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Article: How Much Are Minnesota's Goaltenders At Fault For the Wild's Slow Start?


Luke Sims
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1 hour ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Goalies are an enigma.  Proof that none should be overpaid.  
I’m waiting to reserve judgment on Gus Bus’s start this year.  Hope it’s a fluke and once the def gels again Gus’ # improve

Agree with this. When Gus got his three year deal based on a small size one season sample I seen shades of Kevin Dubnyk. BG figures he struck gold when he grabbed Gus as a warm body because Talbot couldn't get out fast enough. 

Whether BG struck gold or dug a hole we are about to find out. I think they come out with hair on fire today. If they score first they should be good. 

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Goalies are weirder than quarterbacks and pitchers when it comes to weird play voodoo.  One minute, they can be lights out, other times, they can be Jack Campbell.  I'm sure Gus and Fleury will figure stuff out to an extent.  If not, it is a LONG season, until next year's Wall gets built.

To be fair, Gus should be halfway competent, as should the defense, otherwise Wallstedt is going to be walking into the fire headfirst.

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I conquer, goalies are weird. Confidence is their biggest asset. Now, confidence has a few facets, but with the goalies, it is confidence in themselves and confidence in their D. I don't know if the confidence in themselves is waning, but confidence in their D certainly looks low.

What indicators could we have of this? Well, for Goose2, he has a tendency to back up deep in the net. I think we've seen that since game 1. I just finished watching the Buffalo game as I found how to access the archives on ESPN+, and I'd say Goose2 played a very good game. 

I can't even really blame the defenders so much in that game as I blame the forwards. These weak plays up at the blue line, both blue lines have got to stop! With all the greatness Kaprizov has, he's the main guy doing this. Boldy also has a tendency to do it as does Zuccarello. It leaves the defense out to dry sometimes as they are not expecting a pass there and have momentum going the other way. 

Now for the coaching. This has happened too long and the coaches have not adjusted or emphasized against this. Our defense has looked leaky at best and they still are not emphasizing gap control and packing the middle. Too many times the D is caught out of position, and the forwards are not covering up. To me, this screams of not enough practice time. 

There is also a problem that the head coach has with pulling his goalies. I realize no coach treats the goalies interchangeably, but some quick hooks are warranted here. For instance, how do you let Fleury continue to get shelled vs. Dallas??? At the end of the 2nd period Fleury should have been pulled for certain, after the 3rd goal is likely when I would have pulled him. Our goalies should be stretched out all the time, and I believe the quick hook should be coming when you can see it just isn't that goalie's night. 

Evason's theory is the goalie needs to work it out. He just leaves them in there to figure it out and if they don't, they give up 8. Goose2 is a decent goalie. He's better than his numbers say. But he's definitely in a cold spell and perhaps Fleury can help him deal with it. Fleury's main reason for being there right now is to help the 2 young goalies mature. He's been through several rough patches, so I'm sure he has some good advice. 

Maybe things change on the Sweden trip. I don't know as I haven't been able to watch them yet. It would seem to me that Goose2 could use a little home and everything will get better.

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On 11/19/2023 at 10:57 AM, mnfaninnc said:

Maybe things change on the Sweden trip. I don't know as I haven't been able to watch them yet. It would seem to me that Goose2 could use a little home and everything will get better.

Gus looked good against Ottawa. He looked like last year's version. Hopefully he can build on that. I saw some quotes from Russo I think talking about Gus getting with his Swedish goalie coach and getting some tips off tape. If that is the case two things: 1) good for Gus and the team. 2) Why the heck were the Wild unable to give him that help?

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19 hours ago, Up North Guy said:

I saw some quotes from Russo I think talking about Gus getting with his Swedish goalie coach and getting some tips off tape. If that is the case two things: 1) good for Gus and the team. 2) Why the heck were the Wild unable to give him that help?

Goose2 and The Wall were developed by the same guy. Any chance he comes State side and is our new goalie coach?

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