This past week when I did my power poll I had the Minnesota Wild ranked 8th. One of my readers said "Love your optimism, but I don't think they're that good."
Before we continue you should know that when I do my power poll each Monday my rankings are based on what each team has done on the ice not what I think they are going to do & how talented they are especially early in the season when so many teams are bunched together. As the season goes on and teams start to separate themselves, we get a better idea of which teams are good and which teams are bad.
But we are nearly one-forth of a way through the season and right now the Minnesota Wild are first in the Northwest Division and second in the Western Conference. They are tied with Pittsburgh & Philadelphia for the second highest point total with 25 and the trail Chicago by one for most wins this season.
That got me thinking, Are the Minnesota Wild really this good?
I guess that depends on what your definition of good is. If you go by talent then the answer is no. There are at least five teams in the West (Chicago, San Jose, Vancouver, Detroit, & Los Angeles) that are all better from a talent standpoint than Minnesota. But let's compare the Wild to the other playoff teams in the West from last season Nashville, Phoenix, & Anaheim.
Nashville has one of the deepest bluelines in the NHL led by Shea Weber & Ryan Suter and they have one of the best goaltenders in the NHL in Pekka Rinne. That alone should keep the Predators in the playoff hunt.
Phoenix is off to another strong start under coach Dave Tippett although I have my doubts whether Mike Smith can play well enough in goal to lead them to another playoff berth. In Anaheim the Ducks can't stop the puck and only their top line can score. That combination usually means you are watching hockey and not playing in the spring.
So right now in my opinion there are at least two playoff spots that are up for grabs in the West. Minnesota's strong start should keep them in the playoff hunt for the rest of the season.
But that begs the question, Why are the Wild playing so well this season?
You can start with the men in net. The Wild have gotten great goaltending this season from Niklas Backstrom (7-4-2, 1.97 GAA, .935 save percentage) & Josh Harding (4-1-1, 1.78 GAA, .948 save percentage)
Minnesota also has two forwards, Dany Heatley & Devon Setoguchi, that are legit first line players. I love Andrew Brunette as a player but he did not belong on a first line last year with Mikko Koivu. I did not love Antti Mietinen and he also should not have been on a first line. The Wild don't have that problem this season.
I also think the Wild blueline is better overall this season despite the loss of All-Star Brent Burns. Last year both Burns and Cam Barker finished the season a team worst -10 on the ice. So far this year only one Wild player, Marco Scandella is on the minus side and he is at -1 on the ice. That's a stark contrast from a year ago when Clayton Stoner was the only defenseman with a plus rating of +5.
But I think the biggest reason the Wild are playing so well is because of the man behind the bench, Mike Yeo.
Last year with Todd Richards as coach the Wild seemed to be uninspired on the ice. They would play well in the 1st period, struggle mightily in the 2nd period and try to comeback in the 3rd period usually falling a goal or two short.
There were many post-game press conferences that I sat in last year where Richards stood at the podium and had a "deer in the headlights" look on his face. He seemed more relived after a win because it meant he wouldn't be getting grilled with questions of why his team was struggling and what did they need to do to turn it around.
Enter Mike Yeo who seems like he has a plan, he knows what he wants his team to do and he's not shy about telling his team how he wants them to play. More importantly the players seem to be buying into his system.
Now I realize there is still a lot of hockey to be played. Injuries are going to happen and The Wild are going to hit a slump at some point. Then we will find out what character this team has when facing that adversity.
Right now the Wild are beating the teams they need to beat. Do I expect the Wild to win the Northwest Division? No, Vancouver has way too much talent and within the next month I expect them to take charge in the Northwest.
But I do think Minnesota is better than Calgary, Colorado & Edmonton. That should be good enough for second in the Northwest and keep them hanging around the playoff picture in the West. If you hang around long enough good things can happen.
Totally get what you mean when you say Power Rankings are a snap-shot, not a predictor, but based on head-to-head if nothing else, I'd have put San Jose and LA ahead of the Wild.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I like how you break down the team's unexpected success. I'd put the goaltending ahead of Yeo in terms of what's been most important in their good start, but there's no question that he's an upgrade over Richards.
I remember one post-game presser where Russo was having a conniption because Richards was outside the room getting coached by a team PR exec about what to say when he got in the room. When a coach needs that kind of help talking to the media, he's not long for the business as a head man.
I also am not sold on Setoguchi as a "legit first line guy". He's a sniper and has talent, but I think on a legit contender he's second line at best. Of course, I think the same thing about Koivu, which is sacrilege here in the State of Hockey.
I'll admit, the blue line's been better than I thought, though again, I think they get made to look better than they are by the outstanding goaltending.
Nice work.