Avalanche Head Coach Patrick Roy takes cheap shot at Twin Cities media before season series finale on Sunday….

Before Sunday’s series finale between the Avalanche and the Wild at the Xcel Energy Center, Patrick Roy opened his pre-game press conference by taking a cheap shot at the Twin Cities media—specifically the Star Tribune’s Michael Russo.

Below is Patrick Roy's statement:

According to Chad Graff (from the Saint Paul Pioneer Press) via Twitter, Roy was "unhappy with the way Minnesota media portrayed events of last (February 28) game, called an article in today's (Sunday) Star Tribune 'garbage.'"  (Going into Sunday's game, the Wild have a 4-0 record against the Avalanche this season). 

Graff goes on to state (via Twitter) that according to Roy, "Nothing major happened. I'm looking at their line up and (Wild forward Mikael) Granlund seems to be there tonight, isn't he?" 

So, Roy is implying that Granlund is a "goon?" What was Roy paying attention to during the last 8 seconds of the game on February 28 at the Pepsi Center?  Nothing major happened? Well, if memory serves me correctly, Cody McLeod was called for a 2 minute unsportsmanlike minor, a 5 minute fighting major, and a 10 minute misconduct penalty (along with being tossed from the game). McLeod was fined by the league $3,098.40 for "purposely entering the game with less than 10 seconds for purposely starting an altercation." (stated in my last blog post, here).  Roy should be very thankful that McLeod wasn't called for an instigating penalty because Roy would have been fined $10K for it and McLeod would have faced a suspension. 

Roy also made a similar statement about forward Charlie Coyle by stating that "if he (Yeo) puts Coyle out, I have to put somebody out on the ice." After McLeod's hit on Granlund, Coyle stood up for his teammate and fought with McLeod. 

Michael Russo (who was out of town on Sunday) did make this statement via twitter:

I read the article that Patrick Roy is calling "garbage." I also quoted Russo in my previous blog post. I didn't see where Russo was advocating for McLeod or any other Avs player to be injured. As I recall, Roy made a statement to Mike Kiszla from the Denver Post either at the end of the playoffs last season or the beginning of the season "...One of our players will hurt one of their guys." (Roy's statement can be found in this Russo article, here). That was in regards to the Matt Cooke hit on Tyson Barrie during the playoffs last year. 

Roy did make himself a hypocrite when he said "If we were about revenge, it would have been done long ago because of what happened to Tyson Barrie."  

Colorado Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson did chime in on this whole thing by making this statement on twitter (and basically making himself hated in the state where he was born and raised):

Sorry, Erik. When your head coach makes idiotic statements like the ones he did, people have a right to call him out on it. What he accomplished as a player doesn't have to be taken into any consideration when he spews garbage like he did. 

Patrick Roy should be worried more about winning games and where his team is currently in the standings than what somebody in the media says. He also needs to start having better control of his players on the ice and on the bench. With the thug/goon mentality Roy has, he could very well end up in a similar situation like former Canucks head coach Marc Crawford did when he, the Vancouver Canucks, and Todd Bertuzzi were sued by former Avalanche player Steve Moore as a result of a career-ending injury caused by a vicious hit by Todd Bertuzzi win which Moore suffered a concussion and three fractured vertebrae (more about that incident here).

Roy could have also made his garbage statements to rile his team up (which obviously worked because the Avs beat the Wild 3-2 on Sunday for their only win against the Wild this season). 

As far as Patrick Roy stating "I don't think hockey needs this today," I don't think hockey needs a coach and a team with a thug mentality taking liberties at other players like McLeod's hit on Granlund and the following Gabriel Landeskog punch on Mikko Koivu when both players were on their respective benches. 

Whatever respect people and hockey fans might have had for Patrick Roy as a player, Roy could very well be losing that respect as a coach. Any respect I might have had for Roy as a player (and he was a goalie I enjoyed watching when I was growing up), is definitely gone now with his statements and actions as a coach. I know he's standing up for his players, but to take a cheap shot at the media without backing those statements up with proof is showing how classless Patrick Roy is. 

What is up with the refs not calling goaltender interference in Saturday night’s game against Colorado and allowing that goal to count?

What is goaltender interference?  Goaltender interference is a penalty that is called where a player is found in the goal crease when the opposing goaltender is establishing his position in the same area.

According to the NHL rulebook, rule #69 states “this will result in a minor penalty to the offending player. If a goal is scored as a result of a player obstructing the goaltender, the goal will be disallowed and a minor penalty assessed at the referee's discretion. In leagues where goaltender interference isn't an official penalty, a charging penalty is called instead.”

I’m bringing this up because at the 1:32 mark of the second period of Saturday night’s game, there was a very questionable play which lead to a goal for the Colorado Avalanche (and stopping the Wild’s shutout streak against them this season).

The following is from the Star Tribune’s Michael Russo (link to article here):

“Twelve periods and 240 minutes of hockey now this season, and the only goal the Avalanche has scored against the Wild in four losses (outscored 12-1) arguably should have been wiped out by referees Chris Rooney and Dean Morton tonight.

Just 1:32 into the second period, a Maxime Talbot dump-in ricocheted awkwardly off the glass, into the crease and pinned under Devan Dubnyk’s right pad. Cody McLeod came charging in trying to jam at the puck and pushed Dubnyk over the goal line.

The ref blew the play down signaling no goal. But they went to review, and the NHL Situation Room correctly determined the puck lodged under Dubnyk’s pad when it went over the line. Tying goal.

However, Dubnyk’s pad only went over the line because McLeod pushed him over the line. Before it got to video review, Rooney and Morton probably should have disallowed the goal. That part of this was not reviewable.”

I did watch the game on Saturday night and from the replay video that was shown on TV (on FSN North), Cody McLeod CLEARLY pushed Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk back into the net with the puck lodged under his right pad (the puck couldn't be seen in the video replay that was shown). Goaltender interference SHOULD have been called on McLeod according to the rule I have stated at the beginning of this article and the goal should NOT have been allowed and should not have been reviewed by Toronto to allow for that bogus call to stand. 

Devan Dubnyk gave this statement in a post-game interview:

“The ruling, I guess, was that McLeod had nothing to do with me going into the net, which is somewhat mindboggling…It didn’t seem to matter in the end. For us to respond like that after a goal that probably shouldn’t have counted, that’s a sign of a great hockey team.”

This is one example of plenty regarding crappy and shoddy officiating on the part of the NHL refs. There were plenty of examples from just this game that could be used, but this could end up being one lengthy article. 

In addition to the mess that was the one "allowed" goal by the Avalanche, the NHL announced McLeod and Avalanche Captain Gabriel Landeskog were both fined by the league for their antics in the last seconds of the game. McLeod was fined $3,091.40 for entering the game with less than 10 seconds for purposely starting an altercation. Right after the face-off (with about 8 seconds left on the clock), McLeod body-checked Wild forward Mikael Granlund, then engaged in a fight with Wild forward Charlie Coyle. McLeod received a 2 minute minor (for unsportsmanlike conduct), a 5 minute major for fighting, and a 10-minute game misconduct penalty. McLeod should have also been given an instigator penalty (which would have resulted in Avalanche head coach Patrick Roy a significant fine and a possible suspension). 

Gabriel Landeskog was fined $5,000 for reaching around a partition separating both the visitors' bench and the Avalanche's bench and punching Minnesota Wild captain Mikko Koivu (while both players were on their respective benches) with about three seconds left in the game. Landeskog was issued a misconduct penalty. 

Both fines are the max fines allowed under the current collective bargaining agreement. However, these fines now put McLeod and Landeskog on the NHL's radar because of their conduct. It is unknown if Patrick Roy was fined at all as a result of this. If he wasn't, he should have been since he basically allowed the McLeod incident to happen in the first place. (According to Michael Russo in another article, Roy was expected to be fined by the league).

The season series finale between these two teams is this Sunday night (March 8) at the Xcel Energy Center. 

Devan Dubnyk was named the NHL's First Star of the Month on Sunday (March 1). He is the first Minnesota Wild player to be named First Star of the Month (the only other Wild player to have been named to the NHL's Three Stars of the Month was Josh Harding back in November 2013). Dubnyk also made is 21st consecutive start for the Minnesota Wild last night against Ottawa in their 3-2 shootout win, which is a franchise record. 

Is Devan Dubnyk the answer to the Minnesota Wild’s goaltending situation?

**Update**

Devan Dubnyk was named first star of the week by the NHL after shutting out both Chicago 3-0 last Tuesday night and Colorado 1-0 on Saturday night. Last week, he was named the third star of the week by the league for going 3-0-0 with a 1.00 GAA and .967 save percentage when the Wild had a 3-0 successful road trip through western Canada right after the all-star break (nhl.com).



On January 14, Wild General Manager Chuck Fletcher pulled the trigger and traded the Wild’s 2015 third round draft pick to Arizona for goaltender Devan Dubnyk in order to attempt to do address the Wild’s goaltending situation. Dubnyk, who will be a free agent at the end of this season, had been the back up to Mike Smith.  

Minnesota Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk

Since then, Dubnyk “now as four shutouts in nine starts with the Wild and has allowed three goals in five games since the All-Star break. In nine starts, he is 7-1 (one no-decision in Detroit) with a 1.31 GAA and .948 save percentage. Per Elias, Dubnyk is the fasted to post four shutouts with a team among goalies…” (Josh Cooper, sports.yahoo.com 2/8/2015). He has also started all nine of those games.

Not bad for a goalie who has been with four different teams in the past two seasons (Edmonton, Nashville, Montreal/Hamilton (AHL), and Arizona) before coming to Minnesota.

Ever since Dubnyk has joined the team, the Wild have been playing with a renewed confidence.

Mikko Koivu made this statement after Saturday night’s win over Colorado, “Everything starts with goaltending…Winning teams have that and he’s been great ever since he came here.” (Chad Graff, twincities.com).

Before Dubnyk’s arrival, the Wild had seemed to find ways to lose games where they had the advantage on the shots on goal, with shaky goaltending to partly to blame. Chad Graff stated in his article today  “On Jan. 8, for example, the Wild lost 4-2 to the Chicago Blackhawks despite outshooting them 44-20.” 

We all know what has happened since. 

The Wild are definitely going to ride this out, with certain that Dubnyk is going to be carrying the starting role. Niklas Backstrom hasn’t played since January 13 at Pittsburgh, were he gave up six goals. Darcy Kuemper is scheduled to rejoin the Wild on Monday from his rehab stint in Iowa (and supposedly is the starter for Tuesday night’s game in Winnipeg).

Kuemper didn’t have that great of a stint in Iowa, where he went 2-3 with a 3.22 GAA and .891 save percentage.

Now, what do the Wild do with Kuemper and Backstrom? That’s going to be an interesting situation with three goaltenders. Does Yeo alternate using Kuemper and Backstrom as the back up? Does Backstrom get continuously scratched? (Backstrom will be 37 this month and has one year left on his contract with the Wild). Backstrom has a record of 5-7-3, 3.04 GAA, and .887 save percentage this season. (He is the Wild's winningest goalie with 194 wins and 28 shutouts in nine seasons with the team). 

Can Backstrom be sent down to Iowa for a conditioning stint? That could possibly happen. Could Fletcher look at possibly moving Backstrom before the trade deadline? That is unknown at this point. Backstrom has a no-move clause (which the Wild would have to get him to waive at this point) and still has one year remaining on his current contract. (There is also the possibility that the Wild could look at buying out his contract after this season). 

Josh Harding is not an option at all at this point due to on going issues with his Multiple Sclerosis (he hasn't played since November 29 and there hasn't been much of any update since then). He is currently in the last season of his current contract with the Wild. 

It's going to be very interesting to see how this plays out. 

In other news, the Minnesota Wild shut out the Colorado Avalanche for the third time this season on Saturday night. This is the first time this season where a team has shut out an opponent in three consecutive meetings (The Wild opened the season with a home-and home against the Avs and won both games 5-0 and 3-0). This is not the first time that this has happened to the Avalanche. In the 2007-08 season, they were shut out in consecutive games against Detroit three times. 

Hello Hockey Season!!!

I don’t know about you, but I was counting down the hours on Thursday until the puck dropped on the 2014-15 Minnesota Wild season.

For the Minnesota Wild, they were coming off a play-off run that included beating the Colorado Avalanche in the first round of the play-offs. Ironically, the Minnesota Wild was the team that Avalanche head coach Patrick Roy last faced as a goalie before he retired after the 2002-03 season. It seemed very fitting that the Minnesota Wild handed him his first play-off series loss as an NHL head coach. As we all know, the Wild ended up facing the Chicago Blackhawks and lost that series in six games…

Fast-forward to October 9, 2014. The date of the home and season opener for the Minnesota Wild and their opponent that night—none other than the Colorado Avalanche, 

who the Wild knocked out in the first round courtesy of an overtime goal scored by Nino Niederreiter.

The State of Hockey flag going around in the stands during
 the introductions (courtesy of the Minnesota Wild on Twitter)

The Wild came out with all cylinders firing from the start. They must have gotten the memo that it was okay to shoot at the net because they were making shots on goal. The Wild did take two minor penalties within the first seven minutes in the first period and held the Avalanche to ZERO shots on both times they had the man advantage.

The first goal of the season was scored by Jason Pominville at 14:54 in the first period with assists by Mikael Granlund and Ryan Suter. The Wild had the shot on goal advantage at the end of the first period 17-5. The Avs were unable to get any kind of offense going and the Wild’s defense looked solid through one period of play.

Then came the second period….

Jared Spurgeon opened the scoring in the second period to make it 2-0, followed with goals scored by Zach Parise, Nino Niederreiter, and Ryan Suter. Again, the Wild outshot the Avs in the second period 21-8. The Avs had their third power play opportunity and were held without a shot again. 

The Wild's Erik Haula taking a shot against
Avs Goalie Reto Berra
(Courtesy of Chad Graff, Pioneer Press)

Avs goalie Semyon Varlamov was pulled from the game and replaced by Reto Berra at the beginning of the third period. The Wild managed 10 more shots during the third period and basically made Nathan MacKinnon (2014 Calder Trophy winner) and Gabriel Landeskog non-factors in their first game of the season. Landeskog didn’t take a shot during the game.

The Wild broke a franchise record for shots on goal in a single game with 48. Darcy Kuemper recorded his first shutout of the season, having only faced 16 shots from the Avs. In addition to the offense, the Wild’s penalty kill held the Avs to zero shots on all four power play chances they had. The Wild totally dominated the first game of the season, but they knew Saturday night was going to be a whole different story in Colorado. 

The Wild simply outplayed the Avalanche on Thursday night. Avs' Captain Gabriel Landeskog made this statement to the Star Tribune's Michael Russo:

"...that's what happens. A team that wins battles looks that good against a team that doesn't" 

Patrick Roy did make an idiotic and controversial statement to the Denver media on Friday. I am not going to repeat that statement or discuss it because (in my opinion) it doesn’t need to be rehashed. I will say is that it shows the idiotic and “goon” mentality on the part of Roy and his statement is uncalled for. 

Round two Saturday Night in Denver----

Heading into Saturday night’s rematch in Denver, the Wild knew the Avs were not going to make it easy on them. It was the Avs home opener and they knew they got embarrassed on Thursday night in Saint Paul.

The Wild once again came out at the start shooting at Avs goalie Semyon Varlamov. Charlie Coyle started the scoring for the Wild with his first goal of the season coming in at 1:51in the game, with assists from Ryan Suter and Jonas Brodin.  The Wild had their first power play of the game and managed to rack up eight shots on goal during the man-advantage. They also outshot the Avs in the first period 15-9.

The Avs' Jan Heidja pushing Nino Niederreiter into Semyon Varlamov
 that resulted in a goal for the Wild being waived off. (Andy Cross, Denver Post)

The Avs definitely brought the physical game, even though there were cheap shots made. Minnesota native and former Gopher Erik Johnson was assessed a major penalty and tossed from the game for his hit on Erik Haula late in the first period.  The Wild ended up with three minutes of power play time (two minutes of the five minute major were negated due to an “interference” call on Thomas Vanek). 

Thomas Vanek and the AVs Jan Heidja battling for a puck
during Saturday night's rematch in Denver
(courtesy of twincities.com/David Zalubowksi, AP)

Jason Zucker added his first goal of the season at the 11:50 mark of the second period from Thomas Vanek and Matt Dumba to make it 2-0 Wild. The Wild still managed to pull off 10 shots on goal, while the Avs managed to post 11shots on goal during the second period. 

Roy pulled Varlamov with 2:58 left in the game for an extra attacker and they had a 6-on-4 power play when Matt Cooke got called for interference with 2:33 left to play. The Wild managed to kill off that penalty with some spectacular goaltending by Kuemper. Parise scored on an empty net to seal the deal for the Wild with three seconds left for a 3-0 win. The Avs managed to out shoot the Wild 10-9 in the third period, but the Wild still held the shot advantage 34-30 for the game. 

Darcy Kuemper’s play in the net Saturday night was amazing to watch. Charlie Coyle stated in the Pioneer Press that “He came up huge on a number of occasions and bailed us out a few times when we had a defensive lapse…We didn’t play bad, but he definitely helped us out big time.” (Chad Graff, Pioneer Press 10/12/2014). Right now, I would have to say Kuemper is definitely making his case known to be the Wild's #1 goalie. 

After watching these first two games of the new season, I think it's safe to say the Wild are a much different team than they were this time last year (after starting the season 0-1-2 in their first three games). All eight Wild goals were even-strength goals. However, the Wild need to work on their power play. They are 0-8 so far this season with the man-advantage, even though they have taken more shots on the power play. Overall, the Wild have definitely added excitement to this new season and it's going to be a fun season to watch!

The Wild are one of two clubs to start of the season with back-to-back shut outs (the San Jose Sharks are the other, both Antti Niemi and Alex Stalock have each recorded a shut out this season for the Sharks). Darcy Kuemper is the youngest goaltender to open the season with back-to-back shut outs at 24 years old. 

It was also announced this morning that the Wild have come to terms on a six-year contract extension with Jonas Brodin. I haven't read anything on that new deal, yet. But knowing he's now locked in for a while, that is a good thing. 

The Wild are off until Friday.