Wild – Here we go.

Training camp starting today. I really love hockey, it’s really the only sport I follow with any intensity.

Already, I see a theme of “Here we go again” emerging for the Wild. In so many ways.

Goaltending Woes! Here we go again!

Josh Harding was injured yesterday and now has a broken foot that cannot be repaired with surgery. No, really. He’s out for 3-4 months.

Adding to the feeling of, “I can’t freaking believe it…” is that apparently the accident that broke his foot, was so stupid or bizarre that team doesn’t want to talk about it. It did NOT happen on the ice, that’s all we know.

The leading theory currently is that he slipped on a banana peel. Stay tuned, this is going to be a good one.

But here we go again. As luck would have it, Ilya Bryzgalov happened to be walking down the street by the Excel Energy Center when his phone rang… There are conflicting reports as to weather or not he was eating a banana at the time, but regardless he was signed to a tryout contract within minutes of Harding’s “accident”.

Darcy continues to hold out for a one way deal. No word AFAIK on if Harding’s misfortune has made ownership see the light and sign off. The difference between the two sides is probably the equivalent of 1 week of Danny Heatly’s salary, so… well let’s say that I think they should just give Darcy the deal and quit messing around.

Can’t wait to see what happens this season. So many new players, but obviously the one I want to see is how Vanek works because to have any real result Vanek NEEDS to work.

Here we go!

Grouse

With baseball winding down it’s time to rev up for pick!!

Vanek might have been the best college player i ever saw in person play.

Let Kuemper go play in the KHL and see how he likes it. No way he deserves a one way deal this season. Considering other than the injured Backstrom all goaltenders had great stats behind our defense. His agent is nuts.

I need to land a job soon so I can order center ice!

Pugster, everyone threatens to go the KHL. It’s like a sign of serious negotiations.

Heck, I’ve even threatened to go to the KHL if I didn’t get my way. Mrs. Grouse called my bluff by checking on ticket prices to Moscow for me and signing me up for Russian lessons.

I’ve also threatened to take my talents to South Beach, but that’s another story for another time.

Komrade Kuemper? I don’t think so.

Grouse

Plenty of guys have followed through.

mplspug wrote:

Plenty of guys have followed through.

Well, I guess YOU made good on the threat and took your talents to South Beach, although it was on a 2 way contract wasn’t it?

Grouse

I am not fake enough for south beach. I agreed to a minor league contract in central Florida.

Actually I wish I could threaten. At this point I have no leverage. My leads sort of dried up. Although I still have a good feeling on my initial good lead. They were ” on the fence” with me, but have 2 openings. And I still have some other good leads.

No fishing until I lanfd something, no pun intended.

We should have made a run at Al Stalock from the Sharks. He would have been a great backup option with long term starter possibility. Plus he’s a Sough St. Paul guy!

I think we have our allotment of “one of us” players. Before this latest issue with Hards we had a log jam of signed goalies.

Bring in the Bryz. He’s a great interview if nothing else. He’ll accept a back up role and proved last year he still has some game in him when called upon.

Let Kuemper go play in Russia. I like him, but a 2 way contract this year and a 1 way next year is more than reasonable. And the 1 way next year means he’s basically assured to be in the NHL fulltime…even if it is as a door opener.

If he’s not careful Gustafsson will be the future.

Kuemper and Wild agreed to a 2 year deal. No other details I can find yet.

I am a little surprised the Fletch caved. My hope is that Backy returns to similar form 3 seasons ago, Bryz plays well enough to lock up the door opener role and Keumper gets playing time in Iowa.

Pug, glad to read your commentary on the Wild. Keep it coming.

I’ll do my best to follow them with center ice. West coast trips will be tough since they will start here at 10pm. Home games will start at 8pm. I finally found a reason besides moving away from family and friends that is a negative to me moving. That and it was easy to watch the Wild when it was cold out.

Harding suspended by the team, so his salary does not count against the salary cap. Broken foot said to be a “significant injury” and team holding to the statement that surgery is an option. I’m still wanting to hear exactly what happened, the lack of any info other than “off ice incident” is making this pretty strange.

That might be it for Harding, I’m afraid. Great personal story, but I can’t see the Wild going forward with this much uncertainty in a player whose role is supposed to be starting rotation.

Darcy got his deal, so that drama goes away. We’ll see if he can play at the level that makes him worth it, but the options were limited for the Wild and I can see them wanting to get rid of as many goaltender distractions as possible. Mostly because the distraction of goaltender performance isn’t going to go away anytime soon.

Grouse

They said on the news last night that he kicked a wall after getting into an argument with a teammate. Stupid!……
DT

Don’t kid yourself. Behind the scenes the Wild are popping corks in celebration as to the Harding injury. Now they have an excuse to let him go. If they let him go for any other reason they would have a PC nightmare on their hands…RR

all sounds well in wild land

roosterrouster wrote:

Don’t kid yourself. Behind the scenes the Wild are popping corks in celebration as to the Harding injury. Now they have an excuse to let him go. If they let him go for any other reason they would have a PC nightmare on their hands…RR

Yeah with the stats he had before changing his medication were atrocious! I’m sure they wouldn’t want the leagues best goalie back. *facepalm*

What goalie problems?

“You know, it was first time on ice in four months. A little bit tough,” Bryzgalov said.

Awesome link Pug. I didnt realize practices are open and free. Hmmm, I have to drive down to the cities tomorrow to pick up a moped for my kid. Wonder if they are practicing.
DT

biggill wrote:

What goalie problems?

“You know, it was first time on ice in four months. A little bit tough,” Bryzgalov said.

With Kuemper signed, it shouldnt matter. My gut feeling is we have to starters, Kuemper and Backs, until one earns the full time starts. Before the injury it would have been backs and harding. I really don’t think goaltending will be an issue, because I think our d was pretty solid last year.

I know, but I thought that was incredible for a guy looking for a job.

He’s made it clear he loves Minnesota and wanted to come back. Personally I think that is great for team chemistry and underrated. Find a way to keep him, even if it is in Iowa as insurance as a 3rd string goalie. He can play behind Gustafson in Iowa too.

The crazy thing is that the wild probably don’t have to sign him. He’ll probably be “around” just in case.

Well, I think the goaltending situation is now stable, if not solved.

The Harding situation just adds intrigue because of the “no comment” way it’s being handled. If the kicking wall after altercation with teammate is true, there must be some real drama behind the scenes. Harding’s contract is up at the end of this year, so if the reports are true, he really screwed himself by getting suspended.

Reports say Vanek is looking as advertised. I have to say, every time it’s repeated that he’s never scored less than 25 goals is a full season, it makes me smile. Especially since the Wild didn’t have to give up a 20 goal scorer or big draft picks to get him. Even at the 25 level, that would have made a huge difference last season during those streaks of anemic goal-scoring. Now if he’s adding assists and in a what-if 30 goal scenario…

Can’t wait for the first game.

Grouse

biggill wrote:

The crazy thing is that the wild probably don’t have to sign him. He’ll probably be “around” just in case.

He is already getting paid over a million a year by another team till like 2020 something for not playing. He can probably afford to do it on his terms.
DT

I thought I heard it was closer to $2M from the Flyers. In any event, point taken.