Wild the best NHL team? LOL
Desert Moon
Posts: 5,867 ✭✭✭✭✭
All this talk and braggadocio on the Minnesota Wild being the best team in the NHL. Sure, by record, 1/3 of the way in but really?
They got Dee-stroyed by the Oilers last nite in Minnesota. Their top goalie with a 2.08 goals/game was pulled after 2 periods - after the Oil scored 5 goals on him. Went on to win 7-1 the Oil did. So are the Wild really good? Probably will be an easy mark in the playoffs as they can’t play a great team in an intense game and stay with them. OTH, Oil flows towards mid-way in a low viscosity surge…………….
Karprisov? Well at least he is not the puck hog he was in previous years, he is scoring and also giving assists, just not against the Oil where he was blanked. If it wasn’t for his cheap shot hooking Hyman (and penalized for it) last nite, he looked OK. But is he the guy that can lead a team through to a Cup? Probably not.
OTH, Draisaitl and McDavid are making the rest of the Oil play better. That is the mark of a truly elite player(s), they make the players around them excel. Think MJ, think the Great One, think LD and CMcD.
Looking good moving forward for the Oil. The Wild? Have a long way to go, or maybe the best team in the NHL is the Oil? Last nite sure makes it seem that way. LOL
https://www.nhl.com/wild/video/edm-at-min-recap-6365933319112
Comments
Shots fired.
Can someone please point me to all the talk and braggadocio on the Wild being the best team. 🤔
Is Kucherov even the guys name?
There is a Kucherov in the NHL, but he doesn't play for the Wild. Assuming he means Kaprizov. Gotta do your homework if you want those sick burns to engulf your enemies!
That’s what I thought. 😂
ashton kutcher sucks!
you'll never be able to outrun a bad diet
I don't really have anything negative to say about the Oilers. They looked great against a team that has had their # somewhat recently. Good luck. And be nice to those Wild players... They're a great buncha boys. Doncha think?
I am a big Wild fan. I NEVER said they were the best team in the NHL, because they aren't. I did say they could make a run in the playoffs if everyone is healthy. I still feel that way.
They played poorly last night.
They are also missing 3 key players on a team without any depth. Brodin, Erickson Ek and Zucarrello, with Middleton hurt early in the game.
KAPRIZOV is a far superior player to McDavid. Draisaitle might be the best player overall, he sure was last night.
Without Draisaitle, McDavid is just a fast skater who can't score goals. MOST OVERRATED player in the league.
Yes, 1/3 of the way through the season with the best record DOES mean something and Kaprizov IS the top scorer. All it took was better linemates.
Some people should stick to coins when they don't understand hockey.
People that examine coins at night by the light of the moon don't really get it.
Wild are 11-3 against the Oilers in the last 14 games.
I guess the Oilers SUCK.
I think Wild had won the last 6 in a row at the X before last night. Guess we'll never win the cup.... oh bother.
Keep the faith brother!
I am surprised that with our salary cap issues, the team is actually getting better.
There's more good players coming. Ohgren looks good and Walstedt does as well. The big guy we just traded for should make us better (certainly bigger) defensively.
GO WILD!
McDavid scores more goals per game than Draisaitl. And Stamkos. And Pasta. And every other active player besides Mathews and Ovechkin.
Kaprizov scores .58 goals per game. Scores more per 60 minutes as well.
MacDavid scores .52. He's had one 1st place and one 2nd place finish in goals scored and other than that never higher than #6. He had one great year scoring goals in 2022-23.
Yes, my comment was harsh. It's because I watch him play. He focuses on one aspect of the game.
Since 2016-17 Draisaitle is at .54 he's had two 2nd place finishes an three 4th place finishes in goals scored. Has scored over 50 goals in a season 3 times to McDavids 1 time.
Connor McDavid
Is over rated.
if that were true why are all the depth guys who left the Oil in the off-season doing better away from that Draconian Wonderland? Especially Dylan Holloway who had all of 9 points last season with the Oil - already has 19 with the Blues (in addition to helping create 10x more goals opportunities per game than in EDM? Broberg, if he hadn't been injured, would also have similar production since moving to the Blues. Ryan McLeod will also surpass his points total with Buffalo over that with the Oil despite playing in a similar role with the Sabres. Meanwhile 6x - 30+ goal scorer, Jeff Skinner, who was brought in to play on OurHero's right-side started the season on the McJesus line, has 8 fewer points than Holloway, and has been "demoted" down to the Henrique line. Apparently Skinner in Canadian-English translates to Benoit Pouliot (who McJesus also couldn't make good at hockey).
List I looked at didn't include him. Doesn't change anything either way.
I dunno. Basically every coach, GM, and player says he's the best in the world. They might be on to something.
Kaprizov is great. But the Wild would have to include picks and players to trade him for McDavid.
I am a Kap fan but I can’t argue McDavid isn’t great. Kaprizov is having the better season so far this year though.
I'm guessing Joe Sakic and Jared Bednar aren't saying that....seeing that the latter is coaching the guy who has been the best player in the world for 2 years now. The guy who can match and exceed McJesus in pure speed and do things that OurHero can't do - like blow right through guys like Mario with those long power strides, or consistently dominate the puck with possession - 83.1% per 60 for MacKinnon over the last 2 years and 64.4% for TheDeity
Kaprizov has been the better hockey player for a few years now. This year he has better linemates (Ryan Hartman? Really?) resulting in more scoring.
McDavid is very fast and a great set up guy, (Draisaitle!) a lot of it because he creates opportunities with his speed.
He really doesn't contribute defensively, is not physical, not great bringing the puck out of the defensive zone, doesn't win a lot of puck battles along the boards.
He's a lot like Mike "shakey" Walton, a guy who played in the NHL and was a star in the WHA for the St. Paul Fighting Saints. Terrific offensive player and that's about all.
I'm frankly surprised that someone with the Red Wings logo doesn't see this, but I guess most people just look at points scored and nothing else to determine who the "best" hockey player is. Kind of similar to looking at batting average only to decide who the best hitter is in baseball.
The Wild will NEVER trade Kaprizov and in the insane world it would happen, Edmentwiuld have to give more picks and players than Connor to get Kirill.
I never said McDavid wasn't a great point producer and he is a very, very fast and skilled OFFENSIVE player, but there's more to the game than scoring and if you put a top player and "finisher" like Draisaitle on a line with Kaprizov, Kirill's assist numbers would skyrocket.
Do you watch the Wild? Do you see the 4-6 passes a game he makes that put guys in all alone on the goalie? The centers he's had in the past often shot the puck into the goalies stomach or missed the net. Now that Kirill has a center with some skill (Rossi), he's leading the league, or second, in scoring.
Not to mention, Kirill often brings the puck out of the defensive zone or wins a puck battle along the boards that ends up being a goal or a great scoring opportunity.
McDavid is what we used to call a "suck hole" player. Floats around avoiding doing the dirty work, but when he gets the puck in open ice has a lot of offensive ability, that, along with a great linemate (I think Drsisaitle is BETTER than McDavid) makes for a lot of assists.
McDavid was awesome two years ago when he scored 64(?) goals, other than that season, he's a good (top 10) goal scorer, but that's it.
As I keep saying, but few listen, he's a one dimensional player who needs a superstar to pass to.
Ever hear of Adam Oats? He was a great player when he was passing to Brett Hull and Cam Neeley, but no one confused him with the "best" hockey player of his time.
Connor McDavid.
Is over rated.
He is a great player though.
Can you imagine a line with Kaprizov and MacKinnon? Would you even need a right wing?
I suppose you would.
Kaprizov; 2 goals yesterday, 2 goals today (after 2 periods).
Announcer says it all after Kirill catches the puck, drops it, buries it.
"This guy is ridiculous!"
Ted Lindsay Award wins:
Connor McDavid - 4
Leon Draisaitl (please learn how to spell his name) - 1
Kiril Kaprizov - 0
that's where you slot your worker bee....the guy who will do the work on the boards and in the corners and do the small things that will help drive possession (and can keep up speed-wise). The ultimate would be a guy like Matthew Tkachuk, or a healthy Mark Stone, but realistically even a guy like your fellow Minnyhahan, Brock Nelson, would be good enough. Although he's being used as a center right now.
I don't need awards to tell me who the better players are. Those two guys playing together make for great scoring. Kaprizov has been doing it primarily with Zucarrello, who is a nice player, but no Draisaitl.
Funny you spank me for my spelling, I was trying to make sure I got the "ai" and the second "ai" right I forgot to make sure he didn't need the final "e".
I don't even try to spell the newest Wild centers name. 😉
Bring back Brian Bellows!
The players are the ones who vote for the Lindsay. So they think McDavid is better, too.
Yeah, well I've seen interviews with athletes who rate players who have won championships above better guys who haven't, so maybe they aren't that smart.
Seriously, does everyone think scoring points (especially assists) makes a guy automatically the best player?
Every time the Wild play McDavid and company, Draisaitl looks better than Connor. Neither does it for 200 feet like Kaprizov, who scores ALMOST as much and plays better in the other parts of the game.
Don't look now, but the Wild are 2 points behind the top team in hockey AND they are winning without Kaprizov.
Don't look now but the Wild got beat at home by the Oil last nite. Oil passed Vilde on overall points for the season, vaulting them to 3rd overall in the West. As I said in the opening, the Vilde is no where near a top team in the West. If they make it 2 rounds in the playoffs it will be progress. They lost to the Oil 7-1 in Edmonton, now 5-3 at home, they just don't have the experience nor talent to consistently win the big games against the best teams. Maybe next year if they can keep it together. As they say, it is a process, but they will be more like the Vikes in the playoffs this year where shortcomings play into the result. After Oil's horrible start, they are now getting momentum, and play well against the better teams.
To the Vilde's credit, they played with energy last nite but the Oil is just a better team. Vilde was flat in the 7-1 loss to the Oil.
On a good note for the Oil, McDavid, a generational player, passed Jari Kurri last nite for 2nd most points as an Oiler. He had 2 goals and 1 assist, his second goal was the type that will make every highlight reel. This is what makes the Oil so strong, they have two elite players they have built around, and some solid players are better bc of them. It's a process, hopefully last year's lost in Game 7 of the Cup can be improved..........
Top goal scorer this year so far is Draisaitl, he has been on a tear............
Oil plays Colorado tonite in the 'lanches rink. I don't think they are going to be as energetic, hard to play 2 nites in a row with the same intensity, especially on the road.................
Did you happen to notice the Wild were missing the best player in hockey, Kirill Kaprizov?
Did you see the Wild were missing not their best defenseman, not their best 2 defensemen, but YES WAIT FOR IT, their best 3 defenseman?
I suppose you did NOT, because you really don't seem to have the mental capacity to put more than one fact together, like the final score of the game.
Your top (completely overrated) player, also elbowed one of the Wilds players right in the face, and wasn't even penalized. So his second goal (nice goal by the way) shouldn't have counted as he should have been ejected from the game.
You never fail to astound me with your amazing takes on hockey. Please keep posting!
I have been surprised, and impressed, by how well the Wild have played since Kaprizov went out. They were excellent against the Oilers last night but Gustavsson was not at his best (some of that was spotty defending in front of him) while Pickard gave a master class in goaltending in the third period. With healthy rosters and goalies playing at their expected levels, I think the Wild are the better team.
Yeah, but you don't inspect your coins by the light of the moon. So what could you possibly know?
To be serious, McGoon should have been kicked out of he game for his blatent elbow to Johanson's face, and Erickson Ek should have scored on the 2 on 0 with Hartman.
Gustavsson had no chance on McBlojob's first goal and his second was perfectly placed in the top corner. Oilers also scored on a tip in.
One goal might have been a bit soft, the one that went 5 hole, but that was on an odd man rush.
With no Kaprizov, Brodin, Faber or Spurgeon, I thought we were might get blown out. Instead we made it a heluva game.
Great game plan to put the big forcheck on our D. That won't work with the other guys in the lineup.
Yeah, tough to judge anything based on how many guys Minnesota was missing. Definitely a dirty elbow from McDavid that got missed. No, it would not have been an ejection if it had been caught.
It was only C+ trolling anyways.
I guess it wouldn't have warranted an ejection being he's the exalted one, but the Wild should have gotten at least a 2 minute power play.
I'm not saying the Wild "deserved" to win the game.
GO WILD!
I watched some of that game. Cool goal that deflected off that guys skate.
Good news on the Oil front. They played back to back games with winning teams high in the standings and won both games! They started out slow against the ‘lanche - a rested team not playing btb with 2 scorers equal to McD and Drais. And Skinner, while rested started out poorly letting in 3 goals in 1rst, hunkered down and kept the ‘lanche to nil from the rest of the game. McD and boys fought back to win 4-3. Not bad for back to back.
As ESPN noted, the Oil is the hottest team in the league for the last 2 months. And after their sleepy start to the season. They are now tied for 1rst in the Pacific. ESPN has moved the Oil up to 4th in Power Rankings as of today. They keep beating winning teams on the road. Good place to be in middle season.
The Vilde? One the way down. They way they are playing they will be in about 4th or 5th by the time the playoffs begin. They can beat so-so teams, but they don’t do so well with the strong teams. Last 4 results:
‘lanche - Vilde 6-1 Lost
Sharks - Vilde 1-3 Won
Vegas - Vilde 4-1 Lost
Oil - Vilde 5-3 Lost
3 strong teams, Vilde lost, one baaaaad team, they won. This does not look good for them. Sure the Karp has been out, but will he make a difference when he returns? Not enough to get them to the elite teams level. He was slowing down when he got hurt and the Vilde really don’t have the same level of quality players to build around him like the elite teams. They will be a 5-5 or a 6-4 team from here on and work their way down the standings. As I said, at least a year away and need at least one more elite player.
OurHero
https://x.com/i/status/1879749313959502207
https://youtube.com/watch?v=avuBY7Ecf1Q
I just stopped by for the update from DM after the Wild beat the Avalanche today. Where is it?
Great win today!
How great is my wife? Texted me asking if I was watching the Wild, I hadn't noticed the early game. Told her we might have a hard time winning against a very good team with several of out top players out.
WILD WIN!
Loss last nite - Vilde loses to the 4-0 to the hapless, want to be named Utah Yetis. And that is with the Karp back who looked like a fish out of water. Vilde’s season continues to cascade off the falls. Once hailed in the early season as one of the best teams in the NHL and Karp as Hart candidate, now looking like they are desparately fighting on the hook. Oh My.
Key stat - for the season, the Vilde now has a +2 Goal Differential. This. Is. A. Problem. Again, they need one or more elite players added to turn this around.
I gotta feel sorry for Minnesota. 4 major league franchises in the 4 big sports. Yet can’t win, can’t put together teams with sustainable momemtum. 1 championship in the history of the city. Long long ago.
And the Oil continues their push to the top. They are now rated #4 in ESPN’s power rankings, Draisaitl now only 1 point behind lead for points overall and leading in goals by a wide margin - pushing forward. And with the unjustified 3 game suspension to McD? They lose the first 3-2 in a tight game against #1 Caps, and then dee-stroy the Canooks last nite. A rest for McD is probably going to be good for him and the whole team, just wait until he is back. ‘Drill Baby Drill’ and the Oil flows.
Things looking good for one of these teams this year, not for the other…….
Highlights of the 6-2 destruction of the Canooks. Hyman and Nugent-Hopkins are helping build the Oil flow rate:
Bad game for the Wild last night.
Nice to see the overrated POS McCheapshot finally gets suspended, and instead of showing some class, he cries that he might not participate in NHL activities.
McPu$$y ALL THE WAY!
The US Trademark Office denied their application for a trademark on "Yetis" (and on "Yeti"). They have 3 months to respond but I suspect they'll be finding a new name...
Utah Bigfoots?
So last nite was a microcosm of how these 2 teams are going. Edmonton wins again, 3-2, 3rd game without McD. And, Hyman and Draisaitl not a point between them. This is what I hoped for during the 3 game McD ski holiday - it would show the strength of the team. 2-1 with McD not there, a 3-2 loss against the team with the best record - da Caps. (Side note, I sure enjoyed my time in DC going to Caps games in the late 90s….. We had 10 game passes right behind the goal about 5 rows up - literally right there for any errant high speed puck oh my!)
The Vilde? Lost again, this is a team going in reverse, no question about it. The goaltenders have become porous and the scoring minimal.
Key stats -
Record last 25 games:
Oil, 18-7
Caps, 16-9
Jets, 15-10
Vilde, 12-13
Ouch, 33 games left b4 the playoffs, let’s see how this goes.
It was pretty obviously a cheap play by the Canook that McD reacted to. The dude tackled him with about 30 seconds to go to keep him from participating in getting a score. Held him down for 15 seconds, then McD tried to escape, the Canook pulled him down again on top if him, and then locked his skates together over McD’s legs so that McD could not get out without slicing his legs.
So McD was rightly pissed off and took a little too high chop with his stick as the game ended. Pretty bad judgement call by the safety committee and a bad look for the refs that let that Canook blatantly get away with holding a player down at the end of the game when the other team was trying to tie it up……..
Using profanity name to call out a player? Well he is the best player in the NHL and the world, I know that is difficult for some LOL.
Injuries are always part of the game. All it means is that there happen to be no other elite players on the Vilde to make up for it. As I have said all along, they are missing 1 or more additional elite players to make them more than the mediocre team they are showing themselves to be.
Karp was there for the last 2 losses. 1 assist in the 2 is all, LOL. So?
And these are not even good teams they are losing to but pretty mediocre teams. Ouch.
I’m wondering if they can make a case that any merch will always have 'Utah Yeti' on them in order to distinguish from other Yeti brands? Given the Yeti name is used all over the place via multiple companies/entities, I am thinking it is going a little to far to hold out the trademark if they go with ‘Utah Yeti’ TM. HST, there are no Yeti’s in Utah, plenty of Bigfoot and Sasquatch sightings, especially in the Uintah’s, I am surprised they did not go with something like the Utah Squatch…………...
More drivel from the dark side.
Let's look a the standings.
Capitals and Jets are at 71 points, Jets at 69. Those two teams are on top.
The Oilers are next with 65 points only 5 points above the "mediocre" Wild, who have only won only 2 out of a possible 10 points in their last 5 games. During most of this stretch they have been without their best scorer and their best three defensemen.
The Wild being only 5 points out of 3rd place in the entire NHL after playing their worst 5 games in a row is amazing. Especially when you factor in the $14.7 million in "dead cap" money they are dealing with.
I was not expecting the Wild to be this good this year.
Next year should be interesting, they should have plenty of money to sign the best player in hockey, Kirill Kaprizov, and enough left over to acquire at least two very good players that will really help the team by eliminating two of their "bottom six" players.
Bored with talking about the overrated McDavid. Now that he's turned into a slightly above average player, we are seeing him become a cheap shot artist and a crybaby.
He's become an embarrassment.
GO WILD!
what about the two plays Opie McJesus rolled out prior to that Canucks game? You know the ones that he intentionally high-sticked dudes in the head/face (which is becoming a very repetitive pattern as I'm sure you know being the diehard Oil fan that you are and definitely not just a fanboy of the nation's second or third best player). Let's recap. First offense prior to the suspension - Marcus Johansson put on IL with concussion issues resulting from McJesus' intentional elbow. Second offense, both a board and high stick infractions on Alex Laferriere, also now out with concussion issues. Then the cross check on Garland. Back to back to back games. All suspension worthy from a now repeat offender.
With their victory last night, there are now only 6 teams with more points than the Wild. We're doing it with a $14.7Million dead cap hit.
Only 3 points behind the very slightly less mediocre Oilers.