Article: Did the Wild's Lack Of On-Ice Discipline Factor Into Evason's Dismissal?

[Justin Hein]

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[Dean]

IMO he lost the room. If Billy is out saying Dean tried everything and nothing was going to fix it , than it sounds like losing the room. 
    I think the truth lies more in players being to comfortable! They were comfortable because of extensions and knowing where they stood with coach. The extensions are why Dean was fired. Simple as that. Players were to comfortable!  Now they are really uncomfortable and playing well. Funny how that works when your job, minutes or line your on is in jeopardy . The new coach hasn’t done anything yet except for the fact the players need to prove themselves to a new coach for playing time . Time will tell if coach is good but the player’s performance now tells everything.  This team sucks when it’s comfortable!  Who knows how long Dean would have lasted if those extensions weren’t signed and those guys were playing for contracts. My guess is you wouldn’t see a whole team for 20 games have it’s head in it’s  a_s like we did.  So Imo bills wonderful extensions got his buddy fired. . 

[Dango]

I think they were playing with too much anxiety  and were  playing to tight because of it , which does effect your discipline .

[Sviginak]

Ah yes, the last “Why Dean Got Fired” post. I have been waiting for it, Justin! Thanks! No, really, we all know most coaches get fired because the team quits playing well for the old coach for a variety of reasons. The firing wakes the boys back up and they play better almost immediately. If the wake up call doesn’t keep going then a couple players getting moved is next on the agenda for the GM or he could be in trouble, too. Our GM probably has a longer leash as he has been given an extension/promotion recently.

So I am hoping the Wild keep playing entertaining hockey, but like many I was already dreaming about that top five pick. But what the hell, top five or 15-20, it doesn’t matter, we will all (mostly) be back for more next year, probably complaining about the first round exit.

[bisopher]

Concerning thought:  For all of the (justified) talk about playing the right way, playing faster, etc., in the two games since Hynes took over, what else was different about the team the Wild put on the ice against the Blues and Predators?

- Hartman was serving his two game suspension for the slewfoot on DeBrincat.

Correlation is not causation, but let's hope the Wild can keep up the strong play with their "full" roster.

[Will D. Ness]

Interesting take.

I definitely think there is a sense of self destruction in the manner we lost last season and also a sense of Evason committing some strange form of seppleku this season.  I don't want this team to become too passive either though but a little discipline does seem to go a long way.  

The last two games have looked like a manic team finally getting a dose of some sort of reality check like a slap in the face.

[Backwoodsbob]

15 hours ago, Dean said:

The extensions are why Dean was fired. Simple as that.

So you're saying that this was GMBG's plan and intention all along?

[Burnt Toast]

Great article! Undisciplined for sure, I’d add unnecessary, ill advised, untimely, and most of all careless. I rarely saw the team cracking down on players taking game ending, back breaking, momentum killing penalties. Dean tried to set up his roster into a rolling 4 line team only to watch it get derailed on a nightly basis. I’m hoping that the new coach can find a way to help the players hold themselves accountable long term. 

[FredJohnson]

On 12/1/2023 at 6:50 PM, Dean said:

IMO he lost the room. If Billy is out saying Dean tried everything and nothing was going to fix it , than it sounds like losing the room.

Agreed. BG reading the team the riot act player by player was the greatest indictment for me. And it might not necessarily be all Dean's fault (but I think a lot was because Deano was too inflexible). The players had to be better but weren't doing so under Deano.