Limping along at the top

(Revised and updated, with status of Wild injured)

Sorry, Vancouver Canucks fans. Your team still isn't in first this morning.

Despite injuries which have taken more than 120 man-games away (as of Saturday night's game vs. the NY Islanders), the Minnesota Wild still have managed to limp along in first place in the entire NHL.

Despite losing four of their top six forwards (Mikko Koivu, Devin Setoguchi, Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Guillaume Latendresse) to various and sundry ailments (leg, knee, face and concussion, respectively), the Wild continue to earn points, despite a week where the hockey gods did not exactly smile good fortune on them.

In the last game of a 5-game road trip, the Wild finally played a game in their own time zone, losing to the Winnipeg Jets 2-1 at MTS Centre, in front of 14,904 Jets fanatics (and about 100 Wild fans, spread out thru the arena, including this blogger). In that game, Casey Wellman, filling in for the ailing Setoguchi, was slashed in the second period by Winnipeg's Zach Bogosian, another injury that was totally missed by the game officials (no penalty was assessed on the play). Then, with 1:06 left in the 3rd period, Bogosian tried to obliterate Bouchard by running him into the dasher separating the boards from the glass as Minnesota was pressing for the tying goal in the Winnipeg end. Bogosian was assessed a 5-minute major and a game misconduct for the act, but no supplemental discipling was assessed later, while Bouchard was left to bleed all the way back to Minnesota.

Wednesday, the Wild came back twice from 2-0 and 3-2 deficits to take the Chicago Blackhawks to (and thru) overtime and into the shootout, where Patrick Kane out-deked Niklas Backstrom to win the game for the Hawks. In that game, Koivu injured his leg late in the third period, right as he scored the tying goal to send the game into overtime. Latendresse also suffered post-concussion syndrome symptoms, after a hit on Chicago's Viktor Stalberg midway thru the first period. Latendresse has since been put on injured reserve.

Saturday night, vs. the lowly Islanders, the patchwork lineup that the Wild presented at the 'X' was decidedly 'Houston-heavy', as no less than four Aeros call-ups permeated the roster. Unfortunately, the four call-ups and Backstrom were the only reasons the Wild were still in the game after two lacklustre periods, and a booing off the ice by the faithful at the end of the second period.

Newly-minted Wild-killer Al Montoya was easily stopping everything loosely thrown at him, as there was no sustained effort by the Wild offense to press the attack in the Islanders zone. The fact that the Islanders are the worst team in the East, did not stop the Wild from playing down to their level thru the first 35 minutes of the game. That the Wild got a point out of this snoozer of a contest, is as much the work of Backstrom, as anything any forward or defenseman did.

And now, the Wild take to the road for their third (of 4 this season) western Canadian trip, the only one where they travel to all three cities (Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton, respectively), in as bad a condition physically as they have been in for years. The Canucks just finished a five-game Eastern road trip where they went 3-1-1, including wins at Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto. Calgary is on a 3-game winless streak (not including Sunday's game at Chicago) of its' own, while the Oilers are 1-5 in their last six games (not including Monday night's home game vs. Detroit).

Koivu and Bouchard will both travel with the team on this trip; Koivu may not play in Vancouver, but is expected back vs. the Flames. Setoguchi may begin practicing while the team is on the road trip.  Bouchard is day-to-day. Latendresse will be sidelined for a while with his PCS problems.

What does all this mean? There may be -- MAY be -- light at the end of the injury tunnel. As the team goes into the holiday break, the schedule will actually turn and FAVOR the Wild, as the long western road trips will have been put behind them; in fact, only 6 games in the New Year will start after 7:30 PM (and after January 7, no games will start later than 8:00 PM Central Time). The injuries will subside (hopefully) and the Mike Yeo-inspired system, ingrained into this group of players, will propel them towards a playoff spot.

Hang on, Wild fans. Better times are indeed ahead. Patience is indeed a virtue.

Sheppard out 3-4 Months after ATV accident: Are we surprised?

We should have known something like this was going to happen to James Sheppard, the tough-luck champion of the Minnesota Wild.

Sheppard was riding an ATV near Vail, Colorado late Saturday, when he ran into a tree while avoiding a truck while on a wilderness journey with his left kneecap, fracturing his patella, according to a team statement released late Tuesday afternoon. Already nearing the chopping block with the team for his poor play, since his being chosen as the team's No. 1 draft choice in 2006, the 22-year-old Nova Scotia native now faces the daunting task of rehabbing his knee following the surgery, while his 4th-line center spot is occupied by rookie Casey Wellman and/or vet Kyle Brodziak.

The timeline for Sheppard's rehab is 3-4 months, just in time for the Wild to possibly trade him at the trade deadline near the end of February. The Wild will be in New York at that time on a two-game road trip, at the Islanders on March 1, and at Madison Square Garden against the Rangers on March 2.

-- WRT

So, now what's next?

The hype has died down from the Wild Prospect Camp, the Wild Road tour, the release of the 2010-2011 NHL schedule (three weeks early, thank you NHL) and the Free Agent Frenzy of July 1st. So now, we blithely throw this question out for the multitudes to ponder:

OK, Minnesota Wild. What do you guys do for an encore? What little tidbit do you all dream up now, in order to keep the hockey-starved public happy until the start of Training Camp, scheduled for Sept. 17th?

Yes, we who go online regularly know about the 'State of Jääkiekko' Finnish-based hockey quiz, that those of us who actually do WORK while online at work, cannot ever join in. That we know about. We know the sales staff is busy. It's their time of the year to turn some on-the-fence people into 10-and-20 game ticket holders.

But what about the hockey staff? The rest of the organization? Do they all get the month of August off? Or are things being done to make the organization better, top to bottom?

We know the roster will be greatly improved, as much by subtractions (no more Boogaard, Hnidy, Irmen, Sifers, Dubielewicz, as examples) as by additions made thru free agency and the NHL Draft. We also know that the rest of the coaching staff (that is, what didn't change following the departure of Doug Risebrough and Jacques Lemaire after 2008-09) will also change going into this season. Mind you, we don't exactly agree with all the subtractions (Owen Nolan, for example), but the dead weight on the Wild's roster had to be eliminated. And, not all of them will find NHL jobs for next season. For some of the eliminated, the future in hockey looks, at best, very bleak, indeed.

On the other hand, relative newcomers such as Colton Gillies (coming off his 2009-10 year with the Houston Aeros), Casey Wellman, Nate Prosser, Tyler Cuma and Marco Scandella will all be on hand, pushing the established veterans hard enough so that some of them may just become something the Wild have rarely had, in their 10-year history:

Trade bait.

Wild developmental camp: The Kids are Allright

A few thoughts on the Minnesota Wild developmental camp scrimmage game earlier Sunday...

Colton Gillies really learned a LOT last season in Houston. And it showed in this format. He really was playing like a man amongst boys.

Casey Wellman also played well above what he was last season. Of course, being the fifth oldest player in the camp, that helped, also. But he was moving well.

Nate Prosser looked very good also. Not as well as some (notably Tyler Cuma, more on that later) but he looked confident out there.

Justin Falk showed again the old Jacques Lemaire adage: 'You can't coach size.'

Brett Bulmer may just be thinking that his role in the NHL may be that of 'enforcer'. With all the hitting he did (some of which was really unnecessary), someone may just remember him down the road, especially if that player gets traded away from the Wild organization.

Erik Haula, bound for the University of Minnesota Gopher hockey program, almost pulled off a razzle-dazzle play by skating backwards with the puck, then pulling it back and clanking it off the crossbar in the post-game shootout.

Tyler Cuma showed (again) for the second straight year why he was drafted as high as he was. He was the best puck handler far and away of the defensemen, probably the best of any of the players out there. He's done with juniors now, so hopefully he'll handle one of blogger Ms. Conduct's Key Lime pies in Houston this winter, as well as he handled the puck today.

Marco Scandella did not play in either scrimmage, as he was suffering tendinitis in his ankle, but reports indicate he will be ready to go in September, at the Traverse City (Mich.) Prospects Tournament.

GM Chuck Fletcher and his staff have really had to scramble to fill the cupboard after the policies of ex-GM Doug Risebrough left the organization with a plethora of has-beens and never-will-be's. The future indeed looks bright as these young bucks develop into full-time NHL hockey players. For the Wild, they now have had a fresh look as to who(m) they wish to extend invitations to training camp. The future? Looks good to me.

Now, if we can only do something with James Sheppard...

-- WRT

Centers of attention

Well, folks, Chuck Fletcher and the Minnesota Wild staff said they would go out and get some help at center, the on-ice position of greatest need. The result after two days of free agency:

Mission. Accomplished.

The signing of ex-Ottawa Senator Matt Cullen (who actually won the Stanley Cup when he was with the Carolina Hurricanes, in 2007) and ex-Texas Star Warren Peters (for depth) signify that the further erosion of the center position will not be allowed to happen.

(Sorry about that, Doug Risebrough.)

And for those of you that feel that the Wild lacked 'grit' at the end of last season, let's introduce some second-generation 'grit', namely Eric Nystrom, the son of ex-NY Islander great Bob Nystrom, he of the four Stanley Cup winning Islander teams of the 1970's. Nystrom was signed as a 'depth forward', hopefully to play alongside Cal Clutterbuck and, hopefully, rookie Casey Wellman at fourth line center (although some, including Michael Russo, hockey scribe extraordinaire at the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, think that James Sheppard will be the fourth-line center coming out of training camp.)

(And before some of you complain, I do apologize in advance for putting the names of 'Russo' and 'Sheppard' in the same sentence. One is no way in the league of the other. We all know that.)

Granted, some of the best Wild 'additions' were, in fact, 'additions by subtraction', as a good deal of the Wild's accumulated 'dead weight' are no longer on the roster, as Derek Boogaard now can honestly say, 'I am a Ranger', no thanks to his greedy, selfish ol' buddy, Marian Gaborik, who helped lure Boogaard to Manhattan after the Rangers' previous goon, Jody Shelley, signed a multi-year contract with the Philadelphia Flyers, who are indeed re-creating the 'Broad Street Bullies' of the mid-1970's at the south end of SEPTA's Broad Street Subway.

For those of you who participated last season in the 'Big John Scott' drinking game, we hope you enjoyed yourselves, as Scott signed a two-year deal with the Chicago Blackhawks on Day 1 of free agency.

Owen Nolan? Still out there, but rumor has it he may go to the Washington Capitals or any of the three California teams (Nolan just built a new house near San Jose, where he has business interests; Nolan was a Shark for 11 seasons).

Andrew Ebbett signed with the Phoenix Coyotes, so now Ed Jovanovski now owes Ebbett dinner for butt-ending Ebbett last season during a Wild-Coyotes game in Glendale. Just make sure the dinner isn't at Whataburger, OK?

Robbie Earl? Still available. Don't hesitate, don't everyone push all at once, now...

Granted, most Wild fans are waiting for the first-round draft choice of this season, 18-year-old Finnish SM-liiga wunderkind Mikael Granlund, already playing at the top level of one of Europe's top leagues, to start paying dividends after 2010-11, where he will remain with his Finnish Helsinki team for one more season, then come across the North Atlantic and probably compete right away for the third center position (unless the Wild manage to trade way one or both of their top centers.)

And then, there's the Pierre Marc-Bouchard saga to deal with. Will he be able to return from a severe concussion which has kept him out for all (except one game) of last season and the last three weeks of 2008-09? Even if he comes back, at what level will he be able to safely operate at? He will always have the fear of one more good bell ringing ending certainly his hockey career, and possibly his life. You have to ask yourself: at what point is it really WORTH it to continue playing hockey?

PMB comes with a very hefty $4.08M cap hit. The only way the Wild get out from under that permanently is for PMB to voluntarily retire. We know he really doesn't want to do that. He may, however, have no choice if his concussion symptoms continue. There is a long-term injured reserve exception to the salary cap, but the minute PMB steps back on the ice in a game situation, the LTIR is lifted, and the Wild are that much more over the salary cap.

So how are the Wild doing? Like all NHL teams, July is the time your team gets better. But, so does everyone else. The amount of dead weight around the League in general you would think would push those on the lower end of the scales to get better faster. Some will retire (Keith Tkaczuk, as example); some will play elsewhere (Martin Skoula signing with the KHL Avangard Omsk, for one. There are others. I'm just happy that Skoula will not be over here anymore) and some will just sit at home, waiting for the phone to ring...

--WRT

MoDo'd Over: Wild lose finale in SO as Stars shine, 4-3

Modano brought to tears twice by appreciative Minnesota hockey fans


By Wild Road Tripper

It was the final game for the Minnesota Wild tonight at Xcel Energy Center, as the 2009-2010 season drew to a close. Normally, that would be the big event if your team was not going on to the playoffs. Normally, the last game would be a chance to say farewell to the local hockey club as they swing into their summer hiatus.

Saturday night, 19,109 -- announced as the sixth largest crowd in Wild regular-season history -- saw as abnormal a finish as the NHL can provide, with a four-round shootout which featured a future Hall of Famer, both teams' leading scorers, and a rookie in only his 12th NHL game. And then, there was Jamie Benn and his shootout winner, the only goal scored by either side in the four-round shootout, as the Dallas Stars completed the comeback with a 4-3 shootout win to end the NHL regular season for both teams.

And then, there was what happened after the game.

Mike Modano, ending his 20th NHL season and weeks away from age 40, was voted the No. 1 Star of the Game. He celebrated it very appropriately, at least for being in Minnesota.

He came out in a white late-80's Minnesota North Stars jersey -- the ones that he wore at the late, lamented Met Center -- to a second standing ovation, having been given pucks to sign and throw out to the lower bowl crowd. He was still wowed by the response after the game when he faced the press post-game (link: http://wild.nhl.tv/team/console.jsp?catid=842&id=65712).

It was a fitting tribute to the only No. 1 overall draft choice of either Minnesota NHL team to make it long-term in the NHL. Twenty seasons is a very long time. 1,538 points, more than any other U.S.-born player in NHL history. And now, it could be all over. Modano was also feted during a TV timeout in the first period, as a Wild-produced video (link: http://wild.nhl.tv/team/console.jsp?catid=849&id=65693) celebrated his career as fans, players and even the game officials cheered for well over three minutes.

As for the game itself, Mikko Koivu and Steve Ott each scored twice, as the back-and-forth nature of this game made it only moderately entertaining knowing that this game was the end of the string for both teams. Rookie free-agent signee Casey Wellman also scored his first NHL goal, tying a team record for fastest goal from the start of the period, :09 into the third (tying Brian Rolston for that Wild team record). Neither had anything of consequence to play for going in: the Wild will pick 9th in the NHL Entry Draft June 25-26 in Los Angeles, and the Stars will draft either 12th or 13th (depending on results of Sunday's games).

The Wild will disperse on Monday (physicals) and Tuesday (exit interviews) with many, including head coach Todd Richards, destined for the IIHF World Championships in Germany which will begin at the end of April.

With six regulars out of the Wild lineup (Zidlicky, Nolan, Havlat, Latendresse, Harding, and Sheppard) the Wild were down to the bare minimum -- 18 players, 2 goalies -- as they limped across the finish line to close out their ninth season of play. They looked like a tired, beaten-up bunch of hockey players. They've played like it for weeks, tho. And that's the hard part.

Next Game: Next season. Schedule TBA (expected schedule release date: July 14th).

(BTW: This blog will continue all summer long. So, keep reading!) -- WRT

Wild, Flames play woeful game; Wild win 2-1 in SO

Final road game of the season...and it looked (and played) like it

The Minnesota Wild, in their final road game of 2009-10, did what many said they would never do - win all three games in the same season in the Pengrowth Saddledome - as the Wild doused the Calgary Flames 2-1 in the shootout, as Brent Burns and Antti Miettinen both scored on Mikka Kiprusoff to seal the fate of the Flames, in their last home game before 19,289 bummed patrons.

In the first period, the only goal was a Chuck Kobasew deflection of a Casey Wellman shot after Burns set the play up by driving well into the Calgary zone, then passed to Wellman whose slapper was deflected by Kobasew past Kiprusoff to make it 1-0 Minnesota.

The second period was a very plodding, slow, torturous affair, the only action being the Nigel Dawes rebound goal after Niklas Backstrom made a great save on Dawes' first shot. The Wild had several power play opportunities, but no such luck for the Wild.

In the third period, the highlight was the shot by Calgary's David Moss which caught Niklas Backstrom up high. Backstrom was replaced by Wade Dubielewicz, the ex-Islander signed as a backup earlier this season who had been called up solely because Anton Khudobin, the goalie in their system they wanted to use, lost his passport at the AHL All-Star Game and has yet to replace it thru the Kazakhstan Embassy in Washington; as such, he cannot cross the USA/Canada border. James Sheppard also suffered a knee injury late in the third period after being checked into the boards by Robyn Regehr.

OT was as uninspired as the rest of the game. Not much to say about that, either.

Let's all end this season at the Next Game: vs. Dallas, Saturday, April 10, 7:00 PM, Xcel Energy Center. (Wild TV: FSNorth; Stars' TV: FSSW; XM Radio, Ch. 237)

-- WRT

Brodz Street Bully: Wild rebound, beat Flyers 4-3 on Brodziak OT goal

The Minnesota Wild, looking for their first road win in three weeks, found the secret weapon for what ails them tonight against the Philadelphia Flyers at Wachovia Center.

Victory, thy name is Kyle Brodziak.

In front of the usual crowd of 'proper Philadelphians' -- 19,716 of them, to be exact -- the Wild stormed back from two goals down in an uptempo third period, where every skater, including rookie Casey Wellman, got into it with hockey's most penalized franchise, as the Wild stole two points away from the Eastern Conference playoff race for their efforts, points which, at least for tonight, kept the Wild from falling further into the depths of the Western Conference playoff race.

Martin Havlat and Guillaume Latendresse worked the give-and-go to perfection, to cut a 2-goal lead in half with just over 13 minutes remaing in the third. Half-way to the end, a John Scott shot was tipped in by Andrew Brunette as the Flyers' Daniel Briere was all over Brunette.

As the overtime passed the half-way point, an Antti Miettinen pass to Brodziak connected, Brodziak shot, the shot deflected off Brian Boucher, third string Flyers' goalie, and into the net to end the contest. Niklas Backstrom, starting his second straight game, made 32 saves for his 25th win of the season.

The defeat by the Wild forced the Flyers to call an immediate, post-game 'players only' team meeting in their dressing room, a meeting which some described as 'a call to focus'.

Two questions rear their ugly heads afterwards for Wild fans: First, where the hell was this effort two weeks ago, when the Wild had a reasonable chance of still being in the playoffs? They could have used this type of effort against, say, Florida, a game most Wild faithful say was the final nail in the coffin of this Wild season. The second question: Will it continue? It may not, as the road trip continues tomorrow night, in another house of horrors for the Wild, yet another building they have not had much success in.

Next Game: at Detroit, Friday, March 26 (tomorrow), 6:30 PM Central (7:30 PM Eastern) Time, Joe Louis Arena. (Wild TV: FSNorth; Wings' TV: FSDetroit, both feeds in HD; XM Radio, Ch. 205)

-- WRT

Wild Death Spiral Watch: Wild blow two-goal lead; Jackets win 4-2

Who declared it 'Rick Nash Night' at Nationwide?

The Minnesota Wild's salute to the 'Bataan Death March' went thru Mid-Ohio Friday night, as the Wild managed to stave off victory, as two goals scored 27 seconds apart in the latter half of the third period, propelled the Columbus Blue Jackets to a 4-2 victory over the moribund Wild Friday night, in front of 16,419 at Nationwide Arena.

Rick Nash scored the game winner, and an empty net goal at the end of the game to lead the Jackets, who end the season series 2-2 against the Wild, each team winning its' games at home. Nash's empty netter was his 30th of the season.

Mikko Koivu did accomplish his 20th goal of the season in the first period to open the scoring for Minnesota, who have now lost 4 of their last 6 games away from St. Paul.

It was also the NHL debuts for two Wild rookies: forward Casey Wellman, who added an assist to Minnesota's second goal as he split the Jackets' defense, stole the puck and then passed to Chuck Kobasew for the tally. But after then, the Wild stopped working. Stopped skating, Stopped everything.

And then, there was defenseman Justin Falk, who left the game after a concussion shot to the head delivered by Columbus' Andrew Murray at 4:27 of the second period, for which absolutely no penalty was called by either referee, Brad Watson or Stephane Auger. The referees also missed R. J. Umberger's goaltender interference with Josh Harding on Columbus' second goal, as Umberger backed into the blue crease area (as confirmed by TV replay,) as Kris Russell took the shot while the Wild were being called for a James Sheppard penalty.

The future does, indeed, look bleak for the local sextet, as the most points after tonight they could earn is 96. 95 points are what most experts figure will be the playoff 'magic number', so does the march to the 'Tragic Number' begin Sunday afternoon? We will see what happens in the Next Game: vs. Calgary, Sunday March 21, 2:00 PM Central (1:00 PM Mountain) Time, Xcel Energy Center. (Wild TV: FSNorth (in HD); Flames' TV: Rogers SportsNet-West; XM Radio, Ch. 206)

-- WRT

P.S.: Would the party who commented in last night's blog about going to Philadelphia please re-comment your e-mail address? I lost it this evening. Sorry. -- WRT

Havlat greases the skids as Wild lube Oilers 4-2

Goal, assist by Martin Havlat lead Wild to third straight win

By Wild Road Tripper

You knew the way he was playing, Martin Havlat would have a stellar night. And, he brought his linemates right along with him. How could you tell? Look at waiver-wire wonder Andrew Ebbett.

The Minnesota Wild ran their consecutive win streak against the Edmonton Oilers at Xcel Energy Center to a gaudy 13 straight, with a workmanlike 4-2 win over the worst team in the NHL's Western Conference Tuesday night, before an announced crowd of 18,474.

The Wild had ten players scoring points tonight -- nine forwards and defenseman Greg Zanon -- as the Wild won their third straight game, to stay within six points of idle Detroit for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West. Both Havlat and Ebbett scored a goal and added an assist to each other's goal, to lead their team in scoring. Josh Harding turned in a 34-save performance for his third straight win, moving him to within one game of .500 at 8-9.

Antti Miettinen and Chuck Kobasew also scored for the Wild, who now look at two games back-to-back on the road which are totally winnable games. We hope.

New Wild center Casey Wellman, just signed earlier Tuesday as a free agent from UMass, participated in warm-ups but was scratched, as was call-up from Houston Justin Falk. Wellman's parents were involved during the game, however, as the arena's 'kiss cam' focused in on Mom and Dad, with their newly-signed son sitting between them.

The Wild now are in 10th place in the West, six points behind eighth-place Detroit and nine points behind their opponent for the Next Game: at Nashville, Thursday, March 18, 7:00 PM Central Time, Bridgestone Arena. (No Wild TV; Preds' TV: FSTennessee (in HD); XM Radio, Ch. 238)