KFAN Wild Weekly w/Kevin Gorg

0:00You're listening to the official Minnesota wild pond cast presented by For sure Now here to talk about the Minnesota wild and the NHL from the wild Kevin Faulness and from the fan Brandon Moleski Good evening. Welcome to another episode of KFN Wild Weekly our first post trade deadline an episode. I'm Brandon Moleski. He's Kevin Faulness from the Minnesota wild ready to know work and Kevin good evening as always and what do you think of the trade deadline the wild definitely added some depth to the team. Yeah I mean you know I think everybody out there was looking for that big splash I think you got that though a few months ago when he was I don't know that you're ever gonna top that and then you look at the the pieces that they got I feel like they they bolstered their the depth of this lineup and I like a lot of them I like especially McCarran man I think he fits so well in this lineup and then Nick Falino there's not a better guy off the ice except maybe his brother but you put them together in that line I'm excited about some of

1:03these moves I can't wait to see how it plays out over the final 17 games of the regular season it is kind of funny like the timing of when trades are made right like if that Quinn Hughes trade happened the day of the trade deadline as opposed to when was that now right around Christmas yeah come months ago if that had happened trade deadline people are oh my gosh we got Quinn Hughes greatest trade deadline ever and it's like well we already got our superstar and he's one of the best players in the league you know and to that point when the trade was made he you know he splashed out of the scene was fantastic but he even said at that time you know you like it now wait till we're 30 games in if you got him at the trade deadline he just be picking up steam as we got into the playoffs now he's had you know a third of the season under his belt 30 games plus with the wild and the numbers speak for itself I mean the eye test is fantastic but the number is also tell you that those 30 games that he's been here it's helped them establish themselves as one of the elite teams in the national high league and that's why they are where they're in the standings you know when you and I both talked about the Olympics right and

2:06the roster construction from Bill Garen and the fact that there were some big names big scores that were left off like Jason Robertson but that Garen was trying to construct a team that could that you'd have certain roles slotted for all the different players right and clearly that works for team USA they be candidate with the gold medal and I kind of felt like that's what this trade deadline was about right now I still think ultimately in the next year or two they still might try to go out and get a number one center and really cap this thing off but guys like McCarran right they and Falino how many times and they know they're playing the Dallas stars and the last time we played the Dallas stars our penalty kill let us down big time right yeah and now you add McCarran and Falino both can take draws from either side right and McCarran's the right shot we saw it in Colorado the other day where McCarran goes and take the face off it's kicked out of the circle well you have another guy in Falino who's well versed and taken face-offs and they won the draw in the ice the fuck right both are great penalty killers and they have just more depth now from a PK

3:09standpoint this does appear to me like this is Bill Garen doing that exact same roster construction of hey we got to have certain roles with our third and fourth liners yeah I think he would have loved to have made that splash with the top six forward and you know that number one center and really strengthen things down the middle but the way the market was working it didn't seem like that was in the cards and there's still some big things to happen I think coming to summer as you alluded to but what they did here they strengthened themselves and you know the strongest part of a tree is the roots and that's what I think the bottom the jockler marries to call them plumbers I think these guys are more than just plumbers I love the way Michael McCarran plays six foot six two hundred thirty two pounds I mean he's just a monster out there and I think if you put him in the middle of one of those those bottom six lines even even if he's in the fourth line and put a couple of strong sturdy wingers on the side of them this is going to make a real tough matchup for the Dallas stars like you said it's written in the stars that's with the wilder plane in the 17 short games you get into the postseason and

4:12they're gonna be a handful for Dallas and it ain't gonna be an easy out no it definitely will be they've been they've been the hottest team league other than maybe the Buffalo Sabers over the the last couple weeks while do beat the mammoth five nothing last night they kind of get that mammoth monkey off their back and a pretty convincing win for I thought from start to finish and some your big guy's door but you'll get scoring all over the place including Bobby Brink and his home debut that was cool and you know what's even need her about it it you don't need to have pretty goals this time of year anything college bounce but there was some fantastic goals of the Caprice off gets his own rebound and scores from his knees the Europe goal was ridiculous yes undressed weaker and he cuts to the net the Bobby Brink goal I think was a nice little shot on the two ones one yeah I mean there was just some fantastic goals last night but regardless they get the five zero win and they continue this role six one and one in the last eight at home nine two and one in the last 12 overall keep it going against the the lowly flyers tomorrow night they had some fantastic goals but they've also had fantastic goal tending yeah I

5:14feel a gust of some of the shout out last night I thought ball said play one of his best games of the year the other night in Colorado especially with all the times they had to be stuck on the penalty kill so thanks training in the right direction for the Minnesota wild we talk with Kevin Gorg from Fandall Sports Network the K-Train all more for the K-Train next right here on K-Fan Wild Weekly holding one into open ice for the chase down the Terrasenko is leaned on by Sean Ders now JJ Paturka his pass had escaped turn over Caprice off a shot from his back side yeah wild win five nothing last night that was Joe Donald Tom read on the call on the Wild Rated Network her last night in the fan as the wild finally take down the mammoth by a score five nothing I'm Brandon Molesky Kevin falling with me pleased to be joined on the television side of things from Kevin Gorg

6:17from Fandall Sports Network now a good evening Kevin how you doing tonight good evening boys doing great enjoying the season and really started to look forward to the the pole season this is in my 20th year without a doubt the most talented team I've covered there's a lot of juice right now around this Minnesota Wild Club all right how would you grade the trade deadline for the Minnesota Wild oh man that's a great question I'll just start by saying I didn't want them to move guys like Ryan Hartman or yes for ball fed so in my eyes they absolutely got better you can't give them a straight A because they didn't get that that top six forward to complain the middle and can help on the power play but I still love what Billy Garrett did so I would probably go in minus and just looking at the depth they have right now the size they've gained and the way some of these new guys have contributed here in the first

7:17couple of games I'm quite excited I want to take you away from the game itself well kind of the game last night anyway the watch the game knows that there was no LePanta no Gorg it was a national broadcast how do you watch a game that you're not doing and you in your living room you get your jammies surrounded by your 84 dogs how are you taking in the contest I do it the same every time I I do watch in my living room I I pace most of the time I stand when I'm working wherever I'm in on home games or away games I'm I'm pacing or walking or standing during the game and I I do drive those those dogs you reference Fenway and Brooks bananas because I'm always pacing my significant other Christie she goes up stairs because you can't take it and and I watch you know with with a careful eye I'm trying to figure out storylines for our next broadcast and you know they've got a ton of nationally televised games right back in the schedule I think while I have 17 games left I think we're doing 11 of them and I don't like

8:18I got to be honest with both you guys I much prefer to be working all I know there's no let me tell you that's no quick brand and usually when it's a national broadcast I love it because there's no one down there in Gorg's words clumping on me I can take whoever I want intermission post game last night they use three wild guys someone in each intermission and the post game I had second choice and you weren't even there that's garbage all I know I agree there's there's no national radio coverage all I know is we get our local coverage every single game for the mess of the wild every night we hashtag new TV KG let's talk about the opponent last night the Utah Mammoth who going into the game had beaten the wild by scores of 6 to 2 5 to 2 there's a little bit of a feeling of maybe maybe this team's got our number a little bit bad matchup for us what changed last night for the Minnesota wild well I think he caught the Utah Mammoth at the perfect time they had played an overtime game in Chicago the night before second and back the back with some travel we've seen the wild on

9:18that on that side of the equation it's a tougher task no doubt about it that the last time the wild played Utah it was the exact opposite and the Utah took charge that hockey game so I think the wild had had more energy had had more jump in their game and I think I'll be honest in the first period I thought it's pretty even game I thought Bill Duffiston once again was was a real difference maker I think he did not have the Olympics he wanted for team Sweden he's come back and every start he's given the wild starting back in Denver where he stopped 44 to 45 he's been brilliant and I almost cringe because I know how the school kind of thing works you know it's hard to sustain this for six weeks I almost wish we were starting the playoffs in a week because it looks like both our goalies are trending in the right direction but no back to the question in hand you know the wild absolutely with a team like Utah who has all that speed and all that skill can put themselves in a bad spot the last night I thought they were great without the puck I thought they're their group of defensemen walked a bunch of shots and then really did a good

10:21job of taking away some of that space you didn't see a ton of our number of rushes by the mammoth which is something that would always concern you when you play them and then I just thought the wilds skill players made big plays throughout the game I think you're right about the goal tending and you've been the goal tending guru Gustafson was great last night but I think one of the most important starts of the post Olympic schedule was yes for ball stead in Colorado on Sunday Gorge I don't think he's look good in a while honestly his numbers weren't great in his last six starts but I thought he threw up a gym against the avalanche at ball arena 34 saves he he needed that one and you know as much as we're gonna rely on Philip Gustafson I think you need yes for Valsda to be at the top of his game and he showed he's still capable of it on Sunday you make a great point Kevin I think if if we've gotten to know Philip Gustafson he's been at his best throughout his time in Minnesota when he's been pushed when he's had to look over his shoulder and know that he doesn't bring his best somebody else is going to take that spot because he

11:23wants to be out there he wants to compete so with that being said it felt like yes for ball stead had a nice sigh of relief and maybe he'll never tell us how much he was thinking about the trade deadline and so much conversation locally and nationally about him being moved and I know from getting to know yes for that that he really likes it here does not want to leave Minnesota so now you you get to the other side of the deadline he isn't moved it just felt like he was a different player mentally in that game you can argue that was his best start of the season and he's had some really good starts he's beating the avalanche now twice and I just loved his game I loved how mobile he was I loved everything about the technical side of his game he was in the right position he was in the right spot he made huge saves at key moments in that hockey game and to have two guys going here in the final month is going to be big for Minnesota I was talking with Kevin Gorg from Fandall Sports Network you will watch him again tomorrow night when the wild hosts that fill it up your

12:26flyers at Grand Casino Arena I want to talk about some a little bit more specifically about some of the players the wild traded for obviously we haven't seen Jeff Petri yet but Michael McCarran had two points in his opener versus Vegas Bobby Brink looked like he tried to eat the boards last night but then came back with a big goal in his first game in his home state Nick Falino obviously I don't know if you've heard but he's brothers with Marcus Falino he was pretty good on the penalty kill the other day for Colorado against Colorado what are your first impressions of those three newcomers I'll start with McCarran because to me he brings a couple of things to the table that are going to be really important to play off time the size is obvious he's physical the ring shrinks in the playoffs we know this and and so that size is going to be big but I didn't realize watching him in Nashville how good a penalty killer he was and then how important he can be in the face-off circle those are two really critical areas for Minnesota specifically on that dot so I've been

13:28super impressed with him not one bit surprised with what Bobby Brink has brought to the table we've watched this kid from back in his minute talking days I had a chance to have a quick conversation with his old coach John Goldsworthy last weekend during the state tournament and hearing some of the behind-the-scenes stories from Goldie on coaching this kid knowing he want to stay a championship in Meditaka knowing he won a national championship at Denver he reminds me a lot of a young Jason Zucker he knows how to score he's fast and he can play in a lot of different spots in your lineup what I'm blown away by is the fact that the while we're able to get him for David Yearichek and and listen I love David he's a great kid he cares a ton it was never gonna work in Minnesota as soon as Billy Garen went on got Quinn Hughes I think his fate was sealed here and I think a lot of teams knew that so once again you know Bill Garen he did this back in the Kevin Fiala days moving him for a first round draft and Brock favor got the absolute most out of that and so really impressed with him the

14:33question I have for you guys here is if I handy cap where we're gonna be in April and likely it's gonna be Dallas we see that yeah so you got Carrille Hartman and Zuki you got Johansson at and Goldie and I think Brink slotted nicely with year-off and Tara Sanko so now I have written down the next six guys in line for three spots yeah and I don't know how I'm gonna have John Heins and his coaches staff are going to say for with McCarran the two Polinos Sturm training has been playing great yeah and of course Robbie Fabri was a nice player it's a great problem to have but I don't know how you're gonna see that play out it's a huge question Mark that was gonna be my question for you is the fourth line because they did look so good last night they combined for 13 hits nine of them went to Trenyon but then you've got Felineo you know Marcus Felineo floating around in the wings in my mind in theory having McCarran in between the two Polinos would be outstanding but I don't want Trenyon on the sidelines the way he's played not only lately but all season long so this is a heck of a quandary here for for John Heins we call it

15:34good problem to have we call it good problem to have and I think with Trenyon the hit leader in the national occupant by the way it's not even close a huge gap from his number to whoever's in second so Trenyon to me in the playoffs is a no-brainer that's why you brought him in that's why you signed him for that contract and John Heins and Bill Garen have both talked about that Marcus Polino is the heart and soul of this hockey team now we might not see him until the final week of the regular season it just looks like an interesting problem to figure out and what I would tell you is if I'm John Heins and that coaching staff I remind players like Marcus Johansson who's a terrific player but again at his best when someone's breathing down his neck that's why having Bobby Brink who can slide into that second line spot and play with Matt Bolden right now if you're an offensive player like Johansson or Bobby Brink who would not want to play with Matt Bolden there are a lot of courage to dangle here and I think it gives Bill Garen's put John Heins and that coaching staff in a really interesting position where they can dangle some of

16:36those here down the stretch and then figure out in the final month here of the regular season who indeed is playing their best hockey and most important keep everybody healthy I want them to have that problem yeah I was gonna say KG but by the time we get there you know there's always a guy or two that's hurt that weren't him and that's the good thing of all these moves right is we have depth now that if we do have an injury too which is bound to happen there's not gonna be as big of a drop off as maybe they had in the past you know I wouldn't look I know Vladimir Tarsenko's had a pretty good good season and even even Yorov I think with all this depth now even those guys have to play their way into the lineup to get in the postseason obviously Yorov was really really good last night that goal was terrific I agree and he's made some real strides this year and I think we're just scratching the surface when you watch him on a daily basis see him at practice see him in morning skate this kids got all kinds of skill it reminds me a lot of those first couple of years with players like act players like Pierre Mark Bouchard where you're watching these guys and the

17:36numbers aren't gonna blow you away in that first year but you see the talent and then you're just you're kind of looking at what could be here I think we saw another again find example that goal he scored against the mammoth last night he's he's gonna be I think before it's all said and done a guy that can score 20 to 30 goals it's not gonna happen here might not even happen next year but there there's a lot of flexibility that hinds has with this this roster right now and you can move a lot of guys around break can move around Yorov can move around we've seen Tara Sanko move around Johansson can go up and down and then I again Robbie Fabrice kind of got lost in the shuffle here but the little I've seen in a wild sweater I like and I think you guys have talked talked about you know how good of your training and sad and then I come back to Nick Bellino again limited data here but what I've seen so far this guy can play there's getting chances when when he's on the ice so I I really do like the

18:36depth of Minnesota brings to the table it's it's almost though cringe worthy every night when I look at the standings or the scoreboard because Dallas doesn't have rupee hints they don't have their best player in Mikko Rantonen and they just keep winning 12-1-1 in their last 13 and as good as the wild are and they are dramatically better now when they were at the start of the year if you start to play us right now they're a they're an underdog in that series in the buddy mark let me ask you this then as we as we wrap it up the last few games have been unbelievable with the playoff intensity beating up against Tampa Bay going up against the light of the the the nights the avalanche last night against the mammoth you look at what's coming up here including Thursday in St. Paul against the flyers the next three games are against teams that are not going to the playoffs they're the bottom five teams in the eastern comments and the flyers the Rangers and the Leafs how do you keep up that intensity that we've enjoyed the last few games against teams that you know probably don't warrant a lot of intensity well you make a good

19:37point because we do remember a couple Sundays ago the wild is a heavy favorite of home losing to the St. Louis Blues and so Minnesota all year long to me is elevated their game when they played the best competition and they've had some struggles against teams that maybe weren't as good and so this will be to challenge this week I think the fact that Dallas keeps winning and they're trying to get home ice certainly will keep them motivated and then what we just talked about John Heinz has the flexibility to move some guys in and out of the lineup to try some different combinations but also to motivate guys to earn that ice time because you've got the stretch of hockey right now where you go Philly the Rangers and Toronto at home three games and four nights this weekend then you have a home at home with the black oxy five straight games against non-playoff teams but then after that a showdown at home against Dallas in the 22nd and then a road trip that takes you to Tampa Florida and Boston that's where the rubber meets the road and so super important for Minnesota to keep playing like they did last night keep playing like they did last week in the

20:40games you mentioned where they were great against Tampa Colorado and Vegas KG you're the best I always enjoy talking with you talking to you and I can't wait to see you on my television screen tomorrow night yes mute fallen this more KG please thanks KG see you big boy he's Kevin go Kevin go order Fandall sports network wild back on the television tomorrow night on Fandall sports network seven o'clock but of course you can also listen to it with Kevin fallen this Joe Donald and Tom Reed right here on the fan pregame at 6.45 Kevin you can and you should Tom Reed is back who is a great having Alex stay like along for the ride for a handful of games but Tom was back Tuesday night he's back again Thursday and beyond so good to have the band back together all right thanks Kevin we'll talk to you next week yes you will thank you for listening this has been another episode of KFM Wild Wiggly we'll talk you next week an extraordinary advantage in sports you need a game plan for an extraordinary advantage everywhere else all you need is Acroshure with a

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