Hey, remember that game Thomas Vanek played for Montreal in last year’s Eastern Conference Final? The one where everyone teed off on him?
Because we’re getting a bit of deja vu.
With Minnesota trailing its series with Chicago, 3-0, a headline in the StarTribune reads: “Vanek’s vanishing act a glaring flaw for Wild.”
And, of course, there have been the tweets...
Vanek has stood still inside the blue line half-dozen times after saying 10 times yesterday they need to play their game & get pucks deep
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) May 6, 2015
Vanek has no goals in nine playoff games -- obviously not the production the Wild were hoping for when they signed him to a three-year, $19.5 million contract.
“Scoring goals is a big part of winning games and he’s a game breaker,” said GM Chuck Fletcher after convincing the former Gophers star to come home.
Tonight, with the Wild facing elimination, Vanek, the “game breaker,” will skate on the third line with Kyle Brodziak and Nino Niederreiter.
“I’d like to see that line be effective below the top of the circles,” coach Mike Yeo said, per NHL.com. “It’s not a team that has given us a lot of free ice from the top of the circles out, so how we play below the top of the circles, how we get down low, how we move our feet down there, is going to be important.”
#mnwild coach Mike Yeo mentioned he wanted two guys with good, "work ethics" to play with Thomas Vanek.
— Chad Graff (@ChadGraff) May 7, 2015