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Welcome to #ConferenceIII (Central): Minesota Wild

The Minesota Wild are the first team that we'll look at in our mini-series, as the first game against them falls today, but also because they are the closest geographical rival… and we are likely to hate them quickly because of it.

You would think this would need to go unsaid, but let's keep the hate to a friendly competitive hate (is that an oxymoron?).

We'll take a look of past performances over the last two years compared to the Jets and let you know of changes in the roster. We'll leave the predictions to you. So, let us know which direction you think the roster changes positions the team in the future.

Past Performance

2011-13 Statistics with position in #ConferenceIII in parenthesis

Winnipeg Jets Statistic Minesota Wild
50.8 (3) GF% 46.6 (6)
49.6 (3) SF% 46.9 (7)
50.4 (3) FF% 46.0 (6)
50.0 (3) CF% 45.4 (6)
8.41 (2) Sh% 7.12 (6)
91.98 (5) Sv% 92.80 (2)
100.39 (2) PDO 99.92 (5)

A reminder that  GF, SF, FF, and CF are all differentials placed into a percentage (G being goals, S being shots on goal, F being Fenwick events (all non-blocked shot attempts), and C being Corsi events (all shot attempts)).

The shot metrics don't speak to kindly of Minnesota. In 2011-12 they were one of the most out shot and chanced teams in the league, but enjoyed early success due to inflated shooting percentages. Their eventual demise that season is the archetypical example of predictive modeling in hockey statistics.

Well, how has their progress gone over the last two seasons?

Year Goal% Shot% Fenwick% Corsi%
2011-12 45.0 45.7 44.6 44.0
2012-13 49.0 49.2 48.6 48.0

In the Summer of 2012 the Wild made a big purchase, buying the two largest UFA’s in a package deal. Ryan Suter and Zach Parise are pretty good players, and together were able to push the Minesota Wild from bottom of the barrel to bubble team. This is likely as far as Parise and Suter can push the team by themselves. The rest will have to come from other players and coaching. Rumour is coach Mike Yeo is encouraging more carried zone entries, which has been shown to improve shot metrics.

Additions and Subtractions

According to NHL.com…

Additions: RW Nino Niederreiter, D Keith Ballard, LW Matt Cooke, D Jonathon Blum

Subtractions: RW Cal Clutterbuck, C Pierre-Marc Bouchard, C Matt Cullen, RW Devin Setoguchi, D Tom Gilbert

UFAs: D Brett Clark, G Jeff Deslauriers, G Dennis Endras, C Jarod Palmer, C David McIntyre, C Joel Broda

Promotion candidates: D Mathew Dumba, C Zack Phillips

Who to look out for and/or hate

The likely line of Zach Parise – Mikko Koivu – Jason Pominville. Parise and Koivu are capable plus possession players and both Parise and Pomniville can score some points. Their top line is similarly structured like the Jets’ own Andrew Ladd, Bryan Little and Blake Wheeler; however, LLW has been more successful.

Jonas Brodin is pretty fantastic young player, even improving Ryan Suter’s underlying numbers when they are together.

Zenon Konopka is a terrible hockey player but will probably rise the ire of some Jets fans.

Summary

Being only seven hours away from Winnipeg, the Minnesota Wild are the closest geographical rival. Add in being another bubble team and are likely one of the biggest competitors for the 3rd and final playoff spot in the Central Division, a very large rivalry could be in the making.

Option Votes
Improved the team, but are not better than the Jets 24
Improved the team, and have surpassed the Jets 55
No improvement; they still suck… a lot. 14
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