Article: Wallstedt Opens Up About Early Struggles

[Thomas Williams]

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[Protec]

Wally is a young player who like defensemen take longer to develop. It's also true that goalies are psychologically different from most players and their struggles get highlighted more than one of 20+ skaters. 

He'll be fine. He wasn't out of place against Vegas and the Wild had tons of chances, plus a near Kaprizov hat-trick goal at the buzzer. If MN squeaks out a win there, Wallstedt gets the big win and we're all happy. Since he allowed three and the Wild lost, we're doubting all over again.

The Wild are a good team with good depth.

[Citizen Strife]

The Wild are built for 3-2 games.  The thing is they have to be the ones on the positive side.  They still don't take a lot of penalties...which is good, since the PK is atrocious.

[Sam]

32 minutes ago, Citizen Strife said:

The Wild are built for 3-2 games.  The thing is they have to be the ones on the positive side.  They still don't take a lot of penalties...which is good, since the PK is atrocious.

Except for Boldy 😉

[mnfaninnc]

I got to finally see the Vegas game, and I paid attention to 2 things: Dermott and The Wall.

1st, The Wall needs a new mask. I think building a brick wall in the background with the Wild logo stuff would look great. I know people are calling him Wally, but The Wall is such a better nickname for a goalie. What was odd was that it seemed like he was using his reverse retro jersey mask with the colors not really matching the jersey. Is this a prelude to a jersey change next season???

In the 1st period, I thought The Wall looked busy. His game is much like Goose's game where he needs to be calm and let his large frame swallow pucks. But, as the game went on, he settled down. I have no idea how Theodore's snipe got over his shoulder while he's still standing up. It shouldn't be possible. All told, I think Theodore's shot was simply an NHL shot that beat him. And, this is the problem, The Wall isn't facing NHL shots right now, and he needs to be. They are stronger, faster, hit corners better, and slightly change angles. Fleury should never have been re-signed in his current capacity, those valuable minutes were needed by The Wall. This was an unforced error by Guerin.

The Wild played an 11-7 game which I absolutely hate. Dermott, therefore, simply got his feet wet. What I saw was a guy who skates better than Merrill. Merrill has 3" on him with reach, but I think Dermott's better skating more than makes up for it, and by better skating, I don't mean by a little bit, it was significant. 

Dermott also seems to have a little more offensive instincts than Merrill. I did see him charge down the backside a few times looking for a pass or rebound to pounce on. He doesn't seem to have particularly good hands, though. He also did not seem overly physical. All told, I would say he should replace Merrill in the lineup, but maybe not right away, after a few practices. 

While Dermott is an obvious downgrade from Midsy, he is an upgrade from Merrill. Will he fit in? I think that's the main question here. And what are they calling him? Dermsy? Mottsy? Motsy and Midsy? Some marketing guy should be in charge of nicknames on this team. 

Also, Lauko has been mentioned as being hurt. Is there any speculation besides lower body as to how he got hurt? It didn't look like anything, he just disappeared. Perhaps he reinjured himself?

[Up North Guy]

40 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

Also, Lauko has been mentioned as being hurt. Is there any speculation besides lower body as to how he got hurt? It didn't look like anything, he just disappeared. Perhaps he reinjured himself?

Yes, he reinsured himself according to Hynes. Recovery will be longer than last time.