Article: Hynes Is Establishing Minnesota's "Second Effort" Identity

[Justin Hein]

View full article

[Citizen Strife]

So what you're saying is more greasy goals and not giving up rebounds?  Good.  Nothing says, "giving up on this game" like letting the other team get to easy pucks.

[FredJohnson]

Hynes Is Establishing Minnesota's "Second Effort" Identity
 

What if a player doesn't have "First Effort"?

Asking for a friend.

[mnfaninnc]

I like the 2nd effort mantra. I think that we've lost some of that hard working culture. Along with that, however, are slow starts. We've had a habit of this even in Koivu's last few years as Kaptain. I think they go hand in hand. 

So, what happened during live bullet sessions last night? Well, I'd say there was a slow start. I wouldn't have expected that in a season opener, however, given the circumstances with Johnny Hockey, I could also see CBJ really wanting to push. I think we may have seen that last night.

I thought Boldy took it to heart, and of course Ek did. They even pulled Johansson along on this, who I felt had a noticeable excellent game. But, we all know Johansson has a little Houdini in him. To me, he earned a 2nd game on the ice. 

I wasn't so happy with the Rossi line. They didn't seem NSync. Now, what looked evident in the eye test was that Zuccarello had a hard time keeping up with the speed. That said, vets like Zuccarello typically hit their stride around game 20 (I've heard that mentioned a few times). Rossi made some nice plays, passes Kaprizov hasn't gotten in the past, but he also had some inconsistencies in his own end. He'll have to clean that up.

Goose looked strong in net, he was calm and on his angles. The one thing he did not have to do a lot of was stop 2nd chances right away. I also thought the defense played pretty well, it was nice to have everyone back. 

A couple of other notes, Trenin looks bigger than his listed measurements. He also looks to be a mean player on the ice, I like that. I thought the 3rd line had a terrible 1st period but got going in the 2nd. I'd like to start games and periods with that line with the instructions of "get the crowd involved" at home. For me, I'd put out Bogosian and Middleton to make it a very heavy line. 

Kent Johnson on the other side looks like he has filled out quite a bit this season. That should be good for CBJ. 

Our PK has some work to do. I get the 4 guys at the line trying to cause a turnover, but, they can't give up that wide lane where they can get beaten to the net. The late goal given up was disappointing even though they were short on a questionable call (since when I went to commercial break, the referee closest to the play called tip). But, the separator goal on the PP was very nice. 

I'm happy with a win, though I think it was harder than it needed to be. I sure hope we play better vs. Seattle. Also, one other goal should be harder to play against at home. We need to work on that better. But, let's start banking home wins!