As coach John Hynes was holding individual meetings with a host of underperforming players, Guerin had separate conversations with the three players who wear letters on their sweaters. He met face-to-face with Kirill Kaprizov and had phone conversations with captain Jared Spurgeon and now-injured Marcus Foligno.
“It’s early, but you can’t ignore it,” Guerin told The Athletic during a sitdown interview before Saturday’s 6-2 loss to the Mammoth. “You can’t say, ‘Oh, we have 70-something games left.’ It doesn’t work like that. If you fall too far behind or if you’re not solid at the beginning, you can really put yourself in a bad spot for the playoffs. So it is serious. I’m concerned because it’s very fixable. I’m concerned because we’re not playing for our identity.”
Guerin wouldn’t divulge what he learned from the Wild leaders, saying, “The only thing I could share with you is they are with us. They are equally concerned and want to work it out and want to figure it out and get back to it. The one thing I know is I could sit up here and criticize a lot of things, but I never question how much this team cares and how much they want it, how much they really want to get better.”
What’s concerning, though — especially against young, fast teams like the past three losses to the New Jersey Devils, the Mammoth and the Sharks — is that the Wild’s vets look a step or two behind the fresh legs of the Logan Cooleys, Dylan Guenthers and Macklin Celebrinis of the NHL while Wild youngsters like David Jiricek and Zeev Buium keep making major mistakes as they try to work out the kinks here rather than Iowa.
“We’ve asked a lot of Spurge,” Guerin said. “But I think that’s the beauty of Spurge. You know what, he cleans up a lot out there, no matter who he’s playing with. And if something was bothering him, I really wouldn’t know because he doesn’t let it show. But I think that’s why he’s such a great captain, it’s that he is there for everybody. He really is. He’s backing everybody up. He does it quietly, and he’s consistently there every single time.”
If no trade is on the horizon, the Wild will need to wait for reinforcements. Zuccarello, who underwent surgery during training camp, is the closest but probably a couple of weeks from debuting, Guerin said.
18 comments
25 years of the same middling, don’t bottom out teams.
Nothing is gonna change and everyone still on this train is gonna feel the same disappointment if they even sniff the 8th seed and lose again
Rinse and repeat
**GM Guerin:**
Sh*t. I know sh*t’s bad right now with all that losin’ bullshit. And the naming rights shit and first 5 minutes of the game goal scoring. And we runnin’ out of French Fries and burrito coverings and $15 beers. But I got a solution.
We’ve got this guy called Aging Vet.
What’s also concerning is he was saying this BEFORE the Utah game.
Where’s that graph saying we’re in the cup window opening now? I want to ask it a few questions
Reminder: 10 games. Lets chill. Panic happens at 20
More theatre, more smoke screen, and more existential talk about not playing to our “identity”.
At least they are not blaming the fans.
In the far distant past, the Twins were having one of their absolutely horrible seasons (I know, hard to believe) . The fans finally revolted and the stadium was a sea of vast empty seats for games.
The old owner at the time said something like (IIRC) :
“I don’t understand why the fans don’t come out to the game to watch these talented young players! ”
Uh, Cal—–it is not fun watching your team lose almost every single game. That’s why.
But this will never happen with the Wild and the owner knows it.
It will be a 19000 fan sellout every single game no matter how bad the team is.
The message this sends is obvious. Give us more of the same, we wiil continue to pay hard earned money for expensive tickets, and we hockey starved fans will still show up.
The message to the players should actually be:
“The fans always show up for every single game, how about you? ”
And
“Your JOB is to win games. Nothing else matters. “
Man, I recall someone in this very sub saying these games are meaningless and banking points early on wasn’t a thing. Huh, go figure.
To this topic, this is all he can do. It’s his coach, these are his players, he’s chosen them, he’s paid them and put these pieces all together. If the team keeps tanking to Thanksgiving, the odds become increasingly against them to even make the playoffs, and it’s generally coach replacement time. We’ll see what this does, as it clearly didn’t do anything against Utah or San Jose.
So the problem of why this team blows chunks is the couple kids we got up? Okay bill go fuck yourself. The vets are laughing at your dumb ass while the fans watch them coast and cash checks night in night out
Man… I thought Spurge was already not present enough of a captain for the fans but even Billy can only get a phone call lol
One of my favorite quotes from the Wolves playoff run last year was (paraphrasing) how the most impactful player on the court was a 23 year old with a 200+ million dollar contract playing like he was broke – Anthony Edwards. I know basketball and hockey aren’t remotely the same games but the point of that quote is true across sports. I’m not happy with the effort I’m seeing with this group at all. Where’s the hunger?
Atleast Deano was fucking pissed when players lacked hustle, benched our second best player a bunch.
“We’re in this together” which they aren’t
I was at last night’s game, and it was the emptiest I’ve seen in a long time. Also the quietest. Fuck
Why is the smallest mouse the captain of this team? I don’t see a lot of fiery motivational speeches coming from that guy.
If things keep up like this Bill and Hynes might not have to worry about the “we” part much longer. 🤞
That’ll fix it
I’m here too. We’re in this together.
Everyone gets all in their feels when I say it, but take the C off Spurgeon.
How do you all watch this team continue to play like losers year after year and conclude that the player captain is doing a great job?