This enigmatic Wild team finally showed some heart, passion, and life tonight. They played with fire, like a team that was fighting for their playoff lives. Sure wish they would have tried that a couple weeks ago.

The Wild win 8-4 tonight over Nashville, eliminating Nashville from the playoff chase and doing what they could to keep their own playoff hopes alive.

As Dick Bremer said on the Twins broadcast, “How did they score eight goals?” and Bert Blyleven added, “Wow!”

They got down 1-0 early, but Dan Fritsche worked hard on a delayed penalty call and sprung himself on a breakaway. He got the shot on net and it deflected over Nashville G Pekka Rinne (who?). That energized the crowd at the X and fired up the Wild and they went on to score 5 more goals before adding 2 empty netters as the Preds tried all they could to keep their season alive.

Dan Fritsche was rocked with a shoulder to the head by Jordin Tootoo, who I didn’t realize was such an agitator, and on the ensuing play Marc Andre Bergeron scored. I hope Fritsche turns out OK, I’ve liked his game since he came over midseason.

So in a season that has been very disappointing, the Wild finally showed me something and whatever happens, reminded me why I love Wild hockey.

Where We Stand Now
The St. Louis Blues are back in the playoffs, beating Columbus tonight 3-1. Jeff and Gilby have got to be excited. However, this was one of two teams the Wild needed to lose to keep their chances alive. So congratulations to the Blues…

That leaves one spot, and the only chance the Wild have is for the Anaheim Mighty Ducks to lose to the Dallas Stars. At time of this post it is 1-1 in the 2nd intermission. This game can not go into overtime…any points by Anaheim eliminates the Wild. So the State of Hockey needs some help from its former NHL identity to keep our hopes alive. I’ll update when that goes final. GO STARS!

Stars @ Wild – Wed Nov 26 – View from the Kitchen on the Laptop
Remember when…remember when if the Wild were up a goal or two in the 3rd period they were unbeatable? I miss the good old days. I don’t much enjoy feeling like a game is well in hand and then having to deal with a loss.

Wild had a 3-1 lead tonite v. Dallas, at home, but after two disallowed goals at the expense of Mikko Koivu, Dallas scored a couple non-descript goals, and eventually took the lead. The Wild played a very good game. They pretty much owned Dallas G Marty Turco, who looked shaky all nite. One of Koivu’s disallowed goals was just a shot that hit the crossbar and never went in, but the 2nd disallowed goal was after Turco had knocked the net off its moorings after “stumbling.” Seemed like after the 2nd disallowed goal the Wild lost all momentum, and they didn’t mount much after until a flurry with 15 seconds to go. They hit a post and had several point-blank choices as time expired.

Mikko Koivu played a very strong game tonite. He hit a post, hit a crossbar, and had the disallowed goal on the dislodged net. Didn’t much notice former Wild F Mark Parrish for Dallas. Didn’t much notice former Stars F Antti Miettinen for the Wild. Apparently Miettinen was a fluke earlier in the year.

Very disappointing loss after controlling the game against a struggling Stars team. And Dallas continues to be a mystery the Wild can not solve.

Next on the Docket – Lightning @ Wild – Fri Nov 28
Wes Walz day! The Wild will be honoring Wes Walz, who is an assistant coach for the Lightning, prior to the game Friday afternoon. Should be festive. Sort of bittersweet for me, because for the last I don’t know how many years me or someone in the family has been in the building for the day-after-Thanksgiving game, but we will not be going this year. Oh well. At least it’s scheduled to be in HD on FS North. Wild should be able to rebound after tonite’s disappointing loss. They have been very successful against the Eastern Conference so far this season, especially against the Southeast Division. Wild 2 Lightning 1

Happy Thanksgiving!

Greetings from the Lone Star State! I was about to check the happenings in the suspended world series game and low and behold ‘da captain Brenden Morrow put one past Backstrum only 13 seconds into the game. Definitely a good way for this under achieving team to begin the contest. Stranger than the speed of the first tally is seeing a white helmet between the pipes in our defensive end. Anyone with Marty Turco on their fantasy team can confirm his poor play, so this unscheduled night off should do him good. I must admit I did not see Bergeron’s goal, only heard it. As I type this in the first period I’m going to put the call in for a high scoring affair. A pretty scrappy goal awarded to Steve “You Can’t Spell OT without Ott” put this team up 2-1. Brad Richards just made it 3-1 on a strange goal. When the Stars score three or more goals, every fan gets a coupon for free chips at Chili’s (albeit with the purchase of an entrée) Usually it takes a full three periods to accumulate this, so I guess we’re over achieving tonight.
The Hockey god’s have answered Jeremy’s question: Yes, Harding will play this season; sadly in relief. I find it ironic that the Wild’s perfect penalty kill record was ruined by Minnesota native Matt Niskanen (4-1). Next game I go to of theirs, I will be attempting to be in his good grace by wearing an old UMD jersey the J Dog gave me years ago. Otherwise an uneventful period. Sure hope Fistric is ok after that puck hit him.
Wild score to cut the lead in half, but otherwise the Stars lock it down. From what I saw tonight, I really think the Wild are going in a great direction with great offensive talent and pretty solid goaltending (everyone has a bad night, for example Turco’s had a bad season so far) It sure is bitter sweet to see Miettinen exploding for Minnesota after a lack luster career in big D. All the best to him. I do love how anytime someone so much as bumps Modano, the rest of his line comes to his rescue. Dallas appears to respect their elders. I don’t know how many aerial shots of the city they showed on the Minnesota broadcast, but they had quite a few here on FSN Southwest and I must say, we have some wicked cool looking stuff around the American Airlines Center. The rest of the city isn’t anything special (aside from the conspiracy theory tours of where JFK was shot) but they sure jazzed up the surrounding area. Enough about the city though. Dallas needed a win here, and that is what we came away with. The best way to describe it was the Stars were hungrier then the Wild.

Mike Ribeiro
One word to describe this guy. Potential. Don’t get me wrong, he’s good right now, but every game he receives great opportunities and makes great moves but lacks one thing: finishing. He has Crosby-like attributes, but until he learns to find the back of the net on a consistent basis, he will remain in the potential category.

Arena Music
Is it just me, or do they seem to play more and better music at the games you don’t attend?

Next on the Docket- Stars @ Blackhawks- Friday, Oct. 31st
Last time the Stars had a big win, they were embarrassed in the next game. This time they have some time to recover, so I’m calling for a win to get us back into the division. Stars win 5-3

Wild @ Stars – Wed Oct 29th – View from my Recliner
Watched tonite’s game while pounding away on the work laptop, editing Word docs that were slow to respond through the VPN connection. Blah. That’s really how the game felt too. Blah.

Wild were seemingly out of it from the get go, with Stars F Brendan Morrow scoring from a sharp angle just 13 seconds into the game. Wild D Marc-Andre Bergeron tied it with a laser shot on the powerplay, and then it was all downhill. Stars F Brad Richards created a goal for Steve Ott by forechecking, Brad Richards scored thanks to a fortuitous bounce that put the puck on his stick with a wide-open net, and Virginia MN native Matt Niskanen scored in the 2nd with a nasty wrister. Wild F Andrew Brunette finished the scoring in the 3rd with another powerplay goal.

Wild G Niklas Backstrom was pulled after the 1st period, giving Josh Harding his 1st minutes of the season. Took long enough for Coach Jacques to put him into a game. It will be interesting to see who gets the start tonite v. Les Habitants.

Jots

• The Wild finally gave up a goal on the powerplay.
• The Wild have not won in Dallas since March 2003.
• Disappointing game given it was the first test against a playoff-proven team.

Next on the Docket - Wild v. Canadiens - Thurs Oct 30
It's the big Koivu v. Koivu matchup. They're both captains. They're both centers. They will match up in the faceoff circle. Who will win? I gotta go with the older brother here. Montreal is a good team. Canadiens 4 Wild 1

As a side note, there's a nice story on Mikko Koivu on NHL.com today.

Since the Wild were eliminated, it's been tougher this year than others to get into the playoffs. That said, I did watch most of the Dallas/SJ 4 overtime game on Sunday. I watched most of the game, then 3 of the overtimes, and decided I can't stay awake through another intermission and who knows how much hockey. So I set the DVR and watched the 4th OT as I got ready for work. Thank goodness it ended when it did...I almost had to FFwd to the game winner. Incidentally, what a great game! Both goalies were stellar in the OTs, including an unbelievable save by Nabokov in the 1st (I think) OT. Congrats to the Stars for finishing the series and pulling another upset. And to Brendan Morrow...would love to have him on our team.

On to my thoughts about the finals...

Pittsburgh Penguins v. Philadelphia Flyers
It's been a pretty magical run for the Flyers. They've played tough in this playoff, beating Washington and then ousting #1 seeded Montreal. For the Pens, they've only lost 1 game so far in the playoffs, sweeping Ottawa and losing only 1 to the NY Rangers. This could be a good series. Can Philly's bruisers take it to Pitt's talented forwards? I think this will go long, and I think the Pens will outlast the Flyers. We know one thing...the state of Pennsylvania will have a team in the Stanley Cup Finals.

Detroit Red Wings v. Dallas Stars
Detroit had to work a little to get by Nashville in the 1st round, but had an easy go against Colorado. Dallas pulled upsets against teams from their own conference in both rounds, Anaheim and then San Jose. How will they do against a team from another conference, and one that has not had to play seemingly 50 periods of overtime hockey? I gotta say it's been fun watching Dallas overachieve, but I think Detroit's the better team here and is playing real well right now. Detroit wins...Sorry Matt.

It's been a while since I last posted...so here's a recap of where the playoffs are at. Philadelphia has ousted Montreal. Detroit obliterated Colorado (typical). Pittsburgh is about to finish off New York Rangers, and San Jose has won the last 2 to make a series v. Dallas.

I can't say I've watched too much of the playoffs since the Wild lost, but I have picked up enough of Stars v. San Jose to know that that series could easily be San Jose up 3-2 or even already over in SJ's favor, or already over with Dallas winning. The games have been tight. Dallas has won 2 OT games, SJ has won 1. It has been the most competitive, which is why it was odd that Dallas was up 3-0. Dallas has another chance tonite to close this series out, but SJ has a bunch of momentum. Stars fans have to hope they haven't used up all their great play over the first month of the playoffs...

Pittsburgh also has a chance to close out the Rangers this afternoon, in Pittsburgh, on NBC. (What? the Pens and the Rangers are on NBC? That's so different!) I think this one is over today.

Philly is back in the Eastern Conference Finals, a year after accumulating only 22 wins in the entire season. Very impressive. Hey Wild!

Lastly, Detroit absolutely manhandled Colorado, sweeping a series that culminated in a 8-2 drubbing in Colorado. All-world against the Wild, Jose Theodore came back to earth, yanked 3 times in this series. In fairness, the Avs were hit with a bunch of injuries. Wild fans can sympathize there, but I'm not sure if I'm happy because Colorado was handled so easily, or more disappointed because it shows the Wild played down to their competition and simply lost to a team that they were better than.

The Conference Finals are setting up to be pretty exciting. We're getting down it! 

I'm gonna make a bold prediction. Tonight I watched Blackhawks v. Stars on HD Net. I realize this was the 1st game with Brad Richards, but that's why I think they'll catch them. Richards had 4 assists, and they were all skill plays. Three of the assists were on goals by Niklas Hagman. They were all pretty passes, looked like he'd been playing with them all season. They're only going to get better. Dallas is up 6-3 at time of this post.

Dallas is going to pass Detroit for the President's Cup (best regular season record). With a win tonite Dallas will be 3 pts back of Detroit. The only chink in this predicition is that Detroit has 3 games in hand, but they are 1-7-2 in their last 10 games (and they're old). Dallas is 8-2-0.

So Matt in TX, I think you're team is sittin' pretty.

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 @ Stars (1-7-08) - A View from my Recliner
Game 2 of a treacherous road trip was more of the same. Not enough offense and not enough outstanding goaltending to keep the Wild in it. Dallas wins 3-1 (BTW, I nailed this prediction, see my last post) Monday nite in Dallas. Backstrom let in a goal from just inside the blue line, the Wild defense was running around for another, and the Wilds heavy hitters were once again held in check. Unless we find our game somewhere between Detroit and Chicago we're going 0-4 on this road trip.

Nisky
For those of you that haven't heard the story about Matt Niskanen and his car, Niskanen has been driving his '01 pontiac sunfire he drove in college at UMD around Dallas since he made the team. He didn't expect to make the team so he didn't buy a new car. He calls it "his girl" and refuses to buy a new car. Before his 21st bday in early December, some of the Stars players stole the car and had it pimped out - new black and gold paint job, Stars logos, a green "5" on the side, "Nisky" on the back. Then they gave it back to him on his bday at practice and are making him drive it around Dallas before he auctions it off and finally buys a new car.

Here are some pics of the car. It's pretty funny seeing this sunfire all Dallas Starsed out with Minnesota license plates. Especially funny for me since I drove a sunfire for 6 years.

Jots

• Kurtis Foster was back in the lineup tonite. So was Skoula.
• Marty Turco played a much stronger in net for Dallas tonite than he did back in St. Paul last Thursday.
• Niskanen leads the Stars with a +12, er, make that a +16 after tonight, in his rookie season. The Wild's top +/- is PMB with +8.
• Mark Parrish scored again for the Wild.
• The American Airlines Center crowd came across as pretty loud and into the game on TV. Props out to Dan and Jill (part of the fam) who were at the game. I envision Jill was loud and Dan was mentally into the game. =)
• Where is Brian Rolston?

Next on the Docket - Wild @ Detroit Red Wings (Thurs 1-10)
The Wild have not been good against Detroit this year, and I have no reason to think this game will be any different. On a positive note, this game is available on FSN-HD. Wings 4 Wild 2

Wild v. Stars (1-3-08) - A View from Section 216
In a move I did not anticipate, Jacques scratched Skoula for tonight's game. Given all the heat both Skoula and Lemaire (for his backing of Skoula) have taken the past two days, I fully expected Skoula to be in the lineup. If anything, because Jacques knows better than all of us and he's going to prove it to us that Skoula is good. Well, when I didn't see him out for warmups, I thought maybe...but maybe I just missed him. Then a cheer went up from the crowd as he was announced as a scratch. Color me surprised.

Does anyone remember when the Wild were a defensive team? Yeah, I complained about the lack of offense as much as anyone else, but it seems like we give up way too many goals now a days. (I think it started right around the time we picked up Martin Skoula, but I have no facts to back that up.)

I was looking forward to watching tonight's game v. Dallas Stars. I was ready to get back into Wild hockey after the holiday break. I was excited to watch Matt Niskanen for Dallas, who played for my college team, the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs. That said, I had a bad feeling going into the game. Dallas is playing well of late - they lead the Pacific Division. The Wild were just beaten soundly by the Red Wings. Overall I had bad vibes. Apparently I'm of the Nostradamus ilk.

The Wild gave up 8 goals tonight in an 8-3 loss. The Stars played a good game, but they don't have the offensive firepower to score 8 goals. We were lucky to be in the game after the first two periods, as the Wild answered the first Stars goals quickly, but were outplayed in my opinion throughout. Down only 4-3 going into the 3rd there was a chance, but an inabiltity to capitalize on the power play and Dallas scoring 4 unanswered goals, really just set the game to where it should have been early on. I became a tish disinterrested, and I actually felt it necessary to flip over to the Wolves game on NBA TV, In that 5-minute stretch I missed Dallas' 7th goal, but luckily I saw their 8th. That really completed me.

There were a couple positives...

• Pavel Demitra remembered he can actually shoot instead of passing to Gabby, and sometimes when you shoot it goes in.
• In the 2nd period I started reading Lou Nanne's North Stars memories book that my wife gave me for Christmas. Very good read so far. I'll post more on this in the future.
• Arron Voros continued his inspired play.

Here's hopin for a more positive post tomorrow after Wild v. Coyotes!