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  • An Optimist, A Pessimist and A Rationalist Discuss the Wild's Fate


    Image courtesy of Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
    Neil Urbanski

    “It is going to be alright. It’s all good!”

    “This team is so awful. I’m angry!”

    “Listen, this is exactly what you’d expect to happen, so really, it is what it is. Just go with the flow, bro.”

    Odds are that when you think of the Minnesota Wild right now, a phrase that sounds like one of the three above starts running through your head. Whichever one it is, it’s also likely the same phrase that runs through your head most of the time. 

    Sports fans tend to fall into one of three categories. Scroll through the comment section on any sports website. You’re likely to see each one of them battling for the souls of the other two in an increasingly escalating debate that eventually dissolves into a bunch of fiery declarations about who lives in their parents’ basement and who just needs to open their eyes and “actually watch the games.” 

    And let’s be honest, we’re lucky if it stops there.

    But we here at Hockey Wilderness are a civilized bunch intent on delivering wholesome content to our loyal and knowledgeable readers. So, instead of rehashing the same conversations you’re likely to find in the comment sections on lesser sites, what you’ll see here today is what happens when three highly rational, completely objective hockey fans engage in a spirited discussion about how the Wild will fare in this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs.

    In one corner, you have Optimist Brian. In the other, Peter the Pessimist. And up there, perched from the rafters and taking in the big picture, is Rational Randy.

    ----------------------------------------

    The prompt: The Minnesota Wild will find playoff success this postseason and win at least one round. 

    Optimist Brian: They can definitely do it! If you don’t count the past two months, the Wild are basically one of the best teams in the league. No reason they can’t ramp it back up in April with all their big guns.

    Peter the Pessimist: Listen, good hockey is like jazz music – I know it when I see it, and with this bunch, I haven’t seen it in a while. Plus, I mean, if we’re not counting the past two months, I’ve only gained four pounds since Christmas. So why don’t my pants fit then?

    Rational Randy: The way I see it, you can’t win or move comfortably in your pants if you’re not healthy, so of course, the Wild have been struggling lately. I believe that answers Peter’s question as well. Let’s see what happens if everyone gets healthy and the Wild can give opponents a healthy diet of Kirill and Co. every night. Time will tell, fellas.

    Optimist Brian: That’s exactly what I’m saying! We all know that when the Wild put the pedal to the medal and play their game, they get rewarded for their efforts. In general manager Bill Guerin, we trust! This is the guy who finally got Kaprizov to come over and who led the team to the best regular season in franchise history.

    Peter the Pessimist: Listen Brian, would I trust Bill Guerin to spin a good yarn and pick up the tab at the bar? Absolutely. Do I trust him with my hockey team? Sorry, but that ship flew the coop when he handled the team like he has this year. And really, even before that, things started getting weird.

     

    Rational Randy: Well, the way I see it, going into the season, the Wild weren’t expected to be as good as they have been so far, so we have to keep that in mind. Have they been as good as we would have hoped? No. But they haven’t been awful either. Time will tell what happens. We just gotta let the universe unfold as it will, bros.

    Optimist Brian: Well, listen, the universe unfolds according to the will of the hockey gods, and this year, they have to be on our side! I mean, the Wild put on their hard hats every game and go to work, and they’re bound to get rewarded with some puck luck at some point. Why wouldn’t this be the year they finally do? It’s the final year of Flower Power, after all. The gods be with us, I say.

    Peter the Pessimist: What in the name of Manny Fernandez are you two blabbering on about? The universe and hockey gods don’t win you hockey games! It’s Xs and Os, execution, being a well-oiled machine, and star power. And right now, the Wild are headed down the home stretch looking like the rickety sled in Cool Runnings, and the team’s stars are being held together with duct tape.

    Rational Randy: You know, Peter, some people have used duct tape to do some really great things. I had a wallet made out of it for all of middle school. The Wild’s chances have definitely gotten worse with all the injuries they’ve had, but all you really need is a chip and a chair, and then once the cards are dealt, it’s all up to fate. Time will tell. Let’s just sit back and enjoy the ride, dudes.

    Optimist Brian: You’re damn right I’m gonna enjoy the ride! How many teams do you know that could survive this many injuries to key players and still be pretty much a lock to make the playoffs? You know why? It’s because they have the intangibles and put the pieces in place to succeed. Their goalie tandem features an emerging star and a sure-fire hall of famer. 

    They have a great mix of young talent and steady vets who all know their roles. Look at Marcus Johansson. He’s practically the Greek god of off-puck neutral zone positioning. That’s the stuff you need to win!

    Peter the Pessimist: Oookay. Let’s unpack this for a second, Brian. Your rationale for the team making a playoff run is that the Wild played well to start the season, they have a backup goaltender who they’ve barely played in the last month, and because they have Marcus freaking Johansson? What in the name of Justin Fontaine are you smoking? Randy, come on, this guy’s nuts, right?

    Rational Randy: Well, I can see both of your points, really. There’s a lot to be said for having a veteran presence in the room, and Fleury is known to have been a valuable mentor to young goalies in the playoffs. And Johansson does bring some defensive value, but Greek god is a little over the top. 

    So yeah Peter, Brian’s probably smoking something. But that’s just his journey, man, just like the Wild are on theirs. Time will tell what happens, compadres.

    Optimist Brian: The Wild won this week! They are the best!

    Peter the Pessimist: The Wild lost this week. They suck. 

    Rational Randy: You win some, you lose some, bros. 

    Optimist Brian: Let’s go Wild! Let’s go WILD!

    Peter the Pessimist: Uhh yeah…I’m gonna go. Randy, can we be done here?

    Rational Randy: Sure thing, fellas. Rational Randy abides

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    What you’ll see here today is what happens when three highly rational, completely objective hockey fans engage in a spirited discussion about how the Wild will fare in this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs."

    Are they saying the commenters here are NOT highly rational and completely objective? Nobody here gets heated and we fan(atics) are all totally rational. 

    Seriously well done with the article, good summation of most of what we see in the comments. It boils down to we are all fans and want to see them win and make it to the cup, just differ on opinions on what that will take.

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    The broadcast last night was to funny. Lapanta actually had to call a game due to tech difficulties and he wasn’t that good. At least it was a break from him and Carter crying about injuries and salary cap. If you watch or listen to a game they are reading from same talking points . All game long it’s excuse after excuse. Then rinse and repeat.  I watch and listen to lots of other teams. No one in league covers there team like the wild and there paid excuse makers. It makes watching/ listening unbearable. Just pathetic. Kinda like the product on the ice. 
        Dallas has injuries to there top end talent just like Vegas and many other playoff teams yet they keep plugging away. It’s obvious the wilds roster just isn’t good. It’s mediocre. It can’t do anything without kappy . That’s bad roster construction. Last year it was because Spurg. , this year kappy.  IMO it’s not the injuries it’s the guys on your roster that’s the problem. . 
        The broadcasters need to call the game like it’s a competition in a sport. Not a manufactured feel good story. . 

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    31 minutes ago, Dean said:

    No one in league covers there team like the wild and there paid excuse makers. It makes watching/ listening unbearable. Just pathetic. Kinda like the product on the ice. 

    Obviously, you haven't been listening to the Hurricanes' broadcast team. Tripp is brutal and a tremendous homer.

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    33 minutes ago, Dean said:

    Dallas has injuries to there top end talent just like Vegas and many other playoff teams yet they keep plugging away. It’s obvious the wilds roster just isn’t good. It’s mediocre. It can’t do anything without kappy . That’s bad roster construction. Last year it was because Spurg. , this year kappy.  IMO it’s not the injuries it’s the guys on your roster that’s the problem. . 

    This is true. But Dallas' injuries are good until the playoffs, so they could use their LTIR money. Vegas does the same thing. We lose Kaprizov or Spurg, we've got no plan B since we're down $15m. The only hope is for an ELC guy to step in and provide value play, and those guys aren't ready yet or here. 

    Though, I do wonder, if the medical team is wrong and Kaprizov and Ek don't make it back for the playoffs, what could they have done. I'm sorry, I'm not much of a Rantanen fan and I don't think he plays well in our system. But, could we have gotten a little more aggressive with teams that did not trade their guys? Maybe!

    It all hinged on whether or not Kaprizov and Ek were going to come back before the playoffs. As the clock ticks and the rink remains empty for them skating, I have to wonder if 2 games was worth it, or if they just should have sat until playoffs and we get reinforcements we can use in other years.

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    40 minutes ago, Dean said:

    The broadcast last night was to funny. Lapanta actually had to call a game due to tech difficulties and he wasn’t that good. At least it was a break from him and Carter crying about injuries and salary cap. If you watch or listen to a game they are reading from same talking points . All game long it’s excuse after excuse. Then rinse and repeat.  I watch and listen to lots of other teams. No one in league covers there team like the wild and there paid excuse makers. It makes watching/ listening unbearable. Just pathetic. Kinda like the product on the ice. 
        Dallas has injuries to there top end talent just like Vegas and many other playoff teams yet they keep plugging away. It’s obvious the wilds roster just isn’t good. It’s mediocre. It can’t do anything without kappy . That’s bad roster construction. Last year it was because Spurg. , this year kappy.  IMO it’s not the injuries it’s the guys on your roster that’s the problem. . 
        The broadcasters need to call the game like it’s a competition in a sport. Not a manufactured feel good story. . 

    So which of the three commenters are you? 

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    45 minutes ago, Dean said:

    The broadcast last night was to funny. Lapanta actually had to call a game due to tech difficulties and he wasn’t that good. At least it was a break from him and Carter crying about injuries and salary cap. If you watch or listen to a game they are reading from same talking points . All game long it’s excuse after excuse. Then rinse and repeat.  I watch and listen to lots of other teams. No one in league covers there team like the wild and there paid excuse makers. It makes watching/ listening unbearable. Just pathetic. Kinda like the product on the ice. 
        Dallas has injuries to there top end talent just like Vegas and many other playoff teams yet they keep plugging away. It’s obvious the wilds roster just isn’t good. It’s mediocre. It can’t do anything without kappy . That’s bad roster construction. Last year it was because Spurg. , this year kappy.  IMO it’s not the injuries it’s the guys on your roster that’s the problem. . 
        The broadcasters need to call the game like it’s a competition in a sport. Not a manufactured feel good story. . 

    Yes Some of the other teams have had injuries, but nowhere near what we have had to endure.  None of them have missed their top player.  Of Vegas top 6 forwards and top 4 Dmen, none have missed more than 15 games.

    Dallas has missed Seguin for a large portion of the year, and a couple of other players miss time, but none more than 20 games. 

    We have had Kap miss 35, Brodin, 32, Ek, 30, Spurg, 15 and Zuccy, 13.  And still Vegas only has 9 more points than us.  
     
    Also, as I have said many times, we did pretty good without Kap.  Just when you add a couple more top players on the list is when we have struggled. 

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    Awesome Article!!  Had a good laugh.  It's easy to be an optimist when Kirill is being Kirill.  It is also easy to be a pessimist when we lose Kirill and realize he is 50% of the team.  Other teams do have more cap room so when a star player goes down they have 2 other top performing players to carry the load... We don't.  When Nojo is your best player on the ice that team is in trouble.

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    Boldy and Rossi need to step up.  They have both played a ton of minutes and we have been patient.  We have seen glimpses of what they can do.  Now is the time to take that next step.  Force your way to the net.  Battle level needs to be higher.  This is the time of the year to prove your worth... it is what you will be judged on for the entire summer.... Make a statement on the ice that people remember.

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