What is The Daily Clutter?
It’s pretty simple. We’re going to send out a daily post to update our fans, The ClutterPuckers, on anything Minnesota Hockey (or hockey in general.) We might sprinkle in some other fun things, too.
TGIF, ‘Puckers!!!
We’ll try to keep it relatively light, today so you can read then relax and go out and have some fun on a Friday night! Team USA went for GOLD vs Team Sweden at the World Junior Championships, former Wild F Jason Zucker was suspended and some talk about the Center position!
Oh, and Jackie Redmond, a host & reporter for the NHL Network, now has her own YouTube show called The Jackie Redmond Show! The people who come up with the names of these shows do excellent work, huh? Haha! Keep it simple!
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Who doesn’t love Gold?
“It’s Golden”
Team USA vs Team Sweden TODAY for 2024 IIHF WJC bragging rights!
Obviously, this is a huge game so we’ll do a recap tomorrow but…
We will say these teams have battled each other for a few years…
From The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler:
Here’s the article but, ***SPOILER ALERT***, it reveals who won!
You don’t really think about how much these players have played each other over the years but it makes sense and it definitely makes for great hockey!
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Jason Zucker Suspended for Boarding Nick Cousins
That headline could be confusing if Cousins’ first name isn’t included!
It seems like we could say “another day, another questionable hit in the NHL” nowadays. Former Minnesota Wild & current Arizona Coyotes’ F Jason Zucker was Suspended Three Games For Boarding Florida Panthers F Nick Cousins after Cousins hit his teammate Jusso Valimaki in the head with an elbow as he was falling to his knees.
Jason Zucker didn’t like the hit so he responded right away and retaliation was likely on his mind so he didn’t think about the safety of Nick Cousins and where he was on the ice. He also rises into the hit to make it a harder hit.
Nick Cousins wasn’t given a penalty for his hit. Well, that is unless you count Zucker’s hit that put his head into the glass and put him in concussion protocol and no, it’s not okay to retaliate that way. Should Cousins have been assessed a penalty, too? His elbow hits Valimaki in the head but he doesn’t have much time to see Valimaki drop to his knees to try to keep the puck in the zone but the puck isn’t there yet either. Cousins did put his stick up to try to get a piece of the puck then ran into Valimaki so there isn’t a penalty there.
In the NHL Player Safety Video announcing the suspension, the announcer said, “…Zucker insists this play was not done in retribution…” That’s hard to believe because it looks like that’s 100% what it is.
What do you think, ‘Puckers?
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Front & Center…
How do teams improve at the center position?
If you were hoping the Minnesota Wild or any team could help their center position through free agency, this list should squash that. The “Marquee Names” section only has one name and that’s Calgary Flames F Elias Lindholm. Why do you think that is?
Teams do not allow good centers to get to free agency!!! You either have to trade for them or draft them and either way is difficult because you’re projecting what a player will turn into in 2-3 years if not more. Will they develop as they move up to the higher levels of hockey? How will they adjust when they have some adversity and the game gets more difficult because the players around them are a lot better & are not just in their age group anymore? This is why the scouts & general managers making the picks want to see what they’re made of, see how they compete & how hard they work on & off the ice, and find out what kind of person & teammate they are. All of them have a ton of talent but talent can probably get you on the ice but it’s going to take some hard work to keep you there.
Elias Lindholm did have an 82-point (& 42-goal) season in 2021-22 so maybe there’s something there but that went down to 64 points (22 G) in ‘22-’23 & 26 (8 G) so far this season in 41 games. Is part of that because he’s in Calgary and they’ve struggled in those seasons? For sure but that’s also part of why it’s so difficult to find centers in the NHL right now.
One name we’re going to keep an eye on is F Alex Wennberg. He makes us think of F Jonathan Drouin, who struggled after basically forcing his way out of Tampa Bay and to Montreal 8 years ago and has found some success with the Colorado Avalanche this season to the tune of 21 points (9 goals) in 39 games. You’re probably saying, “21 points? Big deal!” Well…18 of those points (8 goals) are from the last 24 games and they also include 7 points (3 G) on the power play. He was one guy we wanted to the Minnesota Wild to try to sign in the offseason. He signed for just $825K so the 28-year-old is setting himself up for a pretty good payday in July!
We aren’t surprised that he signed with a team that has all of the pieces to win it all either!
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Mariners great Edgar Martínez hits these questions out of the park!
The Jackie Redmond Show debuted from the Winter Classic
If you aren’t familiar with NHL Network host & reporter Jackie Redmond, she does an excellent job covering the NHL there and for TNT. That is surely a big reason why they are giving her her own show on YouTube!
Also, she will be covering the Minnesota Wild when they play the Dallas Stars in Dallas on Wednesday, January 10th on TNT & MAX at 6:30 pm.
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Minnesota Wild
The Record: 16-17-4 (W-L-OTL); 36 points, 7th in NHL’s Central Division
The Minnesota Wild lost 4-1 against Tampa Bay last night as their losing streak extended to 4 games. They’ll try to snap it tomorrow night in Columbus.
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Thanks for Reading!!!
If you missed any of the Daily Clutter Issues, Here you go:
Daily Clutter – Issue #1
Daily Clutter – Issue #2
Daily Clutter – Issue #3
Daily Clutter – Issue #4
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