Tonight the Wild looked a liiiiitle bit better than they have over the last couple weeks. They got to practice the powerplay alot as well, and that certainly helped. The Wild had 8 powerplay opportunities while Colorado had 3, and both regulation Wild goals came on the powerplay .They scored the lone goal in the shootout to get the extra point and just like that we’ve doubled our win total for the season! We’re comin!

Mikko Koivu
Mikko Koivu, in his first game as the first real Wild captain, had a very strong game. He scored the tying goal in the 3rd on a redirected puck in front of the net, and he scored the game winner in the shootout. However, I will not call him “Captain Koivu” as FSN play-by-play guy Dan Terhaar chose to do. Ugh.

Niklas Backstrom
Backy was great again, making 35 saves plus 3 in the shootout. He is the constant on this team, again not flashy but there when you need him.

2nd Period Still Ugly
The Wild dominated the 1st period with the help of Avalanche penalties. But in the 2nd they reverted to the team we saw on the west coast. The Avs outshot the Wild 18-4 in the 2nd when we saw sloppy defensive play, poor breakouts, and an inability to clear for long stretches. Wild D Brent Burns looked especially lost as he ineffectively tried to clear the puck, regained it, then turned it over inside the defensive zone, which led directly to the Avs go ahead goal. Gotta tighten that up.

Busted Glass
It seemed the loudest cheer of the night from the “Team of 18,000” came when an Avalance player knocked Wild D Nick Schultz into the glass at the scorers table just before the end of regulation and the glass shattered into at least 1,394,238 pieces. It was a little comical to see the official timekeeper shield himself from the wreckage while stopping the clock. Good work sir.

Third Jersey
I really like the new sweaters. It was awesome to see the boys in green again, and I think the script lettering on the front is striking. Also, I like that they are 1-0 in them.

Next
Wild hop a plane for a quick rodie to St. Louis on Friday, 7PM No TV (FSN FAIL) The Blues look improved over last season, but they don’t exactly instill fear into my heart.The Wild should show some pride, play a “good road game” and get their first road win of the year.

ETC
Congrats to the Philadelphia Phillies for putting away the Dodgers tonight to advance to the World Series. Assuming it’s Phillies v. Yankees, I’m all about a Phils repeat.

It's been a long couple weeks since the Wild have played at Xcel Energy Center. A long west coast road trip resulted in a no wins and 5 losses, giving the Wild a depressing record of 1-6. It sucks being a fan of that team. I'm not going to rehash that 0-5 trip - that's been done at nauseum. Let's look at why things will turn around soon for our favorite hockey team.

Back Home
Gotta start somewhere, and the X is the last (only) place they won a game. It's only for one game and they're back out to St. Louis, but then they come back here Saturday. The long road trip is over and at least they get some familiarity with their surroundings. Should impart a better state of mind.

Third Jersey Debut
The Wild will wear their new green third jersey for the first time tonight. Some teams rack up wins in their alternate jerseys and this is obviously purely coincidence, but if it makes the day feel like a special occasion and amps the team up a bit more I'll bite.

More Work on the System
Veteran Wild F Andrew Brunette was on KFAN with Lavelle E. Neil this morning, and they talked a bit about learning the new system. Bruno is always pretty candid in media interviews and he sounded sincere in speaking to the difficulty in going to a new system that is pretty much the exact opposite of what most of the team is used to playing. He said it in a way that makes me believe it's more than just an excuse, that there truly are growing pains of learning Todd Richards' system. He said he feels like each day they get a bit better, and if it's working well they will be a hard forechecking team. It's gotta click eventually.

Healing
Another factor Bruno touched on was injuries. Not so much that the injuries have resulted in the losses, but that they've contributed to the learning curve on the new system. A good portion of the team (including Bruno and Koivu) missed most of the preseason with injuries, and now you have Havlat and Sykora missing games. Havlat may play tonight and Sykora sounds close, and out of nowhere Cal Clutterbuck skated with the team today, so things are looking up.

On a downside to the injury thing, Pierre Marc Bouchard was placed on extended injury reserve or some goofy thing. He has concussion symptoms that won't go away. Some people have speculated that his career could be in question. That would be sad - PMB is a good kid.

Chuck Kobasew
Wild GM Chuck Fletcher made a deal with Boston for Chuck Kobasew, a tough winger. He might not be the key to making this team competitive, but he has scored 20+ goals the last two seasons, and the Wild need goal scorers. Fletch gave up a good prospect, but you gotta give up something to get something. Would Doug Reisbrough have made that trade?

The Official Face of the Franchise
Finally, the Wild have a permanent captain. They gave F Mikko Koivu the C for good, even though it has been unofficially his team for the last year or so. Mikko was the fan choice. Richards said he exibits all the characteristics of a good leader. During the presser announcing the move he spoke to the media in a way I haven't ever really heard him speak. You could hear the responsibility in his tone. He said the important thing was that "the older guys" supported him in that role and that he wouldn't change how he plays or how he acts in the clubhouse, but I envision him taking the role and running with it. Some people step up more when others give you more responsibility and I think Mikko, typically thought of as a quiet leader, will excell in this spot.

It's going to get better folks.

The Wild have been one of only a few teams without a third jersey for two seasons now. A variant of the current home red jersey was the alternate a few years ago, when the now-retired original green jersey was their home sweater. When news first broke that the Wild would be unveiling a new third jersey at the MN State Fair, it seemed most Wild fans hoped they would simply bring that original green sweater back into the mix. It holds a certain nostolgia; as much as a 9 year old franchise can have. There were rumors from blog writers and beat columnists and even Wild Twitter accounts that the jersey would be a new design, with the word "Minnesota" in script or block letters across the front.

Then, someone apparently flipped a switch too soon over at Wild.com and the official jersey was leaked all over the interwebs. The redesigned website was only up for a short time before the mistake was rectified, but hockey jersey blog Icethetics let us all know what the new jersey looks like.

Naturally the Wild went ahead with their big unveiling event at the State Fair, with Derek Boogaard and Brent Burns modeling the jersey. From what I can tell, fan reaction is mixed. Alot of people really want that original green, and I would've been ok with that too since my jersey is the original green and it would have been relevant again.



I really like the new sweater though. Green base with the "harvest wheat" lettering and numbering Minnesota spelled out in script accross the chest with Wild in red in the underlining tail. The striking element to me is the star dotting the i and crossing the t in Minnesota is the same star that is present in the main animal head logo. It makes the uni very dramatic. When I first heard script, I was worried it may look like some of the U of M Gopher jerseys they've rolled out in recent history, and we'll just say I would not have been happy with that.

The squad now sports three completly different jersey desings: White roadies with the main logo, pretty much the standard when you think Wild hockey. Red homes with a smaller main logo encircled, and the new alternate, which will be worn a handful of times at home. I will withhold my ranking until I see the new sweater in person. The Wild will first wear their new jersey October 21st v. Colorado.

What do YOU think about the new sweater?