Wild @ Oilers - 2-12-08 - A View from My Couch
Who ever heard of outshooting a team 21-4 in a period and being outscored 1-0 for the period. That was the tale of tonight's game, a 4-2 loss to the Oil. The Wild really dominated the first two periods but Oilers G Mathieu Garon played a great game, and Wild G Niklas Backstrom let in a couple softies. Coach Jaques even made a goaltender change, bringing in Josh Harding to start the 3rd period. Apparently they used all their energy and chances in the first 2 periods. Harding was equally shaky and gave up 2 more goals, although he was hung out to dry by the Wild defense on one of them, and the Wild never had much of a sniff but for a late goal by Mark Parrish.

Hopefully the Wild can rediscover their scoring touch soon.

The Fight to Hang the 1st Banner
The Wizzy got some help tonite. Anaheim beat Colorado 2-1 with a late goal. Teemu Selane also got his 1st goal of the year in that one. As of this post, Calgary and San Jose are tied 2-2 at the 2nd intermission. So the nite will finish with the Wild still up either 2 or 3 points in the Northwest.

Jots

• Appears I have to get motivational again. Eric "Todd White" Belanger has all but vanished. I was a huge fan at the beginning of the year, but he isn't scoring right now. Appears people were right that said he's the same player as White.
• Gabby wearing the "A" is silly looking.
• I hate "Thee Oilers goal..."
• With the lone meaningful Wild goal tonite, Demo has a nice scoring stretch going.

Next on the Docket - Wild @ Canucks - Thurs 2-14-08
Gotta...win...this...game. Let's see if a goalie can give us a good performance. Wild 2 Canucks 0

In case you haven't heard this, and you probably haven't unless you listen to PA and Dubay on KFAN, Kevin Gorg, Anthony Lapanta, and another guy from FSN flipped their van on the way home from Baudette Bay Saturday night after wrapping up Hockey Day Minnesota. They're OK, but it sounds like they got very lucky.

According to Gorg on PA and Dubay, they hit a snow drift around 9:30 PM about an hour south of Baudette and the van flipped a few times. A car happened by a few minutes later and called for help, and everyone was just sore the next day.

I can be critical of Kevin Gorg from time to time, particularly for the Faceoff bit during Wild games, but I am very happy to hear everyone was ok. I know what it is like to lose control and be at the mercy of where your car winds up. Looking forward to seeing them tonight against the Oil.

Here's the link to the podcast on KFAN if you want to hear the details.

Islanders @ Wild - 2-9-08 - A View from Section 216 & Wild @ Blues - 2-10-08 - A View from My House
Couple games to recap here. I was in attendance in section 216 for Saturday's game on Hockey Day Minnesota. For me, since I am not a Gopher fan, it was pretty much the culmination of Hockey Day. I watched the early morning high-school game on Baudette Bay and parts of the other HS game at Xcel that followed. Really enjoyed watching the kids freeze on Baudette Bay. Man, did that look cold. But all the kids they talked to were like, yeah, it's cold, but I don't notice it. They were just very excited to play in the outdoor game and to be a part of the event. Nice work.

So the Wild game on Saturday was the perverbial bounce-back game after two well-played games against the top two teams in the conference, but lossess non-the-less. The Islanders are a bad team, so you'd think it would be a nice easy win. Well, not so much.

After gaining the lead but giving up tying goals in the first 30 seconds of the 2nd and 3rd periods, I still thought we would come out with a W. But New York took the lead with about 4 minutes left. Since the Wild aren't a great come-from-behind team, I didn't like our chances and I became pretty crabby. Missed opportunity. Thankfully, Mr. Streaky Brian Rolston nicely corralled a big rebound off a PMB shot and slammed the puck past DiPietro for the tie, and Burnsie followed up a Gaborik rush up-ice to get the second point. HUGE! Biggest things I take from this game were that Backstrom improved his control of the rebound and the Wild were resilient enough to not let two points slip away.

Then comes the Blues game. Not the best game the Wild have ever played, and this one goes to OT again...then it went to the shootout. I was surprised Gabby was the first shooter since he was unable to beat Manny Legace on a breakaway in the OT. He shot this time and missed...then Legace stopped Rolston. St. Louis scored on their 2nd shot, but Pavol Demitra scored to keep us alive. Josh Harding made some great stops in the shootout, and Burnsie again got the game-winner with a pretty goal. He rushed the net with alot of speed, put on the breaks, and drug the puck for a shot to an open net. St. Louis couldn't score on their try, and the extra point goes to the Wild. HUGE AGAIN!

Fight to Hang the First Banner
With the 4 points over the last 2 nites the Wild again have a 3-point lead in the Northwest Division. Suddenly the closest team is Colorado, who is doing it without the injured Joe Sakic and Ryan Smyth. All 4 of the top teams in the NW now have the same number of games remaining, so it'll be whoever can finish with the best record.

Next on the Docket - Wild @ Oilers - Tues 2-12-08
Look for the Wild to shake the sloppy play from the last two games and get a convincing win over Edmonton. Wild 4 Oilers 1

Wild v. Stars - 2-7-08 - A View from Bison Creek Bar and Grill
I was in and out of the game tonight. I missed the entire 1st periond except the quick Mike Modano tribute. More on that later. I saw the second and most of the third. So, take that into consideration in reading my musings.

Wild lose tonite 1-0. What I saw was actually pretty entertaining for a 1-0 game. Good kill of a minute of 5 on 3 in the 1st, another 4-minute penalty in the 2nd, and alot of good chances offensively. Something called Mike Smith was in net for Dallas as Turco was hurt or sick or something. Smith was great, stopping Marian Gaborik on a breakaway in the 2nd and again on a point blank opportunity in the 3rd. Even though we scored no goals, the pressure was pretty steady throughout what I saw.

Dallas' goal came early in the 3rd perod on what looked like poor defensive positioning by the Wild defensemen. He will remain nameless (ok, it was Skoula). Somehow a 2 on 1 developed and Skoula looked confused on who to take, and Niklas Hagman put a move on G Niklas Backstrom for the goal. The sequence was frightingly similar to the Sharks goal earlier in the year where Skoula misplayed the puck and Jonathan Cheechoo moved around Backstrom to put in the game winner.

Still, the Wizzy had their chances; just couldn't get anything past Smith. They played a pretty solid game given the potential it had to be down after the Detroit loss. The crowd was loud tonight on the KSTC, especially after they killed the 4:00 and put some great pressure on Smith to closeout the 2nd period.

Modano "Tribute"
The Mike Modano tribute was nice and all. It wasn't a big ol production, which was probably the way it should be. The crowd was quite polite, which is good. I was a little worried some boo-birds would be sprinkled in with cheering, but it was predominately cheering. Good work X!

For those who didn't see it, after the national anthem P.A. Announcer-Guy read off some stats MoDo compiled and announced that he is now the #1 American-born scorer and MoDo came out onto the ice, waved to the crowd, got some pictures taked of him, Phil Housley (#2 American-born scorer and Minnesota native) Brad Bombardir (not sure why he was there), and a print of Met Center Memories, a painting by Terance Fogarty. Good enough.

The only weird thing was it happened so fast and Mike was back on the bench, while P.A. Announcer Guy was still talking. Just had a feel of akwardness.

The Fight to the Hang the 1st Banner at Xcel
With the Wild's hot streak seemingly over, it will absolutely be a fight to the end in the Northwest Division. 1 point up on Colorado, 2 up on Calgary. The KSTC graphic told the story. 28 games left, and the last 8 games of the season are against the NW division. Yikes!

Calgary lost to Chicago tonite and Colorado was off so we stay in 1st. But Vancouver beat Atlanta, so they're only 3 points back.

Next on the Docket - Islanders @ Wild - Sat 2-9-08 - Hockey Day Minnesota
It's Hockey Day Minnesota on Saturday! We have hockey all-day on FSN beginning at 10AM. First it's Eveleth v. Lake of the Woods on Baudette Bay. It's gonna be cold for that! Then it's St. Thomas Academy v. Hill Murray at the X. Wild v. Islanders at 5. Goofers at Denver at 8. Then a tape-delay of Blaine v. Roseau on Baudette Bay. That's a full day of hockey!

I really enjoyed last year's Hockey Day Minnesota, and I'm looking forward to Saturday. Make some time to take some of it in, especially the HS games on Baudete Bay. Just like last year, I'll be in attendance in section 216 for the Wild game, and I'm expecting a bounce-back game against the terrible Islanders. I'm going to this one with a psuedo-Islanders fan, so it should be a good time. Wild 5 Islanders 2

Wild v. Red Wings - 2-5-08 - A View from my Recliner
Wow, what a demoralizing loss tonight. The Wild played a great game. They were physical. They were quick. They had a 2-1 lead with just over a minute left. Then it all went south.

After playing an inspiring first two periods, the Wild were dominated in the 3rd period. This is to be expected, with the Wings absolutely running away with the Western Conference you knew they were going to put the pressure on. Still, it seemed the Wild were destined to hold on to the 2-1 win, until G Niklas Backstrom let in a bad angle shot by Daniel Cleary from the left boards with about a minute left. Brett Lebda scored for the Wings in OT, and all the Wild had to show in this heavily-hyped game was 1 point. Not terrible, but it really should have been 2 points.

Brian Rolston scored again (finally a PP goal) and Pavol Demitra scored on a wired top corner shot with Gabby as a decoy on a 2 on 1. Actually, the Wild should have been up more than a goal going into the 3rd. Red Wings G Dominik Hasek kept the score close. The Wild had many many opportunities. Hasek stopped most, and the goal posts stopped the rest.

Jots

• Backstom gave up way too many scary rebounds again tonite. The Wings 1st goal came on a juicy rebound. Then there was the tying goal. It was about a foot from the goal line.
• I really liked the Wizzy's intensity tonite. They kept the Wings out of Backstrom's area and did not back down from the Wings.
• That said, gotta be cautious of the let down after this game. To play the way they did and then to lose the way they did, pretty demoralizing. Hopefully the team doesn't take it the way I do. Big game Thursday v. Dallas, and then the lowly Islanders. Two more wins will make this loss feel OK.
• Before the tying goal I was busy thinking of clever titles for this post, having to do with finally beating Hasek. That'll teach me to pre-plan my posts. The Wild still have never beaten Dominik Hasek.
• Good work by the crowd at the X tonite. Especially during the 4:00 penalty kill in the 1st.

Next on the Docket - Stars @ Wild - Thurs 2-7-08
The Stars are back Tuesday for the last time this regular season. I hope this is the year we get Dallas in the playoffs to get the rivalry jumpstarted again. Nothing was like that first game v. Dallas back in 2000. That was a good time.

Apparently the Wild will honor Mike Modano before the game for all his accomplishments to US hockey. It will be interesting to see how the crowd responds to that. In the early years, Modo was booed lustily, but that has subsided. I would think he'll get a nice reception for this.

As for the game, I think it'll be difficult to bounce back from today's loss. Stars 4 Wild 2

Wild @ Blue Jackets - 02-02-08 - A View from my Recliner
Happy groundhog day! Gotta love that Punxsutawney Phil. He says 6 more weeks of winter. That's fine with me...I've had about enough of this winter thing.

Great 4-1 win tonite for the Wild. I was able to watch the game tonite thanks to a free preview of Center Ice on DirecTV. The Wild played what at first was a great road game that turned into a great all around game. The skill players stepped up again and the D was very tough.

Goals came from Kurtis Foster (a weak wrister from the blueline in the 1st that G Fredrik Norrena did not see), Brian Rolston (on a great stickhandling sequence from Pierre-Marc Bouchard), Marian Gaborik (thanks to a pretty passing play from Pavol Demitra to Todd Fedoruk to Gabby), and Marian Gaborik (on another great passing play from Demitra to Gaborik to Demitra). The 2nd period unfolded very similarly to the Anaheim game Wednesday, with most of the scoring coming in the middle frame and being stingy in the 3rd.

Jots

• Rolston now has a 5-game goal streak.
• Gabby has 28 goals on the year.
• PMB is going to cost alot to keep on this team.
• Although Niklas Backstrom played a solid game in net, he still gave up some pretty juicy rebounds. I won't be cynical tho. He is playing very well of late.
• It was cool to hear the Columbus play-by-play guys on FSN Ohio. They were very complimentary of the Wild, Lemaire, PMB, Gaborik...everyone was made out to be on top of their games right now. In the 2nd, they kept saying how the team is playing so well right now and firing on all cylinders. You'd think we were the Red Wings.
• Had to watch tonite's game late, as the U. of North Dakota Fighting Sioux fans in my family took over the TV during prime time. UND was at the Minnesota Gophers. Game finished in a 1-1 tie, but it was a very intense game. Multiple players from both teams were involved in skirmishes, including some cheap shots right before the final whistle. UND coach Dave Hakstol was caught by the camera flipping the bird, and UND and Minn players got into a frakus during the final handshake. I love college hockey! Oh, and my Bulldogs beat Wisconsin tonite in OT! Nice!
• Go Giants!

Next on the Docket - Red Wings @ Wild - Tues 2-5-08
Oooooh, looking forward to this game. With the Wild rolling right now, you would think it would be a perfect time to get the Wings. They're finally beating the best teams in the division. But, the Red Wings might be sore from the one we stole from them in Detroit. And alot of times these hyped-up games turn into duds. What to call, what to call...

I'm a homer, so Wild 3 Wings 2.

Xcel Goal Horn
Originally uploaded by jdoghooey

Just a quick test of posting to the blog from Flickr. This is the goal horn after a Wid goal...I think it was in the Phoenix game a few weeks ago.