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A Different Kind Of Wild Team
by Paul on 08/15/09 at 09:56 AM ET
Comments (2)
from Todd Kimberely at NHL.com,
The club’s 23-man roster saw its fair share of movement. The biggest move was Gaborik leaving for the Rangers, with Martin Havlat arriving as his big-dollar replacement.
And Leipold himself has gone on record with his belief that an accelerated style of play will also boost the Wild’s profile, allowing the club to attract top-end free agents who shied away from the Wild’s previously conservative, plodding pace.
“In the past I’ve been frustrated, not knowing why those unrestricted free agents, people who have the ability to move where they want to, wouldn’t choose this as their home,” said Leipold. “I think the system might have been something that held them back. I believe Chuck feels that way ... I think this may be the missing piece. Maybe they’ll look at us in a different light now.”
Filed in: NHL Teams, Minnesota Wild | KK Hockey | Permalink
Comments
No…I think the point is that the Wild have good enough goaltending that a west coast offense would help them out exponentially. Because the typical offensive output for the team was under 3 goals, if they up it above 3 they will win more games and take some pressure off of Backstrom and Harding. Harding lost 9 games with a .929 and a 2.21 ; Backstrom lost 24 games with a .923 and a 2.33 which is unconscionable; for the record…Backstom has put up better numbers than HENRIK LUNDQVIST (a perennial playoff goaltender) and it wasn’t an aberration year. Let’s face it, if they scored more goals then they would’ve made the playoffs last year, even with their paltry offense they were only 2 wins away from the 7th/8th seed. It was the same story for the Panthers.
Defense will win you a stanley cup final but not necessarily take you into or far in the playoffs. They have the offensive pieces to be a high(er) scoring team but when your goal leader is Owen Nolan with 25 goals, you know you have a problem.
Posted by stoneman from Vegas on 08/15/09 at 06:47 PM ET
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I wonder if the Wild really do understand what it takes to be a winning team in the West or NHL.More offense is good,but look what happened too the Flames.Its more than just changes to the players on the team,have to wait and see if they get it or not.
Posted by BILL GIESBRECHT from Calgary on 08/15/09 at 11:14 AM ET