Wild Report: Wild Taking Baby Steps On Road To Mediocrity

James Sheppard and the Wild have appealed to a higher authority for help often this season. (Credit: Xgeorg, Via Wikipedia Commons.)

Five weeks into the season and the Wild is a frustrating team to watch. It must be a frustrating team to be a part of as well. When you’ve worn your new third jersey more often than you’ve worn your A-game, you know you’ve got problems.

However, since a disastrous early season road trip (0-5) that put the team in a hole it will be hard pressed to emerge from this season, things have gotten better recently. In fact, the current 3-1-0 stretch they’re on has included tangible evidence that the team is starting to “get” coach Richards’ system. Perhaps more importantly, the team is also beginning to be able to translate their newfound understanding of the system into on-ice performance of same. For better or for worse, any steps they can take towards getting the “still learning The System” monkey off their back is a positive.

Of course, not everyone is at the same level of enlightenment.

Young James Sheppard, he of the shoe size (15) that may just be bigger than his IQ (judging by his infamous “I’ve been playing hockey since I was three” quote in response to the genesis of his butting heads with ex-coach Jacques Lemaire) is struggling mightily – which is ironic since the “since I was three” line was in the context (at least in his mind) of him being more of a forechecker than he felt Lemaire allowed him to be – a role that Richards purportedly wants his forwards to embrace. Nevertheless, the large-footed one has found his way to the press box recently, where one hopes he will be able to better identify the root of his struggles.

But it’s more than just Sheppard. Across the entire roster right now, only five players are even or plus. And one of those players has only appeared in one game (Bouchard, concussion.) Free agent crown jewel Martin Havlat has been massively disappointing, with only 1-6-7 and a -12 on the season so far.

The good news is that the Wild is getting healthy. Other than Bouchard, only Kim Johnsson is currently out with anything serious. Perhaps that correlates to the better play – consistency, the argument would go, in the lineup equaling both players in their appropriate roles as well as time to learn those roles in practice – of late.

Regardless the reason, expect the Wild to continue to play .500 hockey in the short-term, if not the rest of the season.

Miscellaneous Tidbits

*Goalie Nik Backstrom is sitting on 99 NHL wins.

*After falling behind at least once in each of their first 12 games (3-9-0), the Wild has only fallen behind in one of their past four games (3-1-0).

*During their current 4-game winning streak, the Wild has coughed up a lead in three of those games, but ultimately won each of those three games.

*The Wild is hoping its success against the Eastern Conference continues (3-0-0 this season; 12-5-1 last season), as they embark on a four-game road trip against Toronto, Tampa Bay, Washington and Carolina.

*Is Benoit Pouliot turning the corner on a career that got off to a rocky start? PickedJ just three spots behind Sidney Crosby in the 2005 Entry Draft (and ahead of such players as Carey Price, Gilbert Brule, Devin Setoguchi, Anze Kopitar, Martin Hanzal, Tuukka Rask, TJ Oshie, Andrew Cogliano, Ondrej Pavelec, Paul Stastny and Guillaume Latendresse) Pouliot has earned rave (for him) reviews from the Wild punditry for his improved play and dedication so far this season. Not that that helped him avoid a few games in the press box so far, though he was back in the lineup against Dallas on Saturday, and continued to play well.