Wild lose tonight, 1-0 in St. Louis. I didn’t see the game, but if you don’t score a goal, obviously you didn’t have much going offensively. It was sort of expected really, after an emotional game last night v. Vancouver with a bunch of fights at the end, the squad was likely tuckered. One thing that I did see come across the Twitter feed was another world-is-against-us call from the refs, this time a “slew-foot” by former UND Fighting Sioux TJ Oshie that sent Wild F Andrew Ebbett awkwardly into the boards, and now Ebbett apparently has a neck brace and is having spasms. Oshie got 2 minutes, but the Wild wanted more.

Looks like the Wild will end the night 3 points out of that 8th spot in the West. The important thing isn’t necesserilly this loss, but how they bounce back. They need to avoid a losing streak and get back on the horse. We’ll see what happens Saturday in Phoenix.

That’s all I got for this one since I didn’t see the game. Check out Hockey Wilderness for a comprehensive recap.

Guess we won’t be making the playoffs by going 41-0 at home.

Tonight the Wild lost their first game of the season at Xcel Energy Center, dropping their home record to 3-1. Lump that in with their 0-8 record on the road and the Wild have a Western Conference-worst 6 points. 12 games into the season, the Wild are ahead of only the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Florida Panthers in the entire NHL.

Tonight’s game wasn’t exactly entertaining. The Wild were down 1-0 early and 2-0 at the end of the 1st period. Things were looking sweet at the start of the 2nd, as surprisingly the Wild scored 3 goals in the first 2:18 – Burns on the PP, Clutterbuck from the right circle in transition, and Nolan on a weird cross-ice play that had Preds G Dan Ellis going the wrong direction. But that 3-2 lead lasted about as long as the Twins postseason, and the Preds soon had a 4-3 lead. That was that. My head was buried in my laptop for most of the 3rd. Figuring out what is new in Windows 7 was more interesting, and that’s sad commentary.

There’s alot of things not going well for this team. Obviously offensive flow is a big one. But another that’s becoming apparent is poor defensive play. I don’t know if it’s lack of talent on the blueline or trying to implement a activating D system with D that can’t play that style, but it’s difficult to watch. And Marek Zidlicky is the new Martin Skoula.

Speaking of that offensive flow, I don’t get why Petr Sykora would be a healthy scratch after playing only 2 games since coming back from injury. This team doesn’t have alot of offensive talent, and scratching Sykora takes out a major piece of that talent. Don’t you need to play your best players and allow them to work on that offensive flow?

Oh yeah, and the boo birds were out tonight at the X. Oh hey, the T-Wolves won tonight. How long before the discerning Minnesota sports fan chooses to spend his or her hard-earned money in Minneapolis instead of St. Paul? Just sayin…

Mostly more of the same from the Wizzy tonight. A very poor start…Down 1-0 in the first 2 minutes. Outshot 8-0 before they got their first shot. Gave up a 2 on 1 shorthanded goal. It all added up to the Blues’ first win at home and yet another Wild road loss.

If you couldn’t see this game, you didn’t miss a whole lot. Here’s a couple things…

• Newly acquired F Chuck Kobasew scored his first goal in a Wild sweater.
  
• Brent Burns continues to look like he’s lost something. He’s certainly not the guy we were ready to anoint the next Chris Chelios. Actually, I wonder how Cheli is doing with the Chicago Wolves…
  
• The Wizzy played better in the 2nd and 3rd and closed the shot margin to 26-20 by the end of the game.
  
• Still waiting to see this “offensive” style of hockey kick in. Mostly I see chickens with their heads cut off.
  
• Wild D Kim Johnsson left the game in the 1st period with some sort of injury and didn’t return.
  
• The loss wrecks the Wild’s perfect record with their new third sweater. Sure, it was only 1-0, but there hasn’t been much else to get excited about. Now that’s gone too.
  
• Has Marty Havlat played in a game yet? Maybe I should tweet him and ask.
  
• I’ve seen alot of commentary on Benoit Pouliot’s game looking alot better so far this season, so I decided to pay attention tonight. I have to say, I was impressed. At the risk of saying this again and looking stupid, might he have finally figured it out?
  
• I love listening to Darren Pang do color commentary. How does a guy like him wind up in St. Louis, and we have to listen to who we have to listen to? Also, there was no obnoxious “Face Off” bit in the intermission. Good on ya Fox Sports Midwest.

Next: Hurricanes @ Wild Saturday 7PM FSN (HD)
The Wild will put their perfect home record on the line tomorrow against Carolina. The ‘Canes only have 2 wins as well, so it should be riveting hockey. You would like to see the Wizzy win this one, and hopefully in regulation.

All 30 teams will be in action tomorrow as well. These are fun nights if you have the Center Ice package. 

It’s been a long 2 weeks since the season started.

It’s going to seem even longer as the season wears on.

Tonight the Wild lose 3-2 to the Anaheim Ducks, and it wasn’t that close. Corey Perry had two goals for the Ducks less than 9 minutes into the game. It was 3-0 before Eric Belanger scored to give the Wild a little (a very little) life. In the third period, there wasn’t much to get a Wild fan excited. Andrew Brunette did score his 4th goal of the year, but it came too little too late with only 9 seconds to play.

Again the Wild looked incohesive throughout this game. They The first Duck goal was a direct result of a bad Wild line change and Wild D Shane Hnidy taking a feeble swipe at the puck before sending Perry on a semi-breakaway. Perry scored his 2nd goal at even strength as well, though it sure looked like a Ducks powerplay. And that was about all she wrote.

I counted 4 odd-man rushes given up by the Wild, and I was only paying loose attention. The Wild didn’t sustain any pressure, even on the power play. There isn’t much reason to watch right now. I missed part of the game for Blackhawks v. Oilers.

Oh, and to top all that off, Wild F Martin Havlat left the game in the 3rd period, with an “undisclosed injury.” Russo is hearing it’s a groin pull. Havlat is as injury prone as Marian Gaborik, so this could be more bad news for a hurting Wild team.

The Wild start the season 1-4. How long with this ugliness last? Is it the new coach factor? Is it a learning the system thing? Or just a bad team? Are we looking at a lottery pick in June?

Next: Wild @ Edmonton – Friday October 16th 8PM KSTC
I don’t foresee much change in time for our first NW divisional matchup of the season. These games in Canada are typically a tough watch. Something always goes wrong for the Wild. And I expect Sioux v. Gophers will be on our TV this weekend, so I’ll be in and out of this one.

Can’t wait until the Wild are must-see TV again.

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…

Wild @ Canucks – Tues Mar 3 – View from the Couch
Another ridiculous loss for the Wizzy tonight. After jumping out to an early 2-0 lead in the 1st period, they give up 4 unanswered to lose 4-2. A disastrous 2nd period where the puck was seemingly in the Wild zone for the entire period. The Wild dropped in to a defensive style from which they never emerged, and two Canuck goals 28 seconds apart tied it then gave VAN the lead for good.

Wild goals came from Dan Fritsche and Marek Zidlicky. The bulk of VAN’s scoring was especially painful…two from pain in Pierre-Marc Bouchard’s posterior Alex Burrows and one from former Wild F Pavol Demitra. Hurts extra hard.

The Wild have now lost 4 in a row and are in absolute free fall.

Mikko Koivu is March Captain
Duh. MAKE him THE THE PERMANENT CAPTAIN!

The Fight to…Make the Playoffs
This was a big loss. Since this was a late game we know where we stand…11th place in the Western Conference, 3 points out of a playoff spot. With 20 games to play obviously the Wild are not out of it, but they’ve got to turn this ship around in a big hurry.

Next
The big west coast road swing continues Thursday in San Jose. Things just don’t get any easier.

Wild @ Edmonton – Sat Feb 28th – View from the Recliner
This is enough to make a Wild fan panic. Tonight the Wild go to 0-2 in this year’s pivotal road stretch, 3-2 to the Oil. Even finally getting a first period goal was not enough. The Wild’s goals came from Mikko Koivu and Antti Miettenen, and Josh Harding was in net for the Wild who lost their third game in a row. While I can’t pin it on Harding, there were a couple that I think he probably should have stopped. I am on record saying the Wild should deal Niklas Backstrom for offense and go with Harding, and tonight didn’t exactly make me feel like a great hockey mind.

Derek Boogaard Suspended
The NHL suspended Wild waste of space Derek Boogaard five games for his elbow in yesterday’s game v. Calgary. For reference, see my recap from yesterday’s Wild loss. That’s one way to get him off the team.

Another Looserville USA Night
Seems like every time I have some sort of hockey night at my house the teams I am rooting for lose. Last night it went Flames 4 Wild 1 and Gophers 2 Bulldogs 2. Tonight it was Gophers 5 Bulldogs 3 and Oil 3 Wild 2. My UMD Bulldogs had an excellent opportunity to position themselves for home-ice advantage in the WCHA playoffs this weekend, but only get 1 out of 4 points. Both nights they had leads – tonight they even had a natural hat trick from MacGregor Sharp (UMD’s first hat trick in over four years). But defensive breakdowns lead to too many odd man rushes, and UMTC gets the most out of the weekend, and I will hear about it all week at work.

The Fight to…Make the Playoffs
With the win, Edmonton moves ahead of the Wild and is tied for 7th in the Western Conference, with Anaheim. The Wild drop to 10th, 2 points behind Edmonton and Anaheim. If the Wizzy don’t stop this skid in a hurry there won’t be any playoff push left for Marian Gaborik to solidify if he ever gets healthy.

Next
The Wizzy HAVE to come out like it means something on Tuesday when they travel to Vancouver. I almost pulled out the must-win card last night, and I’m not quite going to do it here, but this is almost a must-win game.

Remember that obnoxious goal siren and god-awful red flame I wrote about in my last post? Yeah, got to see that 4 times tonite, as the Wild are dominated by the Calgary Flames tonite, 4-1. The Wild are absolutely terrible in the Saddledome. The lone Wild goal was a token goal from Marc-Andre Bergeron with only a couple minutes left in the 3rd. There’s not much to talk about in this one from a Wild fan standpoint. Hopefully my UMD Bulldogs will beat UMTC Gophers tonight, in a game that I know has ended but I will be watching on tape delay. Go Dogs!

Boogaard Has Got to Go
Tonite did provide further proof that there is no reason to have Derek Boogaard on this team. I continue to have no clue what value he provides. Late in the 3rd he was on the ice…why I can not fathom…and came in late and hit Flames F Brandon Prust high with an elbow. It made quite the sound into the boards, and Prust went to the ice. As Flames D Dion Phaneuf and Jim Vandermeer went after Boogaard. That prompted Wild play-by-play and analyst guys to babble about how Phaneuf and Vandermeer were cross checking and punching and slashing Boogaard, as if he didn’t deserve it. Seriously…WHY IS EVERYONE SO INFATUATED WITH DEREK BOOGAARD?!?!?! Drives me insane! He’s terrible!

(Hopefully I still have some Wild fans reading this blog after I made that statement…)

Fight to…Make the Playoffs
Starting play the Wild were in a 4-way tie for 7th place in the West. The other 3 teams in that tie are off tonite, so that will be the story tomorrow night as well.

Next
Wild play game 2 of the NW Division leg of this road trip tomorrow night in Edmonton. We’re quickly approaching “biggest game of the season” time. The Oil is one of the teams in that 4-team tie for 7th, so it is a very big game. The Oil are 1-3-1 in their last 5. But they also have an obnoxious goal siren, so that doesn’t bode well for my favorite team.

Kings @ Wild Tues Feb 24
The Wild left a point on the ice tonight v. LA Kings, losing 2-1 in a shootout. They certainly played well enough to win, but failed on a few opportunities to bury the puck.

Regulation was relatively uneventful. Antti Miettenen did score a shorthanded goal in the 1st after receiving a nifty pass from Mikko Koivu on a 2 on 1. That was definitely nice to see. But they gave up a powerplay goal in the 2nd…actually Kim Johnsson scored it for the Kings on one of those “here goalie, cover it” type plays. Buzz kill. There were periods in the 3rd where the Wild would carry the play but they could not get it by Kings G Jonathan Quick. Most notably, Andrew Brunette made a beauty move only to be stoned by Quick with about a minute left in the 3rd.

Overtime
The Wild had a couple golden opportunities to win it in the OT. Dan Fritsche was oh-so-close to winning it in the OT. He broke in on a 2 on 1 and the LA D took away the pass so he fired a shot that hit the near-side post. Shortly after, the Wild hit another post and Pierre Marc Bouchard also had a point blank chance. No one was clutch, and clutch is everything in the playoff stretch.

Shootout
Mikko Koivu hit a post in the shootout, and Niklas Backstrom gave up his first and second shootout goals and that was the story.

Grinders
So most of the Wild forwards are grinders this year, but I thought Cal Clutterbuck, Dan Fritsche, James Sheppard, Craig Weller, and Stephane Veilleux were the most productive  of everyone in the 3rd. They took a lot of body, kept the puck in the offensive zone, and had a handful of opportunities. If someone could only finish…

Fight to…Make the Playoffs
The Wild move into a tie for the 8th spot in the Western Conference. The missed point was a missed opportunity to move into the 7th spot, but let’s concentrate on the positive. Wizzy would be in the playoffs if the season ended today.

Who’s Next
The Wild embark on the big 14 of 17 on the road bit of the schedule on Friday, starting the trip in Calgary. I hate watching games at Saddledome on TV. The picture is always grainy and washed out. Plus the whole arena turns red when the Flames score, adding that extra insult to injury. Hopefully this one won’t turn into a DVR FFWD game.

The Wild once again put a damper on any kind of fan enthusiasm they may have generated with Monday’s win over Chicago by losing to the 2nd-to-last-place LA Kings, 5-2 Tuesday nite. The Wild never held a lead in this one, and save for a 1-1 tie didn’t much show up at all. The lone bright spot was Marek Zidlicky’s 9th goal of the season – again on the powerplay – that was almost a carbon copy of the goal he scored v. Chicago off a beauty pass from Andrew Brunette behind the goal. This was one of those games that had a loser vibe early and it stuck.

Fake Midway Point
The Wild is now off until Tuesday in observance of the All-Star break. With 36 games remaining, they are in the 9th spot in the Western Conference, 1 point out of a playoff spot. This is a team that needs to string together some wins, and it will be tough coming out of the break if they can’t even beat LA. They do play 9 out of their next 13 games at home, so by the end of February we will probably know if they’re contenders or pretenders – at least to make the playoffs if nothing more.

Return of Old Man Antagonist
Claude Lemieux, the 43-year old ultimate antagonizer (or dirty hockey player depending on your point of view) returned to NHL action tonite for the San Jose Sharks. Think about it…he was drafted in 1983. At the time of this post the Sharks game with Vancouver was in the 3rd period with about 14 minutes to go, and Lemieux had 6:15 of ice time. 2 things I don’t get…

• What can Claude Lemieux possibly have left in the tank?
• What do the Sharks think he is going to add to their team?

Thanks for that, Paul
A friend of mine who lives in MN but is a Red Wings fan was kind enough to send me another Pavel Datsyuk highlight from a recent shootout. I’m not sure what' he’s trying to prove…the Wild once made a nice move in a shootout before too. Also, Datsyuk always uses the same move…try something different!

But thanks for thinking of me Paul…and for everyone else, here’s the goal…

Next
I’ll have some thoughts on the Skills Competition and the All-Star Game over the weekend.

A long day of hockey in the state of hockey proved to be a long day for the Wild tonite. The could not capitalize on multiple scoring chances, and lose 3-0 to the Anaheim Ducks.

I didn’t think the Wizzy played all that bad really. They just missed alot of opportunities to bury the puck…PMB and Miettenen come to mind as the most glaring. Anaheim played their typical brand of power hockey and were able to get 3 by Niklas Backstrom.

We also saw a potentially severe injury to Andrew Brunette. Bruno went awkwardly face-first into the boards while losing his balance and kind of starting to do the splits. Sounds like it was a knee injury, and it did not look good at all. Gotta hope it looked worse than it was, but he had to be helped off the ice.

It was disappointing that the Wild couldn’t continue the win streak, but I am still encouraged that they had plenty of chances, had some good pressure, and continued to play inspired for most of the game. They’ll need to keep up that same confidence v. Chicago on Monday (on Vs.).

Hockey Day
I was able to keep tabs on hockey day MN throughout the day. My wife went shopping so Baby Girl and I watched starting at 10 AM. Well, Baby Girl played in the exersaucer mostly, and napped, and rolled around on the floor alot, and apparently cut a new tooth…but she glanced at the TV a few times. I also mixed in a little NHL 09 during naps. It was a great event with the high school games @ Phalen Park and the high school game @ the X. Didn’t watch Gophers v. SCSU, cause both those teams bite. Add a little Hockey Night in Canada from NHL Network. I’ll flip in once or twice on the girls high school game that is on delay right now on FSN right now and I’ll probably DVR the Aeros game later tonite. The 3rd Hockey Day MN was a success for the Wild and also for me enjoying the vibe.

Think about this…Hockey Day MN #4, 5, or 6 might just include a Wild game outdoors @ TCF Bank Stadium or Target Field.

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!

Wild lose to the Canucks tonite 2-0. The game was actually pretty entertaining even tho the Wild could not get anything by Canuck G Roberto Luongo. It was a hard-hitting affair. Several Wild players were finishing checks in a way you don't typically see from the Wizzy. They also peppered Luongo through most of the game, and especially in the 3rd period. Luongo was exceptional, making a handful of saves when it seemed the Wild were set up to tie the game at 1. But late in the 3rd one of the Sedin twins found the other Sedin and that Sedin scored to ice the win for Vancouver. Anyone know what Backstrom was trying to do on that play? Because he basically fell over.

Oh I'm sure most of you saw that former Wild F Mark Parrish had a hat trick in his 1st game for the Dallas Stars. My cousin on TX basically gave me play by play. His quote was "Parrish is a beast!" =) Good for Parrish tho. He's a class act.

Not much else from here. Mostly because I've been working on typing this for a half hour and all I've got is one tiny paragraph. If anyone knows of any good blogging apps for iPhone please let me know!

Wild @ Sharks – Tues 11-4 – View from the Couch and Ba Ba Cleaning Land
Quite the nite tonite. I’m tired. Barack Obama is the President Elect. That’s a big deal. The Wild lost again to one of those “good teams.” That’s getting to be standard.

The Wild again were unable to beat one of the upper-echelon teams tonite in a 3-1 loss to the San Jose Sharks. Even tho they kept the score tied at 1 going into the 3rd period, it was the classic Wild feeling of “we ain’t got no offense.” The Wild were blown away in shots tonite, 49-24. I think I noticed about 3 of those Wild shots as offensive pressure was short-lived for the Wizzy. The lone Wild goal came in the 1st period when just-called-up Wild F Krystofer Kolanos knocked home a rebound that came off Sharks G Evgeni Nabokov.

There are a few things that are really hurting the Wild right now…

• No Marian Gaborik
• Injuries – Gabby, Nolan, Burns, etc.
• Young players called up to replace the injured players

Still no official word on the MN Senate seat between Al Franken and Norm Coleman. I’m sick of Passolt and Robinson babbling on the Number 9 and I’ve got an early meeting tomorrow AM that I need to be coherent for, so that’s I’ve got for tonite. Wild are back in action Thurs v. Colorado, our 1st action v. the Northwest Division this season.

Hoping and praying our country has inspired and stalwart leadership in the next 4 years…

Wild v. Canadiens – Thurs Oct 30 – View from All Over the House
We’ve seen a couple things play out in the Wild’s last 2 games. One is that against stiffer competition, the Wild are pretty much overmatched in the scoring department. Two is that a Wild team without Marian Gaborik is pretty punchless. Eric Belanger has reverted to invisible Eric Belanger, and Antti Miettinen can not pick up the slack for the goals the Wild will lose when Gabby is not part of this team.

Wild lose tonite to the Montreal Canadiens 2-1. One would say they didn’t lose too badly, that it was a close game. But if you watched the game, you saw no flow from the Wild offense for the majority of the game. They spent pretty much the entire 2nd period on the powerplay, including significant 5-on-3 time, and did not sniff a goal. Passes were not crisp, players were overskating the puck, and Montreal played a stellar penalty kill strategy. The Wild could not work the puck into the slot, so all the shots came from Bergeron or other defensemen from the point and would not get thru to Canadiens G Carey Price. The Wild had a total of 10 powerplay opportunities, and came up snake-eyes. The lone Wild goal came 1:30 into the game from Brent Burns, who was playing forward tonite with Owen Nolan out again with another “lower body” injury. Josh Harding got the start tonite, and he finished with 19 saves giving up 2 goals. The 1st goal was a little weak, but all in all he played a decent game.

The most exciting part of tonite’s game was at the end of the game, with about 20 seconds to play, there was a scrum in front of the Montreal net. The Wild’s Koivu was all up in the fracas, throwing gloved-fists and losing his helmet. The Canadien’s Koivu was on the ice as well, and he got into it with Wild F Andrew Brunette. If they’da let it go, it would have been interesting to see how it would play out if Koivu and Koivu met in the pile. Koivu v. Koivu droppin’ the gloves? Mikko is a bit of a crazy if he gets riled up…it coulda happened!

Then as he went back out on the ice for the final 20 seconds, he had Martin Skoula’s #41 helmet on. I thought it was pretty comical.

The Wild’s performance in the last 2 games has me worried for the games this season against the upper-tier teams in the NHL. It’s one thing to beat Atlanta and Tampa Bay, but the Wild have lost to Buffalo, Dallas, and Montreal – three good teams – and they haven’t looked particularly competent in any of those losses.

Next on the Docket – Wild @ Coyotes – Sat Nov 1
Phoenix is last in the Western Conference with 8 points so far this season, but tonite they beat the Penguins 4-1. This is a game the Wild need to get back on track. Wild 3 ‘Yotes 0 That’s right, I’m callin’ a shutout!

Closed Circuit to Kirsten
I hope you’re happy!!!

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.

Sabres @ Wild – Thurs Oct 23rd 2008 – View from My Recliner
Actually tonite I watched sporadically through the nite on the DVR…you know, baby stuff. I saw the ugly start the Wild had – they had no flow and were very sluggish. Just didn’t seem to have any step. Drew Stafford scored on a nifty play to put the Sabres up 1-0.

Then, when I was about midway thru the 2nd period, I made the mistake of logging on to Facebook…figuring I could avoid the news feed. Well, my eyes glanced to one, and only one status update, and that was enough. I won’t name any names (Niki) but the result of tonite’s game was spoiled for me. And ironically, this happened just Benoit Pouliot scored to tie it at 1-1, and shortly that after Stephane Veilleux scored to put the Wild up 2-1. So I was left to wonder how we blew the lead in the 3rd. Then, in the 1st minute of the 3rd period, Brent Burns got credit for putting the Wild up 3-1 when Sabres G Ryan Miller misplayed the puck into his own net. So now it’s “Really? We blew a 2-goal lead?” Then it turned into “Really? We blew a 2-goal lead with 4 minutes left?”

Sure enough, the Sabres scored on a weak deflection shot, then Thomas Vanek (former Goofer) tied it after being left wide open by the again-sluggish Wild D. In the OT, Derek Roy won the game on after a scrum in front of G Niklas Backstrom.

Moral of the story, if you’re going to be watching on the DVR, apparently not only do you need to seclude yourself from any interaction with anyone in real life, you need to turn your virtual life off also.

I was way off on my thought that this would be a fast-paced game. It really wasn’t a great game to watch, even when I didn’t know who won yet. I did have the score right, just the winner flip-flopped.

So, the only positive is the Wild are still undefeated in regulation and they have points in each game. But the overshadowing negative is the way they lost the game. Coach Jacques is most-likely not happy.

Zidlicky
New Wild D Marek Zidlicky played his 1st game of the season, and I liked what I saw. He moves the puck well so that will create offense on the breakout. And he has a nasty shot from the point. He and Marc-Andre Bergeron will definitely help create offense.

Next on the Docket – Blue Jackets @ Wild – Sat Oct 25
Don’t know much about Columbus, except that they haven’t contended for a playoff spot since they came into the league with the Wild in 2000. Oh and they have Rick Nash. They’re 3-3-0. Maybe we’ll see Josh Harding. Wild should win, 3-1.

Wild @ Avalanche - Western Conference Quarterfinals Game 6 - View from the Couch
Did the great Minnesota band (I use the term great loosely) Soul Asylum write that song for us Wild fans?

Wild season dead in Colorado tonite, after a 2-1 loss to the Avs in game 6. Avs take the series 4-2. There's not much to write about in the way of analysis on this one. Colorado scored 1st again, Wild tied it up in the 2nd, Colorado takes the lead again in the 2nd, and the Wild didn't have much of a sniff the rest of the game. They managed 35 shots, but it wasn't the same kind of near miss onslaught as in game 5. Most of the shots were from the perimeter, and Avs G Jose Theodore made the easy saves to finish up the series.

Marian Gaborik did finally get an assist with a nice pass to Aaron Voros for the lone Wild goal, but he was bottled up again tonite. No one else was able to step up and take charge, and the Avalanche move on to round 2.

I do have to shout out to Nick Schultz, who played tonite for the 1st time in the playoffs after his appendectomy. He gave what he had for the team, and that is why he is a stalwart on this team.

I will also give credit to the Avalanche, who led over 100 minutes in this series. The Wild only led just over 4 minutes. In the end their big stars were better than the Wild's big stars.

Fight to Bring the Cup to St. Paul
The Wild Marketing Team better not bring back "Fight to the End" as the slogan next time the Wild make the playoffs. Both years they used it, the Wild fizzled to the end and were out 1st round, and both times I didn't see much sense of fight. Matter of fact, Game 4, the game in which the Wild had 111 ridiculous penalty minutes, turned the momentum to the Avalanche and they never looked back. Thugnation cost us this series.

Honeymoon is Over
After their 2nd 1st round exit in a row, the tide has now officially turned in the Wild's fan base. It's been building, but you can expect the organization to start to feel the heat of not producing a winner. My heat is laserline-focused on GM Doug Risebrough. More to come in future posts on that topic.

Next on the Docket - Free Agency
Who did we see play their last game in a Wild sweater tonite? Brian Rolston? Pavol Demitra? Pierre-Marc Bouchard? Rolston was asked after the game about next year and his pending free agency, his answer...my time here in Minnesota was great, we'll see what happens next year...didn't sound much like someone that expected to be back. It could get nasty this summer.

More to Come
I'll still follow the Cup playoffs and this offseason is critical to the Wild, so keep an eye out for more posts. While the Wild flags will come down and the jerseys will go back in the closet for 6 months, remember we have a banner to hang next October, and another chance at bringing home the Cup.

Avalanche @ Wild - Western Conference Quarterfinals Game 5 - View from Section 209
No, I wasn't in mourning or anything...this post was late because I got home at midnite-thirty last nite. Also because I wanted to detach myself a little bit from the game. As most of you know, Wild lose 3-2 to Colorado in game 5 to take a 3-2 series lead in a game that the Wild absolutely dominated for 2 periods. Shots on goal were like 30-15 (give or take) after 2 periods. Jose Theodore was a freaking rock and kept the Wild off the scoreboard save for a 1st period powerplay goal by Pierre Marc Bouchard. The 2nd was such a fun period for the fans. The X was so loud, but every "aaaah" turned into "oooooh" instead of goal horn. It was very emotional and disappointing from a fan standpoint. I had troubles thinking about what I wanted to write. So, here it is.

Let's start with my keys for the Wild to win from the previous post...let's see which ones happened.

• Thugnation plays smarter - Yep
• Wild score in 1st or 2nd period - Yep
• Gabby gets at least a point - Not so much
• Thugnation plays smarter - Yep
• D-men get their wind back - Only Til the 3rd
• Sean Hill doesn't fall over - Didn't fall over, but took a penalty that led to the go ahead goal
• Jose Theodore actually allows goals - Theodore was even better
• Thugnation plays smarter - Yep
• Crowd is off the hook - Yep

Unfortunately listing Thugnation's mild manner 3 times wasn't enough to overshadow the things that didn't happen. Gabby is now trying too hard, attempting to create what isn't there and fanning on one-timers to open nets. Adding Eric Reitz into the defensive corps was a good move and he played well, but in my opinion it should have been for Sean Hill, not Pterri Nummelin. Because Sean Hill is old and can't keep up with most forwards, he had to hook someone after a defensive-zone turnover. And Jose Theodore has clearly made a pact with someone unsavory as he is stopping everything that the Wild throw at him.

The crowd at the X was great. From the opening video on it was bonkers. So loud. The Wild finally get a 1st period goal, but it was to tie the game, not the 1st goal of the game. In the 2nd, they played so well, they pressed so hard, but they couldn't get anything by Theodore. What Theodore didn't stop hit the posts. The puck was in the Avs zone for what seemed like the entire period. It seemed they had finally gotten one by Theodore when Pavol Demitra fired one past Theodore from the blue line on the rush, but someone, I'm not even sure who it was, skated into the zone before Demo got the puck past the blue line. Go from pandemonium to what is going on in the crowd. Grrr.

In the 2nd intermission, the place just didn't have a good vibe. Everyone was so into the 2nd but to not score...definitely came down from a high. They put Caps v. Flyers 2nd OT on the video board (and on the ice...that was cool) and I'm not sure who was paying attention, but I was, and there wasn't alot of flow to it. When the boys came out, instead of the whole place loud, cheering, waving towels like before the game and before the 2nd period, it was only a handful of people. The place just seemed drained, and so did the Wild. Mikko Koivu turned the puck over in the defensive zone, that led to the Hill penalty, and the Avs scored on the powerplay. So you're thinkin...ok...there's time left to tie it up...but Paul Stastney broke out of his scoring drought in a big way with a pretty top-shelf backhand to beat Backstrom, and that was all she wrote. The Wild were barely able to get the puck in the Avs zone the rest of the period. Brian Rolston's goal from the point off a faceoff with 2.5 seconds left added to the frustration. It was your typical hockey gods laughing at the irony of too little too late after playing a great game. The hockey gods are interfering way too much in this series - Andrew Brunette scored his 3rd of the series tonite too.

Fight to Bring the Cup to St. Paul
They're really going to have to fight now. Avs lead the series 3-2. Wild need to win the next 2 to continue the fight.