I am wondering how long the Wild are going to keep coming back with this kid? As a Wild fan I have tried to look for something in this kids game that leads me to believe he was worthy of a first round pick in 2006. Through four games this season he has put up a big zero on the score sheet. Through two seasons and including the beginning of this one Sheppard has played in 164 games, scored 9 goals 34 assist for 43 points. Funny thing is Sheppard is one of the more productive ones of his 2006 draft class that where taken after him.

Richards again reiterated that with no Cal Clutterbuck, Pierre-Marc Bouchard and Sykora, it’s essential Benoit Pouliot and James Sheppard step up. He liked Pouliot’s game in San Jose, but he said Sheppard is going through spells of not moving his feet on the ice, which leads to ineffectiveness all over the ice.

Really, there’s a lot of pressure on Sheppard now. I mean, he’s going to get ice time now. He’s going to get responsibility. If you can’t do it now, when are you going to, in other words. And remember, this is the guy assistant GM Tom Thompson guaranteed publicly this offseason would have a breakout year. He’s got no points in four games.

I meant to mention this yesterday, but I had sort of a weird interview with Sheppard yesterday. With Clutterbuck, Bouchard and Sykora out, both Chuck Fletcher and Richards singled out Sheppard and Pouliot as two guys who must step up with the extra ice time and responsibilities. Pouliot said it is a must and he can’t mess it up.

I threw three or four questions at Sheppard about stepping up specifically, and he consciously made it a point to never use the first person during the back and forth. Here’s two examples of back-to-back questions and answers:

Russo: With all the injuries now, how much do you feel you’re going to need to step up now with the extra ice time you’re going to get?

Sheppard: “Everyone’s got a bigger job. We’d love to have everyone playing, but for the guys who get more minutes or get into the game more, they’re going to be more focused because they’ve got a bigger job and they’re going to be in the game, touching the puck more and getting more minutes. It works both ways. There’s negatives and positives to both things. but for the most part, the guys who are going to play are going to play more intense.”

Russo: Chuck and Todd mentioned you and Pouliot specifically, so do you feel you need to be the guy who steps up?

Sheppard: “Just like I said, the guys who do get these minutes are going to touch the puck more and get more ice time. Hopefully for those guys, they can use them well and not take them for granted and make sure they … I think what I’m trying to say is that it’s not really a big deal for quote-unquote these guys.”

You kinda needed to be there to actually understand what I’m saying, but Sheppard tried hard, and I mean hard, to make it a point to never personalize it. I don’t know what the motivation there was. Maybe he’s sensing the pressure, but I just didn’t see a very confident player there.
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