with the 2nd line and looked great. I believe the old men are going to have to pick up a gear with these guys on the ice. There were many opportunity and entries that had Rossi and JoJo not on the same gear set as those too. Spacek (played with O'Rourke) and he too was gritty in the corners, and has a heavy powerful shot. I continue to be impressed with the rise of Novak after his cancer scare, he looks ready to compete. He has a pal in Spacek as they spent time together after practice. IA is going to be some fun to watch this year.

So the article was about Flower, he looked agile as always at 39, flopping all over the ice, yukking it up with the team, playing games with the young players. What speaks volumes about this guy is the time he took at the end of practice to sign shirts, hats and pucks and take pictures.  I believed he was having more fun than the fans. Moose also joined in and handed out a few sticks. This is MN Hockey and you gotta love it!!!

 

[vonlonster67]

IA WILD  @ AV'S TODAY 

[mnfaninnc]

I know this is preseason, but I would have thought a gamethread would have been up? Are we doing that this year?

[jgodwin17]

Well I watched the preseason game and my thoughts are:

Wallstedt looked really good, looked like a regular NHL goalie.

Sammy Walker played an excellent game and if he keep doing what he did deserves some time with the big club.

Jujhar Khaira looked really solid. He had a penalty, but I liked his game a lot.

Addison is still trash on defense. He was getting run over, losing the puck, etc. to lots of guys that will top out in the AHL. He also took a really stupid retaliatory penalty. 

Wild played a pretty awful game in the third in general.

Overall a pretty fun preseason game to watch. I'm excited hockey is back.

[vonlonster67]

1 hour ago, jgodwin17 said:

Well I watched the preseason game and my thoughts are:

Wallstedt looked really good, looked like a regular NHL goalie.

Sammy Walker played an excellent game and if he keep doing what he did deserves some time with the big club.

Jujhar Khaira looked really solid. He had a penalty, but I liked his game a lot.

Addison is still trash on defense. He was getting run over, losing the puck, etc. to lots of guys that will top out in the AHL. He also took a really stupid retaliatory penalty. 

Wild played a pretty awful game in the third in general.

Overall a pretty fun preseason game to watch. I'm excited hockey is back.

He had his Dumba on today.....agreed was fun to watch!

Love Kumpulainen on the 4th line kids got sum grit n rub, hope he's our next Finnish Prodigy (Mikko Koivu), granted Mikko was a 6th overall and Ras came in at #53 in the 2nd. It's apples n oranges, but they are both 6'3" 200lbs and got sum nasty Fin in 'em! 

[vonlonster67]

2 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

I know this is preseason, but I would have thought a gamethread would have been up? Are we doing that this year?

Below n above (practice game)

[AKwildkraken]

I think Goligoski's play was way more alarming than Addison's.  I thought the first two goals were Goligoski's fault. 

More importantly, I really like Haight's game.  He could potentially fill Lizard's spot when he leaves.  

[Imyourhuckleberry]

“What’s your role? What do you want it to be?” Evason said. “Coaches will define your role when you’re on the team. But if you want a different role, you want to elevate your role, you can do that. A lot of these guys have this opportunity right now to elevate their role. It may not be Game 1 of the regular season, but what they do now, what they show us now could be a situation where their roles will be elevated, depending on how they play in camp and preseason.

“There’s spots, right? Things happen all the time. Just because it looks on paper (like) there’s not a spot, there’s opportunity for guys.”

[mnfaninnc]

36 minutes ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

“There’s spots, right? Things happen all the time. Just because it looks on paper (like) there’s not a spot, there’s opportunity for guys.”

This is interesting, because from a prospect's point of view, it looks like a lot of roadblocks, people with contracts and designations. 

[mnfaninnc]

11 hours ago, AKwildkraken said:

I think Goligoski's play was way more alarming than Addison's.  I thought the first two goals were Goligoski's fault.

Did Goligoski look worse than last year, like he needed to retire?

[Imyourhuckleberry]

23 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

This is interesting, because from a prospect's point of view, it looks like a lot of roadblocks, people with contracts and designations. 

I don't think a prospect should expect all of the veterans to play 82 games. Playing time will be available if they elevate their play. Sammy Walker looks like he's ready to see additional NHL time. He may not start with the Wild, but I suspect we will see him quite a bit during the season.

There are several veterans who do not currently have contracts for the following season. The coaches and GM would be happy to have prospects who surpass the veterans and they need to find a spot for, whether this season or next.

[mnfaninnc]

1 hour ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

The coaches and GM would be happy to have prospects who surpass the veterans and they need to find a spot for, whether this season or next.

Agree with the GM being happy, but not the coach. Evason does not look ready to make the transition, even though a transition means experience to go for it in 2025-26. 

Based on AKWK's take, Goligoski appears to have taken another step back and should retire.

[Imyourhuckleberry]

8 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

Agree with the GM being happy, but not the coach. Evason does not look ready to make the transition, even though a transition means experience to go for it in 2025-26. 

Evason is going to coach the team in front of him, he doesn't set the roster. If Sammy Walker is playing far better than Rossi, Johansson, or Zuccarello, I'm sure he would be ecstatic to have him on the roster.

Evason isn't going to be excited to play someone who is inferior just to get them experience. Players can develop outside of the NHL. Kaprizov came in NHL ready. Boldy didn't spend much time in the AHL.

There are a lot of teams that will let young players struggle and try to figure it out at the NHL level. The Wild GM and coach both believe in developing players at lower levels so that they are more NHL ready when they arrive than many other teams. As much as it would be interesting to see the young players, they'll get more ice time in the AHL, and can develop there too, possibly more so than they would getting 12 minutes per night in the NHL.

The owner and GM don't want to play losing hockey. The coach and Wild players are on board with playing winning hockey. Fans don't always agree with it though.

[Up North Guy]

22 minutes ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

Evason is going to coach the team in front of him, he doesn't set the roster. If Sammy Walker is playing far better than Rossi, Johansson, or Zuccarello, I'm sure he would be ecstatic to have him on the roster.

Evason isn't going to be excited to play someone who is inferior just to get them experience. Players can develop outside of the NHL. Kaprizov came in NHL ready. Boldy didn't spend much time in the AHL.

There are a lot of teams that will let young players struggle and try to figure it out at the NHL level. The Wild GM and coach both believe in developing players at lower levels so that they are more NHL ready when they arrive than many other teams. As much as it would be interesting to see the young players, they'll get more ice time in the AHL, and can develop there too, possibly more so than they would getting 12 minutes per night in the NHL.

The owner and GM don't want to play losing hockey. The coach and Wild players are on board with playing winning hockey. Fans don't always agree with it though.

We need to remember the DE is coaching for his future also. His MO is to ride vets over prospects and that is what got him the job. He won't likely change that. It has to come down from BG.

[vonlonster67]

3 hours ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

“What’s your role? What do you want it to be?” Evason said. “Coaches will define your role when you’re on the team. But if you want a different role, you want to elevate your role, you can do that. A lot of these guys have this opportunity right now to elevate their role. It may not be Game 1 of the regular season, but what they do now, what they show us now could be a situation where their roles will be elevated, depending on how they play in camp and preseason.

“There’s spots, right? Things happen all the time. Just because it looks on paper (like) there’s not a spot, there’s opportunity for guys.”

After watching the officiated practice today there is definitely a spot on D, Goose looked bad in the game yesterday and today and looked slow, obviously a back to back, BUT, it may be time.

I trade youth, recovery, and building a prospect over experience and this showing. It's not even regular season yet, is he injured already to slow him down or age?

[vonlonster67]

3 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

This is interesting, because from a prospect's point of view, it looks like a lot of roadblocks, people with contracts and designations. 

Right now play is of most importance! Roadblock is DE only.

I see potential from three to four prospects to arrive on this roster. Watching Rossi, there is no reason he should even be considered for IA, it's "sink or swim", but he looks as fast as ever and heavier.

Beckman has done nothing that I've seen to standout because he's getting buried by Walker's performance. Lambos continues to impress with his time on ice with the regulars and Masters also looks good, but not at Lambo's level. Spacek is also grinding, but I believe he is getting caught up in the first camp firehose take. Johansson has shown some flash, but I believe he needs to use his size if he's gonna win a D job.

I'm not really seeing Addy do anything special from what he did last year. The PP1 practice this morning looked similar. pass, pass, pass. PP2 with Rossi and JoJo, shot the damn puck, but the mindset is across the whole team pass, pass yet?. I did see Rossi after the PP period talking to King for an extended time on ice and into the hallway locker room, that looked promising!

[vonlonster67]

50 minutes ago, Up North Guy said:

We need to remember the DE is coaching for his future also. His MO is to ride vets over prospects and that is what got him the job. He won't likely change that. It has to come down from BG.

Your right UNG, the longer this drags on without adaption or change the shoe is going to be on BG's foot and it's going to get damn tight by the end of this season!!

IF we make it to that point and this whole thing doesn't blow up and fix itself.

[mnfaninnc]

1 hour ago, Up North Guy said:

We need to remember the DE is coaching for his future also. His MO is to ride vets over prospects and that is what got him the job. He won't likely change that. It has to come down from BG.

I disagree with Huck on who really decides the roster. Evason is the one who cuts the players and sends them back to jr. or to the A. Where it gets sticky is when you have a guy with an NMC who is clearly being outplayed by a young guy and you can't move him. And that's the type of blockade I'm talking about.

Prospects also see that. Evason talks about opportunity, but in reality, where is the opportunity? To get called up when someone gets hurt?

And if a player is outplayed, will they agree for Shooter to move them...or in Goligoski's case, perhaps, hang up the skates and move to the front office? 

Let's say both Hunt and Lambos vastly outplay Goligoski and Merrill. Merrill can be sent down without too much damage, but what about Goligoski? And then, who sits? Same thing with the forwards, let's say that Rossi comes in as advertised and Walker just knocks the socks off of everyone, who's leaving? Where's the opportunity? 

I realize that Shooter is mandated to make the playoffs during the rebuild. Shaw was a good example of promotion too, he had done what was needed in the A and looked real good when called up. However, we don't have that extra Jost piece or Pitlick piece anymore. Who's going to move over for the young guy? And, if the young guy is ready, and you send him back down, does a young guy stay motivated when his GM says he did everything right and looked ready but X is coming back from IR?

This next season is going to be really tricky as these guys are ready. I love Foligno's play, leadership, and willingness to finish checks, but his contract looks like the one we could use if we need to call up a couple of ready guys.