The Minnesota Wild, as had been previously reported, released their 2010-2011 pre-season schedule. The schedule includes back-to-back games against the St. Louis Blues and the Columbus Blue Jackets, bookending single games vs. Philadelphia (at Xcel Energy Center), and at Montreal. The schedule concludes with an exhibition game, vs. the Finnish SM-liiga team Ilves Tampere at Tampeeren Jaahalli Arena on Monday, Oct. 4, leading into the NHL Premiere pair of games vs. the Carolina Hurricanes in Helsinki.
The entire release from the Wild 'Propaganda Ministry' may be found here:
http://wild.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=531536&navid=DLMINhome
The regular season schdule will be released next Tuesday, June 22nd.
--WRT
Showing posts with label Montreal Canadiens. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Montreal Canadiens. Show all posts
Monday, June 14, 2010
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Now, they play for hardware
OK, the NHL has finally come down to the Conference Finals, which mans at the end of this round, there will be trophies to be handed out. In the East it will be the 'real' trophy, the Prince of Wales Trophy; and in the West, the Clarence Campbell Bowl will be somewhat accepted by one of the two combatant teams.
There are so many contrasts in these upcoming series. In the East, it will be the flash and speed of Montreal vs. the 'Beat up at any cost' attitude of Philadelphia. Never mind that the Flyers win the game by making actual hockey plays; that's been secondary since the days of Gary Dornhoefer and 'Battleship' Bob Kelly. The main goal of the Flyers, is to goad their opponents into getting beat up so bad, that they forget about their game. With Montreal, however, having already taken out two teams (Washington and Pittsburgh) by essentially not allowing their opponents to play their game in order to even get to THIS point, well, hopefully -- for them -- the Flyers will figure out that this should not be monkey business, as usual. Scott Hartnell really should concentrate on something other than trying to run Michael Cammalleri thru the boards and across the parking lot to Lincoln Financial Field, and maybe concentrate on their own defense, which nearly blew the Boston series, save for the epic collapse of the Bruins in Game 7 on Friday night.
In the west, the phrase 'speed kills' will be very much in vogue these next two weeks, as the young and speedy Chicago Blackhawks should blow by the aging San Jose Sharks, whose long-term future will be determined by these next round of games; the Sharks management will be less likely to blow the whole thing up and start over, should they actually get to the Stanley Cup Finals. On the other hand, the way that Chicago has rebuilt the franchise over the last few seasons (remember the days of attendance of 8,000 or so, for games at the United Center vs. the Wild?) to reclaim the franchises' past glory, has led up to this point in time. This point. Now. Not next season, not last year. This year. Now. The Hawks will have to figure out how to keep as much of their talent in the Second City, because with the contracts coming due for their top players (Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith) there will be a major upheaval on Madison St. this summer.
And whither the Sharks? Management has had one hand on the plunger for three seasons straight. How much longer will the fans in the Bay Area put up with this underachieving bunch? This season is the first time in six seasons that the Sharks have even made it this far, despite being the best team in the West three of the last four seasons. The Sharks defeated Detroit last Saturday, so this time there can be no excuses for being tired. Chicago last played in Vancouver on Tuesday night, so they too have had a bit of a respite, from the every-other-day playoff grind.
But don't ask me who I want to win. I don't want to jinx the team that I think will go on to the Finals. I've been an 0-fer on playoff predictions in the first two rounds. Just sit back, relax, and enjoy the playoffs.
Because now, there's hardware on the line.
There are so many contrasts in these upcoming series. In the East, it will be the flash and speed of Montreal vs. the 'Beat up at any cost' attitude of Philadelphia. Never mind that the Flyers win the game by making actual hockey plays; that's been secondary since the days of Gary Dornhoefer and 'Battleship' Bob Kelly. The main goal of the Flyers, is to goad their opponents into getting beat up so bad, that they forget about their game. With Montreal, however, having already taken out two teams (Washington and Pittsburgh) by essentially not allowing their opponents to play their game in order to even get to THIS point, well, hopefully -- for them -- the Flyers will figure out that this should not be monkey business, as usual. Scott Hartnell really should concentrate on something other than trying to run Michael Cammalleri thru the boards and across the parking lot to Lincoln Financial Field, and maybe concentrate on their own defense, which nearly blew the Boston series, save for the epic collapse of the Bruins in Game 7 on Friday night.
In the west, the phrase 'speed kills' will be very much in vogue these next two weeks, as the young and speedy Chicago Blackhawks should blow by the aging San Jose Sharks, whose long-term future will be determined by these next round of games; the Sharks management will be less likely to blow the whole thing up and start over, should they actually get to the Stanley Cup Finals. On the other hand, the way that Chicago has rebuilt the franchise over the last few seasons (remember the days of attendance of 8,000 or so, for games at the United Center vs. the Wild?) to reclaim the franchises' past glory, has led up to this point in time. This point. Now. Not next season, not last year. This year. Now. The Hawks will have to figure out how to keep as much of their talent in the Second City, because with the contracts coming due for their top players (Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith) there will be a major upheaval on Madison St. this summer.
And whither the Sharks? Management has had one hand on the plunger for three seasons straight. How much longer will the fans in the Bay Area put up with this underachieving bunch? This season is the first time in six seasons that the Sharks have even made it this far, despite being the best team in the West three of the last four seasons. The Sharks defeated Detroit last Saturday, so this time there can be no excuses for being tired. Chicago last played in Vancouver on Tuesday night, so they too have had a bit of a respite, from the every-other-day playoff grind.
But don't ask me who I want to win. I don't want to jinx the team that I think will go on to the Finals. I've been an 0-fer on playoff predictions in the first two rounds. Just sit back, relax, and enjoy the playoffs.
Because now, there's hardware on the line.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Onto the Next Round
Eight teams, four series, and one fan's opinions:
Eastern Conference --
Pittsburgh (4) vs. Montreal (8): The fact that Montreal pulled the biggest upset since the 1987 Minnesota Twins still doesn't help the fact that Montreal is under-sized, out-gunned and in way over their collective heads. The only way that the Pens lose this series, is if they beat themselves. Which, with Sidney Crosby on a roll right now, I really don't see happening.
Pens in 5.
Boston (6) vs. Philadelphia (7): The Bruins were happy just to get to this point, as they were not assured of a playoff spot until the last Friday night of the regular season. The Flyers had to go to OT vs. the Rangers to get in on the last day of the season. The lack of Bruins offense and the chippiness of the Flyers seem to cancel each other out, in a strange sort of way. This series will get physical, and the Bruins are the one team in the East who will dish out as much as they get. Bruins in 6.
Western Conference --
San Jose (1) vs. Detroit (5): I thought Detroit was going to show up for Game 1 of this series. Or did they not have enough $$ on hand, to pay the $2500 FAA fine for their too-late arrival at San Jose's airport? Whatever happened, the Red Wings sure made disbelievers out of me with their less-than-scintillating Game 1 'performance'. San Jose played probably their best game in April in three years vs. the Wings in game 1: the question now is, can they keep it up? Sharks' fans better hope so, for the sake of the franchise, as this team is one series defeat from 'Extreme Makeover: NHL Edition'. This is a tough one to call, but... Red Wings in 7.
Chicago (2) vs. Vancouver (3): Blackhawks came out to a thunderous ovation for Game 1 Saturday night, and promptly...laid an egg. But it was pointed out, the Hawks have lost game 1 of the last three series and have won two of the three series. So, hoping that last night was an aberration was not out of the question. Vancouver, on the other hand, did exactly what they wanted to do in Game 1; that is, run the Hawks ragged, and basically play keep-away with the puck. Hawks need some more 'grit' in order to slow down the Sedin twins and Mikael Samuelsson, who really has to be loving his hockey life right about now. Hawks need to pick up their pace to out-do Daniel and Henrik. But if this season is to be considered a success in Chi-town, they'll have to. Another toughie, but... Hawks in 7.
Enjoy!
-- WRT
Eastern Conference --
Pittsburgh (4) vs. Montreal (8): The fact that Montreal pulled the biggest upset since the 1987 Minnesota Twins still doesn't help the fact that Montreal is under-sized, out-gunned and in way over their collective heads. The only way that the Pens lose this series, is if they beat themselves. Which, with Sidney Crosby on a roll right now, I really don't see happening.
Pens in 5.
Boston (6) vs. Philadelphia (7): The Bruins were happy just to get to this point, as they were not assured of a playoff spot until the last Friday night of the regular season. The Flyers had to go to OT vs. the Rangers to get in on the last day of the season. The lack of Bruins offense and the chippiness of the Flyers seem to cancel each other out, in a strange sort of way. This series will get physical, and the Bruins are the one team in the East who will dish out as much as they get. Bruins in 6.
Western Conference --
San Jose (1) vs. Detroit (5): I thought Detroit was going to show up for Game 1 of this series. Or did they not have enough $$ on hand, to pay the $2500 FAA fine for their too-late arrival at San Jose's airport? Whatever happened, the Red Wings sure made disbelievers out of me with their less-than-scintillating Game 1 'performance'. San Jose played probably their best game in April in three years vs. the Wings in game 1: the question now is, can they keep it up? Sharks' fans better hope so, for the sake of the franchise, as this team is one series defeat from 'Extreme Makeover: NHL Edition'. This is a tough one to call, but... Red Wings in 7.
Chicago (2) vs. Vancouver (3): Blackhawks came out to a thunderous ovation for Game 1 Saturday night, and promptly...laid an egg. But it was pointed out, the Hawks have lost game 1 of the last three series and have won two of the three series. So, hoping that last night was an aberration was not out of the question. Vancouver, on the other hand, did exactly what they wanted to do in Game 1; that is, run the Hawks ragged, and basically play keep-away with the puck. Hawks need some more 'grit' in order to slow down the Sedin twins and Mikael Samuelsson, who really has to be loving his hockey life right about now. Hawks need to pick up their pace to out-do Daniel and Henrik. But if this season is to be considered a success in Chi-town, they'll have to. Another toughie, but... Hawks in 7.
Enjoy!
-- WRT
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Trois Bien! Wild workman-like effort beats Canadiens, 3-1
When you work at your game as efficiently as the Minnesota Wild have recently, very little will be able to stop them. The Montreal Canadiens, the oldest franchise in the sport in North America, found out that old-fashioned effort turns into winning the hard way tonight, as the Wild out-worked the Habs en route to a 3-1 victory before the full house of 21,273 Thursday night at Centre Bell in Montreal.
Goals by Robbie Earl, Mikko Koivu and Cal Clutterbuck underscored the effort tonight, as the Habs were frustrated at every turn by the close-checking, hard-hitting, shot-blocking Wild, whose few opportunities were quickly snuffed out by Niklas Backstrom, who made 30 saves on the night. Nick Schultz led the Wild on the night with a +2, as eight different Wild players figured in the scoring. The Wild played a fairly clean game, as there were only three penalties called in the contest.
Guillaume Latendresse, the Quebec native who was traded by the Habs to the Wild Nov. 23, returned home to mostly applause...at the start. He was quickly hearing boos and catcalls, reminiscient of when Detroit's Todd Bertuzzi skates at Xcel Energy Center. It was that loud and that inappropriate, especially when they dragged the name of his significant other (singer Annie Villeneuve) into the jeering, as the game went on and the Habs failed to score. While Latendresse failed to score, his five hits were second on the Wild, only behind the hit-machine, Clutterbuck. The Wild victory brings their all-time record in Montreal to a 2-2-1 mark, and it was their first victory in Montreal since 2003.
The Wild also improve to 7-11-2 on the road, 7-3-2 since the disasterous start in October ended in Pittsburgh on Hallowe'en, good for 37 points (17-14-3) which will leave the Wild in 11th place in the NHL's Western Conference, two points behind ninth place Dallas (who lost to Atlanta in the shootoout Thursday night), four points behind eighth-place Detroit, who were idle on Thursday. Their fourth win in their last 5 games, the Wild have also won nine in their last 11, and are 7-2 overall in the month of December.
The Wild went 'old school' for the two-hour trip to Ottawa after the game, eschewing their normal chartered jet...for a 55-seat team bus. After the game, Coach Todd Richards said that after they got some sleep, they would decide about practice 'in the morning'.
The way the Wild have been playing, I really don't think that 'in the morning' will be too early.
Next Game: at Ottawa, Saturday, Dec. 19, 6:00 PM Central (7:00 PM Eastern) Time, Scotiabank Place, Kanata, Ontario. (Wild TV: FSNorth (includes FSWisconsin); CBC 'Hockey Night in Canada' (regional game); XM Radio, Ch. 206)
-- WRT
Goals by Robbie Earl, Mikko Koivu and Cal Clutterbuck underscored the effort tonight, as the Habs were frustrated at every turn by the close-checking, hard-hitting, shot-blocking Wild, whose few opportunities were quickly snuffed out by Niklas Backstrom, who made 30 saves on the night. Nick Schultz led the Wild on the night with a +2, as eight different Wild players figured in the scoring. The Wild played a fairly clean game, as there were only three penalties called in the contest.
Guillaume Latendresse, the Quebec native who was traded by the Habs to the Wild Nov. 23, returned home to mostly applause...at the start. He was quickly hearing boos and catcalls, reminiscient of when Detroit's Todd Bertuzzi skates at Xcel Energy Center. It was that loud and that inappropriate, especially when they dragged the name of his significant other (singer Annie Villeneuve) into the jeering, as the game went on and the Habs failed to score. While Latendresse failed to score, his five hits were second on the Wild, only behind the hit-machine, Clutterbuck. The Wild victory brings their all-time record in Montreal to a 2-2-1 mark, and it was their first victory in Montreal since 2003.
The Wild also improve to 7-11-2 on the road, 7-3-2 since the disasterous start in October ended in Pittsburgh on Hallowe'en, good for 37 points (17-14-3) which will leave the Wild in 11th place in the NHL's Western Conference, two points behind ninth place Dallas (who lost to Atlanta in the shootoout Thursday night), four points behind eighth-place Detroit, who were idle on Thursday. Their fourth win in their last 5 games, the Wild have also won nine in their last 11, and are 7-2 overall in the month of December.
The Wild went 'old school' for the two-hour trip to Ottawa after the game, eschewing their normal chartered jet...for a 55-seat team bus. After the game, Coach Todd Richards said that after they got some sleep, they would decide about practice 'in the morning'.
The way the Wild have been playing, I really don't think that 'in the morning' will be too early.
Next Game: at Ottawa, Saturday, Dec. 19, 6:00 PM Central (7:00 PM Eastern) Time, Scotiabank Place, Kanata, Ontario. (Wild TV: FSNorth (includes FSWisconsin); CBC 'Hockey Night in Canada' (regional game); XM Radio, Ch. 206)
-- WRT
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