Article: The Wild Have A Blueprint To Survive Jonas Brodin's Injury

[Protec]

5 hours ago, Tony Abbott said:

Everyone in the NHL golfs, the only reason you seem to hold it against Boldy is he's good enough at the game for you to hear about it.

Simply prefer he be worse at golf, snappier on the one-timers, or in better hockey condition to start in October without getting hurt for 7M per. Wild as a team suffered. Rossi by comparison had a great start and he wasn't focused on Summer golf instead he looks mentally and physically tougher and hasn't been hurt. Sorta illustrates my point, the Wild are full of shit with their grit vids too big for their britches. 

They gotta be more hungry and have greater urgency. Golfing or social justice doesn't show the focus or dedication it will take even close. It makes me think many here have been right and the Country Club is back...

[Skomonkey]

You can see the lack of confidence the team has with Goose and Merrill. The first 4 games we all agree the Wild looked faster. The main reason is the D were more aggressive and pinched down often resulting in a turnover, errant passing or stalled the exit allowing the Wild to collect the puck in the neutral zone and enter the zone. This pressure led to the scoring chances. 
 

Both Goose and Merrill back out most often or pintch at the wrong time. This makes exits easy and results in odd man rushes. They also don’t have the skill or decision making ability to exit the zone clean resulting in extended D zone time. This leads to a goal or penalty. 
 

We can’t play with speed with either of them on the ice. The coaches know this because they both have sat. However, there is ego at play and BG will not make the moves to exit these two because he signed both to extensions. 
 

Every other team plays young players. If BG wasn’t responsible for their contract they would be on waivers. 
 

Final though, the Wild will continue to struggle with this D core because you can’t hide them and the Wild can’t finish.  Their recent two losses are exhibit A and B. They won’t advance in the standings against better teams. 

[MickX]

On 12/11/2023 at 4:04 PM, Dean said:

I couldn’t watch game last night because lapanta and walz have to be one of the worst broadcast teams.  Lapanta -Carter are good. Lapanta - Lou nanny are perfection.  Walz just runs his mouth the entire game about exaggerated things from 20 years ago. IMO he is the most annoying color guy in the league. A paid cheerleader that’s just fills the air with nonsense. 
    Lapanta and walz should have some respect for the game and call it.  We need an Eddie o, Keith jones or a Darren pang . Not a guy who is in love with hearing himself stutter and talk 

 

[MickX]

Just now, MickX said:

Lapanta isn’t the worst, but Walz drones on and on and on to where it becomes background noise and you have no idea what he just said 

 

[mnfaninnc]

18 hours ago, Quebec1648 said:

Training of broadcasters may be a bit lacking, but supply is also an issue. Back in the 1950's and 60's, there were fewer broadcast positions to fill, since we didn't have as many teams / tv networks. When you have as many broadcasting positions as they do now (plus the radio gigs), there is simply not enough talent to fill every position, so some spots will be filled with sub par broadcasters.

Theater / Radio is an excellent place to start before moving on to film or tv, but we need to also rethink how many broadcaster spots we need. 

With expansion, I'd agree with you on the need for more broadcasters. Yet, you'd think they would have been developing in the increased coverage of the college ranks?

Usually, the national coverage got priority of the best broadcasters available. That is no longer the case, especially at ESPN. Sometimes, broadcasters would play multiple roles, and call different sports and seasons, like Gorg does with the Twins. 

Back in the era where there wasn't so much choice, still, the broadcast on local tv had a play by play guy and a color guy. The radio guys were different, and if I'm remembering correctly, Al Shaver was by himself in the booth. Today, some franchises have merged the Radio/tv into 1 position. 

There are a lot of guys/gals who love sports but just aren't that good at them that could play roles in this. I guess my main complaint is voice and voice inflection. I'm not anti female either, as I believe Kathryn Tappen does a real good job. I also like the job Audra Martin does in studio. But some of these ESPN national announcers are brutal and their voice pitch hits that annoying button on my brain sometimes. Those things need to get fixed, and having a decent sound guy who can play with the levels might help. 

But, what I think it boils down to is that some people just don't want to work anymore. Truly working at this craft just doesn't happen anymore. These people need to be more serious about their skills than they are showing. It's more than just learning names and lingo. Present them interestingly and without a monotone voice. 

[Up North Guy]

2 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

The radio guys were different, and if I'm remembering correctly, Al Shaver was by himself in the booth.

Tom Reid was the color guy for the last 12 years of the North Stars and since the beginning of the Wild.

[raithis]

14 hours ago, Skomonkey said:

We can’t play with speed with either of them on the ice. The coaches know this because they both have sat. However, there is ego at play and BG will not make the moves to exit these two because he signed both to extensions. 

 

Every other team plays young players. If BG wasn’t responsible for their contract they would be on waivers.

I don't see Guerin keeping someone just because he signed their extension.  His ego didn't get in the way of moving on from Greenway or Addison.

The only reason I think Goligoski and Merrill are still here is because Goligoski has a NMC and our AHL defenseman are still developing.  If he loses Merrill then he needs to know that he has someone else in case a player gets hurt.  I think Guerin would rather see people like Hunt develop a bit more in the AHL and only pull him if needed.  If we had more cap space, maybe we'd bury Goligoski and Merrill as 7 and 8.

That said, it could definitely be argued that Hunt is better than both.  I could see Guerin using Hunt more later in the season at Goligoski and Merrill's expense.  Whether that means Merrill is in the AHL or traded, I don't know, but I don't think Guerin would avoid making that move solely for his ego. 

There's no way we re-sign Goligoski to the roster next year (hopefully he finally understands he needs to retire), and it wouldn't be a surprise if Merrill wasn't on the roster next year.  Maybe he will be, but I think he ends up being an injury fill-in at best and not a regular player.

[mnfaninnc]

3 hours ago, Up North Guy said:

Tom Reid was the color guy for the last 12 years of the North Stars and since the beginning of the Wild.

why do I remember him on tv? Also, I left in '81.

[Up North Guy]

2 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

why do I remember him on tv? Also, I left in '81.

I think he did some TV also. My memory is pretty spotty but I think he did Gopher games as well. Broadcasting was hit and miss for a lot of those years.

[mnfaninnc]

Maybe it's just me, but I'd think that more of the front office might "stop by" for some time in the booth during a half period or so. Perhaps giving us insights on what the vision ahead is? I was thinking that Modano would be a really good interview. Koivu probably also. If they ever took up my idea of a defensive coordinator and a forward coordinator and a goalie coordinator in the player development area, those guys would be nice to have on too. 

There's a lot that they could do to make this more entertaining, including having retired MN NHLers get a little time in the booth. Those always seem insightful and you get new stories. That's probably why Lou Nanne is such a breath of fresh air when he gives us 3 games here and there.