WildHBcommunity:Tired Narratives from an Avoidance Specialist a Tale of Yeo
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Tired Narratives from an Avoidance Specialist a Tale of Yeo
It is that time here at Hockeybuzz that I set fire to the company lines and overused ineffective narratives we have become so accustomed to receiving when our favorite squad sputters. The Minnesota Wild seems to have many excellent pieces at their disposal and have yet to find the right combinations to create lasting chemistry and consistent success. Who is the master chef responsible for taking all the ingredients mixing them together to form the perfect recipe? That's right you guessed it Head Coach Mike Yeo.
I often use the hastag #YeoKnowsBest as a satire applying to tactical moves and brain busters applied by the bench boss of the State of Hockey's favorite squad. Again this year it appears Yeo is doing everything in his power to avoid taking definitive action with his line combinations and specialty assignments. What I mean by that is the feet shuffling to address under performing veterans such as Jason Pominville.
It drives me crazy that Nino Niederreiter and Jason Zucker have drive this team's production while most of the veteran forwards in the Top 6 have squandered important opportunities and heavy minutes especially on an atrocious power play unit with little to no repercussions. How many leads have been squandered during the first 25 games of this season and how many open doors have been provided to opens when this team had a lead?
It truly seems the Yeo has very little in doing anything other than huffing and puffing once it is already out of control this year in game like the other against Chicago when a brutal penalty call afford the Blackhawks to steal a victory. There exists so many different games this season when the Wild has dominated and driven the play only to fall short because of what appears to be a lack of urgency and zero killer instinct.
I realize that veteran players are often sheltered by bench bosses around the league but certainly if you have kids carrying your squad consistently while guys like Pominville bobble pucks and are responsible for turnover after turnover, it is avoidance of reality by Yeo to not take definitive action. No different from his handling of Kaptain Koivu this year as well.
Talent is certainly not the issues with this sputtering Wild squad, so maybe its time for Yeo to address reality and be decisive with his actions which would be a welcome change from the tired narratives he has been selling as explanations for the failures of his team.
Minnesota Wild Have to Solve Pekka Rinne for a Victory to be Reality Tonight
I will be the first to admit how wrong I was about the Nashville Predators through the one third of this NHL season. I never expected them to have a record of 20-8-2 3rd in the Central Division ahead of the Wild 16-12-2 currently in 5th. The Predators have gotten excellent goaltending from their $7 million dollar backstop Pekka Rinne. Currently Rinne is 20-6-1 in 27 games with a .937 save % and a 1.76 gaa.
The Predators made a huge trade this offseason acquiring James Neal from Pittsburgh for veterans Patric Hornqvist and Nick Spaling. That addition along with the emergence of Fillip Forsberg a kid they received from Washington for past his prime winger Martin Erat has sparked the tremendous start by the music city hockey club.
Rinne has been successful previously against the Wild using his 6'5" frame to force shooter to have to pick a corner against him which is NOT a strong suit of many on this roster. For the Wild to earn a victory tonight they will need a huge bounce back performance from Darcy Kuemper. Also they need to have the man advantage ACTUAL be an ADVANTAGE which has just not been the case this season leading many to joke they should decline the power play. There is a lot of truth in jest!
Just My Take,
Tony Dean
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