wild/nhl

One indirect way to prevent them is to actually have a disipline system that works. Is the Shanahan system any better at the end of this season than the Campbell system? No. Despite a good start, the NHL Office of Player Safety is as much of a joke as the Colin Campbell Wheel of Discipline. It's erratic and, despite a good PR campaign, doesn't protect anyone bacause since December it has been used only sparingly and only in the same cases as the old system was (no headbutting then or now Nate Prosser). Since then, NHL GM's and agents have complained so much that susoensions are down 35%, but hits to the head clearly have not (just watch the NHL hits of the week sometime. No one is going to stop targeting the head until everyone who does sits.

A big duh on this one. Go back in time. I have been questioning the training staff and doctors of this team for several years abput this very issue. Also, I know you like to bring-up how poor EC did at first. But it was a new team, a new system, znd he had hardly played with the NYR. What excuses do you have for CC's yearly disappearing act the last half to third of the past 3-4 season? No harm bringing him back for depth at $1MM.

If Fletcher thinks that Heatley was "outstanding" this season that explains why the Wild had a poor season. This man is a terrible judge of talent! Heatley did have some spurts where he showed his capabilities however in most games he did not commit to playing the type of hockey (see Red Wings) that it takes to win. If you ever played the game you could see hundreds of times when Heatley made it look like he was trying to get body position, or make it look like he was going to make a hit but in actuality he had no intent on making the sacrifice. He "acted" on most of his shifts. Fletcher is the bottom-line to this terrible season.

@reader8 Heatley went into the corners. I saw him hussle back to backcheck. I saw Heatley try every game. I also saw him miss the net or put the puck right into the crest of the goalie at the beginning half of the year. Second half he did better. You can question alot of things about Heatley but not his effort.

reader8...you must have been wanting to see what you supposedly saw in Heatley. Which, is not correct. Almost every night he went out there and played the game as a vet should- hard and without quit. When he was battling through injury he looked a bit hesitant but that's understandable. Twenty five + games missed by Koivu and many by Seto and he was playing with Brodziak...not the guy you want centering you if you are a goal scorer. Heatley would have easily had 30 if MK had 25 more games with him.

The biggest problem Heater had was not shooting the puck. I can't count how many games I'd look at the SOG total and it'd be a big goose-egg to maybe 2-3 shots for him. Your shooters HAVE to be pulling the trigger, period. And in games I went to, guys were looking for those top-shelf, knock the water bottle over goals, not putting things down low where a rebound could occur. It's why the Wild had the lowest goals since the lockout. They barely shoot, and when they do there's no rebound chances.

Tend to agree with Fletch that more of the man games seem to be impact injuries rather than conditioning injuries. Refreshingly few "lower body", i.e., pulled groins this year. Of course, with no Gabby, Zids, or Havlat, it's easier. And yikes, I am agreeing with mgala again when he talks about EC. He basicall rode pine for two months in NY. I would think it would take a bit to get the hands back. I agree it would be useful to have some cheap depth that actually has hands (in contradistinction to Ortmeyer, Peters, Veillieux, Powe, McIntyre, et al)

I agree wholeheartedly with CF on Heater. For those who question the shot on goal totals on a game by game basis take into account what CF is saying. Tough to get a shot on goal when you can't get it out of your own zone, and when you finally do its to get to the bench. Tough to get a shot on goal when your are going against the opponents top checking line alone, as he was without MK and DS for most of the year. And, complaining about shooting it into the goalie? You were probably complaining about not shooting at all.

I was happy with Heatly's work considering the team he is playing on. A definite improvement to Havlat.

Regarding Heatley, Fairly obvious but should be said. When playing the Wild, who do you think the other teams concentrated on shutting down? With the most our offense missing for half the seasons, Heatley didn't see a favorable matchup the entire second half of the season. Not tough to shut a team down, when you only have to worry about one line.