Will David Jiricek Make His Wild Debut Soon?

6 hours ago, RedLake said:

Jiricek not so much tonight.

Glad we got a look at the kid.  Agree he’s not ready for prime time (but we knew that).  He’s got good size and he doesn’t look timid (like ogz did).  Those are both un-coachable qualities. Jirizy is in the same mold as that DAL defender we picked up at TDL.  

I think Jiricek could be a rugged goal scoring forward that goes to the net and crashes the net with authority rasing all kinds of hell. Folingo-Hartman-Jiricek.

8 hours ago, RedLake said:

Jiricek not so much tonight.

Curious to why you think this? Thought he had a great debut. Was physical, handled the puck well, didn't make any bad turnovers, wasn't caught out of position getting beat constantly. 

Like Pewter said he wasn't timid which was great to see in a debut. His skating still needs some fine tuning but I was expecting to see a moose on skates the way he was being talked about. I'm thinking he'll stay up until Spurgeon comes back honestly.

Funny you'd say Jiricek didn't look good when he was the way better than Merrill and Chisholm.  Those two might have worked their way to the press box.

I thought Jiricek looked solid from what I was able to watch. I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer by 2nd intermission. Kinda glad I went to bed when I did though lol.

2 hours ago, M_Nels said:

Curious to why you think this?

To be clear he didn’t make a fool of himself but faber’s 1st games is the standard.  No turnovers, no bad passes, flawless decisions re first pass….jirizy isn’t there yet but I did like what I saw.  He’s bigger than Midzy!!!! And it looked like he’s got some snarl to his game which our d-core has missed since the Clayton Stoner days (and Dumba little bit too)

9 minutes ago, Pewterschmidt said:

And it looked like he’s got some snarl to his game which our d-core has missed since the Clayton Stoner days (and Dumba little bit too)

Yeah he definitely wasn't shy about contact, also thought he did a good job of boxing out netfront. 

1 hour ago, M_Nels said:

Yeah he definitely wasn't shy about contact, also thought he did a good job of boxing out netfront. 

Saw him cross check guy in front with some anger to it.  Like seeing that from this youngster

So you're going to base every player against one of the best debuts ever?  Good luck getting 99% of players to ever achieve that.

Cause if that's true, no one is going to reach the Kaprizov or Faber level debuts.  Jiricek is at best what they sold us as: an immediate upgrade to Hunt, Mermis, etc.  

36 minutes ago, Citizen Strife said:

Jiricek is at best what they sold us as: an immediate upgrade to Hunt, Mermis, etc. 

Yes, 6th overall who we picked up after sending a pile of assets.  So yes, expectations are higher than Hunt and Mermis.

Of course they are, but thinking every player is just going to plop in and be Connor McDavid in game 1 is just stupid.

It took Rossi 2-3 seasons to be what he is now.  If Jiricek does the same, he's a hell of a secondary option behind Faber, which is what he was signed for.

But wait, I'm talking to the, "I'm sick of losing for 30 years" crowd.  Maybe I just have the patience of a saint or something.

I wasn't able to watch much last night so thanks for the Jiricek report everyone!

everyone relax! it's what we in Minnesota call "process". you want everything now, impatient bastards. we - Citizen, Freddy, Gooseguy, and some other gurus of the forum who use prudent logic and astute foresight, have bought into the process and are patiently waiting as Stanley Cup is delivered to State of Hockey by 2357 (boy will our grandgrandgrandgrand kids be happy!) and if you are one of those people who want to see the cup in your lifetime, wow how sorry do we feel for you! understand that we must be patient. prioritize domestic talent (Team of Brocks from MN - Faber, Boeser, Nelson, etc) over foreign invasion commies like Kap (who if we are lucky will be gone). we know also that we will be tested. worry not of a beat down by our foes from the central division. they worry about quick results and do not play the long game as successfully as us. we may even allow some other teams to move ahead of us (worry not friends - in time we will all forget what was and our grandkids will carry on this mission). possibly, if god willing, we may even gift kaprizov away with a "fair" first offer. tis the prize for long - suffering joy for all of us. join us in celebration of mediocracy and fear of success. 

I just live by a mantra of, "If I have time to be angry about something, I can spend that time thinking about how or doing things to be happy instead."  I only have about half my life left to live (if I'm lucky).  Looking on the bright side might seem cheesy, but it definitely helps.

If sports teams lose, I just laugh it off.  I've got more important shit to do, like looking like I know what I'm doing at work...

4 minutes ago, Citizen Strife said:

I just live by a mantra of, "If I have time to be angry about something, I can spend that time thinking about how or doing things to be happy instead."  I only have about half my life left to live (if I'm lucky).  Looking on the bright side might seem cheesy, but it definitely helps.

If sports teams lose, I just laugh it off.  I've got more important shit to do, like looking like I know what I'm doing at work...

I feel ya but near 35 years without a winner among all major sports is an indictment on all of us as mediocre chumps. Any other state w 4 major sports that have yet to win? Yet to make finals? I laugh at it too but there’s a limit! Haha 🤣 

Jiricek with a Gordie Howe tonight.

Thoughts about Thursday night:

• Put me into the nice debut by Jiricek crowd. What I liked especially was the bodychecking, but also doing it right and canceling them out of the play.
• I disagree with Heinzy's take that this was a closer game than we thought. It was not. Colorado knew they had a wounded team and weren't afraid to step on the neck.
• I am not overly concerned about Goose. To me, he looked slow on almost every shot that beat him. It's been reported that a bug is going through the team, MAF had it, and I think Goose had it to but was on either the front or back end of the bug. Those shots normally do not beat him, but they were excellent shots. 
• People are talking about bad games from Chissy, Merrill and Bogosian. What does anyone expect? These guys are bottom pair guys (well Chisholm isn't and he was pretty bad) playing top 4 minutes. They're out of their roles.
• Who knew before the game the Midsy had a little brother?
• I thought Boldy-Rossi-Zuccarello disappeared when they were needed the most. This is not a top line. They've got to show up in big games.
• Blackwood had a nice game. LaPanta was saying he didn't think he made too many saves, the puck just hit him. Well, isn't that the role of positioning? You're supposed to play goal like that, you can't see everything. Blacky is an UFA after this season. Just keep that in the back of everyone's mind. 
• So, apparently, Guerin used one of the 50 roster spots on Dylan Ferguson on the baby Wild, who got hurt out west. He was the 5th 'tender just in case but couldn't back up due to injury. Looks like Vaj has to hold down the fort for Iowa.
• Some teams Merrill is just too slow to play against in a bottom pairing role. Colorado is one of those teams. I would have rather seen Lambos, but....
• We couldn't afford to bring up Vaj's $875k contract to back up Goose, and I guess MAF probably had an empty bucket next to him just in case.
• Marcus Johansson-out of all the guys staying healthy, this is the guy? I haven't liked his last 2 games, I thought the physical effort wasn't strong enough. It's hard to discipline a guy when 1/2 the team is hurt. However, he's got better effort in him, and Heinzy needs to grab his attention. My thought is to skip him a couple of shifts and see if Khus can play speedy wing. 
• Khus reminds me of a Jack Russell. Tons of energy and not afraid of any big dog. He just throws everything he's got into the other player and usually moves him a bit. I wonder what a Khus-Chara collision would look like?

10 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

Thoughts about Thursday night:

• Put me into the nice debut by Jiricek crowd. What I liked especially was the bodychecking, but also doing it right and canceling them out of the play.
• I disagree with Heinzy's take that this was a closer game than we thought. It was not. Colorado knew they had a wounded team and weren't afraid to step on the neck.
• I am not overly concerned about Goose. To me, he looked slow on almost every shot that beat him. It's been reported that a bug is going through the team, MAF had it, and I think Goose had it to but was on either the front or back end of the bug. Those shots normally do not beat him, but they were excellent shots. 
• People are talking about bad games from Chissy, Merrill and Bogosian. What does anyone expect? These guys are bottom pair guys (well Chisholm isn't and he was pretty bad) playing top 4 minutes. They're out of their roles.
• Who knew before the game the Midsy had a little brother?
• I thought Boldy-Rossi-Zuccarello disappeared when they were needed the most. This is not a top line. They've got to show up in big games.
• Blackwood had a nice game. LaPanta was saying he didn't think he made too many saves, the puck just hit him. Well, isn't that the role of positioning? You're supposed to play goal like that, you can't see everything. Blacky is an UFA after this season. Just keep that in the back of everyone's mind. 
• So, apparently, Guerin used one of the 50 roster spots on Dylan Ferguson on the baby Wild, who got hurt out west. He was the 5th 'tender just in case but couldn't back up due to injury. Looks like Vaj has to hold down the fort for Iowa.
• Some teams Merrill is just too slow to play against in a bottom pairing role. Colorado is one of those teams. I would have rather seen Lambos, but....
• We couldn't afford to bring up Vaj's $875k contract to back up Goose, and I guess MAF probably had an empty bucket next to him just in case.
• Marcus Johansson-out of all the guys staying healthy, this is the guy? I haven't liked his last 2 games, I thought the physical effort wasn't strong enough. It's hard to discipline a guy when 1/2 the team is hurt. However, he's got better effort in him, and Heinzy needs to grab his attention. My thought is to skip him a couple of shifts and see if Khus can play speedy wing. 
• Khus reminds me of a Jack Russell. Tons of energy and not afraid of any big dog. He just throws everything he's got into the other player and usually moves him a bit. I wonder what a Khus-Chara collision would look like?

That’s quite a few thoughts for a shitty game..

5 minutes ago, Sam said:

That’s quite a few thoughts for a shitty game..

I stayed tuned for the whole game. I got to get my thoughts together for the whole 3rd period which was a real downer.

Also, there are a couple of people here who don't think Zuccarello is a top 6 forward anymore. You can put me in that column. I think Zuccarello is more of a 4th liner at this point, but hear me out.

Zuccarello's age is something that has to be monitored now. He's better when he has less minutes played. He's very good on the PP. He has all the skills to be top 6, but the wheels are starting to slow down. I wouldn't stick him on the 4th line because that's not where he belongs, but in the 1st 2 periods, I might shave off a couple of shifts just to keep him fresh for a strong 3rd period finish. 

Players do not like to admit, or sometimes they don't even see it, when they start slowing down. It comes in stages. Zuccarello is an important part of the team, but we can't wear out his tank. Sometimes (not when you're heavily injured) a coach may opt to rest him a game in 3/4, and have someone else eat the minutes. 

So, this is my point: Zuccarello is skilled as a top 6 player who needs to be playing closer to 4th line minutes 5v5. Next season, I believe we will have better options to throw up in the top 6 for a few shifts to give him rest, they're not here yet. I'm not suggesting linking him up with Lauko and Khus, I'm simply saying give him a couple of shifts off each period and break in his replacement. Kaprizov and Boldy are guys who should be double shifted right now, and Rossi can probably handle that workload too. 

So, when the Wild went down 4-1 in the 3rd period against Colorado, that was when he should have had his ice time peeled way back to PP minutes only. If we make the game closer, sure, put him back in, but there's no sense in using him up in games out of hand. Keep this in mind, Father Time is undefeated. Injuries in the twilight of a career take longer to heal, overuse tends to risk injury more the older you get.

Fan duel can kiss my ass. Basketball but no hockey again. State of hockey my ass. More like the state of high taxes!!!

Blacked out on ESPN plus lmao!!!

24 minutes ago, RedLake said:

Fan duel can kiss my ass. Basketball but no hockey again. State of hockey my ass. More like the state of high taxes!!!

Are you sure it’s not on tv? Maybe the tv guide is wrong.

1 minute ago, Sam said:

Are you sure it’s not on tv? Maybe the tv guide is wrong.

It’s on Fan Duel North Extra I think.

I also had problems finding the broadcast on ESPN+. I finally got there, but it's like it was hidden somewhere. Remember that 4 point game on Thursday where we got knocked around by Colorado? Well, we're right back to the same lead now.

Thoughts on the San Jose game, they will be shorter, Sam:

• I really liked Jirzy's game. He got lost a couple of times, but this guy is everything in a defender we have been missing. Pair him with Brodin when he comes back.
• Middleton and Chisholm are still playing their top 4 roles, but it is very evident that these guys cannot be the best defenseman on the pair. They are good to great complimentary pieces but they are not pairing leaders. That's what we have now, and you can really see that they are out of place, especially Chisholm. 
• MAF was spectacular
• Askarov has just as much to work on as Jiricek. I think we will see a learning curve when The Wall gets here next season.
• Our current top line disappears against really good teams and performs against the weaker ones. I can't wait until we get healthy again. 

While a 3-1 score isn't blowing an inferior team out, it still banked us 2 pts. for 58. Expectations for tonight are not good, but at least Vegas played last night too. Goose is going to have to steal one.