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  • Wilderness Walk: Bill Guerin Blames The Players


    Image courtesy of © Dennis Schneidler-USA TODAY Sports
    Thomas Williams

    That's Wild

    • The Minnesota Wild returned from Sweden with a five-game losing streak and fans and media and management alike are trying to determine what is the cause of this team's demise. Well, general manager Bill Guerin wants to make it clear that it's on the players to pick themselves back up. [Pioneer Press]
    • Speaking of players not playing well, Matt Boldy and Kirill Kaprizov are both not playing like we're used to seeing them play. Not scoring a whole lot, looking not that good in any zone on the ice -- but there is a key difference between Boldy's underperformance and Kaprizov's. [Hockey Wilderness]
    • Mason Shaw -- remember him? -- is still on his road to full recovery. He is practicing with the Iowa Wild with a non-contact jersey but he is at least skating after undergoing season-ending ACL surgery not that long ago. [The Hockey News]

    Off the trail...

    • How five distinct underperforming teams this season, can get back into the playoff mix. [ESPN]
    • The Florida Panthers are proving that they were not some fluke. Last season's run to the Stanley Cup Final was just the beginning of their story, as they continue to dominate through the beginning of this season. [Yahoo Sports]
    • Mike Modano is going to have a statue of himself outside of the Dallas Stars' arena. [NHL dot com]

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    The Wild as a team have to get the team game going and get a good win to build on. It’s not the worst to be down early. 

    They gotta get on the same page though.

    About Dean, he has given us a good sample of coaching to look at. Overall above average. Nothing too great in the playoffs and rode Talbot to the 7th game against Vegas. I wonder if you can expect predictable, steady guys to evolve at age 55+ into more dynamic coaches who win games regularly like DeBoer and has been to a Conference final like ten times.

    Remember what a mess Dallas was just a couple years ago, their coach had to go to rehab, called up Tufte for a game in St.Paul and then scratched him. Got an elite coach and bingo, they’re top of the Central.

    I just wonder if MN will ever figure out they’re not entitled to anything. You don’t win in the NHL with disjointed, individual, cute hockey. Individual plays, yes but team hockey wins and MN was doing that before. Now they look like a bunch of assbags who all feel sorry for themselves just like when the refs were mean, and poor us we lost our 1C before we have to play Dallas. DeBoer owns Evason so either the players start getting on the same wavelength or this season might as well conclude with a high pick in the draft, trades at the deadline, and a new coach for next season.

     

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    3 hours ago, Protec said:

    I just wonder if MN will ever figure out they’re not entitled to anything. You don’t win in the NHL with disjointed, individual, cute hockey.

    I think for the longest time this franchise has behaved like they are entitled to have a solid, watchable product on the ice. Yet I can't seem to recall anytime in the 21st century where this team was actually built properly through the draft that would deserve said product. 

    3 hours ago, Protec said:

    might as well conclude with a high pick in the draft, trades at the deadline, and a new coach for next season.

    It's high time this team actually went all-in on a full rebuild; in fact, the team was never built properly in the first place since Parise/Suter, so in my opinion we are doubly overdue. I get the sneaking suspicion because we have Kaprizov, the front office feels like we are owed to be better than we are and thus continue to sign FA's to band-aid the team into the playoffs.

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    I know I keep beating a dead horse but it’s just mind boggling an imo stupid what bill has done this year. We had a winning ticket and bill tore it up . We had good ufa s to go into trade deadline with an make decisions then. We seriously could have got some 1sts , 2nds or prospects for moose , hart , zucc. A few more kicks at the can in draft this year so we could have a bunch of high draft picks in a young age group . That makes sense to build on fly. Sprinkling in a 20 th overall year after year that may or may not be good doesn’t seem smart . Getting a bunch of kicks at the can for a few years sounds smart and he wouldn’t have had to tear down roster. Everyone he traded could have come back in summer. I just don’t get it if they are serious about winning. It’s why my jaded thoughts are this is more grifting off kappy and trying to get tax money to renovate excel. What other reason could there be to not keep your powder dry before trade deadline?  Then handing out no move clauses like candy to bottom 6 guys will never be justifiable.. can’t wait to hear Billy’s logic on that. Like Russo said. Bill is going to have to answer for the extensions. 
         As far as DE he’s been here 5 years. Time to move on. He’s back to his old ways of playing freddy over legit nhlers . Why is o pts -4 Fred centering Boldy. Then people get pissed at Boldy. How about getting bolds some real line mates that can play. I’m sorry but Fred shouldn’t be anywhere near top 6 imo . Coaching changes work . Vancouver, Philly , New York rangers. So if they are serious about winning this year they would change coaches. 
        It’s frustrating to think they really don’t have good options for years  to come now with how locked up this roster is. Really the only hope is to get a hard nosed coach to kick these guys in butt and get that overachieving out of them again. We’re not going to out skill or grit other teams. Hard work is only way to get results and give fans something to come back for. 
       It’s amazing how it went from excitement to doom in a year with clauses and extensions imo . 

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    I was reading bill is out talking to Canada media about how this is the players fault. He and Dean have no fault in this just players. He said you can’t trade or change coach to fix. Well you’ll never know if trades could fix because bill took all are valuable assets off table with clauses . Bill and Dean can’t hold anyone accountable because of clauses and salary cap . So his new excuse is it’s the players he assembled. The old excuse of injuries doesn’t work. It’ll probably be well the Sweden trip set is back an early injuries made it impossible to make playoffs. Tell that to Arizona , Anaheim, Philly . They don’t seem to make excuses for their weak roster. They go out and play for jobs an opportunity. Not our Billy entitled wild players. Make excuses and kick the can down road. Run to Canada and tell them your successful Bill. 
         A little honesty and humility out of bill might work better for fans . The pr excuse machine has run its course and doesn’t work for me anymore. 

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    4 hours ago, Dean said:

    A little honesty and humility out of bill might work better for fans . The pr excuse machine has run its course and doesn’t work for me anymore. 

    Unfortunately he has no humility at all. He caused the cap penalties, and he turned this joke of a roster into a solid brick. It cant ve changed unless he gets rid of guys like boldy, Ek, Rossi, or Kaprisov. But guys like Moose will be here for 40 more years with no move clauses, cause he has grit.  

    I think BG needs to just leave along with Evason. This fan base deserves a GM that can build a winning team, not just talk about it. 

    #firebilly

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    On 11/22/2023 at 7:30 PM, Protec said:

    The team needs the mental grit. Why is Bill so wrong? This same team has been good before, not a bunch of blowbags. The players do need to be better.

    This is one of the oldest rosters in the NHL right now, regression is bound to set in. It's not like this was a superstar team prior. Perennial 1st round exits tells me they were just better than half the NHL. While the rest of the league gets better and younger, Guerin gets guys like Moose, Reaves, Dlo, Goose, Merril, Flower, and the likes. All way past their prime, and a few of them weren't even good in their prime. Cap penalties be damned. If he had young players out there and the team was struggling, I can accept that. Not this retirement home hockey team struggling. 

    The contracts BG put together makes it even worse. There is no room to add a player in cap space or roster space, and most of the declining players are on NMC's. Yes this is BG's handy work. He deserves plenty of blame. 

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    On 11/22/2023 at 12:03 PM, cloddish said:

    I think for the longest time this franchise has behaved like they are entitled to have a solid, watchable product on the ice. Yet I can't seem to recall anytime in the 21st century where this team was actually built properly through the draft that would deserve said product. 

    It's high time this team actually went all-in on a full rebuild; in fact, the team was never built properly in the first place since Parise/Suter, so in my opinion we are doubly overdue. I get the sneaking suspicion because we have Kaprizov, the front office feels like we are owed to be better than we are and thus continue to sign FA's to band-aid the team into the playoffs.

    We are well overdue for a rebuild.

    this team desperately needs it and I don’t understand how ppl could argue that.

     

    it is honestly as if the owner will not allow a full rebuild.

    the only thing they are going to understand is losing money.

    I sometimes wish I could ask the owner in some Q and A setting why he will not allow this to happen.

    in the 20 or so years they’ve been a franchise, it’s never happened.

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