Judd's Hockey Show - A Minnesota Wild Podcast
Shorthanded Minnesota Wild SPANK Toronto Maple Leafs on the road!
20 Jan 2026
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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Hockey. Yeah. My favorite. It's Judd's Hockey Show. AJ, all I've got to say to you is no Boldy, no Eric Sinek, no Johansson, no Brodine, no Bogosian. No problem. 6-3. Just a spanking of the Toronto Maple Leafs last night. The Leafs showed a little bit of life at times third period, but I mean, this was pretty much domination of another team just like Buffalo that had been hot. So, like, Toronto's
Got off to a bad start, but they've been hot of late. Man, this was impressive. And let me say this, too. Kirill Kaprizov, I really believe last night, I know he had three assists on Saturday in the win against Buffalo in OT. Kirill Kaprizov, in my opinion, played his best game in ages, though. Like, that was what we want to see.
And so, just as a jumping off point, you know, Quinn Hughes, phenomenal again. Just phenomenal. So good. Kirill was Kirill, I thought. Five shots on goal. Yeah, five shots on goal. Some helpers. What, five assists in the past two games, I believe, or something like that. So I got to say, I'm pleasantly surprised because I thought that that game last night would be a tough game.
Not unwinnable, but a tough game. But so far on this trip, without the line that was essentially your best line for a long time, the whole thing is out, and this team looked damn good. So here is to playing within structure and your star players playing like your star players. Cheers to that.
Cheers to that.
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Chapter 2: What were the key moments in the Wild's victory over the Maple Leafs?
They looked really good last night. Your point on Kirill was one of the things I was hoping to bring up today as well, which is that is the first like legitimate takeover game at times that I saw from him over the past handful of weeks. Um, it was, it was, you saw him doing his normal, like power skating, carving through the neutral zone and transition.
You saw him, um, creating these like point blank, uh, scoring opportunities almost out of thin air based on his passing ability, which I mean, he's, he, he still normally does, but this was like the instantaneous. Okay. I'm going to quick check over my shoulder. I go to the corner and I spin turn and I just hit a guy right on his tape.
A lot of that stuff was prevalent last night, came back forward. And I mean, that's part of why they, they look so good. The defensive structure I thought looked pretty solid as well. Obviously at times later in the game, they maybe broke down a bit, but at that point, when you put up five, you put up six, it's like, you can probably afford to make a few mistakes.
You had, you had gotten to a point where you suffocated the game enough to where we're, we're going to overlook those and look just fine. Um, and Phil Gustafson, I mean, as much as we have, I have kind of said the goaltending was regressing over the past handful of games, especially on that latter stages of that road trip. He looked fine last night.
I, he looked at, he made a couple of really good stops that I think he probably should have got beaten on. Um, and for the most part, I mean, overall, they played kind of like the team that we had seen climbing up the standings who now sit two points above the Dallas stars in second, uh, in second in the central division.
So granted stars had that game in hand, but, uh, as of right now, if you look at it, they are number two in the, in the division. Um, Quinn Hughes is a guy that continues to be a superstar. Um, I I've loved his response mainly after the, what was it? Two back-to-back games where he,
Not that they were bad, but for him, in his case, it's like, oof, I don't know if that's necessarily what you expect from the Quinn Hughes experience. He has responded massively. I thought the other day he looked like a legit superstar, like willing the wild to a win over the Buffalo Sabres last night. Sort of the same, I think it was on Tarasenko's second goal.
The heads up, like jumping on a loose puck, taking, I think, two and a half, three strides, and then just firing a laser through the neutral zone to hit him in on the breakaway. This guy just continues to impress. I keep thinking, okay, I've seen every trick in his bag, and then he just pulls out another one.
So if we keep seeing this over the next couple of games, I think they're going to be a lot better off than I thought they were going to be on Friday when they announced the multiple guys going on IR.
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Chapter 3: How did Kirill Kaprizov perform in this game?
I hesitate to just dismiss Kirill, though, because when Kirill is at his best, I think Hughes has more opportunity to make plays. Kirill, because he's a forward, has less. And I said they're different in how they approach things, and their positions are different. But if I had to pick one right now, it's Quinn. I just don't know that...
I don't know that that's a fair long-term diagnosis, but what the guy brings is stuff we haven't seen here. Like quite frankly, we just have not seen.
I think the way to answer that would be like almost a two-parter where if it's NHL.com's top 100 NHL players of 2025-26, Quinn's going to come up higher on that list than Kirill, I think nine times out of 10. But in terms of like, who is the better player?
there i mean there's there's a lot of things i think i mean when is such a good skater he's such a good passer but krill i think when he when he's on his game like when his game is at his peak he is a flashier guy and i think i marvel at him more whereas with and i don't it's not that i don't marvel at quinn i don't think i'm ever gonna uh lose the like the little gasp of air i get when i see him turn on a dime to like create space like that
That little thing is so much fun to just watch. I'm never going to get tired of that. But there is parts of Kirill's game that I think I have come to love so much that it's kind of a coin toss. But Quinn, I would say, at least right now, has the edge there.
Yeah, it's... They're both incredible. And when Boldy's playing, you have, in fairness, three superstars, two and a half if Boldy's not in their elite category yet, but he is pressing for it. I want to ask you about that because we...
And granted, we've come close, but I know you have drawn a very strong line at times where it's like, Boldy is, he's a star, but he's not a superstar yet. And this was, you know, however long ago. Do you feel like what we're seeing from him is nearing superstar level? Or like, I think we're getting awfully close if we aren't already there.
Yeah. I think that's entirely fair. I think it's entirely fair. Like, like his play. Yeah. I think I called him that early in the season or before it. But at the time it was correct.
Cause we hadn't.
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Chapter 4: What role did Ryan Hartman play in the Wild's performance?
And that spin move, my God, you can't defend that spin move. Like, I don't know what you do. Because if you know it's coming, that's fine. But it's literally like in basketball, he just breaks ankles.
So it's like, okay, good luck, unless you double-team him, I guess, but then you're going to leave a guy, especially since he makes that move a lot of times at the top of the offensive zone, a lot of times you're going to leave a guy open, and it's absolutely crazy. What's not crazy is a trip to Parler, Parler Bar. That's right. Why? Because if you're going to a game, a wild game, guess what?
Right down the street from the arena, Parlor Bar on West 7th. Outstanding. The iconic Parlor Burger. And that's just the start. The service, fantastic. Craft cocktails, beers, drinks. Great place to pre-game at. And if you are watching this right now on the new Judd's Hockey Show YouTube channel, you are looking at a QR code. And you're saying, Sports Dad, why is there a QR code there?
And I'm going to tell you, because you scan it. You can make a reservation at Parlor. Of course, also...
locations in the north loop and also in excelsior as well check it out parlor scan that qr code uh a date night good time with friends whatever it is parlor bar is a great place to stop by perhaps a great place to celebrate scoring your first career hat trick yeah moose i'm glad you brought that up marcus felino
ends a hat trick with a pass from Tarasenko, who also had two goals and could have tried to score himself. He did once to an empty net. He missed the second time he passed to Moose. And I was going to say, let's spend our remaining time giving flowers age to a lot of guys that deserve them. Marcus Foligno, goal-scoring-wise, has had a tough season, a very tough year.
First career hat-trick comes in Toronto. Family was there. His dad, Mike, played for the Sabres and the Leafs. And so for a really good guy, that's great. That's great. And you know what? The last two games, And he was actually traded years ago now to the Wild by Buffalo. The last two games, Marcus Foligno has looked like a new man. Turned back the clock a little bit there, right?
He had looked bad before that. I was getting close, like walking the line of, okay, we almost need to sit you down, Grandpa, and give you a few games off just to find your game. Whatever has happened on this road trip and and this is where, you know, he's a, he's a savvy vet. He realized the room probably needed somebody to step up and he said, I'll maybe do it myself and see if others follow.
But, uh, it's been a really pleasurable time watching Marcus Flynn of the past couple of games. He, he looks a step or two younger. He's, he's finishing his chances. He's finishing his checks. He's standing up for guys by dropping them with Michael Kessel ring on, on Saturday. Like he's, he's going back and doing that kind of five tool.
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Chapter 5: How did the Wild's defensive structure hold up during the game?
I watched that, and I think to myself, where's that been at times? And I don't know if it's opportunity, it's ice time. He played on the Russian line again last night with Trenin on the left side, Yurov at center. But Tarasenko, when he plays like this, makes me want to keep him for the rest of the season. I'm just begging him to apply himself more.
And again, it doesn't have to be goals, but we've sat in the press box age and watched him at times and been like, what is he even doing out there? And then like the last two games, and he had that brief stretch before where you say to yourself, yeah, you know what? This is the guy they traded for. And he brings a veteran presence.
And he certainly, he doesn't look like it's 2015, but he also looks a hell of a lot better than he has in a bunch of games this season.
Yeah, Corey Larson reached out to me via the Score North mobile app through the feedback tab after the second Tarasenko goal. At what point did we start having a conversation with the Wild extending him after this season? I said, whoa, whoa, whoa, let's bump the brakes, Corey. Let's bump the brakes. I'm good with that.
But yeah, I mean, this little resurgence, this sticking his hand up through the dirt, he looks like the... He looks like a guy that scored a hundred, you know, hundreds of goals in this league before. Like this is this is what I expected when they traded for him. Like this is what you should expect from a veteran goal scorer.
We're going to come awfully close to the 20 goal line that I think the show unofficially said at the start of the season. He's at 11 now through 43 games played from self, which is what he had last year. In Detroit, 11. So maybe a little bit of resurgence, but I would expect that this is going to be the norm for him where you're going to get a week, maybe two, of really good hockey.
And then he's going to disappear for a little bit. But then he might come back and give you another week or two of really good hockey. So I'm going to enjoy this week or two while we're in the midst. And what a time for him to step up and do so. I don't like that. This time it feels situational that he's thriving now because he almost needs to. Don't get me wrong. I love it.
Like this depth and this resurgence while they're missing Boldy and Johansson and all these other guys is great. But imagine when they're healthy. if you've got this type of production and this type of effort while he's on the third line, that would be sure would be something.
Yeah. And I can't decide if he's it, is he thriving because he's on the second line. Now it's not like a killer line, but like, I can't decide exactly why, because part of it is he's applying himself, which I love. The last thing, just a quick observation, curious to get your thoughts. The observation is this, Hunter Haight, I think, belongs here.
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