According to Michael Russo the beat writer from the Star Tribune for the Minnesota Wild hockey teams says that Craig McTavish is an emerging candidate to be the head coach of the Minnesota Wild. All I can say is; that I hope not, seriously, I don’t think McTavish is a good role model for youngsters and there are other better candidates for this head coaching job that the Wild can select from. If you don't remember or maybe you weren't alive yet, former Boston Bruins Craig MacTavish struck and killed a young woman while he was driving his car under the influence of alcohol, he plead guilty and was sentenced to a year in jail. Kim Radley died as a result of a senseless incident and MacTavish got a mere slap on the wrist as he lived in dormitory like conditions at the Lawrence Correctional Alternative Center. Hardly a fitting penalty for MacTavished, you can barely call it a jail type setting.

"Hockey players have not been the only victims, either. Craig MacTavish, a player at the time and now the coach of the Edmonton Oilers, pled guilty to vehicular homicide in 1984 after killing a woman in a car accident while he was impaired. He spent a year in jail, and spoke against drunk driving as part of his community service. "

While I am sure that some of you will say but that it was a long time ago and what’s the big deal Goon, however, I ask you to look at this way, think of the victim and her family, Kim Radley would have been 53 years old today if her life hadn’t have been cut short by a selfish drunk driver. I am being serious, do we really want a coach of the hometown team the Minnesota Wild to be a former felon that committed vehicle homicide? Which in my opinion was a very preventable and unnecessary death. If I am missing the point, please tell why, I also imagine that I am not the only one that feels this way.

Michael Russo, Star Tribune ----With the Wild in the early stages of its deliberate search to find a replacement for Todd Richards, veteran coach Craig MacTavish has emerged as a strong candidate. According to multiple league sources, the former Edmonton Oilers coach has had a handful of conversations with Chuck Fletcher and was recently interviewed by the Wild general manager at a Toronto hotel. The 52-year-old MacTavish, who coached the Oilers from 2000 to '09, has been unwilling to talk about any of the NHL coaching vacancies other than to say he's "recharged" and ready to return to coaching. "He's one of my favorites," Los Angeles Kings veteran forward Ryan Smyth, coached by MacTavish for six seasons, said in a phone interview Thursday. "He knows and understands the game very well and was exciting to play for. He understands the players very well. He knew me more than I did at times." MacTavish, who guided the eighth-seeded Oilers to within one game of a Stanley Cup in 2006, would bring instant credibility to the Wild bench. He won four Stanley Cups in his 19-year playing career player -- three with Edmonton and one with the New York Rangers. One of the great defensive centers, the well-spoken MacTavish brought that same acumen to his coaching. He's known as a defensive-oriented, technically sound coach, one who's a shrewd in-game bench manager and good

Cross Posted at Goon's World...

Cal Clutterbuck made quite the impression this past week (December 23rd 2010) when the Wild faced and beat the Colorado Avalanche in Denver. Apparently, Cal Clutterbuck rattled the Colorado Avalanche so much that their Denver Post beat writer went off on a Cal Clutterbuck diatribe in a fashion that would mirror a fan blog type rant, minus the profanity, fine for fan blog but it does seem out of character for beat writers of a major news paper. Here is what Adrian Dater had to say about the NHL's hit leader.

All THINGS AVS---- Clutterbuck is who he is. A hit-and-run artist. A trash talker. A guy who has no problem catching you with a big hit, as long as your back is turned or you have no time to react from the front. If you want to get him back, he’s going to cover up, play possum, and hope you draw a penalty. And a lot of his defenders point out that he leads the league in hits every year, but also has low penalty minutes – which kind of makes my point. He’s trying to artificially jack up his hit total, but doesn’t want to back anything up with a fight or two.

Like I said, he’s good at it. But it still doesn’t change that ultimate truth about Cal Clutterbuck: that he doesn’t stand up for himself, that he wants to hit and run and cower. Teammates hate those kinds of guys, because it means their guys are going to be targeted right back since he won’t fight his own battles. These teams will meet again soon, and we’ll see if Cal is clucking as loudly that night.

Personally, I find it funny because the Avalanche don’t have the moral high ground in this situation. One could say that the Av's fans have short memories eh? Rewind to 1996 when the Colorado Avalanche employed one of the most disgusting players to ever wear a uniform in the NHL, that pukes/hacks name was Claude Lemieux. On May During the 1996 Stanley Cup Playoffs Lemieux hit Chris Drapper face first into the dasher causing him to suffer a broken jaw, broken nose, broken cheekbone, and a concussion… I don’t remember an incident where Cal Clutterbuck has committed an act of aggression like that in the NHL… To top it all off, for the Av’s fans that have short memories, Claude the Fraud never apologized for his transgression against Chris Draper. Yeah, that’s something I would be proud of if I was an Avalanche fan. So don’t come pointing your finger at the Wild and their players because your franchise had one dirtiest, disgusting players to ever put on a uniform.

First example;Claude Lemieux turtles as Redwings tough guy Darren McCarty delivers a beat-down… [Click to view video]

Second example; after delivering a bush league high stick to Cam Neely Claude the Fraude turtles again... [ Click to view video]

Cross posted at Goon's World...

Surfing the net this morning; I found this blog post from the Denver Post Avalanche beat writer to be remotely entertaining, it’s worth a look. Recently, I have had this on going discussion with a friend of mine in the hockey media about fan bloggers and how some of them let emotions drive their blog posts, I am probably a little guilty of that… Fast forward to this gem, this is a blog post from a beat writer for a national newspaper that writes for an NHL hockey team… This is my text book definition definition of blatant homerism. This is like Michael Russo writing Av’s goon David Koci (114 games 2-1-3, 388 pims) is a untalented hack that can barely skate, lucky to be in the NHL and basically a punching bag…

All things Avs --- There are some players I just have to laugh at in this game, though, and Cal Clutterbuck is one of them. Nothing against the guy at all. He’s good at what he does, which is drive you crazy with the game of "I hit you first, then try to draw the penalty with your retaliation hit against me." These guys have been in hockey for time immemorial.

That’s fine, I respect that. It’s a game. You have to play every angle, and if being the agitator who gets the opposition to lose their minds and, hence, the game is what you need to do to succeed, then by all means do it, especially if you’ll be paid a million dollars for it.

But, and part of me hates saying this in a way, because I really don’t care either way. But, Cal Clutterbuck is a cowardly hockey player. He’s Bill Laimbeer on skates, folks.

Again, if it works for you and you have success being that type of player, then you’ll actually get grudging respect from me. Anything that makes you a winner, we can all admire that in the end. But Clutterbuck is a coward. I mean, come on, did the Wild forward really talk a lot of smack about the Avalanche tonight, after a December 3-1 victory? Really, he did? In fact, he did.

Here’s what was in the estimable blog tonight of Michael Russo, the ace reporter of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune and one of my better friends among the hockey writer zeitgeist. Clutterbuck clucked: ""There’s some guys over there, two guys in particular, I’m shocked they’re still even playing in the league. If they’re going to take a penalty, take a penalty. "We’re on the road, we’ll take a power play any day of the week. If they want to flaunt their egos, they want to show how tough they are, well, guess what, we’re going to beat you, and we’re coming for them in the standings."

Let’s just establish a couple of islands or irony first, before we move on. Clutterbuck talking smack after a 3-1 win over an injury-ravaged team in December, is bathed in irony considering his team hasn’t made the playoffs for two straight seasons.

Cal Clutterbuck is an aggressive player that likes to hit, Cal is far from being Bill Laimbeer of the NHL… Bill Laimbeer was a diver and a hack Clutterbuck is not. Clutterbuck has played three season in the NHL and has a grand total of 150 minutes in penalties, each season his penalty minutes have declined as well, this season Clutterbuck has gooned it up so bad that he has a grand total of 22 penalties minutes.

Cross Posted at Goon's World... Merry Christmas...

Leaf’s Fans I have had a chance to watch Matt Frattin play for the UND Fighting Sioux for 3 seasons and I think you’re going to like what Matt Frattin brings to the table. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he is wearing a Maple Leaf next season.

Matt Frattin is a big strong power forward (6 feet 206 lbs) and has a howitzer for a shot, Frattin shots the puck through goaltenders, and you can find many goals on YouTube.com. Frattin isn’t a one dimensional player, Matt plays strong in all three zones of the ice and his skating are one of his stronger points.

Matt Fratt was drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 4th round of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft. Just before the 2009-2010 school year was about to begin Matt Frattin got into trouble and was dismissed from the Fighting Sioux hockey team and returned to Edmonton, Alberta to get his life in order. At the semester break Frattin was given a second chance by Fighting Sioux head coach Dave Hakstol and Matt has caught fire and is on a torrid pace. Grand Forks Herald beat writer Brad Schlossman has a nice article about Matt’s past few seasons.

Grand Forks Herald --- Matt Frattin is a notorious prankster. So, when he called Evan Trupp last August to say that he had gotten in trouble and was getting kicked off the UND hockey team, Trupp naturally thought it was a joke.

But this time, it wasn’t.

After his second alcohol-related run-in with police in two months — this time a DUI charge he later would be acquitted of — Frattin was dismissed just days before the 2009-10 school year was set to start.

He packed up and moved back home to Edmonton, Alberta, to ponder his future. And while UND left the door open for his return in 2010-11, it seemed likely that his time in Grand Forks was finished.

After all, the easy route was for Frattin to cash in on the NHL contract that the Toronto Maple Leafs offered and pick up his hockey career right away in the pro ranks. Frattin thought about it, and took a different path.

He decided to change his lifestyle, sit out for up to a year and attempt to return to UND to make things right. He’s back here now, 16 months later, on his road to redemption. Frattin is the nation’s leading goal-scorer, with 17 goals, and it’s not even Christmas.

So how hot has Frattin been, Matt has scored 11 goals in 13 games last season from Feburary 12th to March 27. Fast forward to this season Frattin has continued that torrid pace scoring 17 goals in 20 games, so if my math is right (I am a sociology major), that is roughly 28 goals in 33 games. [click to link]

For more from Eric check out Goon's World...

The Wild got some good news from one of their injured players. Or did they? Wild perimeter player  forward Pierre-Marc Bouchard said he is working out again and getting ready for training camp to begin. Below is The paragraph from Michael Russo's article does concern me though.

"I still have symptoms here and there, some pressure in the head, but it's not too bad. I'm trying to pace myself on the ice and in the gym, but my goal is to be ready for training camp [Sept. 17]."

That paragraph leads me to believe that  Pierre-Marc Bouchard is not all the way back from his concussion and could become a drooling vegetable with one vicious dirty hit to the head. Now every time Steve Ott or some other head hunting hack is on the ice, Wild fans will have to worry about Bouchard. 

Pierre-Marc Bouchard has an expensive contract $4,080,000 a season and Wild fans are holding out hope that Bouchard can resemble the player that got (13g-50a-63pts)during the 2007-2008 season.

Cross posted at Goon's World.

I hope the Boston Bruins resign the former C.C. Tigers star Mark Stuart because he is a decent defenseman that plays a more gritty game and will stick up for teammates and drop the gloves "if" he has to. As far as Blake Wheeler goes, I hope the Boston Bruins trade Wheeler to another team.

I was unimpressed with the former Minnesota Gopher Blake Wheelers play at the end of last season and during the Stanley Cup playoffs, the guy is your prototypical former Gopher, a soft player that doesn’t like to hit and plays a finesse game (albeit, not well either). Sure, Blake Wheeler is a big body but he lacks grit or much in the way of offensive talent. Like I said in a tweet last spring, "Wheeler couldn’t score in a brothel" and he lacks the ability to finish in the offensive zone, that makes him an offensive liability. Wheeler's strong point is he can play on the penalty kill and he is strong defensively.

[The Bruins Blog] The agent for restricted free agent Bruins winger Blake Wheeler and defenseman Mark Stuart, Matt Keator, said he plans to speak with Boston general manager Peter Chiarelli this weekend about both his clients, as the deadline to file for arbitration approaches 5 p.m. Monday.

Both players are eligible for arbitration.

"We’ll talk over the weekend and Monday and see where things go," Keator told TheBruinsBlog.net.

Chiarelli said on Thursday he was confident he could re-sign Wheeler, Stuart and fellow restricted free agent Gregory Campbell and stay under the salary cap, even if it would be a "little tight."

 Cross Posted at Goon's World

According to TSN's Bob McKenzie Derek Boogaard is now a Rag (Ranger). So who is going to be the Wild's tough guy now that the Derek Boogard has been signed by the New York Rangers?  Some will applaud the move and say that Boogey is nothing more than a one dimensional player that adds nothing on the score sheet. I think that is partially true but the skilled Wild players feel when Boogaard is on the bench they know that the Boogey man has their back. Personally I loved watching Boogaard beat the be-jesus out of people…

TSNBobMcKenzie: 

Darren Dreger reporting Boogard to the NYR is done.

This move makes a lot of sense to me. It would appear that the Minnesota Wild are interested in signing former SCSU star and UFA Matt Cullen, according to an article in today's Red Star and Sickle.

Maybe three times will be a charm for the Wild and Matt Cullen.

For the third time in Cullen's career, he will become a free agent when the clock strikes 11 Thursday morning. For the third time in Cullen's career, the Wild -- in need of a center -- is expected to pursue him.

The Wild couldn't lasso him the previous two times, but the team might have a better chance this go-around.

"To be honest, at the point I was at four years ago, I don't think I could have handled playing in Minnesota," said Cullen, a former St. Cloud State standout who played in three consecutive boys' hockey state tournaments with Moorhead in the '90s. "But just growing and maturing as a person and a player, to the point of having a young family now, I think I'm at a good spot where I can handle it and excel there.

This is a move that I believe makes sense for the Wild. 1.) It gives the Wild a home grown kid on the Wild from the State of Hockey. 2.) Fills a needs in the offensive zone, for the Minnesota Wild are offensively challenged. 3.) It probably wouldn’t cost the Wild all that much and Cullen is a good two way center that plays both ends of the ice. You also can’t discount that he won a Stanley Cup with the Carolina Hurricanes. [More from EricB]


 

Originally cross posted at  Goon's World. NHL Fanhouse blogger Bruce Ciskie has an interesting blog post about former Gopher Paul Martin and his free agency status. You would have to wonder if the Minnesota Wild wouldn’t entertain signing him to appease the State of Hockey. What do you think? Would he fit into the Wild’s plans? The Minnesota Wild need  two top-nine forwards and have $11.5 million in free cap space to spend. The Minnesota Wild have 19 players signed so far. 

Martin doesn't throw vicious checks, but he's still effective in his own zone. When the puck is on his stick, he makes smart, effective passes and has very little panic when faced with forecheck pressure. He isn't a high-scoring defenseman like Gonchar is, but he'll still make a good fixture on a team's second power play unit, and he is capable of 50 points over a full season if he's in the right system and can stay healthy.

He's a good player, and he isn't likely to cost an arm and a leg. Where's the love?

Perhaps Martin isn't considered an elite player, which makes perfect sense. Of course, then it makes no sense to have teams practically salivating over Hamhuis, who is virtually the same player minus a pretty serious injury this past season. Does Martin's rough contract year mean the Devils have the inside track on signing him because he's not a desirable player?

In the grand scheme of things, it seems Martin is being penalized because he broke his forearm blocking a shot -- a totally freak accident that is not a recurring injury. This isn't Marian Gaborik's groin. It's a broken bone suffered in a situation that is highly unlikely to ever repeat itself.

Outside of that, he's been a very steady player for a very good team for a number of years. Martin's exploits go all the way back to high school in Elk River, Minn., when he was one of the best players in a hockey-centric state. He was then a major part of two Minnesota Gopher national championship teams.


ShareHis consistency should get him some bites in free agency, assuming he's interested in leaving New Jersey. If a team like Phoenix, Atlanta, Minnesota or Toronto come calling with the right deal, it's going to be hard for Martin to say "no," regardless of where his NHL loyalties lie now. He can help those teams with his steady defensive hand, combined with his underrated puck skills on the power play.

Originally Posted at Goon's World. I must say that I am highly disappointed in the Wild for tendering him a contract. James Sheppard is a first round bust a will never amount to a hill of beans in the NHL. Why? He has had three seasons to prove him self and has done nothing but take up a roster spot on a team starving for offense. For the love of Zeus’s butt please get rid of this waste of space. I have seen nothing in Sheppard’s flimsy game that leads me to believe that he will even be a third or fourth line player. He has no scoring touch, he isn’t a very good defensive player, he isn’t overly physical – what the hell is his role? Filler player.

NHL.COM - When analyzing James Sheppard, many point to his low point total last year (six), and his high draft position in 2006 (nine). There's one other number to look at when it comes to "Shep" (22).

While yet to find his niche on the Minnesota Wild, the 22-year-old Sheppard will have at least another year to show why he was so highly coveted as a big, young center. On Wednesday, the restricted free agent signed a one-year deal to remain in Minnesota for the 2010-11 season.

The Wild also sent qualifying offers to Guillaume Latendresse, Josh Harding, Anton Khudobin, Nate Prosser and Matt Kassian. Morten Madsen and Jamie Fraser did not receive offers.

The Sheppard deal comes as a relief to a player who is disappointed in a rough 2009-10 season, but says he is completely focused on raising his game in a Wild sweater.

"Last year was not an ideal year for me," Sheppard admitted. "There is a lot I want to accomplish, and a lot of work I have to do to accomplish those things. It really is a relief to have this out of the way early, and it shows that Chuck Fletcher wanted me to be here to raise my game. He made that clear to me by signing me early in the summer, and he also made clear that there is a lot of work to be done for me in Minnesota."

Sheppard is confident he has a lot more to offer, but he makes no excuses for the inability to make an immediate impact. He acknowledged that several facets of his game need improvement, and he is devoted to improving all of them.

If I was the GM of the Minnesota Wild (that is my dream job) I say this; James thanks for you three years of service to the Wild but we won’t need you this season, we are going to try and land a player that will actually contribute on the score card. I mean seriously, who cares is Sheppard is first round draft choice, would it be different if he was a 2nd – 7th round pick, no one is going to take him off the Wild’s hands, he sucks. I don't think the Wild could get a bag of used pucks and dirty jock straps for him. I wonder if there is someone in the Wild's front office that is holding out hope (desperately) that Sheppard will all of a sudden Sheppard is going to blossom into this great offensive player that will lead the Wild to the Promised Land. Yeah! And I am going to be a super model. Wild Beat Writer Mike Russo has a very good interview with the Wild GM Chuck Fletcher that decided to give Sheppard yet another chance to stick up the Xcel Energy Center. [Click to read Russo's Rants]