Wild @ Blackhawks - 1-11-08 - An In and Out View from my Home Office
I was in an out of tonite's game as I had some work stuff to tidy up. It was a beauty offensive explosion in the 2nd, with the Wild scoring 3 times to take control of the game. Gabby continuted his hot hand with 2 goals, one on a sick wrister that Khabiboulin had no idea, Parrish scored again on almost the same one-timer he had in the famous Skoula flub game, and Josh Harding was absolutely stellar in the 3rd. Great way to finish off the road trip after a terrible start.

I'm gonna say it for about the 600th time this year, maybe now we'll get on a streak...

Harding
I am really pulling for Josh Harding to keep playing well. I like the kid alot. In the games he plays well in he really makes some great stops. The kind of flashy stops that Backstrom just doesn't make. The kind that I think you need to go far into the playoffs. You can say that Backstrom doesn't need to make those stops because he's so positionally sound, but I don't think there's any question that Harding is the goalie of the future for this team. I think he's going to get better the more he plays and we might just have an all-star goalie on our team.

Next on the Docket - Wild v. Phoenix Coyotes 1-13-08
My dad and I may be going to this game if we can score some tickets, so hopefully I'll be viewing it from the X. I look for the Wild to continue playing strong and to win the 3rd in a row. We're a better team than Phoenix and it should come out that way at home. I'm calling a shutout. Wild 3 Coyotes 0

Wild @ Red Wings 1-10-08 - A View from Someone Else's House
What a day in the State of Hockey. The team was sold, Gabby was named to the All-Star Team, Dominic Moore was placed on waivers to make room for Mikko Koivu, and the Wizzy played a wild game in Detroit. After blowing leads of 1-0, 3-1, and 4-2, they gave up the probable go-ahead goal with 1:08 left in the 3rd, but Eric Belanger scored just 19 seconds later with the goalie pulled to force overtime. Oh, and then we went to a shootout. Gabby scored his first ever shootout goal for a 6-5 Wild win. I'm tired.

The Sale
Bob Neagle selling his majority interest in the Wild to Racine Wisconsin's Craig Leipold sort of took most everyone by surprise. There had been rumblings. Lou Nanne had talked about the possibility on his weekly appearance with KFAN's Dan Barreiro. But I don't think many people felt it was this close. I certainly didn't. Craig Leipold is the former owner of the Nashville Predators and appears to be a hockey fan at heart. The league respects him, and that should bode well for the Wizzy overall. Leipold was on with Barreiro this afternoon (podcastable on KFAN.com). I don't sense anything funny in this deal - seems to just be an owner who was ready to sell for a nice profit and another hockey guy who wanted to get back in the league.

The Game
5 goals (+2 in the shootout) against the Wings was a nice surprise. 5 different goal scorers - Skoula, Gaborik, Fedoruk, Foy, and Belanger. Gabby had a very strong game with a goal and 2 assists plus the shootout winner. Backstrom was pretty shaky again, but Harding came in in the 2nd period and played a great game. He made a number of point blank saves keeping the Wild in it. He was also strong in the shootout, stopping Zetterburg on his signature deke and sweeping backhand.

Rolston scored in the shootout on his patented slapper from between the circles. Osgood guessed the wrong side, and looked silly. Gabby then won it with a nice deke and five-hole goal.

Jots

• How weird must it have been for Moore to play in tonight's game. Being placed on waivers today means he'll either be claimed by another team or will be assigned to Houston. Knowing it will be his last in a Wild sweater for at least a while must have been a strange feeling.
• Foy played a pretty good game considering he never cracks the lineup. He played his typical fiesty game.
• The Wild's PP is up to 5th in the NHL!
• Gaborik will be the Wild's only representation in the All-Star Game in Atlanta.
• Detroit is good. But they appear to be losing some fanbase in Detroit. There were a good number of empty seats at the Joe.
• Skoula's goal came in the 1st, pinching on a nice feed from Gabby. Give him some props for that.
• Not only did Sweet Lou from the Soo correctly predict the Wild would be sold to Leipold, he also said that the Washington Capitals would sign Alex Ovechkin. Did they ever. The two parties agreed to a 13-year, $124 million deal, the first ever $100 million deal in the NHL. Ovechkin may be worth it, but a 13 year contract? Ever hear of career-ending injuries?

Next on the Docket - Wild @ Chicago Blackhawks (Fri 1-11-08)
The Wizzy have always had the Hawks number, and I think it continues here. We should see a boost from tonite's win and the return of Mikko Koivu. Wild 4 Hawks 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 @ Predators (1-5-08) - A View from my Couch
Every time we play at Nashville, I dread hearing Nashville's Tim McGraw goal song. "I like it, I love it, I want some more of it." Makes me throw up in my mouth. Well, we got to hear Tim four times, as the Wild gave up 3 goals in the first and were unable to make the comeback. All things considered, it was a pretty fun game to watch, especially with a very up and down 2nd period. Mark Parrish scored again thanks to a nice pass from Stephane Veilleux, who had a pretty good game. After the goal, both teams had long opportunities in each other's zone thanks to good forechecking, but the Wild couldn't get any closer. If I have to watch a 3-goal Wild loss I guess it could have been worse.

Tough TV Sports Day @ My House

• USA lost to Russia in the World Junior Championships. They didn't even medal after winning their first 4 games. Seems every US national team underacheives. Incidentally, Canada won their 4th WJC in a row.
• I spent $6 to watch tUMD Bulldogs get shutout by Bemidji State. 2.5 hours I'll never get back.
• The Wild lost.
• The Steelers lost to the Jaguars. Not really a a big deal, but I like Mike Tomlin. Well, I guess I like Jack Del Rio too, so who cares?
• Now I'm watching Tubby Gopher hoops @ Michigan State on the DVR. I don't expect to see a win here either.
• I'll have to play some NHL 08 over Xbox Live to go to bed feeling better about myself. Assuming I can win a game.

Next on the Docket - Wild @ Dallas Stars (Mon 1-7-08)
3rd game against Dallas since Christmas. The way the last two games went I'd like to say this is rekindling the rivalry, but I think it'll take a playoff series to make that happen. (How fun would that be?) The Wizzy need to bounce back but Dallas needs it more. They've lost their last 4 including being shutout by Detroit today. I have a sneaky feeling Dallas wins. Dallas 3, Wild 1

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.

We have a tradition in our family (actually I joined the tradition when I got married) of having frybread on New Years Day. It has become one of my favorite days. Usually we'll have frybread and watch meaningless college bowl games that my wife tires of after about 10 minutes. This year it was frybread and hockey watching the Winter Classic.

While I can't say it was a family afternoon of bonding, I truly enjoyed watching the outdoor game in Buffalo while my wife and her mom were busy taking down Christmas decorations. It was snowing at the beginning of the game, sleeting midway, and snowing again at the end. There was snow on the ice, wind in the player's faces, and weather reports throughout the broadcast. It made for a surreal afternoon. I thoroughly enjoyed every aspect. Even having to watch the Penguins like every other nationally-televised game was not annoying, as they appeared as a different team in baby blue jerseys. It couldn't have been more perfect. Darren Pang and Mike Emmerick, toques, and a shootout with Sidney Crosby winning it on a pretty snow-plow deke. The fans in Buffalo were absolutely awesome, and I realized that even though we in Minnesota like to pride ourselves on the outside hockey experience, we could never pull off putting 75,000 outside to watch an NHL hockey game in 25 degree weather and snow. Metrodome has made us soft.

I can only hope that the NHL was able to pick up a few fringe viewers they so desperately need - the channel surfers that might just get attracted to the game when they see hockey in the snow. The one drawback was the long stoppages to clean the ice and many viewers just may have checked out and gone back to football. I only hope they came back to share in at part of my New Years Day bliss.

Trust me on the frybread.