I'm so psyched for tonite's game v. Calgary. If you listened to the Bloggosphere podcast, you'll note that all of us (some very begrudgingly) predicted the Wild would come away with the NW division title. We all agreed we wanted it to come down to this game, that it would be awesome for the Wild's confidence to handle Calgary in a game that would win the NW division. So, here it is boys and girls. Wild win and they win the NW for the 1st time in franchise history, and next October we'll be hanging at least 1 banner at Xcel.

On to game predictions...I expect the crowd to be into this one from the start - loud from the beginning. I think that's a key to this game. A fast start is also key. The Wild need to control momentum early to keep the crowd in it. Even if they don't score early, good pressure on Kipprusoff is key. I expect the three tough-guys to be in the lineup, and I expect them to throw it around. And we need to control Iginla, without forgetting about their other talented players. At the end of the nite I hope to be posting about a NW division winner.

I'm bummed that tonite's game is on the 45. 45 comes accross the worst on my TV. Would love this one to be in HD, but whaddya do. A win looks good no matter how bad the signal is.

If you're lookin for more pregame hype, Kevin Faulness did a two-part preview to tonite's game on the Wild Pondcast. Check it out here.

Also, one of my coworkers is attending his 1st Wild game tonite. I'm lobbying him to write a guest article for this blog on his experience. He's not a big hockey fan, but he's getting trial by fire tonite.