Wild Notes: What Have We Learned?

We’re three games into the Wild’s ‘09-10 season, and we’ve learned a few important things about this team. 

1. They have some pluck.  They can still skate as well as they did under Lemaire.  They’ve got a good will to win.  They’re not shy.

2. They’re still strugging with the transition from Lemaire hockey to Richards hockey.  This is to be expected.  First, it’s a big transition.  Second, training camp was rough because they were pretty banged up which meant they didn’t get a lot of time on the ice as a team.  Watching video and chalk talk is one thing, but physically doing it is quite another.  This is likely going to be a process that takes some time as they’re now shoveling against the tide since it’s the regular season.  Old habits really do die hard and it’s not for lack of trying.  For example, the defensemen are pinching, just like coach Richards wants them to.  But they’ve not yet figured out the opportune times to do so, and the result is odd-man rushes against.  There’s just too small a margin for error with such parity across the league.  And when you add confusion and the mind and the body sending mixed signals to each other when the player only has a split-second to make a decision – the results are, well, a 1-2-0 start. 

This is not a lack of talent problem.  Well, okay, maybe it is a little bit of a lack of talent problem.  But it’s premature to say that the lack of talent is what’s keeping this team from succeeding.  Once the current roster acclimates to the new system, if there’s still a lack of talent problem that’s different.

3. Backstrom was not just a product of Lemaire’s system.  He has been strong in his two starts.  It was interesting to watch him play against Steve Mason in the season opener.  Where Mason is often a train wreck fundamentally (he makes up for it with size, quickness and a very high level of natural talent) Backstrom’s fundamentals are still very solid.  Backstrom looks like he will survive outside of Lemaire’s system.  It’s scary to think about what Mason’s numbers would look like out of Hitchcock’s system and in, say, Keenan’s system.

4.  Harding is still not the answer at starter.  Granted, he’s only had one start.  Granted, the team was brutal defensively in front of him.  Granted, there’s additional pressure on him because he has to know he’s being showcased.  But he’s got to play well to establish himself.  He’s got to steal games – or at least periods – when his team is struggling in front of him.  The great ones do.

The bottom line is that this Wild team looks about like what we thought they’d look like.  A team that will struggle to stay in the playoff race much into 2010.  Again, not because they don’t care, but because they have a tough task in learning this new system – even though it looks like it could pay dividends  and they have no time/margin for error which they learn it. 

Other notes:

As predicted, the grumbling about former #4 overall pick Benoit Pouliot has renewed in earnest after more ineffective play from the youngster.  The problem is that he’s still got more potential than his market value would indicate, which makes it doubly-hard to decide to move him.  But, at least in Wild fans’ eyes, he’s had enough chances to get his mind right and show some professionalism.  He might very well start hearing some boos from the locals.

Richards, showing who’s boss, benched Martin Havlat for a while during the first period of Thursday night’s loss in Los Angeles.  Coach had previously benched Pierre-Marc Bouchard in the BJs game for ineffective play as well.  Good to know the rookie isn’t afraid to try the stick when the carrot isn’t working.

Nick in New York

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