Tough lineup decisions as injured Wild players are nearing return to the ice

I think at this time of year, as teams such as the Minnesota Wild are making the final push towards the playoffs, a coach would love to have the issue of which lineup decisions to make with players either returning from injuries, or being close to returning.

Well, Mike Yeo is facing this problem…or is getting close to facing this problem…

Minnesota Wild forward Matt Cooke

Kyle Brodziak (who has recently missed three games) could return to the Wild lineup on Thursday against the New York Rangers. Ryan Carter just returned to the lineup on Saturday against the Kings. Matt Cooke has been skating and recently joined the team in practice this week, his first since having hernia surgery in early February. (Jason Zucker and Nate Prosser were not in Tuesday’s practice, but both skated before the team practice. Zucker’s been out since the middle of February with a broken clavicle and surgery, Prosser has missed several games with a sprained MCL.)

Michael Russo, from the Star Tribune, wrote the following in a recent article about Zucker:

Wild forward Jason Zucker

“I feel perfect. I feel great,” said Zucker, sweating after another long, hardworking skate with a few teammates and coaches on Friday. “I don’t feel I have any restrictions shooting or passing or definitely skating. But it’s the docs. They know what’s best and what’s right and the right timeline. And whatever they say goes. Nothing else matters.”

From what I read, both Cooke and Zucker could make their returns during the playoffs. 

With how well the Wild have been doing since the middle of January (since Devan Dubnyk was acquired by the team and you know the rest of that story), the return of these injured players is going to have Mike Yeo looking at his roster and making the decisions of who is going to play and who is going to skate. The question is WHERE do you put these guys who are either coming back?

I think a lot of the shuffling is going to be taking place on the fourth line. Thomas Vanek has finally found his spot as the left wing on the third line with Charlie Coyle at center and Justin Fontaine at right wing. Chris Stewart has been a good presence on the second line at right wing with Mikko Koivu at center and Nino Niederreiter at left wing. Zach Parise, Mikael Granlund, and Jason Pominville make up the first line. These three offensive lines are pretty much set. 

Yeo made the following statement regarding his first three lines:

“I don’t see any reason why we would change anything up right now in the immediate future. Obviously things could change, but I look at a guy like Fonzie (Justin Fontaine) and there’s no reason why he should be looking over his shoulder. Certainly you look at the Islander game, we felt that we needed to switch for that game (he means that Schroeder took Fontaine’s in the third period and overtime), but this is not situation where if he has one bad game, one bad period. Doesn’t mean you might not change things during a game, but he’s earned enough to give him a chance to go out and respond.” (Michael Russo, startribune.com 3/31/2015). 

Yeo also replied when asked how difficult these decisions are:

“It’s going to be hard and everybody’s going to have an argument, and everybody’s going to have an opinion. In many cases, it’s going to be right. In a lot of ways it’s going to be difficult for us to make a wrong choice. In other ways, difficult for us to make the right choice just because everybody that’s here has had an impact in getting us here. Everybody has had success with us at different points of the season. And everybody that’s here we feel could help us. So, what that means is there’s going to be people out of the lineup that are very tough decisions to make. But at the same time, the people that are in will recognize that and they’ll take advantage of the opportunity.” (Michael Russo, startribune.com 3/31/2015). 

It is going to be very interesting to see how of this all plays out, especially with Zucker and Cooke's eventual returns to the line up could take place during the playoffs. Like I stated at the beginning of this article, this is a problem I think coaches love to have--depth on their roster and almost every one healthy. 

Michael Russo's article on Jason Zucker can be found here. 

Russo's article on Cooke and Brodziak can be found here

Has Thomas Vanek finally found his groove with the Minnesota Wild?

Having been traded twice last season and signing a three-year deal with the Minnesota Wild to basically “come home,” one would think Thomas Vanek would have continued his scoring ways coming into this season.

Well, that wasn’t exactly the case. And the critics noticed. 

The 16-11-1 record the Wild had to start off the season made it somewhat easy to forget about Vanek his slow start, where he only had one goal in the first 20 games of this season. 

Vanek stated to the NHL.com’s Dan Myers:

“I went from left to right, to right to left, and finding linemates hasn’t been as steady as you’d want it to be…That’s what happens when you come into a new place, you try and find chemistry.”

Minnesota Wild Forward Thomas Vanek

Myers went on to state in his article on NHL.com (Thomas Vanek finally found his way with Wild) that “Vanek began the season on the second line and went nine games without scoring a goal. He requested to play next to Zach Parise and Mikael Granlund on the first line, but that didn’t work either. With few other options, Vanek spent time on the fourth line, trying to get his game going.” 

Earlier, Vanek has joked that he has “played with every Wild forward in his two months with the team, and it’s hardly an exaggeration.” (Chad Graff, twincities.com, 12/10/2014). 

Mike Yeo stated this back in December about Thomas Vanek to Chad Graff from the Saint Paul Pioneer Press:

“It's not like he's trying not to work…It's just other things get on your mind and you forget about the little things. Quite often when I talk to players afterward, they actually think that they are working hard, and that's because they don't see the other parts of the game that are missing."

One can also speculate that Vanek’s slow start this season could also be tied to a gambling investigation out of New York (the investigation came to light shortly after Vanek signed his three year deal with the Wild). 

Fast forward to the present:

Since starting out with 7 goals and 18 assists in the first 42 games of the season, Vanek has found a good spot on the Wild's third line playing left wing on a line with Charlie Coyle at center and Justin Fontaine on right wing. 

Myers wrote, "It took sometime for Yeo to figure out how to use Vanek. A right-handed shot, Vanek said he feels more comfortable at left wing. But when the Wild couldn't find consistency on the right side early in the season, they needed Vanek to fill in a top-six role there. 'I think he's more effective on the left side.' Yeo said. 'He creates a lot more from there. I think we've seen that lately.'"

Vanek told Myer, "Coyle is a big man down the middle and I think he creates room for us on the sides, especially when I have the puck on the left, I think he's good at opening up space in the middle...Fontaine is a good playmaker, good in the corners. He can shoot the puck but he can also find Coyle and myself." 

After last night's game against the Los Angeles Kings, Vanek currently has 20 goals and 30 assists. Vanek scored his 20th goal of the season Friday night against Calgary, making it his 10th straight season where he has scored at least 20 goals in a season. 

One can imagine the goals Vanek would have had if he was on that third line with Coyle and Fontaine all season. Hopefully the line of Vanek-Coyle-Fontaine will be intact next season....

To read Dan Myers' article, go here. 

Devan Dubnyk worthy of Hart Trophy consideration?

When Devan Dubnyk was acquired by the Wild from Arizona, the Wild had a six game losing streak and were in 12th place in the Western Conference standings when Wild GM Chuck Fletcher bit the bullet and made the trade. At the time, the Wild’s Niklas Backstrom and Darcy Kuemper were a big part of the reason why the Wild were sitting eight points of a playoff spot. Acquiring Dubnyk seemed like an act of desperation.

Minnesota Wild Goaltender Devan Dubnyk

Well, things have obviously changed in the past two months. Since Devan Dubnyk joined the Wild back in January, he is 23-6-1, with a 1.74 GAA, a .937 SV%, has 5 shutouts, and has allowed 2 or less goals in 23 of 31 games he has played. He also made his 31st consecutive start of the season against Toronto. The Wild are currently sitting in 7th place in the Western Conference standings (the top Wild Card spot), and are five points behind Chicago in the Central Division.

I stated in a previous post "Is Devan Dubnyk the answer to the Minnesota Wild's goaltending situation" (Feb. 8, article is here), that "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." If either (Darcy) Kuemper or (Niklas) Backstrom had started in the net for the game in Saint Louis, where the Wild won 3-1, I'd say the Wild would have easily lost that game. 

Judd Zulgad (from 1500 ESPN Twin Cities SportsWire) wrote this in an article posted after last Tuesday's overtime win in Nashville:

"The Wild's turnaround goes beyond Dubnyk, but without him, it doesn't happen. Everything changed when Dubnyk arrived. He began making both easy and tough saves that Kuemper and Backstrom failed to make and Wild players started to play as if they thought they had a chance to win games." 

Now, Dubnyk's name has been brought up for consideration for the Vezina and Hart Trophy nominations. 

Zulgad went on to write:

"Dubnyk's candidacy for the Hart Trophy is based around what I call the 'It's a Wonderful Life' theory. The Wild was given an opportunity to see what life is like without competent goaltending and now they are seeing what life is like with a guy putting up all-star numbers." 

Remember, Dubnyk was named the NHL's first star for the month of February. Since the NHL trade deadline, the statement can be (and probably has been) made that no trade has been more valuable to a team this season than Dubnyk's trade to the Wild. Not bad for a goalie who has bounced around from Edmonton to Nashville, and Montreal last season, started the season in Arizona as a back up, and now has basically won the starting goalie job here in Minnesota. Considering how crucial Dubnyk has been to the Wild's turn-around right now, he is the most valuable to this Minnesota Wild team. 

It would be a real shame if Devan Dubnyk isn't nominated for the Hart Trophy. 

With Dubnyk in net, the Minnesota Wild have been the NHL's hottest team
 since the All-Star Break

Big Ten Hockey Conference—poor attendance at Tournament in Detroit and hurting the Gophers in the Pairwise?

Here we are on the eve of the NCAA Men’s hockey tournament selection show, the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers Men’s hockey team beat the University of Michigan Wolverines for the Big Ten Hockey tournament title (ending Michigan’s season) and earned an automatic berth in the NCAA tournament. Minnesota will be the only team from the Big Ten Conference in the NCAA tournament this year. 

This year’s Big Ten hockey conference tournament was held at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. With what I have seen on TV for the Ohio State/Penn State quarterfinal game and the Minnesota/Michigan championship game (with pictures that were posted on Twitter), the attendance was horrible.

I don't think the "Road to the Joe" worked out very well this year.

One would think that with both the University of Michigan and Michigan State both within a 90 minute drive from Detroit's Joe Louis Arena that Michigan and Michigan State fans might have had more fans in attendance. Judging from the arena shots on television and the pictures from twitter, there were a LOT of empty seats for this tournament. From what I saw of the championship game (the third period), there were a "few" more fans in attendance. However, there were still a LOT of empty seats.  For a hockey conference that is only in its second year of existence, that has to be embarrassing.  I was at the WCHA Final Five tournament at the Xcel Energy Center and there were more people in attendance for the first semi-final game between Michigan Tech and Bowling green than for the semi-final games for the Big Ten Tournament. 

Picture from the Michigan-Wisconsin Big Ten Semi-final game
(courtesy of Twitter)

I found this surprising statistic on Twitter on Friday night. The following picture shows the attendance for the Big Ten Hockey Tournament between last year at the Xcel Energy Center and this year at Joe Louis Arena (the attendance for the entire Big Ten Hockey Tournament at Joe Louis Arena was 16,120). 

That is a significant drop in attendance between last year and this year. Does one think that anybody from the Big Ten Conference will look at the attendance and see how bad the attendance was this year? One sure hopes so. This doesn't bode well for a hockey conference only in its second year of existence. 

I wrote an article on My thoughts going into the second season of the Big Ten Hockey Conference. and why I am not a big fan of Big Ten Hockey. I stated previously that there are real no rivalries with the Gophers and the other teams. Yes, the Minnesota-Wisconsin rivalry/border battle is still there. Minnesota does have some history with Michigan (especially with having met the Wolverines in the semi-finals in both the 2002 and 2003 Men's Frozen Four). There are no rivalries with Michigan State and Ohio State. Penn State is only in its third year as a Division I hockey program. Those rivalries are not going to develop overnight. They are going to take years to develop, if they develop at all. 

Another interesting point was brought up about the Big Ten and that this whole Big Ten Hockey Conference is about money. It could very well be. It could also be because of the Big Ten Network and the Big Ten getting those games aired on that network (which to me, is a joke--but I'm not going to go there).  I was involved in a conversation on my personal twitter account about the Big Ten and that how the Big Ten was potentially hurting Minnesota's Men's hockey. One thing that was pointed out is how Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan State and Wisconsin are all big football schools in the Big Ten and their support for hockey is not really there. (Michigan State and Wisconsin also have teams in the NCAA Men's basketball tournament, which started on March 18). 

One way the move to the Big Ten Hockey Conference has hurt Minnesota is in the PairWise rankings. Out of the six teams in the conference (in the latest PairWise rankings), Minnesota is the only team from the conference in the top ten in the PairWise. (Michigan was ranked #19, Michigan State was tied for 31st, Penn State was 33rd, Ohio State was tied for 36th, and Wisconsin was 55th). The entire PairWise rankings from uscho.com are here. Because of where the other five teams are ranked, the Gophers' conference schedule can considered weak, which could affect recruiting. A twitter user (@timtjack44) stated that because of the lesser conference competition, this could have an effect on high level recruits who could decide to pass on playing for Minnesota and decide to go to another Division I school because of better competition. 

As of right now, I do think the Big Ten Hockey conference was not a great idea. I really don't care what the conference charter says about any six member schools having a team in a particular sport. They should have allowed Minnesota, Wisconsin, Ohio State, Michigan, and Michigan State remain in their old conferences and allowed Penn State to join a conference like the Hockey East, instead of destroying two well-established hockey conferences, along with established and well-known college hockey rivalries. 

Saint Patrick's Day/March Madness Edition of Hockey memes

Well, it's that time of year known as March Madness. For us hockey fans, it's that time of the hockey season where it's the push for the playoffs. So, here we are at another edition of the favorite hockey memes.

Obviously, a hockey fan filled out this bracket...LOL! 

I hate to pick on Niklas Backstrom, but I had to include this one...

Another good one about Devan Dubnyk after Saturday night's game in St. Louis...

And this one....

Now, I have to share this one because it involves P.K Subban from Montreal...and I'm NOT a fan of his...

Ottawa Senators Goalie Andrew Hammond has this nickname "The Hamburglar," well someone did throw a McDonald's burger on to the ice the other night...(he has the Hamburglar character on his goalie mask)

Last, but not least....

Until next time...

NHL GM Meetings taking place in Boca Raton, FL, no agreeable consensus on goalie interference

The General Managers of the NHL have begun their annual three days of meetings today (March 16) in Boca Raton, FL.

One of the issues that is on the docket is goaltender interference. I find this really interesting that this is being brought up, considering I wrote about this in a previous article (link to it is here). The question is should goalie interference be subject to video review. Given what I stated in my previous article, it should be up to a video review. 

NHL.com senior writer Dan Rosen wrote this:

"The main question being discussed in regard to the goaltenders is should video review be expanded to include goals scored as a potential result of goalie interference. The NHL does not allow for video review of goals scored where there is the potential of goaltender interference having occured. Those calls are left to the discretion of the on-ice officials." 

If you ask me, there needs to be a clear consensus on what goaltender interference is and I don't think there really is one. The 2014-15 NHL Rule book states:

(NHL rule book can be found on NHL.com and downloaded)

Rosen went on to state that "The managers have watched video clips of goals which likely would be covered by an expanded review and discussed those plays, formally and informally, but rarely have reached a consensus. Often on GM thought a play should be ruled a goal only to have another argue passionately for a clear-cut case of goalie interference." 

If there isn't clear consensus among NHL GM's on what goaltender intereference is? What about the refs? Is there clear consensus among the NHL refs on what it is? That is a topic that needs to be discussed.  Rosen stated " There has been some hesitancy by the managers to allow video review on goals scored where goaltender interference could be an issue because of the lack of role interpretation plays in such cases, as well as the time added to the game with the potential for additional reviews."

That statement in Rosen's article is a clear argument for needing an agreeable consensus of what goaltender interference is and what has been reported from the first day of these GM meetings shows that consensus isn't there at all.

In reading Rosen's article and other articles on the first day of the GM meetings, there are a wide range of opinions on this subject alone. Ottawa Senators GM Bryan Murray stated "I don't think we're going to video replay, for example, with goaltender interference...I think that has to be left to the officials to make a judgment call on the ice. Some nights we're not happy, but the majority of the calls that I've seen anyway so far have been the right call." 

A judgment call by the officials? If that is going to be the consensus, then what is the point of having a rule on goaltender interference? 

It is going to be real interesting to see what, if anything, comes out of this year's GM meetings about goaltender interference. There are other topics being discussed--such as the diving and embellishment penalties and possible changes to the overtime format. 

This is just the first post on the NHL GM Meetings and there will be another blog post on this subject sometime next week after these meetings wrap up. 

Dan Rosen's entire article can be read here.

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.