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ORIGINAL: kgdabom

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ORIGINAL: Lynn G.

Yeah, and the Gophers beat Notre Dame, which counts for two stars.

I just checked the college hockey rankings and very saddened to see that St. Cloud State is only 25th and the University of Minnesota wasn't even in the others receiving votes. What the hell has happened.

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ORIGINAL: stfrank
If they keep it up we will stay in the mushy middle with another chance to be one and done in the playoffs and draft in the middle rounds once again. Yippee.....

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ORIGINAL: stfrank

If they keep it up we will stay in the mushy middle with another chance to be one and done in the playoffs and draft in the middle rounds once again. Yippee.....

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ORIGINAL: TJSweens

Don't look now, but the Wild have quietly gotten on a roll. After beating Vegas in It last night they are 6-1-1 in their last 8. Jesper Wallstedt has pitched back shut outs in his last 2 and is now 4-0-2 with a 2.10 GAA and .924 save percentage. The team appears to have adopted the counter punching style of the Jaques Lemaire era.

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ORIGINAL: kgdabom

quote:

ORIGINAL: TJSweens
Don't look now, but the Wild have quietly gotten on a roll. After beating Vegas in It last night they are 6-1-1 in their last 8. Jesper Wallstedt has pitched back shut outs in his last 2 and is now 4-0-2 with a 2.10 GAA and .924 save percentage. The team appears to have adopted the counter punching style of the Jaques Lemaire era.

I might start paying attention to hockey for real now.

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ORIGINAL: Phil Riewer

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ORIGINAL: kgdabom

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ORIGINAL: TJSweens
Don't look now, but the Wild have quietly gotten on a roll. After beating Vegas in It last night they are 6-1-1 in their last 8. Jesper Wallstedt has pitched back shut outs in his last 2 and is now 4-0-2 with a 2.10 GAA and .924 save percentage. The team appears to have adopted the counter punching style of the Jaques Lemaire era.

I might start paying attention to hockey for real now.

They need another finisher or two...they move the puck well enough but outside of Boldy and KK.....they just don't have enough firepower. Rossi playing hurt the last 5 games didn't help either.

The SJ game was the epitome of this....they outshot 2-1 and outplayed them in a way that it seemed they were camped on their end but couldn't get more than 1 goal.

quote:

ORIGINAL: stfrank

quote:

ORIGINAL: Phil Riewer

quote:

ORIGINAL: kgdabom

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ORIGINAL: TJSweens
Don't look now, but the Wild have quietly gotten on a roll. After beating Vegas in It last night they are 6-1-1 in their last 8. Jesper Wallstedt has pitched back shut outs in his last 2 and is now 4-0-2 with a 2.10 GAA and .924 save percentage. The team appears to have adopted the counter punching style of the Jaques Lemaire era.

I might start paying attention to hockey for real now.

They need another finisher or two...they move the puck well enough but outside of Boldy and KK.....they just don't have enough firepower. Rossi playing hurt the last 5 games didn't help either.

The SJ game was the epitome of this....they outshot 2-1 and outplayed them in a way that it seemed they were camped on their end but couldn't get more than 1 goal.

We need more than a couple of finishers to compete with the top teams. As constructed right now we have 1 top line and 3 lines consisting of bottom 6 at best players. We can hang with the bottom half of the league and occasionally top teams, but come playoff time we are done. As we have seen over and over the last few years it takes everyrhing we have just to make the playoffs and have nothing left once we get there.

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ORIGINAL: TJSweens

We don't have 2 top lines. With a healthy Rossi, we have maybe 4 legit top 6 forwards in KK, Boldy, Rossi and JEE. Guys like Zuccarello and Johansson are middle and bottom 6 slotting up and Tarasenko is just a has been.

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ORIGINAL: TJSweens

We don't have 2 top lines. With a healthy Rossi, we have maybe 4 legit top 6 forwards in KK, Boldy, Rossi and JEE. Guys like Zuccarello and Johansson are middle and bottom 6 slotting up and Tarasenko is just a has been.

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ORIGINAL: Phil Riewer

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ORIGINAL: TJSweens

We don't have 2 top lines. With a healthy Rossi, we have maybe 4 legit top 6 forwards in KK, Boldy, Rossi and JEE. Guys like Zuccarello and Johansson are middle and bottom 6 slotting up and Tarasenko is just a has been.

None of the teams with 3 scoring lines have 9 top 6 guys. I will also add that Johansen and Hartman at times show top 6....but anyway we are 1 line short....1 to 2 players IMO.

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ORIGINAL: Phil Riewer

We will ask ChatGPT:

Is it fair to say that the MN WIld have two good scoring lines while the Top NHL Teams have 3 scoring lines?

Is the Statement Fair? Yes, it's a fair assessment. The Wild have two potent scoring lines (Kaprizov/Boldy and Zuccarello/Rossi/Tarasenko) that can dominate matchups, but their depth drops off sharply—the 3rd line is solid defensively but rarely generates 5v5 offense at elite rates (e.g., <2.0 goals/60 last season). In contrast, top teams like Tampa, Vegas, and Florida roll three lines that all threaten offensively, allowing them to wear down opponents and sustain performance over 82 games/playoffs. This depth gap contributed to Minnesota's 97 points (playoff miss) vs. the top teams' 105-116 last year.If the Wild's young depth (e.g., Ohgren, Yurov) breaks out or injuries stay low, they could close the gap—but as of now, the critique holds.

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ORIGINAL: Lynn G.

I know. Crazy, right?

I'm attributing it to the fact that a few games ago I dusted off my old Wild hoodie and they haven't lost since. I promise to keep it out and in front of the tv until the last vestiges of magic remain.