Article: We Need To Talk About That Gus Bus Commercial

[Mikki Tuohy]

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[Been There Done That]

Thanks for this. I  no longer live in MN so first time seeing the commercial.  Reminds me of the old "MN Twins-Get to know 'em" campaign.  I just hope, like the Twins campaign, it's not designed as a distraction from the poor on-field product. go Wild!

[Dean]

Winning culture??? Picking 20 th overall every year means you’re not bad but you’re not good. Doesn’t make you a winner. The same core every year disappearing and quitting in playoffs doesn’t make you a winner . Not showing up for start of games, playing defense , getting to front of net, boxing out other team in front net  doesn’t make you a winner. Especially when it’s the same players  and coach in the same system. It seems more like they got paid an they’ll get around to it when they feel like it. Just making a commercial or doing pr doesn’t make you a winner. It’s the performance on the ice! If the wild showed another level Of compete in playoffs or advancing past 2nd round , then we could say there is a culture of winning developing. . We’ve done neither year after year! 
   There are teams in decent markets having problems with attendance . All the pr they’re doing isn’t helping them.  Wild better be careful with their fan base.  I can say I’ve lost my excitement for the wild. Those contracts just put a dagger in it .  3- 5 more years of same guys losing a step. And holding back youth. No thanks.  I will be curious next year when kids come but have no expectations wild will do right by them or team. 

[Dean]

Jacques  lemaire had a winning culture in minny but didn’t have the quality of players to go all the way. His teams played much better than they were. They were the closest to winners minny has ever see.  Not deans teams 

[Protec]

Jacques Lemaire was an outstanding coach. Made the neutral zone trap famous. Got the most from a minimum star-power group.

The Wild need to complete the buy-in. Too nonchalant again last night in OT. Kaprizove and the Norwegian Hobbit are out there to win games, not to coast or stand still late in OT. 3v3 is not 5v5. It looked to me like they were expecting a center and defense to back them up or something.

[Protec]

1 hour ago, Dean said:

Winning culture??? Picking 20 th overall every year means you’re not bad but you’re not good. Doesn’t make you a winner. The same core every year disappearing and quitting in playoffs doesn’t make you a winner . Not showing up for start of games, playing defense , getting to front of net, boxing out other team in front net  doesn’t make you a winner. Especially when it’s the same players  and coach in the same system. It seems more like they got paid an they’ll get around to it when they feel like it. Just making a commercial or doing pr doesn’t make you a winner. It’s the performance on the ice! If the wild showed another level Of compete in playoffs or advancing past 2nd round , then we could say there is a culture of winning developing. . We’ve done neither year after year! 
   There are teams in decent markets having problems with attendance . All the pr they’re doing isn’t helping them.  Wild better be careful with their fan base.  I can say I’ve lost my excitement for the wild. Those contracts just put a dagger in it .  3- 5 more years of same guys losing a step. And holding back youth. No thanks.  I will be curious next year when kids come but have no expectations wild will do right by them or team. 

I've been joking about this since last year. Marketing team and PR vids are pretty good but I don't give a rip about that. I'd be happier with very little player features and hype but with a team who is all business and wins on the ice like that is priority #1. Quit filming goofy shit and us the time to learn how to win draws, or practice scoring on the PP. 😏

[Dean]

It would be so interesting an exciting to see what Jacques lemaire could do with this team. . They definitely wouldn’t have embarrassed themselves last playoffs. They would have at the very least competed hard. Bill wouldn’t have had to do stupid end of season press conference of bad excuses. 
    With lemaire at least we would see what this group of players is really made of. He didn’t put up with bs. He held his players accountable. No matter your contact or draft position. Gaborik said he was best coach he ever had an he was hard on gabby. . That’s winning culture! 
    It seems like now we have a bunch of professional excuse makers. Listening to walz make excuse after excuse is irritating . Especially when he played for a great coach , Jacques lemaire . Guess money makes you say whatever to keep your job. 

[mnfaninnc]

5 hours ago, Dean said:

Jacques  lemaire had a winning culture in minny but didn’t have the quality of players to go all the way. His teams played much better than they were. They were the closest to winners minny has ever see.  Not deans teams 

I would argue that these teams aren't that much better than Lemaire's and they have been winning, in the regular season. The playoff appearances have been brief, but they have been there. Let's face it, though, this group have overachieved for the past 3 years. 

When we get to the playoffs, we end up playing a top 10 team every year. We are much better against the 15-32 ranked clubs and struggle with the top 10. A lot of it is we just don't have the depth capability, refuse to use the kids, and typically come into the playoffs a bit banged up. 

It is also true that the teams we have played have been stronger down the middle than we have been. And, that has been part of the deciding factor.

 

[mnfaninnc]

3 hours ago, Dean said:

  With lemaire at least we would see what this group of players is really made of. He didn’t put up with bs. He held his players accountable. No matter your contact or draft position. Gaborik said he was best coach he ever had an he was hard on gabby. . That’s winning culture! 

If Lemaire were coach, the players would look totally different. For starters, defenders would look more like Middleton, and we wouldn't have Goligoski, Spurgeon and Addison. Brodin and Faber would be the lightest defenders on the roster. In Iowa, they'd be lifting a whole lot harder because most are too small. 

He'd have more skill in forwards, and would insist on players finishing their checks. The flybys we see today would be met with discipline. 

However,  this cannot go unchallenged. For all the faults I see in Deano, he has been the best coach we've had a taking care of business with the bottom half of the league. Perhaps Lemaire would have been as good had he had more horses. It's tough to take care of the bottom half of the league when you're a part of it. 

This team is built differently from a Lemaire type of team. I'm kind of excited to see where it is going. But, Dean, like you, I believe the solution will start with Deano being shown the exit signs. It is my belief that he will stay in his position until a better replacement is found. I do believe that Shooter keeps tabs on how Mike Sullivan is doing in Pittsburgh, and he might be on the hot seat. Remember years ago when Carlyle was coaching the Ducks and suddenly Boudreau became available? It didn't take long for the Ducks to insert Boudreau behind the bench!

[mnfaninnc]

As for some of the comments criticizing the players taking their eyes off the rink here, I think this was actually filmed more in the offseason where little is going on hockey wise. It probably wouldn't keep them from their gym work either. Just a couple of days filming a skit. Not sure when they could have gotten Goose2 to film since he spent a lot of time in Sweden?

This was also the first time I'd seen the ad. I'd say it was a vast improvement from a certain #20 doing Kwik Trip commercials!

If the full team were there, I'd have to say that Maroon would have given Ek a wedgie, and maybe Addison a noogie in the back of the bus. 

[Imyourhuckleberry]

21 hours ago, Protec said:

Too nonchalant again last night in OT. Kaprizove and the Norwegian Hobbit are out there to win games, not to coast or stand still late in OT.

Kaprizov was out there too long for that shift. He should have left the ice before that final rush. When the guy pushed up ice, he wasn't moving well to defend it and that did make it a lot easier for Columbus to win it.

It was a very disappointing outcome. The Wild have 5 points through 5 games, and it should probably be 6. They only had 3 points through 5 games last year, so still plenty of hope for a decent season, but getting outshot like that on home ice be a mediocre team, it's hard to believe in them right now.

The Wild are missing a top forward and top defender, but they should still be able to win at home against the Columbus-type teams in the league.

I was surprised Fleury got the start in game 4. I would have gone back to Gustavsson there, and played Fleury against Columbus. Not sure it would have changed the outcomes, but I personally would not be playing Fleury in 2 straight games unless Gustavsson was hurt or out due to illness.

[Pewterschmidt]

19 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

I think this was actually filmed more in the offseason where little is going on hockey wise.

These campaigns become the stuff of legend (and marketing dept dime pieces get their careers made) when a team becomes good and makes deep playoff runs.  Currently these campaigns serve as a distraction while the on ice product drifts sideways. 
at this point all of our Siberian prospects (tiny Kuze, yurov, ohgre, AND the tiny centers drafted this year wight?  Let’s agree not to even mention rasmukampu for fear of turning into stone) all need to be lightning in the draft room bottle and become top 6 performers. 
Walker ain’t going to push us thru 1st playoff round and my cousin Vinny is probably going to look like pitlick 2.0.  Beckman?  Please. 

Edited October 23, 2023 by Pewterschmidt

[mnfaninnc]

18 hours ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Walker ain’t going to push us thru 1st playoff round and my cousin Vinny is probably going to look like pitlick 2.0.  Beckman?  Please. 

Yes, Beckman! Let's see where his game is at? His 1st 2 chances he didn't look out of place. That's a good start, but won't get you a permanent spot. He made a real nice move last time on a goal that was called back. That was a confident power move we hadn't really seen before. Let's see where his game is at on the big stage and maybe, just maybe, he can claim a spot!

Late last season in Des Moines, he had a cellie when he came back from injury. There was tremendous passion in the kid. I'd like to see if that passion has translated into a more mature, battle ready player that can jump up a league.

[Protec]

21 hours ago, Pewterschmidt said:

my cousin Vinny is probably going to look like pitlick 2.0.  Beckman?  Please. 

So you's sayin the two Yutes aren't gonna be enough?