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Rinkside Chirps - MN Wild Update - 12/17/2023 · Banter with the Boys

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You're listening to Bantor with the Boys, talking all things sports.
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From betting and brawls, Superball to Stanley Cup Finals.
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Get laced up.
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It's time for Bantor with the Boys.
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Hello everybody and welcome back to another episode of Ringside Chirps.
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I am your host Kevin and this week we've got my main man Smoutzy Buddy.
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How are you?
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Dude Kev, I'm tired bro.
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I'm tired.
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I know.
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I had the uh, how old is he?
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We had one, he just turned one in November.
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My nephew yesterday and uh, like mad respect to just parents everywhere because I got to
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give them back.
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I watched, we watched them for 12 hours but dude I'm dead dude so just mad like shout
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out to parents out there, mad respect.
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Absolutely.
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You know, just crying at the drop of nothing dude, just nuts.
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Yup.
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It goes on and on for sure.
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I know that.
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No doubt.
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But good deal.
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Welcome back everybody.
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This is Bantor with the Boys, Ringside Chirps.
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Starting off we're doing this whole episode as kind of a collective update on the Minnesota
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Wild Inner season thus far.
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Obviously some big news.
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I'm sure a lot of you guys have seen what's been going on from head coach being fired,
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new guy coming in, some stuff going on with the front office and Bill Guerin.
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Kind of moving on a little bit more towards some of the injuries and kind of what's been
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going on at the moment as well.
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So let's get right on into it man.
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Dean Evison, head coach Dean Evison fired November 27th amidst a struggling wild team.
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First 19 games, 5, 10, and 4.
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You can't start a season like that Smelsey.
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No, no doubt.
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I mean especially a team that's looking to make their fifth playoffs in a row and somebody
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that is a team that's expected to be a perennial playoff contender.
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Yeah, no you can't start that way.
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And it's not like it looked like the wild could just get out of it right away because
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it just wasn't the case.
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They were almost playing with no energy like every night.
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It's almost like they didn't want to be there for sure.
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I think too that, I think we had talked a little bit about it and just off the mic here
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we had talked a bit about just Dean lost the room I think is what happened and it's weird
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to think that you've been the coach for a couple of years.
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I think he came in through the fired Bruce Boudreaux in the shortened hockey season for
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the bubble season if you remember that.
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And unfortunately during that we lost Bruce Boudreaux, got our main man Dean Evison, took
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over and did a pretty good job.
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He had a pretty good winning record throughout the season and throughout his time with the
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wild but it seems like after a couple of years he just kind of lost his musto and his gusto
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there unfortunately.
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Like I said I think he lost the room.
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It just, something was off right.
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I don't know what it was.
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I'm not sure how to fix that but something was off.
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And I don't know if it's just coaching style or what.
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So obviously for those that don't know this was Dean's first NHL head coaching job.
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So I think for your first head coaching job it really didn't go all that bad.
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Now you know obviously his playoff record isn't great.
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They never won a playoff series under Dean Evison.
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His playoff record.
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We have that.
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I do actually.
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Eight and fifteen with no playoff series wins which isn't bad and it's actually better than
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the guy we're going to talk about in a second.
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Really?
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But eight and fifteen bro.
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That's not good.
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Even no playoff series wins.
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That's just the Wilds kryptonite as always.
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I don't give a shit who's the head coach.
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Now I think if the Wild didn't start off super like dead this year I think he would still
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be employed for sure.
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So that's why I think that Dean will still be a head coach in this league somewhere.
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I don't know who will end up taking that chance or whatever.
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And really it's not that big of a leap of faith.
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I think he still is a great coach and I think we'll see him in the future somewhere.
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Yeah.
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Do you have his entire career record with the Wild?
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What was the stats there?
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How did he do?
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Yeah.
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So let's see.
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Let's see.
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So in 251 regular season games Dean's record was 147, 77, and 27.
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Oh wow.
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I don't know what that win percentage is off the top of my brain.
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So 140 something and 77?
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So roughly 50% wins.
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Yeah.
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He had three full seasons.
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He was a sixth Wild coach in history.
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Which I can't remember, I was trying to name him off this morning actually.
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Mike Eo I remember him.
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So he had Torchetti who came in after him.
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Oh dude I forgot about Torchetti.
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I love Torchetti.
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He was hilarious.
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I forgot about him.
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Okay so that's one that I forgot.
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You had I think Bruce came in after that.
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Bruce.
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And then Dino and now what's his nuts?
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And now John.
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John Heinz.
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And then Jock LeMare was the first one.
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There you go.
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I was not around for the deck.
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That's six though.
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Because John is, John Heinz is the seventh.
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Is he the seventh?
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Oh okay.
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Allegedly.
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So Jock, Mike Eo, Bruce Boudreau.
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What did you have?
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How did you say his name?
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Torchetti?
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Torchetti.
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Dude I forgot.
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How long was he?
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Oh that's right Torch.
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Yeah he was an interim head coach at the end of one of the seasons when someone got.
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I think they can't remember him though.
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Yeah yeah yeah yeah okay.
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Gosh I can't remember who the last coach would have been then.
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Let's see.
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Oh there was quite a few.
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Bob Mason, Rick Wilson, Todd Richards, Mike Eo, Jock LeMare.
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Oh Todd Richards.
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Yeah.
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I think he was the other full-time head coach.
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That sounds really familiar.
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Yeah this list kind of just goes on.
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There's more on this list.
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They'll probably include all the interims and stuff but like I think when they say like
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how John Hines is the seventh coach in Wild History I think that's more like I would imagine
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seventh full-time coach not considered interim.
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That would make sense.
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So there's a handful of interims in there so.
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Yeah for sure.
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But I think if that's what Dean's you know numbers are 147-77-27 that's definitely good
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enough to have somebody else take a shot on you.
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Absolutely.
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I think he's what isn't Dean Canadian?
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He is.
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I think he's Canadian so like that's obviously a seems to be a plus when you when you talk
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about hockey if you're Canadian or like some northern European.
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There's something special in the water.
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Yeah right.
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Right.
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So with Dean Evison getting the boot kind of a big issue there.
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He had a four game losing streak followed by two wins to lead up to him getting the
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boot.
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He then had a seven game losing streak and after that obviously we all know what happened.
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He got the boot.
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So had the Wild to your credit had the Wild had a better start in the beginning of the
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season would he still be here potentially.
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But regardless I don't think if you have two four plus game losing streaks in a season
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you can't you can't do that.
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It's hard to make it's hard to make the playoffs when you go on losing streaks especially to
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start the year.
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Yeah now points are points are important.
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Oh yeah 100 percent.
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Now what you have going for you is you got a little bit of time to turn it around.
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Yeah but not that much.
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No especially when you think about it like this is like how many games are there 82 of
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them.
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And let's see the Wild have already played.
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Let's see they've played 28.
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So they're about a quarter of the way through the season roughly a little less than the
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course.
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There's time.
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Just play a hockey left in the season to go.
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I think at the end of the day the need was was necessary.
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To your point the team just stopped showing up.
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It just didn't seem like they had any real kind of gusto behind them.
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And obviously you got 82 of them things you start off pretty rough like this and 20 your
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first 20 games you lose at least 11 of them 10 of them.
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Come on you can't do that.
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So unfortunately it is so long farewell to the Nevis in beans.
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I think to your point I think Dean's an awesome guy awesome coach.
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I like his style.
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I liked him personally but we will see where he goes next.
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Moving right along to Dean Evison's replacement new head coach John Heinz formerly from the
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Predators.
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He's with the Wild.
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I did tweet that Michael Russo this morning.
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This is hot off the presses.
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It's hot news.
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Hot off the press.
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Literally an hour ago 932 it is 1036 an hour and four minutes ago from Russo's mouth directly
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I asked him what the details of John Heinz's contract were because you and I were a little
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bit confused as to how it was announced.
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Was it was he taking over Dean's contract which is finishing the year.
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What.
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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What were the details.
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So Russo stated directly he signed a multi-year deal.
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Next year is cost shared between Wild and Predators or Wild assume the contract.
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It depends on what the teams negotiated.
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So with that being said he did sign a multi-year deal.
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So he's not interrupt.
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He's here.
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So Russo doesn't quite know for sure himself.
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It's kind of hush hush as far as like.
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He might know.
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He might know the details.
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You just not want to tell.
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He just may not be public.
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I know Russo's a huge fan of the show.
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He doesn't want me to spill all the beans on our pod.
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He wants to save them for his own pod.
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Or when he comes on as a guest.
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Once again requesting you to come on.
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Come on Russo.
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Let's go.
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He would come on and shred us though.
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Oh yeah.
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It would be hilarious.
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But it would be great though.
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We'd make some good content.
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Yeah no doubt.
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But yeah.
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So John Heinz multi-year deal.
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Not an interim head coach.
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He's here to stay.
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For how long we don't know.
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Could be two years.
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Multi-year is more than one.
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So it could be two.
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Could be seven.
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I doubt it's going to be that long.
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But who knows.
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Could be two or three years.
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I wonder if that informational.
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I wonder if that informational ended up coming out at some point here.
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Like exactly what he's.
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How long he's here for.
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You know what I mean.
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Well that and how much he's going to make as well.
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I think to your point of the contract stuff with him.
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He was making just a tad more or a tad less than Dean Evison was.
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He was making just shy of two million bucks a year on Dean's contract.
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And I believe that was the same thing that John was signed for with the Preds.
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It was about two million bucks a year.
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So as far as like dollars wise.
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Obviously it doesn't hit the cap.
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It's about a wash.
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But with him being signed for a multi-year deal how is that structured?
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Dang NHL coaches are paid all right.
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That's not so bad.
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Well I mean hey it's not terrible.
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But also you're the first one to get your ass chewed out if you're screwing something.
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No no.
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No no.
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And we saw that happen.
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Dean gone.
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We definitely did.
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So yeah.
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Want to give us a little bit of information on the stats?
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Yeah yeah.
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I just wanted to touch on John Hines a little bit.
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That's how you say his last name right?
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It is Hines.
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I believe it's Hines.
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H-Y-N-E-S there.
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Yeah.
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Okay.
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Well he obviously he becomes the seventh head coach in Wild History.
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With that what he's bringing to us his career stats here.
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So career 284, 254, and 63 for a win percentage of 524 in 601 regular season games in eight
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seasons with the Preds and Devils.
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That's not super great.
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No.
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Especially when you compare it to Dino's.
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No doubt.
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No doubt.
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So however most of that garbage I guess you could say was with the Devils.
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He did make the playoffs with the Devils I think once or whatever when he was there.
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I think he was there for four years.
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It was four and four.
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Four with the Devils, four with the Preds I believe.
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Okay.
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It's consistent.
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Maybe he's got a four year deal with us.
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Yeah.
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Probably.
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Right.
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So yeah he last coached for the Preds from 2020 to 2023.
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That record for the Preds 134, 96, and 18 in 248.
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So not horrible.
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Better.
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What was that again?
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Better than the overall.
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134, 96, and 18.
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Okay.
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So he qualified for the playoffs three consecutive years with the Preds.
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They didn't do shit.
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His playoff record, this is the concerning part.
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This is the concerning part.
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It didn't get much better from Dean.
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John Hines' playoff record is three and 11.
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That was just with the Preds.
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I didn't include the Devils just because it was so long ago.
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I just figured we'd take that sample size with the most recent.
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So yes they made the playoffs three consecutive years.
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The day in 2019, 2020 they lost the fucking, excuse me, sorry.
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This is so ridiculous.
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They lost the Coyotes in the qualifying round of the playoffs when they did that little
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round robin thing.
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I think that was a COVID deal or whatever.
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That was in the bubble season I believe.
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So they only won one game against Arizona.
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The next year they lost to Carolina, which the Canes, that's when they were starting
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to get hot 2020, 2021.
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They're starting to get nasty.
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They won two games against the Canes.
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They lost that series 4-2.
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And then the following year they were swept by the Avs.
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Obviously that was the Avs on the way to winning the Cubs.
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I was going to say.
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And they were damn good that year.
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They were really good.
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So his playoff track record isn't super hot.
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Isn't super hot.
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No, nor was Dino's.
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Nor was Dino's.
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That record.
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Right?
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So I mean, I don't know.
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I like the move.
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I like what the Wild have done with him on our team so far, but I like the move to a
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new coach.
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He's got a lot more experience, a lot more tenure within the NHL as a head coach in comparison
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to Dean.
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Because the only reason why I think he really got fired is because they didn't make the
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playoffs last year.
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So in his year four of four for the Preds, they didn't make the playoffs.
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So later GM was like.
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And one I think was new GM too.
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Barry Trotz.
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Trotz.
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Yeah.
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Something like that.
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I think his former coach of the Capitals or something.
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God, I remember him behind a bench, I think.
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I'm going to have to look that up because now I'm curious.
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But anyway, whatever comes in, cleans house.
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So fires everybody.
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Yeah.
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So he fired John Hines this May, I believe it was this spring.
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Thanks.
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And then former Wild player Andrew Burnett is actually now the head coach there.
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So I don't know.
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I guess we'll see.
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You know, he's you could say he's got a championship pedigree, though.
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John Hines played for Boston University from like 93 to like 97, something like that.
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And they won the NCAA championship in 1995.
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So he knows what it takes to win at a high level.
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He's got the gusto behind him.
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He's got the experience there.
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So I like this.
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I like to see that he's that he's here right now.
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I think we needed to change the pace.
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We need someone to win the room.
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Right.
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His records are not the greatest.
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Granted, Nor was Dino's in comparison to like his entire career.
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Dean, like I think we mentioned, was just almost 50 percent or something like that.
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It was pretty good.
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This guy was pretty rough.
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So like numbers there aren't the greatest.
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But looking at what they're doing right now.
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They're killing it.
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Knock on wood.
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Pro tip.
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We made a brand new desk here for the pod made out of solid wood.
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So we'll knock on it.
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Yep.
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Literally.
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All these superstitions we talk about for all the sports we talk about.
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John Hines wildest seven and two with them right now.
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That's pretty sick.
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When you think about before Dean got here, they didn't have more than maybe a two or
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a three game win streak because they've only had five wins this season before he got here.
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So looking at the stats, pretty awesome.
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Fun fact, I went to the game yesterday.
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Shoot out win against Vancouver, who had just shut us out a couple of weeks prior.
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What an awesome game.
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Making him.
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That would be a fun game to get to.
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There's so much fun.
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We got plenty of free hockey.
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That was kind of lame, I would say.
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Yeah, it wasn't as good as the last one.
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Like I just take it from both sides.
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They weren't really nothing crazy.
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You know what I mean?
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No, you got a nice green.
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I think it was Baldy who threw his first one in there.
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It was just kind of greasy up over the shoulders.
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A quick one.
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But I digress.
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I'm happy with what the wild are doing with John Hines.
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Looking at the record that Dino had and then looking at the record that he's got, it's
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clear things have changed.
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Don't know what has changed, but something has changed while they're on again.
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Yeah, no doubt.
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You can just see the energy levels different on the ice.
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And that's what I mean when I was saying how like the energy seemed low or like almost
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non-existent to start the season.
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Dude, it looks way different.
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Even when we're losing games right now.
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So the last 10 were seven and three, which so one of those wins might have came with
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Dean, I don't know.
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But last 10 or seven and three, even those three losses, the energy level on the ice
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in those three losses is different.
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It's in measurable, right?
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It's just a thing that you notice.
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There's no meter somewhere for that.
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No, no.
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But it looks, it just, just the style of play and everything like that.
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It looks different.
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It really does.
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We got to get our main guys rolling again.
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We need to get, as always, we got to get Kaprizov earning the money he's making.
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Baldy's come out like a bat out of hell.
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He's looking good.
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His, his shootout yesterday.
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What the F, bro?
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Awful.
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He's, he sailed it.
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I think it was backhand, but he sailed it.
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Up over the top.
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And it wasn't even close.
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Like it didn't hit pipe.
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It didn't hit, it wasn't an inch or two above the net.
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All you heard was it smacking the glass.
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Yep.
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Like, are you kidding me?
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Yeah, our seats are directly behind that and we're in the double tack zone.
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So you saw it.
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It was awful.
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Clear's day, dude.
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He probably would have had him.
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He probably would have had him.
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So I don't know what's going on with Correal.
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If people are saying he's playing hurt with the new head coach, you would assume that
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either he would have a stand on that.
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Like, hey, you're playing hurt.
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Take time.
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Get your stuff together.
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Or if it's one of those, like you're kind of, you got a boo boo, but you're going to
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figure it out and work through it.
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That's fine as well.
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But there's so much hockey left in the season.
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Sit him for a bit.
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Let him get healthy because we're going to need him.
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If that's the case, if he is injured.
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That's my, like I just, it's so hard to see because I'm at the same point with, with a
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quarterback in the NFL.
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Yeah.
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I'm at that point with somebody, the quarterback for the Eagles, blah, blah, blah.
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Listen to our other pod people.
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And if you want to listen to NFL, but like he just seems off right now because he seems
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like he's playing injured to me and has been since early in the season.
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And I do think we're seeing some of that with Correal, but like nobody's going to say shit.
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And that's the one thing, especially about the NHL when there's injuries, it's so hard
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because nobody wants to say nothing.
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No, because especially in playoffs for sure.
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But like, because everyone's like playing broken because, because now you're gunning
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for that player.
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And now like, unfortunately that's just how the NHL rolls.
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It's a little dirty.
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It's a little dirty.
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So if you know, if you know, Correal's playing injured on the other side, you're sending
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your enforcer to go look for him.
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That's it.
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All game.
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Just go find Correal and make sure he's on the ice.
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You got it.
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And that's tough.
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That's tough.
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But we need, we need some scoring out of the guy who's getting just an ungodly amount of
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money.
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Correal, Bolt, that whole first line.
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We need, we need, we need more.
18:09
Bolt has been on a tear, but who else has been on a tear is our penalty kill.
18:14
New head coach, new assistant coach, right?
18:16
Cause they fired Bob Woods as well when Dino got, got the boot.
18:19
So with that penalty kill, 27 for 31 under John Hines and the new assistant coach, coach,
18:26
excuse me, Pat Dwyer, who ran the penalty kill down in Iowa before replacing Bob Woods.
18:31
So that's pretty sweet.
18:33
The Iowa team obviously has done pretty well.
18:35
You got Jesper Walsh down there.
18:36
The whole team down there is always producing pretty good results.
18:39
Seeing him come up here and have the success that he's having.
18:42
I don't know if it's Pat Dwyer who's the guy that's the real change in difference maker
18:46
or if it's the kind of John Hines combo platter with the two of them, or if it's just John
18:51
being John and saying, let's block some shots here, boys.
18:54
I want to say it's a combination of everything.
18:56
I love the thing in the combo platter.
18:58
I don't think anything in the NHL is a one man thing.
19:00
You know?
19:01
Yeah.
19:02
I think there's been so much change that now, I don't know.
19:05
I think it's just combination of everything.
19:07
I think Pat Dwyer's a big part of that though.
19:09
I agree.
19:10
I agree with that because Iowa has been fine for years.
19:14
Yeah, they do really well.
19:15
You know, AHL, you never know who's going to be on your team the next year, truly.
19:19
You might have an idea, but you really never know because it's just a revolving door.
19:23
Literally.
19:24
Which is what it is.
19:26
So if you're still successful with that revolving door.
19:30
That's impressive.
19:31
That's pretty good track record.
19:32
Then the thing, what you can do in a more stable permanent, not permanent, but semi-permanent
19:36
type of a role where your players are going to relatively be the same night in, night
19:41
out.
19:42
Maybe you got a couple of guys that switch out.
19:43
So looking great.
19:44
Love to see the PK.
19:45
I think they only let in one, maybe a couple over the last couple of games.
19:50
Yeah, 27 and 31.
19:52
I'm not quite sure how many games, I think it was like seven or nine or 10 games.
19:57
We said that's what's over.
19:58
So I'm impressed.
19:59
I like it.
20:00
We'll see if they can continue that hot streak.
20:03
And real quick, I'll just throw this in there.
20:04
I was going to save this for later, but.
20:06
What do you got?
20:07
So our goal differential, November 27th when Dean was fired.
20:11
Our goal differential was negative 20.
20:13
Today, as of this morning, our goal differential is negative five.
20:18
That's an improvement.
20:19
So we're scoring or we're stopping goals.
20:21
Both.
20:22
It's a little bit of both.
20:23
It's a little bit of both.
20:24
And that's, and that just shows you a team that's completely changed.
20:28
Yeah.
20:29
Not the culture, but maybe, you know, like, you know what I mean?
20:33
Just a completely different mindset.
20:34
Yeah.
20:35
We got five goals off that.
20:37
Or I'm sorry, 15 goals off that goal differential in nine or 10 games in a few weeks.
20:43
Yeah, that's impressive.
20:44
Then the PK is a big part of that.
20:46
I think the PK was a.
20:47
Oh, it was horrible.
20:48
Yeah.
20:49
We should have got those numbers, but it's not worth it because it was so bad.
20:54
Yeah.
20:55
We don't want to talk about that anymore.
20:56
We'll leave that one to die.
20:57
But yeah, it's been great to see what the Wild are doing right now.
21:01
I love to see it.
21:02
I will talk a little bit about the goal tending as well here in the next couple of sections.
21:05
But love to see it.
21:07
The boys are hot.
21:08
Welcome back, Minnesota.
21:09
Welcome, John Heinz.
21:10
Let's go.
21:11
Moving on to some information that we do know and some information that we don't know.
21:19
Front office shakeups here with the Minnesota Wild.
21:22
Let's talk about it quick.
21:23
So looking at it right now, the assistant GM of the Minnesota Wild, Chris O'Hern, and
21:28
the Minnesota Wild in quotations have mutually agreed to part ways.
21:31
Smelsey, what the hell does that mean?
21:34
Uh, nothing.
21:37
So not to quote Michael Scott from the office, but when someone says something's mutual,
21:42
it never is.
21:43
You know what I mean?
21:44
So it's just really ironic that two separate investigations were wrapping up internally
21:52
at the exact same time.
21:55
And now all of a sudden O'Hern has agreed to leave, allegedly, when he just recently
22:02
signed a new deal.
22:04
He did.
22:05
What was the term of that deal?
22:06
Do we know?
22:07
I have no idea.
22:08
I have no idea.
22:09
But he did recently sign a deal.
22:10
I don't know if it was this spring or what, but so to say that this is kind of unexpected
22:14
is true.
22:17
So what the hell's going on?
22:19
No idea.
22:20
Allegedly people yelling at each other.
22:22
Like, and again, like he might not be part of that, but why did he mutually agree to
22:26
just dip out?
22:27
Did he and BG clash?
22:28
Cause he's been BG's guy since 2019.
22:31
That's his right hand man.
22:32
You need something.
22:33
I'm not even sure what he was supposed to, and I think if I'm not mistaken that O'Hern
22:34
is like the cap guy.
22:36
He's in their crunch of numbers.
22:37
Yeah, he was their biggest, what did they say?
22:39
He was the chief contract negotiator and expert on all transactional and collective bargaining
22:44
agreement issues.
22:45
Sounds like you need a guy like that.
22:48
Especially in the season that we're having where you're just in cap hell for the next
22:50
two years.
22:51
Come on.
22:52
BG almost has nobody left in the front office.
22:54
He's got vice president of hockey strategy, Matt Sells, and then assistant to the GM,
22:59
Mike Murray, who also was Iowa's GM.
23:02
So I mean, he's already pulling double duty.
23:04
What is going on with the Wilds front office right now?
23:07
I mean, yeah, O'Hern's gone and now, you know, we might as well bring in the BG stuff too.
23:12
Yeah, let's talk about it.
23:13
So Bill Guerin, another investigation and to some verbal abuse against the one and only
23:20
whitey man, Andrew Haidt, who is like the guy for the Wild.
23:24
He handles team logistics, he handles team travel, a bunch of different stuff with the
23:30
alumni and all sorts of stuff.
23:31
Russo's written countless articles about how this dude has saved the day single handedly
23:36
on just some chaotic events from a truck being on fire with all of the wild gear in it to
23:40
all sorts of different things.
23:42
I bet Russo's buddies with that guy.
23:43
Oh, 100%.
23:44
He has some really cool articles and like some interviews that he's written, like he's
23:46
done with it.
23:47
I'll go back and look at them.
23:48
They're so good.
23:49
They're so good.
23:50
And like being like in like sidebar, being in like the logistic and like the kind of
23:53
project management world that I'm in, like seeing the behind the scenes stuff, especially
23:56
of a team that I'm so passionate about.
23:58
Sure.
23:59
Awesome.
24:00
Awesome.
24:01
Awesome stuff.
24:02
So cool.
24:03
So I there's not much that we know on this.
24:06
All we know is that there was something that happened with Bill Guerin and Andrew Haidt
24:13
in the end towards the end of November that Andrew Haidt has kind of effectively stepped
24:17
away for a week or so from the Wild.
24:21
Wasn't on, wasn't at some team practices, wasn't responding to the, excuse me.
24:26
And he's been here over 10 years.
24:27
He's been around for 10 years and he's the guy who wasn't responding to text messages
24:31
from Russo.
24:32
He wasn't getting back to anybody.
24:33
Ten thing about Guerin.
24:34
Once the news broke about a her and Russo was mentioning in some of his articles that
24:39
they haven't heard back from him from Guerin.
24:41
Usually he's Johnny on the spot to get back.
24:43
Nobody was saying shit.
24:44
And that could have been part of the investigation, right?
24:46
Like, hey, everybody needs to say tight lipped until this thing is over.
24:49
Okay.
24:50
Well now it's over and everybody's still tight lipped.
24:52
Yep.
24:53
So what the hell happened, dude?
24:54
Like I just think I really obviously not.
24:57
They didn't find something concrete enough or enough of whatever the hell it was to fire
25:02
BG.
25:04
And commissioner Gary Bettman was briefed.
25:06
He was happy with everything and he was satisfied with the results.
25:10
So obviously there's something, it's just a workplace incident, I guess is what I would
25:14
consider.
25:15
It's like, it's like if I yelled at one of my employees, I guess, which I just don't
25:20
do.
25:21
Right.
25:22
Like that's what it just sounds like to me.
25:23
And it just got blown up.
25:25
But like, why is everybody so tight lipped about the investigation?
25:27
That's the part that makes me like, okay, well, it's more than that then.
25:30
It's gotta be.
25:31
And that's the assistant GM mutually left.
25:33
So that's the weirdness.
25:35
It's like the timeline for all that.
25:37
Wild.
25:38
No pun intended.
25:39
I say it all the time, but I love saying it.
25:42
But it's just wild, man.
25:43
It just adds to our weird season.
25:45
It definitely does.
25:46
I'm going to be very interested, one, to see how our predictions stack up for the record
25:50
for the season this year, but also it's like how we do.
25:52
But also like what's next?
25:53
You have a terrible start to the season.
25:56
You fire your head coach.
25:57
Now you've got countless injuries to star players.
26:00
You've additionally on top of that, you've got investigations to your front office leading
26:04
to one of the right hand men from your GM getting the cam.
26:07
Not that this is the biggest deal, but you got fans upset.
26:09
People are pissed.
26:10
People are pissed, man.
26:11
So I'm going to be very interested to see how the rest of the season plays out.
26:14
God forbid we don't have any more news or drama or anything crazy like this, because
26:17
this is going to be a lot.
26:18
Seriously.
26:19
We don't need therapy for what's been happening so far as wild fans.
26:21
But I'm going to be very interested to one, see if any more news or information comes
26:26
out about this investigation.
26:29
To your point, everyone's been tight lipped, not saying a word about it.
26:31
But with a guy like Andrew Haight, who again has been the right hand man for pretty much
26:36
everybody in the wild.
26:37
Again, if you're a new player that just moves to or gets moved to the wild, you're contacting
26:42
this guy to help you set up a rental car or a car, travel expenses for your family and
26:46
your gear.
26:47
You got to helping you with a lot lodging from a hotel to a rental apartment if you're
26:50
sticking around for a bit.
26:52
Like he's the guy.
26:53
Like it's crazy to me that this happened.
26:55
But also even in a more craziness to me, they named him in the article.
27:00
When you have any investigation, you usually never out, if you will, the reporter.
27:06
It doesn't happen like that.
27:08
One for protection for that person.
27:10
But in all of the articles.
27:11
So that's what this stems down to is BG had a issue.
27:16
Yes.
27:17
That altercation we'll call it.
27:18
Something.
27:19
Yeah.
27:20
It's a altercation.
27:21
Yes.
27:22
That's what it was, which is kind of crazy to think about.
27:24
And like a lot of these articles just keep sending us around in circles.
27:28
Russo's was probably the best one I've read to this point on this.
27:31
Closest to the team.
27:32
Well, and that's just it.
27:33
So if Russo's not letting us know what happened, then guess what?
27:38
We're not going to know right now.
27:39
Right.
27:40
I'm nervous.
27:41
It's allowed to be public and allowed to be out there.
27:43
And nothing.
27:44
Russo would have already written something up about it.
27:46
In there.
27:47
Yeah.
27:48
At this point.
27:49
So it just, gosh, it's just something.
27:50
Something to like chew on.
27:52
Yeah.
27:53
It gets for the next few weeks and see if anything else comes out about it.
27:57
And I don't think there will be.
27:58
I think this is somehow going to just go away.
28:00
It's going to fade away.
28:01
And get swept under the carpet.
28:02
Well, not to like go super in depth here, but a couple of little like conspiracy theories.
28:09
I'm not quite sure how people get paid in the media, but you usually get paid off of
28:13
engagement with your posts.
28:14
A lot of the posts that were written only state the word abuse.
28:17
They didn't specify the type of abuse.
28:20
A lot of people went straight to the worst abuse that you can find and think about in
28:23
like a professional setting like that.
28:24
Did BG punch somebody in the face?
28:26
That or something a little bit more heinous.
28:28
Right?
28:29
They just never know.
28:30
They just had abuse.
28:31
So a lot of people were very upset.
28:32
They mentioned fans were pissed.
28:33
A lot of people were upset about that.
28:34
Well, fans are pissed for more than that reason.
28:36
Yes.
28:37
Then the next day, boom, there's the actual article about the verbal abuse.
28:40
They specified and gave the information out.
28:42
So it'll be very interesting to see if more information comes out about that.
28:46
But you think about the other investigations and lawsuits and stuff like that that have
28:49
happened in the NHL, all the crap with Chicago, they still got a number one draft pick and
28:52
got Bidart and they have another one where the coaches are in trouble and all the GMs
28:56
and their front office is all in trouble with that.
28:58
It's all been wiped under the rug already.
29:00
No one cares anymore.
29:01
It's over with.
29:02
But that's still huge, huge allegations into that organization.
29:06
And they're just left in the rug.
29:08
Yeah.
29:09
And the wild obviously state what?
29:11
That they take workplace.
29:13
What did they say exactly?
29:15
They said something like, oh, here it is.
29:18
Got it.
29:19
Quote, the Minnesota wild takes its code of conduct again.
29:21
This is from Russo's article on the athletic quote.
29:24
The Minnesota wild takes its code of conduct seriously.
29:26
We recently concluded two separate investigations into alleged violations of that code of conduct
29:30
have taken appropriate steps to address the matters raised to our attention.
29:34
The club will not comment further.
29:36
Whoa.
29:37
Something happened.
29:38
You know, the club will not comment further.
29:40
Like usually it just ends.
29:41
Yep.
29:42
But we're trying to make sure that people know that the quote unquote the wild, whoever
29:47
the hell is speaking to this, because I don't know who said that.
29:50
That's some lawyer jargon.
29:51
100 percent.
29:52
Right.
29:53
Just something that a lawyer read up.
29:54
And again, that's the tight lip shit.
29:56
So we'll see.
29:59
I don't know.
30:00
Again, something to chew on.
30:01
Absolutely.
30:02
We will see what happens.
30:06
Onto our next topic here.
30:07
Let's talk some goaltenders, man.
30:09
Yeah, no doubt.
30:11
I'm going to be a little gust of sin on a tear.
30:14
I mean, I know.
30:15
And the thing is, there's going to be some fairweather fans and generic fans are going
30:20
to be like, oh, my God, he's playing so good, blah, blah, blah.
30:25
No, this is what we expected to see from him at the beginning of the season, in my opinion.
30:29
This is exactly what we're this is exactly why we thought he should be the number one
30:33
tendee with with Future Hall of Fame or backing him up.
30:36
That's a great combo.
30:38
Absolutely.
30:39
I think we can absolutely make the argument that he was sucking early in the season because
30:44
the whole team, the team as a whole was sucking.
30:46
It was rough.
30:47
So, you know, it is what it is.
30:49
But now, like what he's given you, like, look at his last two games specifically against
30:53
Calgary and against Vancouver.
30:58
I mean, he's let up three goals in those two games with over what is that 70?
31:03
I'm bad at math.
31:04
Seventy three shots between the two games and he's left three goals.
31:07
That's impressive.
31:08
That's great.
31:09
I'm taking that.
31:10
Well, then, with the last three games, he had a shoot out.
31:12
And in the game before that, he had a 24 save shut out against the Kraken.
31:16
And then who are not that bad right now?
31:18
No, not terrible.
31:19
Not great.
31:20
Not great, but they're not bad.
31:21
You know, the last three games, he's got shut out against Seattle and then two shootout
31:25
wins against Swiss.
31:27
It was Calgary.
31:28
And then the game I went to yesterday was against Vancouver.
31:30
Yeah.
31:31
So that's pretty impressive.
31:32
Now, let's think about it here from the beginning of the season.
31:34
He played 11 games in the season.
31:36
He only had two wins in 11 games to set off the season.
31:39
That's rough.
31:40
And and the wins part for goalies, I compare to wins for a starting pitcher in the MLB.
31:48
Yep.
31:49
You know, the wins column.
31:51
It's because it's it's the wins is more of a team stat.
31:55
It's a player stat, obviously, for goalies.
31:57
But again, like I said, comparing to starting pitcher, like starting pitcher could give
32:00
you six shut out innings.
32:02
And now your bullpen comes in and gives up five runs and you lose the game.
32:05
And that pitcher either probably gets the no decision then actually.
32:08
But it's the same thing with Gus, you know, like 11 games, only two wins.
32:13
Well, we know the team was playing like garbage.
32:15
That's true.
32:16
Stats make more sense.
32:17
How many goals against how many saves?
32:18
Yeah.
32:19
What does that look like?
32:20
But I mean, the wins as a goaltender, that's still a stat.
32:23
We'll take that, you know.
32:24
Yep.
32:25
You got to think a lot of times when you're making a decision based off a goaltender, who's
32:27
the hot hander at the moment?
32:28
Normally you take the guy with the most wins if he's in a win streak right now.
32:31
Gus is on a three game win streak, I believe.
32:32
So like he's got it.
32:33
So he had two wins in 11 games and right now he's got eight wins in 18 games, including
32:39
two shutouts.
32:40
That's impressive.
32:41
And you know, coincidentally, the first 11 games with the old head coach, Dean Evison.
32:46
Right.
32:47
Flurry was thrown in a couple of different times.
32:49
Right.
32:50
Things change up.
32:51
John Hines comes in, gets that first game against a little St. Louis who the Wild played
32:55
right with John Hines is his first game with the Wild, putting Gustafson in there.
33:00
Since then, he's got one loss in his last seven games, from my understanding, and the
33:04
last three have been stellar performances.
33:06
Stellar.
33:07
Yep.
33:08
So Quinn, for me, I think it's pretty funny.
33:10
Russo interviewed him yesterday and the latest article talked about the JT Miller's gamesmanship.
33:15
I love this quote.
33:16
It's so funny to me.
33:17
Gustafson said, because he had a breakaway on JT Miller, or sorry, JT Miller had a breakaway
33:23
on Gustafson yesterday in the game, at one point earlier in the game before the shootout.
33:27
He teased the five hole a little bit, shut it closed real fast.
33:30
JT Miller took the bait, steered a shot to the side.
33:33
Lone man breakaway.
33:35
Pretty impressive.
33:36
Good job on Gust.
33:38
Shootout comes up, does the same exact thing.
33:40
He's like, I don't think he's going to take the bait on that.
33:43
He didn't take the bait on it, but Gustafson made the save.
33:46
Yeah, yeah.
33:47
Yep.
33:48
So here's the quote.
33:49
Here's the quote from Gustafson.
33:50
It said, it's a cat and mouse game and I took the cheese today.
33:53
I love that quote.
33:54
That's hilarious.
33:55
I mean, Gustafson's a Swedish guy, sometimes if you have a different language as your first
33:58
language, humor isn't always the funniest.
34:00
The best thing that you're good at, that was commented in me.
34:03
One, Ben and Jerry is so funny, but that's great.
34:05
I think it's hilarious.
34:06
So good for him.
34:07
He's got his gusto back.
34:08
No pun intended.
34:09
He's got his gusto back.
34:10
He's got that confidence.
34:11
He's playing like a stud right now.
34:13
Again, what did we talk about?
34:14
Three wins in a row, then seven in the last eight.
34:18
Six in the last seven?
34:19
Yeah, six in the last seven.
34:20
Like, come on.
34:21
You need that.
34:22
That's why you got to do that.
34:23
We played like that at the end of last season.
34:25
That's why we were, like you said, we were trying to get that to get him.
34:29
We were super confident actually coming into the season with our goal.
34:32
And that's what we expected him to kind of continue on.
34:36
Didn't happen.
34:37
New head coach comes in, new assistant coach comes in.
34:39
Boom.
34:40
Gustafson's back.
34:41
Because it's a new culture in there.
34:43
It's got to be.
34:44
It's got to be with everybody.
34:45
Now, obviously the team in front of him is playing way better.
34:48
That's not only going to instill confidence in yourself, but also you're able to maybe
34:53
actually see the puck.
34:55
Maybe guys are finally clearing those screens away from in front of the net so you can see
34:59
the puck.
35:00
Yeah.
35:01
Obviously you saw him taking care of one on one situations, which a goalie should lose
35:04
that 10 out of 10 times.
35:07
An NHL caliber player, like I don't care how good the goalie is, the goalie should lose
35:12
that 10 out of 10 times.
35:13
Absolutely.
35:14
Like I didn't play at a high level.
35:16
Yeah.
35:17
I'm no NHL goalie.
35:18
I just played in leagues down at Mary Uchi.
35:20
You know where the Gophers play and shit.
35:23
But when you're one on one, the player can do anything.
35:29
You have to try to almost guess.
35:31
It's not as much of a guessing game as it is in football with soccer and whatnot where
35:36
you like on a penalty kick or whatever, you definitely have to guess as a goalkeeper.
35:43
But it's the same deal.
35:44
One on one, you're just like that guy can, and hockey players nowadays, they can put
35:48
that puck wherever they want.
35:49
They can do anything with that thing.
35:51
So the fact that he's coming up, not only in general, these past few games with the
35:56
one on one situations.
35:58
Impressive.
35:59
I'll take that.
36:00
We needed it from Gus.
36:01
Let's move on to another guy here.
36:03
Let's talk about Flurry a little bit.
36:04
What do we need from him?
36:05
How about some frickin wins, dude?
36:08
Well, and that's just it, right?
36:10
So Flurry's played two games since Mr. Hines has taken over.
36:15
Yeah, what's his record?
36:17
One on one.
36:18
His first game was a dub.
36:19
29 saves.
36:20
Only let up one goal.
36:21
Awesome.
36:22
It's pretty good.
36:23
I'll take 29 saves on one goal.
36:24
That was against Chicago.
36:25
That was against Chicago.
36:26
Yep.
36:27
That's impressive.
36:28
That's right.
36:29
That was that.
36:30
That's right.
36:31
It was at the shootout where he tripped a Darden through.
36:32
I can't remember.
36:33
Oh, I might be right.
36:34
That might be right.
36:37
And then the next game he played, which was five days later against Edmonton.
36:41
Yep.
36:42
40, 40 shots against and he let up four, which is still a 900 save percentage, which really
36:48
isn't horrible.
36:49
You're kind of looking for that more of that 920 to 930, 35 somewhere in there.
36:53
But we took the L there.
36:55
So I'd have to go back and look at those goals just to see whose fault that really is.
36:59
You know, if it was Flurry or whatever, because early in the season, dude, I've never seen
37:03
NHL goalies give up the types of goals Flurry was giving up.
37:06
I mean, just basic riskers to your glove side.
37:10
That should be, I don't know, for me, it was my dominant side.
37:13
If you want to beat me, you're going high blocker every time.
37:16
And you probably got me.
37:17
That's a common, I believe, as well.
37:19
Right.
37:20
I'd get lucky and save some of the knob on my stick.
37:22
Actually, more often than not, it was pretty lucky.
37:24
But nice.
37:25
But no, like some of his shots going straight to his glove, they were just float in.
37:30
It was weird.
37:31
They're slow as shit float into the net.
37:33
And he just like he didn't even see him.
37:36
So he's in the role he should be in.
37:38
He's a Hall of Fame goaltender.
37:40
There's no question there.
37:42
He's a perfect backup situation for a playoff team, to be honest with you, just because
37:47
of his playoff experience.
37:48
He knows what it takes to win at the highest level in the NHL.
37:53
Now are we a contender?
37:54
That's another conversation we'll have here in a little bit.
37:56
But I think we're we're seeing what we need to from him.
38:00
Now his season stats are still abysmal.
38:02
The three point two nine goals against with a eight eight six save percentage.
38:06
That's not good.
38:07
He hasn't really had a big sample size.
38:09
But like as a backup goalie, that's probably on par for a backup goaltender.
38:14
You know, unless you have a really good one to say a backup goaltender.
38:18
But of his caliber, that like he says, a Hall of Fame goaltender, you still assume you'd
38:21
expect more.
38:22
But he's also like he's 39 years old, bro.
38:25
I know I'm not 39, but there's no way he can still move like he did when he was winning
38:30
cups for the Penns.
38:31
You know what I mean?
38:32
Yep.
38:33
So do I need to see more from not really?
38:36
I think we know exactly what we're going to get from Flurry at this point.
38:39
A goaltender that's playing out of his position every chance he gets, but then gets back in
38:43
position and makes a crazy save.
38:45
And everybody's like, whoa, no, he plays out of position all the time.
38:47
We talked about that.
38:48
I know.
38:49
I know our first episode this year.
38:51
But again, like again, and I said this earlier, I'm still going to get a Flurry Wild Jersey.
38:54
I still think it's crazy.
38:55
He's even on the team.
38:56
I would have never have guessed he would be here.
39:00
But I don't think any wild fan ever thought that we'd ever have a goaltender of his caliber.
39:03
No, no, no.
39:04
Our team.
39:05
Hell no.
39:06
We're going to get one in the next few years.
39:07
We already have him.
39:08
Let's go, Jesper.
39:09
He's growing in Iowa.
39:10
Yeah.
39:11
Dude's killing it, too.
39:12
Yeah, he's killing it.
39:13
I'm cook.
39:14
But I seen the play of both tendies.
39:18
I feel more confident now going on with the rest of the season without making any moves
39:22
in the net.
39:23
Leave it.
39:24
Yeah.
39:25
We're still handcuffed for those two years.
39:27
Don't change a lot of shit up.
39:29
And that's that's just, again, a whole nother conversation of wild fans being frustrated.
39:33
But just let him buck.
39:35
We're fine.
39:36
Obviously, Gus is showing you there should be no question he should be your number one
39:41
order if we make the playoffs game one, it's going to be Gus.
39:45
It better be.
39:46
It better be.
39:47
And one of our next segments here, we're going to talk a little bit about some of the injury
39:51
bug that seems to continue to plague the Minnesota wild.
39:55
Don't us, Brodean.
39:56
What a bummer, man.
39:58
That got taken out by a Vanderkane on a pretty questionable hit that went uncalled.
40:05
Obviously, all wild fans will say every day of the week, that's a call that you got to
40:09
call any homer fan of any team.
40:11
Would say that that would be the case.
40:14
Absolutely.
40:15
I agree.
40:16
Obviously, again, I think it's a pretty brutal hit.
40:17
Didn't we have the puck nearby?
40:19
It's his face squished up against the boards.
40:21
At least a boarding call, if not a five minute in the game or a 10 minute in a game, whatever
40:25
you want to call it.
40:26
I think that it's a rough hit.
40:27
And obviously he's hurt now.
40:28
It's tough.
40:29
He's one of your best defensemen, if not your best defenseman.
40:32
Probably your best defenseman.
40:33
I would say he's our number one defenseman.
40:36
And I mean, twenty three minutes time on ice per game.
40:39
I mean, that's you're losing that immediately like that.
40:42
You know, that's not something that you can just plug and play anybody into.
40:45
No.
40:46
So now you're looking at and which I'll just touch on it here real quick anyway.
40:52
Spurgeon also day to day.
40:54
So right now your defensive pairings are Middleton, Faber, Gologoski, Bogo and John Merrill and
41:00
Damon Hunt got called back up.
41:02
That's an odd.
41:04
It's a series of players for sure.
41:07
But who's going to stud for us this season on the defensive side of things?
41:10
Brock Faber.
41:11
Yeah, no.
41:12
I mean, the kid got it going on.
41:14
I actually watched him.
41:15
What was it?
41:16
Was it the Calgary game?
41:17
Yeah.
41:18
I think a couple of days ago or whatever, I watched him take a take a shot straight to
41:21
his ankle.
41:22
I was like, oh, no.
41:24
I was like, for sure.
41:25
I was like, dude, he could have broke that or something.
41:27
Like, I mean, it was a rocket from the line right at right at your laces, right at the
41:32
top.
41:33
I was like, oh, my God, that goes on.
41:34
Nope, still on the ice for the next for the next puck drop.
41:38
I was like, oh, that.
41:39
Yep.
41:40
So, no, I mean, Faber shown us exactly what we were hoping for this year.
41:45
So when you think about it, when Brodean and Spurgeon are healthy, now you add in Faber.
41:49
Now you add in Middleton.
41:50
That's a decent top four.
41:51
Top four is great.
41:52
And now if you have a combination of Gologoski, Bogo, Merrill in that third pairing, I'd almost
42:00
rather get Damon Hunt a little more involved than say Gologoski.
42:03
I personally I can't stand Gologoski.
42:05
I know he's like a.
42:06
What am I mistaken?
42:07
I'm pretty sure he's like a Minnesota tie.
42:08
Yeah, he's a St. Paul guy, I think.
42:10
But every time there's a dude on the ice, it is it is a shit show if you're going to
42:14
get a stupid goofy penalty or not.
42:17
Every time he's on the ice, I get nervous.
42:18
However, I think he's only taken one penalty in the last couple of games since those two
42:23
guys have been out and it wasn't that egregious and we didn't get a goal against, I don't
42:27
think.
42:28
And he does look a little.
42:29
Gologoski does look a little bit different in a good way than he did earlier in the season.
42:33
I will give him that.
42:34
I think it's what happens when you get benched or scratched for a hot minute.
42:37
You know, you're like, my career's on the line because this is probably his last stop.
42:41
He's 38 years old.
42:43
He's not great.
42:44
So I mean, he's probably going to retire playing for the hometown team, which would make it
42:48
you know, was that a storybook ending kind of a thing to your seat to your career?
42:52
So I get it.
42:53
I'm sure.
42:54
But like.
42:55
He's also the first guy to get healthy scratched right now.
42:58
Yeah, you know, and I think he knows that.
43:00
So I think now he's finally starting to make the most of the opportunities he is opportunities
43:04
he is getting.
43:05
Yeah.
43:06
And I obviously would love to see him succeed.
43:09
I just right now, Gologoski and that second D line pairing scares the hell out of me.
43:15
I don't even like BOGO there, to be honest with you.
43:18
So I don't know.
43:20
I think that's still our weakest point on the team is our defense.
43:24
But yeah, especially when we have our top guys injured.
43:27
Yeah.
43:28
And I think to your credit of that second line being scary and the third line being
43:30
young, Brock Faber in the last two games has over 30 minutes of accumulated ice time.
43:35
Let's put it into perspective.
43:37
They both went into a shootout.
43:38
So you get an extra five minutes of overtime play, but in which the first game against
43:42
Calgary, he was out there for almost three minutes, at least four minutes.
43:47
And then the shootout happens.
43:48
Right.
43:49
Same thing for last night.
43:50
So the first game two games ago against Calgary, he had 30 minutes and like eight seconds of
43:54
ice time.
43:55
Last night, he had like 31 and a quarter, like 31 minutes, like 30 odd seconds.
43:59
That's wild.
44:00
Again, I love saying that, but it's true.
44:02
Think about the numbers back from our cap hell guy, Ryan Suter.
44:06
How many minutes was he playing a night?
44:09
That's Suter minutes.
44:10
Yeah, yeah, that is that is Suter minutes.
44:12
Right.
44:13
Yeah.
44:14
And same thing.
44:15
I got to bring him up.
44:16
Mad Dumbo towards the end of his time with the wild.
44:17
He was playing really good hockey.
44:18
Hell yeah.
44:19
He's playing really good hockey and he was getting a lot of ice time because he was playing
44:21
really well.
44:22
And I think to the credit of Brock Faber, he's getting a ton of ice time.
44:25
But also, I think John Hines has bought into the Faber like story.
44:29
He's killing it.
44:30
Young Buck looks fantastic as a young guy.
44:33
Guess who leads our team in time on ice?
44:35
It's got to be Faber.
44:36
He's tied with Brody and at twenty three fifty nine per game.
44:39
And that's your top D line.
44:40
Yeah.
44:41
I personally would say the third is Spurge at twenty three fourteen.
44:44
Almost the same deal.
44:45
Yeah.
44:46
I personally think you got to throw Spurge in.
44:48
Sorry.
44:49
You got to put Faber and Brody as your number one defensive pairing every game.
44:52
That's that's my and then Spurge and Middleton.
44:54
Spurge and Middleton second pairing.
44:55
That's my opinion, especially where how they've been playing.
44:58
Who would you put on the third then?
45:00
A combination of whoever the fuck, you know, whoever's here at the moment.
45:04
I don't know.
45:05
I don't like Goligoski, but if he continues to play how he's been playing, give him a
45:11
shot because he's ridden the bench.
45:13
He's been a healthy scratch.
45:14
Hang out in the press box for a hot minute.
45:16
Most of the last season as well.
45:17
Dean, if I'm not mistaken, he hated that guy or just did not like to play him because when
45:22
he played him, he made bonehead moves.
45:24
And that's just what we got.
45:25
Right.
45:26
So then he gets scratched and never really plays.
45:28
But if that second, the current second line, Goligoski and Bogov, that's your third line.
45:32
That's a bruiser.
45:33
That makes me feel better.
45:34
That's a big beefy line.
45:35
I don't like it as my second defensive pairing, but as my third.
45:39
You put him out there to kill time.
45:40
And then have my and have Damon Hunt as my guy that would be fill in before John Merrill
45:45
would be.
45:46
Yeah.
45:47
I feel I feel a little better about that.
45:49
I'm not mad about it.
45:50
So I think with the injuries right now, unfortunately, we're not quite sure when I think Brodean
45:53
is on the IR list right now, so he can't come back.
45:55
Brodean's gone for January 2nd is when he's eligible to come back.
46:00
If that's quicker than I thought.
46:01
So that's good.
46:02
Yep.
46:03
They I think they backdated his IR.
46:04
So that's why we get him back a little earlier.
46:05
Yeah.
46:06
So I read that.
46:07
You're right.
46:08
They did backdate his IR.
46:09
Yep.
46:10
So I don't know when I believe it's January 2nd, I think is what they said.
46:12
First day like he could be back.
46:14
Yep.
46:15
But he plays against Calgary again.
46:16
Yeah.
46:17
Again, excuse me.
46:18
But that game would be against Calgary.
46:19
Yeah.
46:20
So maybe if he doesn't come back that maybe he gets back by the fourth, January 4th against
46:24
the lightning.
46:25
Who knows?
46:26
Then Spurgeon day to day.
46:27
We don't know yet.
46:28
We could see him tomorrow.
46:29
We could see him Tuesday.
46:30
We could see him at the end of the week.
46:31
Who knows?
46:32
I want to get Spurgeon back, but he's been hurt twice now.
46:36
Both lower body injuries, too.
46:38
Could he have re aggravated the first injury he had in the end of the preseason?
46:42
Maybe the opposite.
46:43
Maybe.
46:44
But if it was more serious, I feel like it'd be week to week, not day to day.
46:47
You know what I mean?
46:48
Could very well be.
46:49
But I'm no, I'm no doctor.
46:52
Right.
46:53
So I don't know.
46:54
The injury bug yet again has plagued the Minnesota Wild, but step ups by some of the young bucks.
46:59
Again, Brock Faber looking like a stud.
47:01
I'm not upset about Merrill.
47:02
I'm not upset about Damon Hunt.
47:04
Again, Bogos.
47:05
He's there.
47:06
We have Gologgassi.
47:07
We're getting what we knew we'd get out of Bogos.
47:09
So yeah.
47:10
But the Wild have been winning without these two guys in the lineup, which I think is an
47:12
incredible testament to what the Wild are actually capable of doing without their top
47:16
two like defensemen.
47:18
I still think that Faber is up there as the second top.
47:22
That's crazy.
47:23
I'm not.
47:24
I know.
47:25
As far as line combinations, I like what you're saying.
47:27
Brodean with Faber and then Middleton with Spurgeon.
47:30
That I like.
47:31
I still think Spurgeon is our second best defender on the team.
47:36
I think Brock Faber is our best offensive defenseman on the team.
47:40
Kind of filling that Dumba void.
47:42
Because the thing is, and that's I don't want to go heavy on Dumba because we always do.
47:47
Because you're a Dumba lover.
47:48
Die hard here.
47:49
Die hard.
47:50
That's a better.
47:51
I don't mean to say lover.
47:52
But like that's what Dumba would give you.
47:55
He'd sit down in that Ovechkin slot on the power play or all of a sudden he would just
48:00
he could carry the puck into the zone.
48:02
I trust Faber carrying the puck into the zone.
48:04
Absolutely.
48:05
Brodean smooth as shit.
48:06
I don't trust Brodean as much carrying the puck into the zone or Spurgeon or literally
48:10
anybody else on our defensive side.
48:13
Just Faber.
48:14
Just Faber.
48:15
Otherwise give it to somebody else.
48:16
Yeah.
48:17
I like having a guy like that though.
48:19
And that's why I like.
48:20
You see is Faber on our first power play?
48:21
He is good.
48:22
I was going to say that's exactly that is.
48:25
Yeah, that's good.
48:27
I'm cool with Faber being being where he is.
48:29
For sure.
48:30
We'll see what happens.
48:31
Obviously again, we might get Spurgeon back here pretty quick.
48:33
And then there's I would believe it was a holiday break coming up here in the next couple
48:36
of weeks around Christmas time.
48:37
And then you got the New Year coming up as well.
48:39
So maybe not be a couple of maybe a few games to be rephrased.
48:43
And so we get Brodean back by the second less than a few weeks.
48:46
We'll see what happens.
48:49
All right, Smelsey, you're at the last segment of this episode.
48:52
I know everyone said I'm sorry.
48:54
Catch us in the next one.
48:55
But before we go, talk a little bit about what's happening with the wild right now and
48:58
where we're going to be going here pretty the near future.
49:01
Yeah, I mean, like like we've already touched on the last 10, they are seven and three on
49:06
a three game winning streak right now.
49:07
It's an impressive three game winning streak as well.
49:10
No doubt.
49:11
No doubt.
49:12
And they so they play tomorrow and then they play Tuesday as well.
49:15
Yep.
49:16
Yeah.
49:17
So back to back.
49:18
So I got who is it?
49:19
I think it's Pittsburgh and Boston.
49:20
Yeah.
49:21
Oh, Penguins and Bruins back to back.
49:22
That's going to be a well rough game.
49:24
That'll be a little tough.
49:26
Pittsburgh's kind of having a season like us.
49:28
They're kind of they don't really know what the heck's going on over there.
49:31
And we don't either.
49:32
So I think that's winnable.
49:36
Who's the next game?
49:37
Sorry.
49:38
Tuesday was what?
49:39
Boston Bruins.
49:40
That'll be tough.
49:41
That's one of the better teams in the league.
49:42
But if we can even if we lose against the Bruins, if it's two to one, three to two, that makes
49:47
me feel a lot better than where we were at the beginning of the season.
49:50
Yeah, I agree.
49:51
If we can even get a point out of that, it'd be cool because the last two games, we've
49:55
gone into overtime and shootouts.
49:57
So I mean, if we can kind of continue that on just scrounging up a point somewhere and
50:01
then obviously if we get the dub, even better.
50:03
Better than zero points.
50:04
I'll take that.
50:05
And talking points like, you know, obviously the Wilder in the central and the Western
50:11
Conference, the Winnipeg Jets, DOW Stars, Avalanche, they all are sitting at 38 points
50:17
tied.
50:18
Oh, one, two, three.
50:19
I didn't know that until I just looked at it.
50:20
I was like, holy shit.
50:21
That's kind of cool.
50:23
So as far as where the Wild are in the central, there are solid 10 points back while they're
50:27
sitting at 28 points right now.
50:29
Do I think they have a chance to win the central division?
50:32
Absolutely not.
50:33
Do I think they have a chance to get into the wild card?
50:36
I'm going to go ahead and say yes.
50:38
But the new culture change a little bit, the new coach, the Wild right now are sitting
50:42
four points out of that second wild card.
50:45
That's more than doable.
50:46
We have three quarters of the season left.
50:48
There's a lot of hockey left.
50:49
You said there's 82 of them things, right?
50:51
So actually we're about a third done, a third done while they've played 28 games.
50:55
There's 82.
50:56
Yeah, about a third.
50:57
So it's about two thirds of the season left.
50:59
That's absolutely doable.
51:01
And again, the big difference for me is that goal differential going from negative 20 to
51:04
negative five.
51:05
Yep.
51:06
So we're trending in the right direction all of a sudden.
51:09
We got to keep that momentum.
51:10
My worry, knock on our beautiful desk here, knock on wood, is that we don't let this flutter
51:15
out.
51:16
Right.
51:17
New coach, new stuff going on, new culture.
51:18
You guys are, you know, locker rooms buzzing.
51:20
They have like, I'm not sure if you've seen the videos, but they have like that midarm
51:23
like the medieval like helmet versus like before they used to have like the kayaking
51:26
helmet and they had like a cowboy hat and some other different stuff.
51:28
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.
51:29
You know, you pass along like the bucket or whatever.
51:32
They have like this medieval helmet.
51:34
Again, every team, every team has their goofy little nuances and stuff like that.
51:38
I just hope I just hope that they can continue and keep the mojo going.
51:40
I don't want this to flutter out.
51:42
And two games from now, we just get our behinds kicked and we're right back in the same place.
51:46
Knock on wood here.
51:47
Yeah.
51:48
But I want us to keep this up.
51:49
So if we do, I think we would 100 percent have a chance at the wild card spot.
51:52
Oh yeah, for sure.
51:53
And who's in that wild card spot right now?
51:55
Coyotes.
51:56
They're not staying there.
51:57
They're not staying there.
51:58
No, the blues would take that spot or the flames take that spot before the coyotes will.
52:03
I mean, or the crack and cracking are tied with us at 28 points.
52:06
We just shut them out a couple of games ago.
52:07
So like that's so we're we're improving.
52:09
Yeah, sure.
52:10
There's room.
52:11
I think again, that's a testament to what's happening with the leadership in the group.
52:15
So you were at the game yesterday.
52:16
I was.
52:17
How was the energy in the building fan wise?
52:19
I mean, is it as normal as it is, you know, crazy as like we are?
52:23
Everybody's lit.
52:24
Transparently, we obviously always have a few drinks before we get there and whatnot
52:27
and just kind of how the games go.
52:28
So we had a couple of drinky poos without, you know, in all six of us that went.
52:31
It was good, except for my brother in law who did not have any because he's underage.
52:34
But we had a great time.
52:35
The energy in the building was electric.
52:37
It was a matinee Saturday game.
52:39
One p.m. starts packed house.
52:40
I don't know if it was if it was a lot or not.
52:42
Didn't see like the statin like the big jumbotron.
52:45
But they had the shirt guy back.
52:46
Are you familiar with the shirt guy at the wild games?
52:49
He's a paid dude who the wild and other hockey teams and the sports teams, I believe, pay
52:53
to be a hype man.
52:55
But his stick is wearing a goofy set of pants and like 11 or 12 of the team shirts.
53:01
They'll put him randomly in the crowd somewhere.
53:03
And then all of a sudden, I do like one of those like get up and dance segments.
53:06
They'll show a couple of fans and they'll show this dude and he'll get up and he'll
53:10
go nuts.
53:11
I don't think I've seen that guy.
53:13
I love I love watching this guy.
53:15
I call him just a shirt guy because he'll get up and they'll play like some super hardcore
53:18
like rock anthem or whatever.
53:19
And then he'll get up and he'll get the whole crowd going and just get the energy going.
53:22
And his thing is he'll rip off a shirt.
53:24
I was gonna say, if he has 12 more on him, he starts ripping them off.
53:27
Yeah, he rips them off.
53:28
He's in the one section.
53:29
He'll throw them to somebody.
53:30
He'll get up on the railing in the middle of like the aisle where you walk up and on
53:33
the stairs.
53:34
Like he'll get up there.
53:35
He'll get the whole crowd pumped up and going.
53:36
So like for the energy in the building for a one o'clock game, when the Vikings were
53:40
playing at noon that day, who also lost, it was awesome.
53:43
But yeah, sorry.
53:45
But the Wild One energy in the building was electric.
53:48
It was awesome.
53:49
If you want to hear me talk about Vikings, tune in like in like two days.
53:52
Literally.
53:53
Yeah, we'll talk about that too.
53:54
But yeah, no.
53:55
And then the DJ, whoever the hell the Wild hired to DJ, dude, that dude's killer.
53:58
He's good.
53:59
Like, you know, no, it's good to hear that I haven't been to a wild game yet this year.
54:03
So that's why I was curious where the energy level is.
54:05
That was our first in the stands.
54:08
Because like that matters.
54:09
That matters, especially when you're a struggling team.
54:11
Yes.
54:12
And a wild team that sold out for like 15 years in a row and now haven't been.
54:18
Don't get me wrong.
54:19
It's still packed in there, but it's it's just a little less.
54:22
I think Minnesota fans are just sick of mediocrity and they're sick of losing.
54:26
They're sick of first round exits, which is what the Wild are considered around the league.
54:31
Like if there's other podcasts we could call for the Canucks or the, you know, the Blues
54:36
or something.
54:37
I guarantee you that, you know, they're like, oh, the Wild are perennial playoff team, but
54:41
that's it.
54:42
They don't do shit in the playoffs and they're totally right.
54:44
They're totally right.
54:45
So that's something that just has to change.
54:47
So again, that's why I like seeing us struggling.
54:49
I was curious to the energy in the building.
54:51
Granted now, again, seven and three in the last 10.
54:53
So I just let's just keep going up.
54:57
Keep trending up.
54:58
Let's keep riding that roller coaster.
54:59
I hope it continues.
55:01
Obviously, this roller coaster for a reason is going to be dips in the season, but it's
55:05
all about how you handle those dips.
55:06
And I believe you play it again.
55:07
So I think it was Vancouver a few weeks ago and that was our first shutout against us
55:11
with John Hines as the head coach.
55:13
And he even said in an article with the Athletic again that we're going to learn from this
55:17
and they haven't gotten beat like that since.
55:19
So John Hines is still learning who the hell his players are.
55:22
That's true.
55:23
So he's been here, what, nine games, 10 games?
55:25
Yeah.
55:26
So he probably doesn't even, you know, he's still learning now.
55:28
Eventually that's no longer an excuse.
55:31
But like he's still got to figure out who does what the best.
55:34
Yeah.
55:35
You know what I mean?
55:36
Because he hasn't been coaching as far as we know since May.
55:38
Had a little hiatus kind of, you know, so until he kind of gets back in the full swing
55:43
of things, you know, I'm happy where we are.
55:46
I agree.
55:47
I think with him, I think that's also why Galagosky is getting such a good shot right
55:50
now, because he hasn't really been around to see any of the goof ups potentially.
55:54
Maybe he's gone back and watch some film and whatever.
55:55
But like you're going to get what you get.
55:58
And I think a lot of the head coaches are going to if you're a new coach, you're going
56:01
to put who is the hot hand out there.
56:03
You're going to put the guys who are putting in the effort making that, you know, making
56:08
making the effort, right?
56:09
You're going to put the guys out there who are trying.
56:10
Well, if you're going to play well for the new coach, that just moves you up his personal
56:14
list.
56:15
Great.
56:16
You know, usually for that, right?
56:17
You know, I agree.
56:18
I'm hoping that things continue to go the way that they are.
56:20
There's a roller coaster, but it's all about how you handle the dips and the elevation
56:25
of the roller coaster.
56:26
We're on a good high right now.
56:27
Hopefully we keep it going.
56:29
But with that said, man, this has been an awesome episode.
56:32
I really do appreciate your time, man.
56:35
With that said, that's all we got for this one this week, everybody.
56:37
Thank you so much for tuning in.
56:38
It's bouncy.
56:39
Appreciate you being flexible and coming in, man.
56:41
No doubt.
56:42
I love coming in.
56:43
I will try to get maybe a wild pot out a little quicker than we did this time.
56:48
But all you Vikings fans to tune into the NFL pod, any NFL fan soon, the NFL pod, yes,
56:55
cover multiple games and all sorts of good stuff.
56:58
So with that said, this has been ringside chirps with Banner with the boys.
57:02
I've been Kevin.
57:03
That's been smell see.
57:04
Make sure you like comment, follow and subscribe.
57:06
We're pretty heavy on YouTube and Spotify right now.
57:08
So make sure you check us out on both of those.
57:10
And yeah, boys, catch in the next one.
57:12
Go take some slappers.