Article: Wilderness Walk: How Will The Wild Fix Special Teams?

[Thomas Williams]

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[Protec]

Minnesota currently behind the Ducks, Yotes, Wings, Habs, Flyers, Sabres, Sens, and tied with the Blue Jackets. 

Winning formula missing in action. Perhaps it's in Sweden??? 😃

[MrCheatachu]

3 hours ago, Protec said:

Minnesota currently behind the Ducks, Yotes, Wings, Habs, Flyers, Sabres, Sens, and tied with the Blue Jackets. 

Winning formula missing in action. Perhaps it's in Sweden??? 😃

As the eternal optimist that I am, I'm hoping to see some inspired hockey in Sweden.

Maybe eating a pregame meal of renskav and swapping out the smelling salts for some Läkerol salmiak will allow the boys to find the motivation.

But fundamentally, I think (hope) a week off will help the team recover from their bumps/bruises they've seen so far.  Maybe a nice sauna will cure what's ailing them.

[raithis]

As long as they don't treat it like a vacation.  They need to practice 4-5 times this week.  The mental lapses and defensive breakdowns need to stop.  They are a predictable and undisciplined team that breaks under pressure and they aren't resilient enough to overcome their own errors.  Until they start correcting some of these things, it's going to be more of the same.

[MNCountryLife]

It's good to hear that Dean at least understands that the PK strategy they are using has failed and they are trying some new things.  I guess we'll find out if the new "System" works over the next few games.  Cross your fingers... We need it to work.

[mnfaninnc]

Quote

the coaching staff is spending the extra practice time trying to get the man advantage and penalty kill clicking.

I'll believe this when it's 100% verified. They ought to be practicing 2+ hours and I wouldn't hate 2 a days. 

1 way to motivate players to play coming out of the tunnel is run them hard in practice until they do. Most get the message quick. However, this has not been the Evason track record. Lackluster play is rewarded with time off.

[M_Nels]

13 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

I'll believe this when it's 100% verified. They ought to be practicing 2+ hours and I wouldn't hate 2 a days. 

1 way to motivate players to play coming out of the tunnel is run them hard in practice until they do. Most get the message quick. However, this has not been the Evason track record. Lackluster play is rewarded with time off.

The only time I use Twitter(X) is hockey season to follow Russo, Smith and others. Russo has said they've been working extensively on special teams. LaPanta had a Tweet from Monday that was kind of funny, something along the lines of "saying this practice is hard would be an understatement". Seems like they are actually working on it. 

[Willy the poor boy]

1 hour ago, M_Nels said:

The only time I use Twitter(X) is hockey season to follow Russo, Smith and others. Russo has said they've been working extensively on special teams. LaPanta had a Tweet from Monday that was kind of funny, something along the lines of "saying this practice is hard would be an understatement". Seems like they are actually working on it. 

I've never gotten the impression that DE is the type of coach that is laid back or gonna let anyone slack off.

[mnfaninnc]

1 hour ago, M_Nels said:

The only time I use Twitter(X) is hockey season to follow Russo, Smith and others. Russo has said they've been working extensively on special teams. LaPanta had a Tweet from Monday that was kind of funny, something along the lines of "saying this practice is hard would be an understatement". Seems like they are actually working on it. 

Hopefully, they have figured something out. Maybe they can work on draws too. Not just winning them, but what to do when they likely lose them.

Also, for those out of market folks who were ready to wake up on Saturday and Sunday for some morning hockey, NHLN is covering the 2 games in Sweden. Affect for me, ESPN+ isn't (but probably will with a day delay). 

I wonder what the stats are if NHLN covers a game vs. ESPN+? NHLN seems to be a network that's kind of hard to get unless you choose a premium package.  Maybe that's just in my neck of the woods?

[mnfaninnc]

3 minutes ago, Willy the poor boy said:

I've never gotten the impression that DE is the type of coach that is laid back or gonna let anyone slack off.

Really? How do you explain the 2 days off + 1 hour practice on the 3rd day after coming back from Jersey? How do you explain the lack of morning skates, the lack of actual practices? How do you reconcile the slow starts and seemingly being ok with that? 

I'd like to remind you that coming back from Jersey we got 1/6 points. I would have thought 🚨🚨🚨 would have been the reaction to that. Instead we got a comment on coaches getting tired and so glad that management doesn't mind them taking days off because they get tired. We're talking about 7 games into a season. And the special teams were in shambles then.

As a coach, sometimes you need to know when you step on the gas and when you don't. When things are going bad, stepping on the gas isn't just needed, it should be demanded. A disconnect like this happens when a coach's message has grown stale, and the players simply aren't responding anymore. It also shows he had few answers to the problems (like quit running around like chickens with their heads cut off and take away the high danger areas, let them shoot from the perimeter). 

[Up North Guy]

2 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

Really? How do you explain the 2 days off + 1 hour practice on the 3rd day after coming back from Jersey? How do you explain the lack of morning skates, the lack of actual practices? How do you reconcile the slow starts and seemingly being ok with that? 

I'd like to remind you that coming back from Jersey we got 1/6 points. I would have thought 🚨🚨🚨 would have been the reaction to that. Instead we got a comment on coaches getting tired and so glad that management doesn't mind them taking days off because they get tired. We're talking about 7 games into a season. And the special teams were in shambles then.

As a coach, sometimes you need to know when you step on the gas and when you don't. When things are going bad, stepping on the gas isn't just needed, it should be demanded. A disconnect like this happens when a coach's message has grown stale, and the players simply aren't responding anymore. It also shows he had few answers to the problems (like quit running around like chickens with their heads cut off and take away the high danger areas, let them shoot from the perimeter). 

I read in the Athletic (I think) that the Wild is one of the worst shot blocking teams in the NHL. No wonder the PK sucks.

[mnfaninnc]

^^^ With this, I think we need to ask, has Evason lost the room? Have the players quit on him? You guys may know more, I watched 2 periods of Dallas and hadn't watched the whole road trip before that as it fell off of ESPN+'s games on demand. Perhaps there is an archive, but I haven't found that section yet. 

[Up North Guy]

19 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

^^^ With this, I think we need to ask, has Evason lost the room? Have the players quit on him? You guys may know more, I watched 2 periods of Dallas and hadn't watched the whole road trip before that as it fell off of ESPN+'s games on demand. Perhaps there is an archive, but I haven't found that section yet. 

I think (as someone else posted in another thread) that the Christmas break may be the timeframe if the team has not turned it around. That also depends on who is available to take over.

[mnfaninnc]

22 hours ago, Up North Guy said:

That also depends on who is available to take over.

I'm pretty sure we don't have that guy. Gallant could do it but requires probably a 3-4 year contract. Sullivan is still a member of the Penguins. I'm not sure anyone else is there. Edmonton had to hire a jr. coach after firing their coach. So, I'm betting we simply go the interim route. 

I wouldn't be opposed to seeing GMBG become HCBG for the interim. Getting that close to the players might help him make decisions.