Article: An Open Letter to Darby Hendrickson

[Mikki Tuohy]

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[Imyourhuckleberry]

Nice message, Mikki. Darby was easy to root for and I also wish him well.

[Pewterschmidt]

Thank you Darby for your service.  Let’s find an up and coming tactician who’s a special teams wizard that gets our PP and PK in top ten

[mnfaninnc]

I'm just wondering about the wording of Hendrickson being fired. It said he was relieved of his coaching duties. 

I'm assuming, and maybe assuming too much, but this sounds like he was still under contract for future seasons. Being relieved of duties doesn't sound like he's being let go by the organization, as reassignment could be an option. Usually when that occurs, they get to help scout, not just sit at home and relax. 

My hope is that Heinzy brings on a defensive wizard for the blueliners. Someone who immediately captures the respect of every defenseman. With respect to Pewter's position, I thought we already had a special teams guy (whose units weren't stellar). And, you could tell that there was a problem when Johansson was asked to kill penalties. 

One conclusion I have is that this team has a bunch of defensive prospects, yet has not invested in actual coaches to develop these guys. We need 2 of these guys, 1 in the N and 1 in the A. Perhaps that will give us different results?

[Jamesgang]

Burnette will be happy to add him to his staff. Will happen quickly

[Pewterschmidt]

52 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

I thought we already had a special teams guy (whose units weren't stellar)

Jason king was who Evason brought in to un$&ck the pp and pk but results varied if I remember correctly. Pp improved but pk never really did.  And that job was the hot potato that might have done in Darby. (Researching special teams rank now)

[Pewterschmidt]

15 minutes ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Researching special teams rank now

10th ranked PP, ok not bad Kingzy 

30th ranked PK.  Difficult to steal games with this bad of a PK

[Pewterschmidt]

2 minutes ago, Pewterschmidt said:

10th ranked PP, ok not bad Kingzy 

30th ranked PK.  Difficult to steal games with this bad of a PK

Based on a Dec 2nd wilderness article by J Wig, Hynzy/Dwyer took for Evason/woods.  

[Pewterschmidt]

7 minutes ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Based on a Dec 2nd wilderness article by J Wig, Hynzy/Dwyer took for Evason/woods.  

Took over PK

#quattropost

[mnfaninnc]

6 hours ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Jason king was who Evason brought in to un$&ck the pp and pk but results varied if I remember correctly. Pp improved but pk never really did.  And that job was the hot potato that might have done in Darby. (Researching special teams rank now)

So, did King ever have the PK, or was that Woods' unit?

I would suggest a real defensemen coach who should also be able to coach the PK unit. 

[Protec]

Edmonton's PK and PP pretty much nailed in the coffin for Dallas.

The Oilers PK was running at 100% for the last 9+ minors taken if I recall. Dallas players couldn't do jacksquats on the PP while every crummy minor Suter or Tanev took resulted in an Edmonton goal almost immediately.(Like 1st minute of the PP.)

That was pretty funny to see. Suter has gotta be so hated in that room. His shitty penalties and slow as molasses in Januaryness was terrible against the Oilers and directly cost the Stars in close games. Edmonton's defense helped Skinner look better and basically win over Oettinger who didn't play poorly at all. Dallas outshot EDM but the Oilers score on just a couple grade A chances. Dallas got very few high-quality chances. 

Tying it back to MN's team. Having a terrible PK helps ya lose. Having weak defense exposes the best goalies. Having a deadly PP can win you games when the ice is tilted. It's all about effin winning I've heard, maybe THIS will be the off-season the Wild address their terrible special-teams and face-offs problems.

[Up North Guy]

On 6/2/2024 at 10:34 AM, mnfaninnc said:

I'm just wondering about the wording of Hendrickson being fired. It said he was relieved of his coaching duties

I read that Darby was offered other positions with the Wild front office but declined.

[Willy the poor boy]

25 minutes ago, Up North Guy said:

I read that Darby was offered other positions with the Wild front office but declined.

What can we read into that? Spends his whole career with the Wild, homegrown and is offered another position with the team and declines. Many will run to protect BG from the obvious, but not me. I think it's pretty clear.

[Burnt Toast]

8 hours ago, Protec said:

Edmonton's PK and PP pretty much nailed in the coffin for Dallas.

Which is exactly what happened when Dallas took out the Wild last year. As a casual hockey fan it boggles my mind that such an important part of the game would not be addressed over multiple years. Find a couple of stud PK pros for next year or coach up who’s available on the roster. I can guarantee you Florida is going to take the Oilers PP seriously. 

[Protec]

2 hours ago, Burnt Toast said:

Which is exactly what happened when Dallas took out the Wild last year. As a casual hockey fan it boggles my mind that such an important part of the game would not be addressed over multiple years. Find a couple of stud PK pros for next year or coach up who’s available on the roster. I can guarantee you Florida is going to take the Oilers PP seriously. 

I think Dallas did too but just couldn't stop it. You have to stay out of the box against them. Suter took a couple brutal minors. The timing of Dallas losing their PP mojo was unfortunate. 

[Up North Guy]

22 hours ago, Willy the poor boy said:

What can we read into that? Spends his whole career with the Wild, homegrown and is offered another position with the team and declines. Many will run to protect BG from the obvious, but not me. I think it's pretty clear.

Could be but I tend to think that Darby has plans and goals of his own. He is and has been very involved in various charity and civic organizations throughout his career. He may have decided that he feels it is time to move in a different direction.