And Another Thing: Farewell, Minnesota

I am leaving Minnesota.

Just putting those words to screen sends a little shiver down my spine. It makes things a little more real. I am not leaving Minnesota because I have any grievance whatsoever with the state I grew up in and have grown to love with every fiber of my being for 43+ years.

The reality is that I have a great opportunity for a job in Columbus, Ohio. My wife also looks forward to being able to start anew with her job in a way that hopefully allows her to spend more time with our kids.

This was an agonizing decision to come to. Minnesota is who I am: the lakes, hockey, winter, the seasons. The Twin Cities, and Saint Paul in particular, is where I've chosen to live. My politics match the city, the arts and culture is interesting to me, and outdoor activities fit in with my interests. In other words, everything I love is here.

But sometimes, a "You'd be stupid not to" opportunity comes along. In my case, it forced me to make a decision: Do we take more money and move away? Or stay where we are and continue to tread water financially? For us, it came down to the numbers, and we realized that we'd be dumb to turn away from this opportunity. A bigger paycheck for me and a lower cost of living in Columbus means that my wife can work less and we can have a better quality of life for a comparable household income.

A couple questions: Will I be a Buckeyes fan? Nope, sorry. Blue Jackets? Gross. I'll always be a Wild/Twins/Saints/Vikings/Gophers fan for as long as I breathe. I am Minnesotan at my very core, and here my heart will always be. I will miss it dearly: the lakes, the bitter cold winters and hot and humid summers, and the changing of the seasons. And this says nothing about being 12 hours away from family and friends.

This spring we'll put our house on the market, and go scouting for a new home in the Columbus area. Sometime after the kids are out of school in June, we'll pack up and move. At that time, we'll open a new chapter in our lives. In August, our kids will go to a new school and make new friends. At Christmas we'll come home to visit family. We'll celebrate birthdays with new friends. The sun will rise and life will go on.

I've had my emotions: the sadness that I know I'll be losing something; the apprehension of the new and unknown; the excitement of new possibilities. Someday I may physically return to live or retire here. Until then, my family will grow to love our new home and community. 

It'll be a great adventure.

Discuss this article here.

And Another Thing: There's No Reason to Play Up

As should be clear by now if you've been reading me for awhile, my son plays hockey. He just wrapped up his second year of Mites. Long ago, a coworker told me that if we ever had a chance to play spring hockey, to do it. Cheap youth hockey and enough ice time to satisfy Ryan Suter.

Last year, when the e-mail went out, I replied 30 seconds later that we were in. My son's agent wanted to go slow and think about it, but he overruled her, and we signed up. And it was awesome. He fit in with his team and was one of the leaders in scoring by my unofficial tally. What I found out after all the games were done is that he was one of three 1st years on that team.

This year, he was arguably the best player on his team. Our association splits Mites (8U) level kids into three teams, with preference to match kids by their school. Since players aren't rated by skill, this can lead to some teams being better than others. So, despite being the best player on his team, he was on arguably the worst team.

This year, nobody stepped up to get a spring league team together, so I did it. At the same time, one of the Squirts coaches wanted to get a second Squirts (10U) team together and invited mites to join.

This led to an interesting situation. We had some kids who were expressing interest in both teams. Eventually, 3 kids wanted to play up on the Squirts. I would argue that there are two Mites that could handle playing 10U hockey, and both are on the Mites spring league team. (Caveat: I don't know the 3 kids playing up this spring very well, so I won't comment on their skill level.)

So where's the line? One of the youth sports associations in my area (HGRA - St Paul) famously will tell any parent "Joe Mauer didn't play up, your kid won't either." I largely agree with this logic and I think there are very few exceptions:

• Your kid is head and shoulders above all the other kids at his or her level.
• You have two kids close in age and you want them to stay together. 

That's about it. And even in the first case, should you?

Look. Your kid is not Wayne Gretzky. Sorry to break it to you. And hell, even if he was, I'd argue it's better for them to play at their level. Look at John Tavares. If his leagues and the NHL had let him get drafted when he wanted to be, he'd have been in the Steven Stamkos draft, similar to the Connor McDavid / Jack Eichel draft. Instead, he was drafted in 2009, first overall. While 11 or 12 years down the road Stamkos is arguably the better player, at the time it probably worked in Tavares' favor. Whatever happened at the time, he's the same player that he'd always have been, but he's not in Stamkos' shadow the way Eichel is in McDavid's. 

Could my kid play up in a spring league that focuses on fun rather than competition? Sure. But at the ages that I'm working with, developing high end skill isn't in the kids' best interests. Even USA Hockey advocates that kids have fun and cross train with other sports - soccer, lacrosse, gymnastics (yes, you read correctly) - at this level. Then, as kids get older, their bodies begin to develop and get stronger, so you run a safety risk when playing kids at disparate sizes.

Even if my kid had elite skill and size, I'd still play him at his recommended level. Why? Because children - yes, we're still talking about children - should be having fun. When my kid is a teenager and if he wants to develop his game and try to be an elite talent, then we'll decide how to proceed at that time. 

Until then, he's a kid. I'll let him be one. 

Discuss this topic in our forums here. 

This Week in the NHL

Standings Watch: The best division last week was the Metropolitan, who went a collective 16-5-4. There were two games between the Metron and Central last week: Pittsburgh beat both the Predators and Blues.

The Pacific was the second best division, with a 10-10-2 record. There were 8 games between Central teams and Pacific teams, with the Central splitting the meetings 4-4: Minnesota lost to Calgary but beat the Oilers and Canucks. Colorado (lol) lost to the Ducks and Kings. San Jose beat the Hawks, who beat the Coyotes, and the Predators beat the Oilers.

Then came the Central at 10-11-0. Winnipeg beat the Blues and Stars and lost to LOLorado. Also, the Hawks also beat the Stars.

The Atlantic, who was the best division the week before the All Star Break, was the worst division last week, its teams went 10-12-2. Only three games between Central and Atlantic teams took place last week, with the Leafs losing to Dallas and St Louis, but the Red Wings did defeat the Predators.

Here’s something fun to try: Youtube “Marchand Slewfoot” and check out the fact that there isn’t a single hit. There are two from this clown:

Marchand is an asshole. A very wealthy asshole at this point, but an asshole nonetheless. At some point, the NHL needs to step in and do something about him. But that would require a spine, which we know they don’t have. (Unless you’re Pierre Marc Bouchard and have your stick lifted into someone’s face. Then they’re tough.)

The Presidents’ Trophy is given to the team with the best regular season record, and the Wild are currently in second place in the whole NHL, having overtaken the Blue Jackets. The Captials are still sitting 5 points ahead of the Wild with two more games played, and the Blue Jackets are 2 points behind the Wild with the same number of games played.  

Two teams have won the Cup in the last 10 years after winning the Presidents’ Trophy: the 07-08 Red Wings and 12-13 Blackhawks. So, whoever wins the trophy next year should win the Cup if the pattern holds. But I don’t buy that a curse exists. Whatever they do they CANNOT TOUCH ANY TROPHY BUT THE CUP.  

It’s time to start talking about trade deadline pickups. The Wild should be inquiring about three gentlemen: Jarome Iginla, Martin Hanzal and Brian Boyle. All three are expiring UFAs this summer. Let’s look at the three.

Colorado sucks big time. No surprise there. But if you think Iginla has nothing to give looking at his stats line, think again. Even at his age, players like Iginla are natural competitors and leaders and I do believe he has a lot to give. He’ll likely end up elsewhere, though. I don’t see CF mortgaging the future of the Wild to a divisional competitor.    

Arizona is the second worst team in the NHL, but rumor has it they’re looking for a first round pick for Hanzal, a huge center who has played on the upper lines in the past. But having depth on your team means you’re playing former top line guys on your fourth line.

Brian Boyle would be an interesting choice. Depth center who can play wing if needed, and the cheapest of the bunch. Not a skill player, but a checking line player with good possession stats.

My money is on Hanzal, since the Fletcher has made deals with the Coyotes in the past. It’s possible we pick up Shane Doan as well, to add depth on the wing.  

But such a deal won’t come cheap. The Coyotes will want something substantial for Hanzal alone, and a package deal including Doan could be expensive. So who goes the other way? My take is that Fletcher won’t want to upset the apple cart too much, so it’ll likely be guys like Graovac, Schroeder, or a prospect. I would be loath to part with a Haula, but it’s possible. Scandella has been a non-factor all season, so he’s a candidate as well to go the other way in a deadline deal.

Wild speculation of the week: Jason Zucker will be protected in the expansion draft.

Bits and Pieces Round:

• The Wild have the 20^th ranked road PK.
•  The Wild have the 26^th ranked road PP
•  The good news? There are usually fewer penalties called in the playoffs.
• The Wild are 3-5-1 when trailing after 2, the second best winning percentage in the NHL (Pittsbiurgh 7-11-1).
• The Wild have allowed 80 5 on 5 goals, the second fewest in the NHL (Washington, 66)

Looking ahead:

•  Three Central Division games this week: The Wild play the Jets and Hawks
• Also: The Hawks and Jets play each other.
• Nerd fight of the week: Jets-Bolts next Saturday.

Discuss this topic in our forums here. 

And Another Thing: Drive-thrus are not for me, and no, I don’t want a meal

I won’t make it a big secret that I prefer the convenience of picking up some dinner at a restaurant rather than cook at home. I don’t mind cooking; it’s really just the time factor that gets in the way. Oh, and the planning. Trying to figure out what to do for dinner at 6:14 p.m. isn’t ideal for cooking up some creation on the stove.

So anyway, I eat out a lot. Sure it’s unhealthy and isn’t helping me trim my figure, but it’s just a reality. Which brings me to the topic: Ordering fast food.

First of all, I always walk into the establishment to order my food. I park my vehicle in the parking lot, physically exit, walk into the building and step up to the counter to place my order. Is this exhausting? No. But apparently fast food is even more convenient if you order in the drive-thru lane. I know I’m probably in the minority here, but drive-thrus are just dumb to me.

Is it really that much quicker when there’s 10 cars in line? Then you often have to sit there past the window and wait for someone to deliver the food to your car anyway. (I also do not understand why people eating their parked cars in the parking lot is a thing. Just go inside and sit at a table! Or go home and eat!) The other side though, from a person that orders inside, is that the drive-thru can slow things down at the counter. I’ve waited to have my order taken while the drive-thru gets serviced first, or so it seems.

It’s also expanded to drug stores and banks. My family and I make jokes about what else could have a drive-thru setup, making it easier for lazy people to never have to leave their cars. “I’d drive into the building if I could,” we say, in a sing-song voice.

My apologies if you prefer using drive-thrus and don’t consider yourself a lazy human being. Like I acknowledged, I know I’m probably in the minority here.

Here’s the other thing about these joints that really grinds my gears: Meals. The old saying about fast food places was: “Would you like fries with that?” Well, that’s turned into: “Would you like a meal?” I don’t know who started it, but every menu board has a numbered list of meal options, the main food item with a side/fries and then a drink. What a deal! You’ll probably save 29 cents or something, too.

It’s like a reflex for workers to ask this question, even before you’re done ordering in some cases. I know what I want. When I ask for a cheeseburger and a medium drink, it means I don’t want any fries so why would I order a meal? I'm also not completely against these meals; I'll get them sometimes.

My dad ordered a cheeseburger, medium fries and a drink at McDonald’s recently. Right away, the fella asked about a meal. And then: “Well, the meal comes with two cheeseburgers, is that OK?” Um, no. He didn’t want TWO cheeseburgers. One unhealthy patty with melted cheese is enough.

I’m a fan of Arby’s, mostly for the curly fries. I’ll often order a sandwich with the snack-size fries, because it’s only $1 for the fries and there’s less of them, so it’s a way of tricking myself into thinking I’m not being as unhealthy as I could be if I get the larger order with a meal. Of course, ordering this way will usually get me the meal question.

This all may seem super petty and stupid, but that’s why this is filed under the “And another thing” category. Feel free to tell me in the comments why drive-thrus and fast-food meals are amazing.

Full disclosure: I have not worked in one of these drive-thru establishments, so maybe I shouldn’t be complaining about something when I don’t know the process firsthand. More power to those that do this work. But this is a blog, so I’ll share my opinion about it.

Now I’ll go order my single cheeseburger with a small fries. No, I don’t want a meal.

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Wild Game Day: Debbils at Wild 1/17/2017

GameDay:  New Jersey @ Minnesota, 1/17/2017

New Jersey Record: 18-18-9, 45Pts (7^th Metropolitan Division)
New Jersey Captain: Andy Greene
New Jersey Coach: John Hynes
Minnesota Record: 28-9-5, 61Pts (1st Central Division, 1st Western Conference)
10/22/2016:  New Jersey 2 Minnesota 1 OT

Time: 7PM CT
TV: Frogs Sports Nord
Radio: Kayfabe 100.3FM

New Jersey Lines:

Corey Schneider 13-14-7 .910 2.68 GAA

Wild Lines:

Courtesy Dailyfaceoff.com

Devan Dubnyk 23-7-3 .940 1.78GAA
 

Goals Per Game:  New Jersey 28^th (2.18)  Minnesota  4^th (3.26)

Goals Against:  New Jersey 19^th (2.82)  Minnesota 2^nd (2.14)

Power Play %:  New Jersey 28^th (13.2%)  Minnesota 13^th (20.2%)

PK:  New Jersey 8^th (83.3%)  Minnesota 6^th (84.9%)

The Game: Sustainable?

By Nick

It's official: The Wild is for real.

Really, the B2B sweeps against the Habs and Rangers AND Stars and Blackhawks should be all we need to know.  But there's a whole host of other statistics in support of their overall good-ness this season if those don't do it for you.

So, because we're Minnesota sports fans, why aren't we happier?  Because Minnesota sports teams have provided us with a lifetime of failing despite the statistics and other empirical evidence.

Okay, fair enough, right? So let's focus on that: is this sustainable?

I'd say the offense is sustainable.  They are getting contributions from so many different sources that, even if you assume some of them would fall off, it seems unlikely they all will.  I'm prepared to say that Staal will continue to have a positive influence on Coyle, for example.  I don't think Staal is just on a hot streak.  And Parise is still working on getting up to plane.  And Pommer might get hot.  I know, I know.  But, in a season filled with crazy shit so far, why not?

.940/1.78 seems like it can not be sustained.  But he's not making crazy, acrobatic - desperate - saves.  He's economical.  He's not getting rattled.  He's strong mentally.  Nevertheless, last season, the best save percentage (at least 40 GP) in the league was .930 (Brian Elliott).  Ben Bishop put up the best GAA, with a 2.06.  Ironically, both of those guys are struggling this season.  If Duby does continue this play for the rest of the season, we better hope that same fate doesn't await him next season.  In 2014-2015 Price put up the best spct and GAA, with a .933 and 1.96, respectively.  In other words, Duby can come back towards (if not entirely to) earth, stats-wise, and still continue to be the backbone of this team.

I think overall team defense is sustainable.  Last night Dumba and Scandella were a hot mess for two periods, and then got it together.  Even Suter had an off game (LA).  In other words, they're not all playing out of their minds every night - which wouldn't be sustainable.  This team is built on defensive buy-in, always has been.  That hasn't changed under Boudreau.  With the defensively-responsible forwards we have I don't see that attitude changing in the room - especially with all these Ws backing up that mindset.

Coaching is sustainable.  It has to be.  Before the seasons started we all wondered how Boudreau had managed all those division championships, and whether he'd be able to do it here.  To me it seems the answer is that he is a premier in-game bench manager, and he is willing to alter his overall strategy depending on the make-up of the team and it's current macro trend.

Injuries frankly are not sustainable.  The Wild is healthy right now.  Teams just don't go extended periods of time without suffering some injuries.  Odds are that our depth will again be tested before the season is out.

The bottom line for me is that there is no rational reason to doubt the Wild's ability to keep this going.  Maybe not at a .726 pace, but enough to contend for the division title.  Our collective psyche is really the biggest reason we don't think that's possible.  That may be irrational, but it is definitely founded in historical context.  Do we have the balls to set aside decades of disappointment and heartache to get behind this team, raise the expectations and let our hearts run free?  I just don't know.

Please join us in the message boards to discuss this article, and everything else.

The Game: This Week in the NHL 1/8/16-1/14/16

Standings Watch: The best division last week was the Atlantic, who went a collective 14-10-2. There were five games between the Atlantic and Central last week, with the Canadiens beating the Jets and losing to the Wild, and the Bruins beating the Blues and losing to the Predators, and the Wings beat the Stars and lost to the Hawks.

The Central was the second best division, at 12-10-1.

Then the Pacific, at 10-9-3. LA beat the Jets and Blues but lost to the Stars, and the Jets also lost to the Coyotes but beat the Flames. Anaheim beat Colorado (lol) and Dallas but lost to the Wild.

Oddly, last was the Metropolitan Division, who could be coming back to earth, at 13-12-2. Only one game took place between the Metro and Central last week, and that was the 6-0 thrashing that Washington gave Chicago.

The Big Drama of the week was Andrew Shaw, who decided the best way to celebrate his return after missing 14 games was to go for a blind side hit on Jesper Fast of the Rangers.

It was a blindside hit that was well after the play, and exactly what we don’t want in the game. Shaw is quickly turning into the new Matt Cooke. So expect the Wild to sign him in 6 years and talk about how he’s a changed man.

When the two hottest teams met, we knew one would have their streak ended. What’s fascinating is that since then, in 2017, the Wild are 4-0-1, while the Blue Jackets are 3-4-0. This really shows off Minnesota’s resiliency.

Something else that shows of Minnesota’s resiliency? The Wild are 10-5-1 when the opposition scores first. That’s a 0.625 winning percentage, the best in the NHL. This speaks to the Wild’s attitude when they’re down. I can’t remember a Wild team that could come back the way this one does.

Take those two facts together and you have a team that can be down in the micro sense and the macro, and either way they don’t let mood swings affect them as they did in the past. And considering the two big changes on the team are swapping Tomas Vanek for Eric Staal and swapping Mike Yeo/John Torchetti for Bruce Boudreau, I think it’s fair to put this on the coaching staff(s)

Even though the big streaks have ended, the Capitals now want in, and have won 8 in a row. They’re hot on the heels of the Jackets in the Metro, so that division is still in upheaval and likely will be through the buzzer. If this keeps up, the Penguins or Rangers could have to content themselves with a Wild Card spot.   

Colorado is willing to listen to offers? Even more interesting is that the Bruins are apparently eyeing Gabriel Landeskog. Enjoy that clown out east. But if that happens, I’d hate to play against a Backes-Landeskog line. Keep your head up.

Couple Wild on the leader boards around the league: Ryan Suter (+27), Jason Zucker (+25), and Jared Spurgeon (+24) top the +/- leaderboard, with Mikko Koivu and Mikael Granlund tied with Michael Grabner (Rangers) tied in 4^th place (+22). Matt Dumba is just outside the top 10 at +19.

Want to guess who leads the team in Missed shots? It’s not Pominville, although he is up there with 32. Jason Zucker has missed the net 39 times in 41 games. By contrast, Chris Stewart has only missed 12 times, also in 41 games.

It’s great to think of Luke Kunin captaining USA to the WJC Gold. Know anyone else who captained team USA in the WJCs? How about Jason Zucker? After winning gold in 2010 (Derek Stepan) and silver in 2011 (John Ramage?), he captained team USA to 7^th place in 2012. Zucker’s team also had John Gibson, Jacob Trouba, Jarred Tinordi, Nick Bjugstad, J.T. Miller, Kyle Rau, Brandon Saad, and Charlie Coyle.

Wild speculation of the week: Darcy Kuemper will be in someone else’s uniform next season.

Bits and Pieces Round:

• The Wild have taken the 5^th fewest penalty minutes in the League.  
•  The Wild have taken 7 bench minors, 4^th most in the NHL.
•  One of the 4 teams to have taken fewer penalties than the Wild are the Blackhawks.
•  The Wild have the fewest hits in the NHL.
•  The Wild have the second best shooting percentage in the NHL (11.1% - Ranger at 11.6%)

Looking ahead:

• Three Central Division games this week: Big one is Wild in Chicago tonight.
•  Also: Blackhawks-Avs and Blues-Jets.
•  Nerd fight of the week: Stars-Sabres on Monday.

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