Article: The Wild Were Smart To Grab John Hynes When They Did

[Bekki Antonelli]

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[Citizen Strife]

It feels really weird comparing Evason to Hynes, but the differences are crystal clear.  Evason didn't really seem to care about goals and giving up goals.  Effort, heart, willingness to get to the net and get greasy goals.  The drawback was the team wasn't really the big nasty, angry team that seemed to fit that strategy.  There seemed to be a shelf life.  It also manifested in so...so many penalties.

The aim from this season was a simple one: if games like Winnipeg and Buffalo happen, they happen for a reason.  The team still feels too, "cute" for its own good.  A good goaltender from an opposing team can shut the team down.  The difference seems to be in most cases, the Wild in front of and at the net can be counted on to stop a team in its tracks just as much.

Hynes seems to ascribe to the theory that limiting dangerous play at the cost of offensive flourish is more sustainable.  The Wild won last night because the Sabres pinched in and they got a 4-1.  There are more 1-0, 2-1, 3-2 games than 5-4, 6-5 games when the Wild play.  It doesn't always go their way.  The penalties are ratcheting up, but they still take the third least.  That sort of discipline would have been unheard of under Evason.  

I was hoping they would take care of their defense first this season.  I was pleasantly surprised they got off to a good start.  I would have never dreamed they'd be a top 5 team in the league, and the best defensive team a quarter in.  There's holes to fix, but they fixed the biggest one they needed to.

Edited November 28 by Citizen Strife

[Pewterschmidt]

I’m thankful for Hynzy this year. 
 

He’s got this group (same cast of characters as last year) playing with more structure and discipline and heart than last year.  I give Hynzy the bulk of the credit for that.  

[Sam]

8 minutes ago, Pewterschmidt said:

I’m thankful for Hynzy this year. 

Thats the spirit.

[mnfaninnc]

I cannot agree with this premise that Bekki suggested:

Quote

Hynes didn’t make sweeping off-season changes. Instead, he made small, focused tweaks. The Wild had previously struggled with their penalty kill, so he brought on Trenin.

Sweeping changes don't just include player changes, though, in that department, Shooter has more to say about such things. I think he did make sweeping changes. Heinzy took Evason's system, crumpled it up and threw it into file 13. He made this team commit to a very solid structure, while the Evason plan was getting looser every year. 

The way the Wild are playing is very much like the coach. This is probably Heinzy's most talented team, and that talent has thrived in the structured system. 

Take last night, we were without Brodin, played a full AHL 4th line, and often got bottled up in the defensive zone. Was there panic? No. The Wild allowed the Sabres to have plenty of cardio shifts around the perimeter that even Johansson could be proud of. Structure is theory until it is tested under stress. This season, we've had plenty of opportunities to test this structure. 

Heinzy's reputation that I remember someone writing here was that his system is where good offenses go to die. Heinzy is still letting Boldy and Kaprizov be creative. He's also stressing strong passes and not a bunch of east-west passing to get picked off and sent back the other way. There are still a lot of elements of 3rd guy high in the offensive zone, and position switching, but even the forwards are playing within the structure when having to play defense. 

Heinzy has his Oster behind the bench and does a much better job of blending from the gut when things aren't going well. 

Now, I think some of the real proof is how Freddy is bouncing back when Heinzy tried Dino at 3rd line center, and then gave Freddy the opportunity. His insertion there has made a big difference in the line and in him. He's also got Wild villain Marcus Johansson playing better, more engaged, and far more physical. This is more than just a contract year bounce for Johansson, he's playing Heinzy hockey. (Interestingly, he's also not dropping his stick as often too)

Training camp was said to be the hardest camp that the vets had participated in (except for the Russians who said it was nothing). These are not mere tweaks, these are wholesale changes both in system and in culture. 

Now I'd like to take on the title of the article:

Quote

The Wild Were Smart To Grab John Hynes When They Did

Heinzy and Shooter have a strong relationship from the distant past. Much of the GM/Coaching hires and fires have to do with relationships. Heinzy was unemployed at the time. Evason was grandfathered in when Shooter took over, wasn't really his guy, and I don't really think Heinzy is either. When Evason proved that he could be more than an interim, he earned an extension. When Shooter gave Evason a vote of confidence, he turned around and had Heinzy evaluate the team a couple of weeks before he got the call. Heinzy was available and nobody had picked him up after being let go the previous May. I don't think this was really good timing, I think he just happened to be available. 

IMO, Sully is Shooter's target coach. But here's the thing, regardless of when this happens, I believe Shooter also has a place for Heinzy in the organization. This may be one of those rare moments where Sully becomes employed from the Wild and somehow all 3 guys can work together.  With Sully's Stanley Cup pedigree, I think eventually he will be the Wild's contender coach, while Heinzy may get bumped upstairs. Heinzy's got the personality that can go toe to toe with Guerin, and Guerin needs a guy who can do that. We've all got blindspots, having a guy who's not afraid of showing Guerin his can be invaluable. 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!!!

[mnfaninnc]

I thought this was the best place to put this, yesterday afternoon my grandson and I went to watch the Wild play.....in Charlotte. 

While the baby Wild were down their top line, I did get to see some things and there was one real big surprise. Ferguson started in net instead of The Wall. Wild lost 5-3, 5th goal on a poorly executed goalie pull with 17 seconds left (Charlotte had a PP until then and pretty much played keep away).

Overview Thoughts:

Organizations want different things from their A team. The Panthers are the Panthers, and they've got plenty of depth incase of injury. Might this have been a different game if Boyd, Shore and Jones were back? Maybe, but they weren't.

Wild held tough taking an undeserved 2-1 lead after 1, tied at 2 after 2, and pulling to 4-3 in the 3rd. Driedger was the Charlotte goalie, a definite 3rd goalie who can perform in the N. He didn't look particularly sharp. 

Probably 2/3rds of the play was held in the Wild zone, the best they could do was chip pucks, Charlotte could handle, skate and were always setting up in the Wild zone. Good news, the Wild looked structured and weren't in 5 alarm fire mode. Charlotte ice is pretty soft, and this could be a reason why we were bobbling pucks. To me, a couple of times, it looked like the puck stuck instead of slide. 

Breakouts were hard and generally stymied in the neutral zone. Best goal of the night was a pass up the right wing to Mikey Milne who took the puck into the zone and stopped around the top of the circle, the lone defender couldn't stay with him and Milne dumped a pass to a streaking Caeden Bankier who went forehand-backhand-forehand for the tap in. This line was the best line of the night, mainly due to Bankier and Milne (for the Wild). Haight and Ohgren also played together, I think with Reese Johnson who had a nice fight.

Player Thoughts:

Bankier had a strong game playing center. He won most of his draws, and he and Milne were in the offensive zone the most. The 3rd party was Graeme Clarke, and if we thought he would be a difference maker, we were truly wrong. He's not strong enough to play in the A. He tried to bump people to no affect and pretty much played spritzer hockey. Bankier, however, was physical.

Mikey Milne was all over the ice and he has excellent speed....for the A. He wasn't as physical as I would have liked and has some offensive upside. He's not ready yet. Lots of bobbled pucks and he really needs to work into that physical bottom 6er. 

Graeme Clarke is listed at 190. The eye test says LIE! He played a Johansson type of game with the exception of dropping his stick. His penalty late  in the 3rd cost the Wild a chance to tie, and it wasn't due to lack of effort, it was a strength issue where he had a guy tied up behind the net, couldn't hold him there and ended up slashing his stick to try and get the puck loose. He is a weak player, and probably has the same criticisms that Beckman had. 

Hunter Haight centered the next line with Ohgren and Johnson. This was the 2nd best line out there, and they'd break out heading the other way, bobble a puck and back the other way it went. Haight showed some skill and creativity which I liked. He will need the full year and probably next year before he's ready. Draws were a problem for Haight, he lost most of them. 

Ohgren. Ohgren has an average stick for the A. He didn't show off his speed, he didn't really dig into the corners. He got a few shots off into the goalie's chest. One thing was noticeable, His breezers are a lot wider than most of the other players. Remember the speech that Guerin gave to Rossi, to put more FU in his game? Ohgren needs to hear a recording of that speech. He's got the goods to really bang some guys in the corners but hasn't been using it. He needs some time with Ek in the summer. I don't know how much bodychecking they teach in Sweden, but he looked like that was pretty foreign to him. And, he's absolutely got to be doing stickhandling drills after practice. He gets shots off, but he is not good at carrying the puck. 

Crotty and Lambos were the 1st pair. I thought they played well, and I could see the puck moving ability of Lambos who also seemed way more willing to stick a guy in the corner. He had a couple of nice stickhandling moments in traffic and skating himself out of traffic. Lambos has improved.

The next pair was Spacek and Hunt. I thought through the 1st period that the Crotty Lambos pair was the best, but after that, this pair seemed to be the best. Spacek I was excited to see, as I've been high on him. He has also greatly improved. He's a little smaller, but there are guys who take the body and guys who staple people to the boards. Spacek has his Swingline handy. The guys he was stapling were bigger than him. He also has some nice offensive upside.  His skating was fine as he didn't get burned at all. He was on the ice for the 3rd goal, which was a wrap around, but even looking at the replay, I think it was just a really good play by the forward for the Checkers. 

Hunt was very steady. He got burned on a terrible linechange where the Wild got the puck out after being trapped in their zone but didn't get it deep and faced a team coming down at him. He, also was at the end of his shift and had no jump. He was also on the ice for the 3rd goal, though, I didn't see him in the picture. There was kind of a wipe out in the corner of some players, he might have been in that. 

Peart was on the 3rd pair with Cecconi. Peart has a long way to go. He was as weak as Clarke. There was one spot where he tried to take the body in his own zone only to get outmuscled and shielded off by the defender, his bump had no impact and didn't move the opponent one bit. He wasn't particularly great at moving the puck and needs a much larger frame. The roster says he's 195, LIE. The eye test says he's small and weak. 

Ferguson is an interesting goalie. He's 6'2" and plays real quick, much like Fleury's style is. He is definitely not quiet in the net. I suspect he is a hot and cold goalie.

My next callup at forward would be Bankier. On defense it would probably be Hunt, but I'd like to see Lambos (who looks bigger) up in the N. For those wondering, there is a huge chasm between our A prospects and our current N players. Yes, even Merrill could probably fend off the defensemen at this point. While it's disappointing to hear, it also means that the front office made the right decisions. 

[Pewterschmidt]

Great prospect recap mnfan.  Thanks.  I’d like to see bankier get a cup of coffee in St. Paul to see what we’ve got with him.  Not very encouraged by the ogz recap.  I wonder if he’s part of the jirizy conversation.  I sure hope Rossi is not.  I’m changing my tune on Rossi.  He’s looking more and more like a middle sixer depth scoring on a playoff team.  Our playoff team, not someone else’s 

[raithis]

22 hours ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Great prospect recap mnfan.  Thanks.  I’d like to see bankier get a cup of coffee in St. Paul to see what we’ve got with him.  Not very encouraged by the ogz recap.  I wonder if he’s part of the jirizy conversation.  I sure hope Rossi is not.  I’m changing my tune on Rossi.  He’s looking more and more like a middle sixer depth scoring on a playoff team.  Our playoff team, not someone else’s 

Agree.  I liked the progress I saw from Bankier when I watched the Kurvers' prospect showcase right before the preseason started.  He's not NHL-ready yet, but he looks like he could turn into a good 3rd or 4th liner down the road.  He's willing to get physical and seemed to be in a good spot a lot of the time.  He wasn't flashy, but he definitely stood out among most of the rest of the prospects.  Kind of Ek-ish, but with less upside.