Wild Training Camp Starts, Lineup Taking Shape

Crosseye-Bill talkin accountability here. Let me say, short leash on NoJo otherwise he’s full of shit. I’ll forget about last year if things turn around or they bench #90. If he plays L2 wing all year doing what he did last year, I’m going to begin permanently ragging on GMBG for stupid-stubbornness. 

The Russian Hammer coming in with a little rust perhaps and lengthy follicles. Might need to take a wire-wheel to that before the equipment guys have to order the XXL bucket? A little more animated than Zoom last Summer. A transition with Kaprizov and Marat and some chemistry potential is cool but get the man some chairs. Good vibe. I’m sure they’ll find a helmet that fits and the RH will be ready to demolish or pound coffin-nails pretty soon. 

5 minutes ago, Protec said:

The Russian Hammer coming in with a little rust perhaps and lengthy follicles. Might need to take a wire-wheel to that before the equipment guys have to order the XXL bucket? A little more animated than Zoom last Summer. A transition with Kaprizov and Marat and some chemistry potential is cool but get the man some chairs. Good vibe. I’m sure they’ll find a helmet that fits and the RH will be ready to demolish or pound coffin-nails pretty soon. 

 

“I go to net create chaos” - T-Pain

Lip-service coming out early with clinched-lips. The body-language and cliché stuff in rich supply here. Seen it before. Actions speak louder than words. Foligno needs to be more than a clumsy Moose out there, and NoJo needs to remember NHL hockey isn’t Euro-Wuss league.

4 minutes ago, Protec said:

Lip-service coming out early with clinched-lips. The body-language and cliché stuff in rich supply here. Seen it before. Actions speak louder than words. Foligno needs to be more than a clumsy Moose out there, and NoJo needs to remember NHL hockey isn’t Euro-Wuss league.

 

Looking forward to hear about Foligno’s off the charts Corsi stats once equipment manager shows him which end of stick goes on the ice

I don't really mind the 3rd line.  Foligno and Rossi had good chemistry as a defensive line that could still score decently well.  Taking Gaudreau out and putting Trenin into that line is just screaming, "Rossi can score, calm the fuck down, we'll just bash people into the walls."

I wasn't crazy about how these lines shook out, but Hynes does do a lot of in game tinkering, so we'll get to see some different looks.  

Hopefully nojo found his mojo this summer and both Spurgeon and Gaudreau are back to their former selves.

5 minutes ago, AKwildkraken said:

how these lines shook out, but Hynes does do a lot of in game tinkering

Agree.  Unlike Dean-o Hynzy has shown he's willing to try different combo's if things get stale.  Dean-o took a play-through-the-slumps approach to nearly everything (lines, PP, PK, etc) and that's big part of reason why he doesn't coach here anymore

12 minutes ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Agree.  Unlike Dean-o Hynzy has shown he's willing to try different combo's if things get stale.  Dean-o took a play-through-the-slumps approach to nearly everything (lines, PP, PK, etc) and that's big part of reason why he doesn't coach here anymore

I don't know about using combos that have already gotten stale though.

Dear Marco,

On behalf of the Wild and the fit square peg in round hole mentality BG, Id like to apologize for your career being hampered due to being consistently put on lines with slappys. If you want to leave the Wild I understand and dont hold it against you.

13 minutes ago, TM6975 said:

Dear Marco,

 

On behalf of the Wild and the fit square peg in round hole mentality BG, Id like to apologize for your career being hampered due to being consistently put on lines with slappys. If you want to leave the Wild I understand and dont hold it against you.

At this point the oddsmakers say Rosetta Stone stones Guerin and makes it clear he doesn’t want to resign, leading to his trade at this years deadline

That "letter to Marco" sounds like sour grapes.  Guerin DIDN"T trade Rossi, and probably won't.  Rossi is at worst a hell of a 3C, and that's what Hynes is probably banking on.  Rossi is probably better than Hartman overall, so you're gonna tell me Ek and Rossi aren't sitting there saying, "Fuck you I'm taking that spot back?"

Guerin has a year to sign him or trade him for someone high enough that it seems worth doing.  I highly doubt Guerin is convinced Rossi is a piece of shit that he'll eat for breakfast.

With the lines, you have to start somewhere. If this is an open training camp, then the kids have to take those positions. They've got to outwork the vets, outplay the vets, hustle harder, and convince the coaches that they are better. That's how a ladder works. 

So, it's now up to Ogzie to go and take the spot from Johansson. Now, the tricky part is on Heinzy because unlike Deano, he's got to give ample opportunity to Ogzie to make his case. Sample size won't be huge here, so they've got to beat them and keep on beating them, forcing Shooter to have to deal with it and create a trade. 

Put more simply, each kid has got to make the coach realize that he needs them on this team to be the best it can be. The low hanging fruit are Johansson, Gaudreau and Merrill. But, I wouldn't just try to leapfrog them, try and take Zuccarello's job. Try and take Hartman's job. Try and take Tank's job. Try and unseat Bogosian (though with his size this may be difficult). 

Don't be like Beckman, Walker, the Italian brothers who got there and were happy, be like Duhaime and Shaw who got there and contributed. Be like Rossi who built himself up to compete. Be like Boldy who got to the N and just kept producing. Be like Goose who came out from nowhere to become a Vezina candidate.