Zidlicky demoted to second power-play unit; Yeo unhappy; More on Bulmer decision

Updated

DETROIT -- Trust everybody had a grand 'ol time with me out of the loop.

The players certainly did as I got chirped from every area of the visitors locker room this morning for going on "vacation" during the hockey season. Hey, every day is a vacation for me. Life is grand.

Guillaume Latendresse was particularly funny, noting how they beat Detroit with me gone and the moment I come back into the fold and the players see me lurking in the stands, they had one of the crummiest skates of the season.

Latendresse was referring to a morning skate where coach Mike Yeo wasn't a happy camper. Yeo twice huddled the players over and laid into them.

"We have plenty of time to correct it if we take the steps and do the things that we need to to make sure we're prepared the right way to play this game," Yeo told the media regarding a skate that lacked crispness. "We just needed to hear that we weren't good and that we need to be better, and that we're going to have to be pretty sharp to have a chance to win this hockey game tonight. We earned that win last game, but we're going to have to earn every inch that we take on this ice tonight. So the game doesn't start when the puck is dropped. The game starts in your preparation -- mentally and physically -- and it doesn't just happen when you show up at the rink for gametime. I can't wait to see how we play tonight."

Also, struggling Wild defenseman Marek Zidlicky will start tonight's game at Detroit on the No. 2 power-play unit, Yeo said.

Marco Scandella, Nate Prosser, Justin Falk and Spurgeon all played more even-strength minutes than last game's pair of veterans Nick Schultz and Zidlicky.

Yeo said he was happy with Zidlicky's 5-on-5 play last game. "It looked like Zid was starting to come last game." He's been happy with his battle level (which is never a problem with Zidlicky), but he hasn't been happy with his execution this season (i.e. incredibly unbelievable turnovers).

Yeo said he will continue to experiment with lines even though he's reunited the first two lines tonight. He wasn't sure yet of tonight's "net front presence" guys on the No. 2 PP tonight.

Couple other things:

1. The Wild had its NHLPA meeting last night at the hotel with Executive Director Donald Fehr as he does his annual team-by-team tour around the NHL. Player rep Nick Schultz said a lot of the conversation stemmed around CBA talk and the plan going forward regarding the expiration of the agreement next September, rules and myriad other issues, including the use of painkillers and the NHL/NHLPA Substance Abuse and Behavioral Health Program and some changes that could be made to the problem in light of the offseason deaths of Derek Boogaard and Rick Rypien (who had been in the program), and Wade Belak.

Yeo said: "We hadn't made up our mind yet, and we wanted to see how we did in the Detroit game (i.e. injuries, outcome). ... We're also not going to point him in the direction of you're probably going back just in case if he is going to get in the lineup next game, he has to have the right mind frame."

Basically, the Wild's saying Bulmer was going to be scratched the next few games if the team continued to be healthy and it refused to have a 19-year-old with promise relegated to the fourth line or press box. And with that third line playing well (Clutterbuck, Brodziak, Johnson) and the Wild healthy right now, fourth line or press box is where Bulmer was going to wind up.

Regarding the 10-game rule and the fact the Wild's claimed the past several weeks that it would actually be a benefit to have Bulmer burn a year of his deal with so many youngsters on the horizon potentially starting their 3-year contracts at the same time, the Wild claims the 10-game rule had nothing to do with this decision, that the timing was mere coincidence. In other words, he was sent down because he wasn't going to be making a regular contribution and the Wild didn't want to hinder his development (i.e. James Sheppard, Colton Gillies decisions of the past).