Minnesota Wild coach working the refs
According to the estimable James Mirtle, the Minnesota Wild rank No. 24 in the NHL in average weight and No. 26 in average height.
They’re going to get knocked around and targeted, as they were against the Anaheim Ducks (average weight: No. 1).
Coach Mike Yeo knows this. And while he’d never, ever, ever criticize the NHL’s officials for not handing his team an appropriate amount of power pays, he sorta did in Los Angeles this weekend.
“We're a team that's built on speed and I think that style of hockey, that brand of hockey is very exciting for the fans," Yeo said. "I just felt in the game there were times where our speed was very frustrating for them and creating a lot of momentum for us, and there were times where they started to do things that should have warranted power plays for us.
"This is not to get into the whole debate of having tough guys and how many tough guys (do you need). I love toughness, too, but there's no question it's hard to build your team only around speed if that stuff isn't taken care of by giving us a chance to go on the power play when that happens."
Granted, that Ducks game provided him with ample fodder – still trying to figure out how Charlie Coyle got a double-minor for Ryan Getzlaf going after him – but one wonders if this’ll be a reoccurring theme for Yeo this season.
