Minnesota Wild: Jason Pominville Finds His Game
Jason Pominville has been the best player on the Minnesota Wild since John Torchetti took over as Head Coach. All it took was fresh start for the Wild winger to find his elite level game again.
It was a tough season for Jason Pominville up until February 17th. He had only scored 6 goals in 56 played, to include a 21 game drought to start the season, and was drawing more critics than Donald Trump. Many people saw his lack of production and thought “This is what we gave up a first and a second round pick for? Is this what we are paying him 5.6 million dollars a season to do?” The negative talk had gotten so bad that even some media and fans were starting to suggest that the Wild should buy Pominville out of his contract this off-season.
That was then…now enter the John Torchetti as the Wild’s Head Coach. On their famous three game road trip sweep to start Torchetti’s tenure, Pommer found his game in Calgary. In that game with the Flames he notched an assist as well a goal that would stand up to be the game winning tally. From that game on Jason has been back on the scoresheet consistently and people have stopped the negative talk and started to remember why the Wild acquired and re-signed him in the first place.
Under Torchetti Pominville has scored 5 goals, tallied 7 assists, and boasts a +9 plus/minus rating. In that stretch he’s tied with Charlie Coyle for the most goals at 5, and leads the team in assists through time frame. I’d say you can easily say he’s been the best producing Wild player since John Torchetti took over as Head Coach.
“It’s been a fresh start as well for myself, one I probably needed to wipe the slate clean” -Jason Pominville, March 5th Star Tribune Article by Michael Russo
So what exactly sparked the change? Pominville says it the best in an interview with Michael Russo for the Star Tribune when he says “Torch has been giving us good matchups and showing us a lot of trust in a lot of different situations, so it’s been nice. It’s been a fresh start as well for myself, one I probably needed to wipe the slate clean.” It’s Torchetti’s influence and coaching style that have made an environment ripe for Pominville to come back.
Torchetti took Pominville down to the third line to play with Haula and Neiderreiter and in the process made one of the best scoring lines the team has seen in a long time. It took the pressure off of Jason and made a situation where the his linemates could play to his strengths and he could play to theirs. Many times in hockey it’s all about who you are playing with that makes all the difference.
In addition to the comfort found with his new coach, it seems that Pommer just decided to go out stop thinking and play the game. Later in the Russo article he says “When you end up thinking where you should be, you end up being in spots where you’re not supposed to be. It’s not easy. Fortunately, I stuck with it and found a way.” That’s shows the determination that makes him an elite player who still has lots of good hockey ahead of him.
Next: Minnesota Wild: Not so Wild Sweep Through the East
The Wild have 16 more games in the season so I guess you could say that’s plenty of time for Pominville to revert back to his early season form. I’d argue it’s actually 16 games to get even better and show the Wild organization and fans that he’s the elite level talent that they brought in from Buffalo. Pommer answers that dilemma best at the end of Russo’s article by saying “I’m feeling great. I’m confident. Now I have to keep it up.”