ST. PAUL, Minn. \u2014 It\u2019s pretty rare for an NHL team to have a \u201cmust-win\u201d game on Nov. 1, but the Minnesota Wild are a five-alarm fire right now.<\/p>\n
They\u2019ve dropped eight of their past nine, including the first four in this critical six-game homestand. If Minnesota can\u2019t pick up a victory Saturday against the Vancouver Canucks \u2014 which is missing seven players, including star defenseman Quinn Hughes \u2014 you have to start looking long and hard at your roster.<\/p>\n
This is gut-check time for the Wild, who got booed off the ice following Thursday\u2019s 4-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. They played one really good period and then Pittsburgh took over, dominating them in the final 40 minutes.<\/p>\n
Coach John Hynes took exception to the word \u201cfragile\u201d being used about his team after the game, but he was pointed in challenging players to dig in and be harder and more competitive.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy don\u2019t we get a little bit tougher?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n
Alternate captain Marcus Foligno, meanwhile, called the team \u201cmellow and vanilla.\u201d<\/p>\n
This is a bad look for the veterans in the room and the leadership group. President of hockey operations and general manager Bill Guerin met with the three captains individually before this homestand. He talked about them being \u201cin this together.\u201d There have been four straight losses since, and by the latest, Guerin was seen in his press box suite with his head in his hands.<\/p>\n
Hynes is starting to show his frustration. He can keep preaching the Wild\u2019s identity, how they\u2019re supposed to play consistently to give them a chance to win. But with only one or two complete games played (the win over the New York Rangers on Oct. 20, Tuesday\u2019s 4-3 overtime loss to Winnipeg), if they have what it takes to play the way he wants.<\/p>\n
They\u2019re not built to play the speed and skill game, like opponents they\u2019ve seen, from the New Jersey Devils to the Utah Mammoth to the San Jose Sharks. They\u2019re not built to outscore their problems, not with their top stars struggling (Matt Boldy with one goal in his last eight games).<\/p>\n
And, right now, they don\u2019t even look equipped to play the heavy, gritty, defensively stingy style of hockey they\u2019ve prided themselves on for years here, whether it was Dean Evason\u2019s \u201cgrit first\u201d mentality or last year\u2019s \u201cChoose Your Hard\u201d mantra.<\/p>\n
Still, as hard a game as that is to play, Hynes pointed out that every team tries to play a similar style.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you look around the league \u2026 everyone wants to get to the net front. Everyone wants to hit the high slot. Everyone wants to defend hard. Everyone wants to box out at the net front. Like it\u2019s the same things every night. There\u2019s slight tweaks to different systems. \u2026 What we need to find is that commitment to play a highly competitive game night in and night out. Like there\u2019s not a coach in the league that\u2019s not going to say we don\u2019t want to play fast, north, direct.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to get that commitment to where it needs to be. That\u2019s what it takes to win.\u201d<\/p>\n
But the coaches can\u2019t do it for the players. It\u2019ll be up to them, and Foligno said, \u201cIt\u2019s not even close right now\u201d in terms of what they were last year.<\/p>\n
Foligno isn\u2019t comparing this group to a defending Cup champion, a division champion or, heck, even a team that won a round. Last season\u2019s team might have been as close as any in the Wild\u2019s 10-year drought without a playoff series victory.<\/p>\n
But from what the Wild have shown this season, they\u2019re moving further toward the bottom of the pack. Owner Craig Leipold insisted before the season that they want to be \u201cmore than a playoff team.\u201d It\u2019s a fair question whether they\u2019ll actually make it. The season is far from over, but the league has rarely shown this type of parity, where even some of last year\u2019s non-playoff teams have turned the standings upside down in the early going (Utah, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Seattle).<\/p>\n
This is pro sports, and if the players don\u2019t start winning games, Hynes may end up being the scapegoat for all of this. As much as we\u2019ve heard in recent days that the coach is safe, we\u2019ve seen how quickly that can change. How votes of confidence soon lead to coaching searches.<\/p>\n
Potentially winless six-game homestands do that to a coach, and Hynes is the easiest change to make \u2013 fair or not.<\/p>\n
But if Guerin pulls that trigger, all eyes will focus squarely on him. Rare is it that GMs survive after firing three coaches. Guerin bought himself four years with the buyouts of Ryan Suter and Zach Parise. He and his staff had all this time to build and prepare this team to be ready to become a contender once they were in the clear. The roster construction of this team should be scrutinized.<\/p>\n