The Minnesota Wild have been dreadful on the power play this season. As of the date of this article, the Wild hold the 29th ranked power play unit. They’re chugging along with a success rate of 9%, besting only the Buffalo Sabres and their rate of 6.8%. The inability to score with the man advantage has Wild fans frustrated and they’re voicing their displeasure by booing the team after each failed power play.
Zach Parise understands the fans’ frustration, but he says that the booing isn’t helping.
From the Star Tribune:
“It doesn’t help. Sometimes we feel like booing ourselves, it’s that bad, so I can’t disagree with them.
They’re frustrated, and I understand that. And they have a right to be frustrated. We’re frustrated, and then when we get booed, we get more frustrated, and then it snowballs.”
Parise may have a point, but it’s fair for the fans to be frustrated and they have every right to voice it by booing their team’s effort. Granted, they don’t have as much right to boo as say fans of the Oilers or Blue Jackets, but the right is still there.
Minnesota’s power play is actually pretty decent at home with a 16.7% success rate. On the road is a different story as their rate is an ugly 2.4%. Can you imagine how loud the booing would be if those rates were flipped?
Wild fans are especially frustrated because they’ve seen another team withstand a horrid power play and remain at the top of the standings. The Nashville Predators have the 28th power play in the league and are converting 11.7% of the time. This is 2.7% better than the Wild, but the difference lies in their position in the standings. The Wild are 5th in the Central with 29 points and the Predators sit at the top with 36 points. The Predators have proved you can overcome a dismal power play if you play sound hockey.
Fans of the Wild may be frustrated by an unimpressive, if not awful power play, but they are probably more concerned about the team’s other faults which have resulted in a mediocre record.
