Wilderness Walk for 10-18-2010: Hard Work Edition

by BReynolds on Oct 18, 2010 9:02 AM CDT in Wilderness Walks

Andrew Brunette attempts to find a cushy place to sit after eating an entire box of chocolates on one shift.

Here I am, roughly 9 AM on a Monday, slaving over this laptop. I ran out of chocolates yesterday, but I am battling through. I just work so hard... I think I deserve a good chocolate every now and again, you know? And some cookies. I definitely deserve cookies.

Turns out, when we wrote our game re-cap, that maybe Todd Richards was reading. It was suggested that Richards run the team through "Herbies" until they got the point. I think they got it, and I think Tom Powers should have been out on the ice yesterday to learn the lesson as well. He wasn't, so instead, we'll continue to beat the proverbial dead horse. Mostly because it adds value to my day.

Video of the Day:

"Win, lose, or tie, you're going to play like champions." Well... champions, AND something else, am I right?

Wild News:

Wild loss sets off Richards | StarTribune.com - Newspaper edition of what went down yesterday.

Riled-up Richards punishes Wild for "unacceptable" effort vs. Jackets; Burns injured | StarTribune.com - Now, the version we really wanted. Well... maybe a little closer to the version we REALLY wanted.

Wild coach Todd Richards sends a grueling message to his players to improve their work ethic - TwinCities.com - The Pioneer Press has their version as well. Funny... it's not from Tom Powers, though.

On the Farm:

The Third Intermission: 10/17/10: Ancient Chinese Secret - A very wise grasshopper once told me... make sure you read T3I. It's very good.

KiPA's Korner:

Hitting The Post: Ducks win, barely; Canucks bust slump - Good news out of Canucks camp? Bah. Maybe you can skip this one today.

Enjoy the day all. Don't work too hard, and for Pete's sake, people. Buy some chocolates, will ya?

Tweet Comment 12 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

"Again."

It’s funny that Burns and Cullen probably would have been the two who would have actually sort of enjoyed that practice.

And, that is exactly what the Wild players deserved after the first 4 games of the season. Let’s just hope that Richards got through to them. It is obvious that when the Wild are competing, they’re a very strong team. Their problem is that they get far too complacent, take shifts/periods off, stop going hard after the puck or the puck carrier.

I would have paid money to watch that practice.

by Krotz the Wall on Oct 18, 2010 9:27 AM CDT reply actions

They needed it; if they were gojng to ha e a complacent game, then an ass whupping practice is in order.

And now, after that grueling walk….frosted animal cookies for everyone! We need to keep our strength up; game tomorrow.

by brigid22 on Oct 18, 2010 9:44 AM CDT reply actions

PFFT

Both guys on NHL OTF said it would not make any difference and, players would loose respect for their coach-don’t know but don’t think they have much respect for him now-too little too late-now that his job’s on the line he decides to get tough.
SO now they’ll be “afraid” if they don’t come out with energy?? Don’t think so-BTW where’s the captain in all this?? WHere’s the leader of the team????

by Givinchy on Oct 18, 2010 10:10 AM CDT reply actions

The captain has 5 points in 4 games and apart from maybe Cullen has been the only man working his ass off on every shift so far. He can’t be much better of an example than he already is if you ask me. If everyone played with the same fire as Koivu, maybe the Wild would be looking at a perfect record through 4 games. Koivu is not to blame here.

JS, Champion of the first ever Hockey Wilderness Playoff Bracket Challenge! WHOOOOOOOO!

Not the loser of the first official Hockey Wilderness Fantasy Hockey League

Owner of the Bertrand Acadians of the Hockey Wilderness Fantasy Hockey League

twitter: BubbleWild48

by JSLandry on Oct 18, 2010 11:24 AM CDT up reply actions

A practice like that is about pride.

It’s a call to the players. Prove it. Prove that you can play and skate with intensity. If done correctly, and bought into by the right players, it can work very well.

by Krotz the Wall on Oct 18, 2010 11:59 AM CDT up reply actions

loose?

being “loose” will cause you to “lose” respect

http://twitter.com/knowsknothing

by jerem77 on Oct 18, 2010 3:04 PM CDT up reply actions

They needed it and hopefully this lights a fire under them.

Let’s just hope that Richards got through to them. It is obvious that when the Wild are competing, they’re a very strong team. Their problem is that they get far too complacent, take shifts/periods off, stop going hard after the puck or the puck carrier.
I would have paid money to watch that practice.

I agree 100% Krotz. Couldn’t have been said any better.

I think Tom Powers should have been out on the ice yesterday to learn the lesson as well.

Agreed. I would’ve paid to see that. On a side note, it’s nice to see Burns get off to a good start this year and the d not give up a ton of odd man rushes. Now please beat the hell out of the Canucks tomorrow lol.

by Call of the Wild on Oct 18, 2010 10:51 AM CDT reply actions

The guys got exactly what they needed

with that grueling practice yesterday. Maybe now they will show up for the game and hopefully play a full 60 minutes.

"Danny Valencia is a fricking stud! Hide your daughters!"
-Denard Span

by taralynn09 on Oct 18, 2010 11:30 AM CDT reply actions

Hopefully this is a new chapter for Richards.

He may have had the most to gain from being the drill sargent. It’s time for Richards to really take control of this team. He (along with Koivu) needs to be the emotional rock for the team and give the team the necessary fire to play three full periods of lights-out hockey.

Richards made the right call, and I really hope that the players respond and kick some ass tomorrow.

Owner of The Haves & Havlats in the Hockey Wilderness League

by ADN on Oct 18, 2010 12:18 PM CDT reply actions

Kaptain Koivu

Koivu seems like a lead by example kind of guy. But he’s so even keel and soft spoken. Has anyone ever seen/heard of him getting all riled up in the locker room and trying to light a fire under the team? Does he ever call them out for not pulling their weight, being out of position, etc?

People were saying that the Twins were missing that fire and brimstone player. Are the Wild missing it as well?

I love these guys. I think they have a lot of talent on the team. We need someone who will inspire them to capitalize on that talent.

by minnesotagirl71 on Oct 18, 2010 5:44 PM CDT reply actions

Never said Koivu was a bad player, just not captain material

by Givinchy on Oct 19, 2010 4:16 PM CDT up reply actions

Herbies

Flashbacks of puking through my facemask after we got in a brawl with Burnsville in ’96. Herbies and Lightning drills for a solid 90 minutes at the next practice.Ugh.

I’m just glad to see the power play clicking, Matt Cullen seems to complement Koivu very well. We need to get off to a decent start this year and not bury ourselves in a hole early like last season.

by JMigz on Oct 18, 2010 10:58 PM CDT reply actions