Man, what a day. Just finished watching the Wild’s season opener because I had other things on my mind today. Like my last baseball game at Metrodome, the Twins trying to run down the Tigers, becoming a temporary White Sox fan, and…well I guess that’s it.

I watched tonight’s 2009-2010 Wild opener on the DVR, and while it was a bit non-descript, one thing is clear: This is a new brand of hockey.

New Style
This a different kind of hockey from the Jacques Lemaire style that we saw for the first 8 years of the Wild’s existence. It just had a different feel. Actually, JL would probably have keeled over if his Wild played this sloppy. But sloppy is as sloppy does…we will likely see alot of this type of play throughout the season as new coach Todd Richards instills his brand of hockey. There weren’t a ton of great scoring chances in either direction, but it just felt so much looser than a typical Wild hockey game. It’s clear we’re in a new era of Wild hockey.

Andrew Brunette scored the lone goal for the Wild, and it was a pretty goal, set up by Mikko Koivu and Martin Havlat, as he deked Mason and slid it in short side conjuring memories of his goal that ended Patrick Roy’s career in the 2003 playoffs.

Other than that, the Wild didn’t sustain much pressure tonight. They were outshot 39-33, and it didn’t feel like they had that many shots.

That’s about all I’ve got for tonight; I’ve got Twins on the brain. I still believe the franchise is better for this change. It will pay off eventually.

An Aside
Wow…as I finish up this post, the Calgary Flames just beat the Edmonton Oilers on a misplay by Nikolai Khabibulin with 40 seconds to go. Bad bad way to lose a season opener in your home arena.

Next
Home opener Tuesday v. the Anaheim Ducks. Too early to throw out predictions really, but the Ducks lost their opener to San Jose 4-1. This game may be even more difficult to pay attention to…if the Twins and Tigers end in tie after tomorrow’s 162nd game, they will play game 163 at Metrodome on Tuesday.

How bout instead, Twins win, Tigers lose on Sunday…

Jacques Lemaire made it official after tonight’s 6-3 Wild win over Columbus. He will not be coaching the Wild next season. For the first time ever, the Wild will not have Jacques behind the bench.

This is a sad day. While I would enjoy a more offensive style of play, I absolutely loved Coach Lemaire’s French accent, his willingness to actually coach his superstars, and I will very much miss his post game pressers.

Obviously this brings up a ton of questions: Who will Doug Reisbrough hire to replace him? Will the style of play change? Will Jacques coach somewhere else next season? Will a team with little talent bottom out without a good coach? How long into free agency will Marian Gaborik take to find a new team? These things I’ll cover in future posts.

For now, reflect a bit on the Wild’s first 8 seasons of hockey that included a before-their-time run to the Conference Finals, two other appearances in the playoffs, and a Northwest Division title. Appreciate the foundation that a legendary coach has built.

Thank you Coach Lemaire.

Wild v. Blue Jackets – Sat Oct 25th – View from my Recliner
What was a relatively uneventful game turned into great drama in the last 15 seconds tonite v. Columbus. Wild win 2-1. The ‘Jackets appeared to tie the game with 15 seconds to go on a deflection by F Rick Nash, but the goal was disallowed by the NHL War Room in Toronto, ruling that Nash’s stick was above the crossbar when he deflected the puck. Columbus players and coach Ken Hitchcock went ballistic, and Coach Jacques was had a look of absolute surprise. The final definitive view came towards the end of the stoppage on FSN – an ice-level view showed without a doubt that Nash’s stick was above the crossbar, and the correct call was made. Sorry Nashie. Now go try and pick a fight with Antti Miettinen. Even the FSN broadcasters were screwed up. They could not believe the goal was disallowed. Darby Hendrickson, who played in the NHL for however many seasons, afterwards said that above the shoulders is a high stick disallowed goal…but I am clearly smarter than FSN. I know that the crossbar is the benchmark. Seriously…sometimes FSN…well, I digress. Mike Greenlay clarified later.

Wild F Owen Nolan gets the game winner on his 1st goal as a member of the Wild, and F Pierre Marc-Bouchard got his 1st of the season. The Wild had some stretches of great puck control and seemed to have a ton of space before Columbus put a man on the puck. But, they need to finish. Puck control and fancy-pants passing is great, but it doesn’t do anything for the scoreboard.

Wild G Niklas Backstrom kept the Wild in this game. He played a very strong game. I really thought we’d see Josh Harding tonite, but more Backstrom. Will Harding play at all this season?

Tonite was the 2nd game in a row that the Wild let a team back in after leading comfortably. That was a problem last year that I thought would go away with Demitra and Rolston leaving. Apparently not.

Wrap
So the Wild stay undefeated in regulation. Owen Nolan gets his 1st Wild goal. The penalty kill stayed at 100%. FSN voices Dan Terhaar and Mike Greenlay look like muppets demonstrating fights on-ice after the game. I DVRed the Hockey Night in Canada games from NHL Network tonite, so tomorrow I have more hockey to watch. Beauty!

Next on the Docket – Blackhawks @ Wild – Mon Oct 27th
Wild v. Blackhawks are the national game Monday on Versus in HD. Make sure you watch. No “what channel is Versus” jokes, please. This is a great opportunity to get national perspective on our team and to watch superstars of tomorrow Patrick Kane and Jonathan Towes. Unless the Wild can figure out how to bury the puck more often, I think the Hawks win, 3-2.

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.