First of all, the starters:
1. Lemaire quits last year, everybody hates the "trap", MN Wild play boring hockey.
2. BTW, the Wild missed the playoffs by 3 points, missing Gaborik for 65 games and Brent Burns for the last month. Not bad when a team is out its best forward and best defenseman for a long stretch.
3. Still, the Wild fans can't stand Lemaire's boring hockey. They like the Red Wings and Penguins hockey.
4. A new GM and Coach, who are going to do an "up tempo" play.
5. I say, "Big Whoopie," because the Wild has no talent. They are all grit, hard work, ham and eggs, a bag of knuckles, bring in some jam, and "Attache le tuque". Seriously...I went to one game last year where they played Thornton, Marleau, and the San Jose Sharks. The Wild weren't that good. But...effective.
6. The "up tempo" has the Wild sucking eggs. They aren't the Wings or Pens.
7. Here is a funny comment on Mike Russo's blog, which was dated September 11, 2009. I will cut and paste it here...it is a 'spoof' of a Q/A that Russo had with Cliff Fletcher, the Wild GM:
Mister Know it all: The team last year was a healthy Marion Gaborik and Brent Burns away from winning the division. Now that the team is healthy and have replaced Gaby for Havlat. How do you see your team finishing ?
Fletcher: Blank look on his face. Were changing to a more up beat style because that is how the Pens and Detroit win in the CURRENT nhl. This style of hockey will be very fun to watch.
Mister Know it all: On Russos Blog it has been determined that Winning is more important to fans then playing fun and exciting hockey if you lose doing it
Fletcher: We want to win playing up tempo hockey. We think in the end they will be more happy
Mister Know it all: The previous regime believed that the fans of Minnesota would best like a blue collar hardworking style of hockey that wins consistently year in and year out. They also believed it would be easier to achieve consistency in winning if a focus was put on a strong defensive type system that cut out unnecessary risk taking that clearly and SIMPLY defines every players defensive responsibilities on the ice.
Fletcher: Well Leopold is the owner now and he asked me to bring an up tempo style of hockey to Minnesota because all of the fans were complaining they were getting sick of watching boring hockey. I have success with the Pens with this system
Mister Know it all: How did the Pens get to being able to play the up tempo hockey with success
Fletcher: They finished last for a few years and they were able to land top players like Malkin and Crosby and others which made it easier to win playing the up tempo game
Mister Know it all: Do you think the fans of Minnesota have the patience to wait for the team to win doing your system
Fletcher: I don’t know, we will see
Mister Know it all: Lemaire said you would quickly stop the risk taking once you realize you dont have the scorers to play that way
Fletcher: That is Mr Richards department, ask him
Mister Know it all: Last year Minnesota missed the playoffs by 3 points playing without its top forward and dman all year basically. Simply put the team was destroyed by injuries. Why did the team have success ?
2nd in the league goals against
2nd in the league on penalty kill
9th in the league on power play
Why they did not win more ?
The team was reliant on Gaby to win the close games it found themselves in. With Gaby out they were the worst 5 on 5 team in the league. So is it reasonable to say that the fans can expect this team to be in the playoffs given these factors ?
(1) You have Havlat and we did not have Gaby last year
(2) Young players now have one more year of experience which should help Shep, Gillies, Pouliot, Clutterbuck, Cuma
(3)The team is healthy
Fletcher: Well, when you put it that way yes I would expect us to be in the playoffs.
It is quite simple Mister Know it all, We wont be 2nd in goals against this year. Plain and simply put
The trade off to get better in the spirit of the up tempo game is scoring more 5 on 5, Mister Know it all,
We think the ingredients we are looking for to get better is going from worst in the league 5 on 5 to the TOP 12 in the league. Our GOAL for goals against is no worse then 10th in the league. We don’t want to be any worse on the penalty kill and power play then the team was last year. We are ok with those stats.
Mister Know it all: Don’t you think its a stretch to say your team is going to go from the worst team 5 on 5 to being in the top 12, or the top 1/3 in the league 5 on 5 ? All you have essentially done is replace Gaby with Havlat for the offense- Yes the young guys will be better but it seems a stretch.
Fletcher: I am going to watch Tony Robbins and Zig Zigler and stay positive.
Mister Know it all: What about Modano as I have suggested numerous times.
Fletcher: Be patient Mister Know it all. He will be here in time. I agree with you that a motivated Modano could be our answer.
To be continued
This is soooo true....
**What does this have to do with referees?**
Confidence is a tricky thing for some guys. Lemaire put a system forward that gave the Wild the greatest confidence they could have. I am telling you, the Wild had NO BUSINESS being in the playoffs or in the playoff hunt last year with the talent they had. The were (to quote R.H. "Bob" Peters), "Common people, doing common things, Uncommonly well." I will take that any day, and that is what I look for in officials.
- Do the common things, uncommonly well.
- Bring your pride, grit, and determination every game.
- Stick to a system that will best suit you. Not everybody is going to be a referee like Kerry Fraser.
- Do the small things that build to small victories that lead to Big victories.
- Always know that you can work harder.
- Preparation + Having Balls (X2) = Good Luck
- Owen Nolan, Andrew Burnette, and Wes Walz can fight with me in a fox hole anytime. Pattern your game after them, which includes HARD WORK off the ice, the correct mental mindset, and control what you can control (effort and attitude -- everything else is BEYOND your control).
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