Minnesota Wild delve back into division play as team continues to struggle
Make no mistake about it. Saturday night's 2-1 OT win over Nashville, was the hockey equivalent of hitting the relief valve on a pressure cooker.
With the Wild finally winning in February (1-3 since Feb. 1, folks) the Wild now take to the Northwest Division, for their longest stretch of the season (6 of their next 8) against the likes of Vancouver (who handled the Wild easily on Thursday night), uber-speedy Edmonton with all that young talent, an improving Colorado team, and Calgary, whom the Wild will be classified with -- IF they don't get this funk turned around, and start putting biscuits in baskets.
Despite the goal by Devin Setoguchi last game, the fact is that the Wild need scoring for the nights when the likes of Parise, Koivu and Heatley just cannot get the job done. It was nice that Clutterbuck got his 2nd goal of the season, but that's also part of the problem; he only HAS 2 goals this season. Granlund is now finding out that playing in the NHL is markedly different than the SM-Liiga, the league that made him the heartthrob of Helsinki.
The fact that Kyle Brodziak has been so missing in action, that they may want to start putting up posters around the 'X' ("Have you Seen Me?"), hasn't helped his linemates. The fourth line, not expected to score bountiful goals, is almost as good as the second line.
The next seven games -- with three games vs. Calgary, and single games vs. Edmonton, Vancouver, Colorado, and the Detroit Red Wings -- will be a make-or-break point for this roster, as everyone knows that the Wild are about 4 or 5 consecutive losses from being on life support. No team can afford three-game losing streaks, and the Wild just went thru their second one already. One 3-game skid in this short season sets teams into panic mode. Two? Welcome aboard, Wild.
Almost unbelievably, the Wild are still only two points out of a playoff spot, despite the seeming inability to win games, especially away from home, where the Wild are an embarrassing 0-3-1 so far in this season. Now, would this be a 41-game full road schedule, 0-3-1 would be a spot for concern, but not the outright panic which the team management has conceded. But, with a condensed, 24-game road schedule, with 6 of their next 9 (and 8 of the next 12) away from St. Paul, the fact is that this Wild team needs to get better in hostile environments. Especially in the Saddledome (it has improved over the last two seasons), and Rexall Place (it's gotten worse, since all those speedy kids showed up on the Oilers roster).
So, we send the Wild off on their first western Canada trip of the season, buoyed with some hope that the season can hold up until the Wild get back home. And the second western Canada trip. And the second West Coast trip. And...and...and...
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Back to earth...sort of...
February rough start vs. Anaheim believed no reason to panic; Coyle gets his shot at Wild roster
It hasn't been the best of times for the Minnesota Wild lately.
After the Anaheim Ducks did what they normally do to the Wild at Honda Center -- namely, beat them into submission, then turn those mistakes caused by the opposition into goals -- the Wild arrived into Phoenix early Saturday looking at a few days in the Arizona desert, with only practice staring them in the face.
And, according to most observers, including the coaching staff, practice is what they really NEED right now. As the 4-3-1 Wild prepare to face the 3-4-2 Phoenix Coyotes -- soon to be the NHL's version of Nomads, if what is being said around the game is to be believed -- on Monday night at Jobing.com Arena in near-bankrupt Glendale, they have help coming to replace the injured Matt Cullen, who crashed (with help) into the boards on Friday night.
Ladies and Gentlemen, meet the real reason they traded Brent Burns in 2011. Charlie Coyle, welcome to Minnesota. Coyle, who lit up the QMJHL in the half-season he was there after he left Boston College, was called up by the Wild on Saturday afternoon following their off-day practice, to replace the injured Cullen in the line-up for Monday night's tilt. Coyle, who has 14 goals, 10 assists for AHL Houston this season, is called a 'power forward' by the Wild, and his 6-foot-2, 222-lb frame has been called the prototypical size for that position.
Coyle was included with Devin Setoguchi in the NHL Draft night trade in 2011, when the draft was at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. Traded for defenseman Burns, who has been in-and-out of the Sharks' lineup since then, Coyle is in his first full season as a pro, and has played 44 games for the Aeros this season.
Power forward, you say?
The position of power forward -- the guy who is not afraid to mix it up in front of the net, to create as much havoc as possible, in order to get nice juicy rebounds and deflections -- is somewhat a novel concept for the Wild. But, it hasn't been like it hasn't been tried before.
Andrew Brunette, slow as he was, is probably the best example of a power forward the Wild has ever had on their roster. Guillaume Latendresse was supposed to be that next version of that, but his concussion problems last season, and his contract status did not allow that to succeed. Zach Parise has some of that in him, but the fact is, he's better than that (we've already seen it). Others that you could put in that category are LA's Dustin Brown, Anaheim's Ryan Getzlaf, St. Louis' David Backes, Boston's Milan Lucic, Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin, and when healthy, Ryan Kesler of Vancouver.
The combination is one that is tough to get, and one that is even tougher to keep up, as the number of players that who have tried to play the position and have failed are many. Teams that have a good power forward are normally teams that go relatively far in the playoffs. And that is where the Wild want to be on the evening of April 27th. Going relatively far. In the playoffs.
Next 5 games: Key Stretch?
Are the next 5 games a key stretch of the season? With three of those five games on the road -- where the Wild only have one point after three games so far -- the next nine days will tell much about the Wild's real chances to not only make the playoffs, but to gain home ice advantage in the first round.
Two games vs. Vancouver (home and away), and games at Phoenix, at Calgary, and the second (of two) games vs. Nashville at the 'X' round out the next five games on the schedule. Do the Wild have a chance to put some points in their column before the season gets too out of hand? Or will the combination of their brutal travel schedule and the shortened season get the better of the roster?
Will Chuck Fletcher have to pull the trigger on a trade, in order to infuse more offense into what has been an underperforming bottom 2/3rds of the roster? Can the roster even respond without a trade being made? And what would be the best trade to make? Do you look towards the future and effectively 'salary dump' UFA's to be before the April 4 trade deadline? Or is 'the future is now' the prevailing view at 317 Washington St., St. Paul, MN? Do you keep the two primary future UFA's (Cullen and Pierre-Marc Bouchard) or do you move them? Does UFA-to-be goalie Niklas Backstrom remain to see the playoffs, should the Wild make it into the post-season? Or do you 'let it ride', like a shaky poker bet, past the trade deadline?
Like the rest of us fans, I just wait and see what will develop. And worry, like some of you do.
It hasn't been the best of times for the Minnesota Wild lately.
After the Anaheim Ducks did what they normally do to the Wild at Honda Center -- namely, beat them into submission, then turn those mistakes caused by the opposition into goals -- the Wild arrived into Phoenix early Saturday looking at a few days in the Arizona desert, with only practice staring them in the face.
And, according to most observers, including the coaching staff, practice is what they really NEED right now. As the 4-3-1 Wild prepare to face the 3-4-2 Phoenix Coyotes -- soon to be the NHL's version of Nomads, if what is being said around the game is to be believed -- on Monday night at Jobing.com Arena in near-bankrupt Glendale, they have help coming to replace the injured Matt Cullen, who crashed (with help) into the boards on Friday night.
Ladies and Gentlemen, meet the real reason they traded Brent Burns in 2011. Charlie Coyle, welcome to Minnesota. Coyle, who lit up the QMJHL in the half-season he was there after he left Boston College, was called up by the Wild on Saturday afternoon following their off-day practice, to replace the injured Cullen in the line-up for Monday night's tilt. Coyle, who has 14 goals, 10 assists for AHL Houston this season, is called a 'power forward' by the Wild, and his 6-foot-2, 222-lb frame has been called the prototypical size for that position.
Coyle was included with Devin Setoguchi in the NHL Draft night trade in 2011, when the draft was at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. Traded for defenseman Burns, who has been in-and-out of the Sharks' lineup since then, Coyle is in his first full season as a pro, and has played 44 games for the Aeros this season.
Power forward, you say?
The position of power forward -- the guy who is not afraid to mix it up in front of the net, to create as much havoc as possible, in order to get nice juicy rebounds and deflections -- is somewhat a novel concept for the Wild. But, it hasn't been like it hasn't been tried before.
Andrew Brunette, slow as he was, is probably the best example of a power forward the Wild has ever had on their roster. Guillaume Latendresse was supposed to be that next version of that, but his concussion problems last season, and his contract status did not allow that to succeed. Zach Parise has some of that in him, but the fact is, he's better than that (we've already seen it). Others that you could put in that category are LA's Dustin Brown, Anaheim's Ryan Getzlaf, St. Louis' David Backes, Boston's Milan Lucic, Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin, and when healthy, Ryan Kesler of Vancouver.
The combination is one that is tough to get, and one that is even tougher to keep up, as the number of players that who have tried to play the position and have failed are many. Teams that have a good power forward are normally teams that go relatively far in the playoffs. And that is where the Wild want to be on the evening of April 27th. Going relatively far. In the playoffs.
Next 5 games: Key Stretch?
Are the next 5 games a key stretch of the season? With three of those five games on the road -- where the Wild only have one point after three games so far -- the next nine days will tell much about the Wild's real chances to not only make the playoffs, but to gain home ice advantage in the first round.
Two games vs. Vancouver (home and away), and games at Phoenix, at Calgary, and the second (of two) games vs. Nashville at the 'X' round out the next five games on the schedule. Do the Wild have a chance to put some points in their column before the season gets too out of hand? Or will the combination of their brutal travel schedule and the shortened season get the better of the roster?
Will Chuck Fletcher have to pull the trigger on a trade, in order to infuse more offense into what has been an underperforming bottom 2/3rds of the roster? Can the roster even respond without a trade being made? And what would be the best trade to make? Do you look towards the future and effectively 'salary dump' UFA's to be before the April 4 trade deadline? Or is 'the future is now' the prevailing view at 317 Washington St., St. Paul, MN? Do you keep the two primary future UFA's (Cullen and Pierre-Marc Bouchard) or do you move them? Does UFA-to-be goalie Niklas Backstrom remain to see the playoffs, should the Wild make it into the post-season? Or do you 'let it ride', like a shaky poker bet, past the trade deadline?
Like the rest of us fans, I just wait and see what will develop. And worry, like some of you do.
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Thoughts on a 4-point weekend
Back-to-Back wins leave Wild fans wondering, 'Could this be for real?'
Two down. And only 46 to go.
As the abbreviated NHL season of 2013 unwinds across North America, three things are becoming apparent:
1. The Vancouver Canucks are in serious trouble. As are the Detroit Red Wings, NY Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, and any team whose games are shown on NBC twice in one weekend.
2. The Edmonton Oilers and St. Louis Blues are as good as advertised. And, the Calgary Flames are as bad as feared.
3. The Minnesota Wild are living up to the lofty expectations to which the franchise is being held to by their fans. So far, anyways.
The Wild, having dispatched the Colorado Avalanche 4-2 Saturday night, then turned around and then made Zach Parise's first goal with the Wild stand up to a 1-0 win Sunday night against the Dallas Stars, in no small part due to the shutout work of Josh Harding, backup goalie extraordinaire. Harding's 7th career shutout came with 25 saves against a Dallas team who had won at home the night before.
So, what to think? Or, is it just too early to have any opinion whatsoever?
The next six games should separate wheat from chaff, as the Wild play the Nashville Predators, Red Wings, Blues, Columbus Blue Jackets, Chicago Blackhawks, and Anaheim Ducks. In the next ten days. With three of those six games in St. Paul. After eight games, or 1/6th of the schedule having been played by then, the cream should rise to the top in the Western Conference.
At least, we HOPE it will. The contenders and the pretenders will sort themselves over the first half of this abbreviated season; then March and April should be about playoff positioning.
All this, while teams are still trying to sort things out. The lack of a real pre-season has not helped any team. The West, especially, is already starting to sort itself out. That's why winning early is key. Every win now is worth two (or more) in April, in my opinion.
So, Wild fans, sit back, and relax. Until the next game. Because it will come sooner, much sooner than even WE are ready for.
Two down. And only 46 to go.
As the abbreviated NHL season of 2013 unwinds across North America, three things are becoming apparent:
1. The Vancouver Canucks are in serious trouble. As are the Detroit Red Wings, NY Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, and any team whose games are shown on NBC twice in one weekend.
2. The Edmonton Oilers and St. Louis Blues are as good as advertised. And, the Calgary Flames are as bad as feared.
3. The Minnesota Wild are living up to the lofty expectations to which the franchise is being held to by their fans. So far, anyways.
The Wild, having dispatched the Colorado Avalanche 4-2 Saturday night, then turned around and then made Zach Parise's first goal with the Wild stand up to a 1-0 win Sunday night against the Dallas Stars, in no small part due to the shutout work of Josh Harding, backup goalie extraordinaire. Harding's 7th career shutout came with 25 saves against a Dallas team who had won at home the night before.
So, what to think? Or, is it just too early to have any opinion whatsoever?
The next six games should separate wheat from chaff, as the Wild play the Nashville Predators, Red Wings, Blues, Columbus Blue Jackets, Chicago Blackhawks, and Anaheim Ducks. In the next ten days. With three of those six games in St. Paul. After eight games, or 1/6th of the schedule having been played by then, the cream should rise to the top in the Western Conference.
At least, we HOPE it will. The contenders and the pretenders will sort themselves over the first half of this abbreviated season; then March and April should be about playoff positioning.
All this, while teams are still trying to sort things out. The lack of a real pre-season has not helped any team. The West, especially, is already starting to sort itself out. That's why winning early is key. Every win now is worth two (or more) in April, in my opinion.
So, Wild fans, sit back, and relax. Until the next game. Because it will come sooner, much sooner than even WE are ready for.
Monday, January 14, 2013
Grudge? WHAT grudge?
Overwhelming support for Minnesota Wild return runs Ticketmaster out of seating for Wednesday night inter-squad scrimmage
What would happen if the Minnesota Wild held a scrimmage, one where they actually flew in the Houston Aeros on a charter, opened it up for free, and then no one showed up to see it?
We definitely won't know this week. And, we may never know.
The Wednesday night scrimmage, the second (of two) scheduled this week at Xcel Energy Center as the Wild start their abbreviated training camp, has run out of General Admission tickets. Literally.
The Wild announced shortly after 7:00 PM Sunday night, that there were no more tickets available for the public, as they were holding the rest back for Season Ticket Holders, many of whom would not be able to get to their Wild accounts until they arrived at work on Monday.
The fact that the Wild ran out of seats for the public, might show that 'all is forgiven' for the 113-day lockout, which officially ended late Saturday night as the NHL and the NHLPA agreed to a new, 10-year (hopefully) labor agreement. Then again, it just might be the $10 food voucher that attendees will receive upon entering the arena.
So, with a full house of 18,000-plus expected, the Wild enter the shortened 48-game season with unbridled optimism, as this season features the most talent this team has seen in its' 13-year history.
So we will see what will actually happen on Wednesday. We may see you there. If you're lucky enough to grab a seat.
What would happen if the Minnesota Wild held a scrimmage, one where they actually flew in the Houston Aeros on a charter, opened it up for free, and then no one showed up to see it?
We definitely won't know this week. And, we may never know.
The Wednesday night scrimmage, the second (of two) scheduled this week at Xcel Energy Center as the Wild start their abbreviated training camp, has run out of General Admission tickets. Literally.
The Wild announced shortly after 7:00 PM Sunday night, that there were no more tickets available for the public, as they were holding the rest back for Season Ticket Holders, many of whom would not be able to get to their Wild accounts until they arrived at work on Monday.
The fact that the Wild ran out of seats for the public, might show that 'all is forgiven' for the 113-day lockout, which officially ended late Saturday night as the NHL and the NHLPA agreed to a new, 10-year (hopefully) labor agreement. Then again, it just might be the $10 food voucher that attendees will receive upon entering the arena.
So, with a full house of 18,000-plus expected, the Wild enter the shortened 48-game season with unbridled optimism, as this season features the most talent this team has seen in its' 13-year history.
So we will see what will actually happen on Wednesday. We may see you there. If you're lucky enough to grab a seat.
Sunday, January 6, 2013
We're baa-ack! (Sort of...)
The lockout is over.
Labor peace has washed over the contentious relationship between the NHL and its' players. But as many others already this morning have mentioned, there are no winners in this protracted, farcical scenario. Only losers.
The NHL Owners have lost the trust of the players, the very employees that they make their obscene amounts of money off of, possibly forever. The turning of the owner-player relationship at the highest levels of the sport, into an adversarial exercise in 'He said, He said', dragged the dispute into rarely-seen levels of discourse.
The NHLPA have also lost the trust of the owners, to help build and expand the reach of the game thru their own efforts, and the fact that the game was taken away from North America's hockey fanbase with very little apology or rancor has little, if any, effect on any player or players' agent.
And the fans? Those who pay the freight for both sides to enjoy the record revenues of the last five seasons?
BOTH SIDES ignored the fans. BOTH SIDES ignored the facts. BOTH SIDES ignored reason, and all sort of common sense.
And the fans are the ones coming out the worst in all this. Yes, we hockey lovers are a very gullible lot; we will return whenever they throw open the gates. But we are, indeed, jaded about the sport we love as we wait for the revised, 50-game schedule to be released (sometime today or, more likely, tomorrow). "Oh, this will be the BEST hockey."
Yeah, right. Now show me that you care. Show me that you want me back. Show me that you, Craig Leipold, Wild CEO, want me to keep spending my entertainment dollar at your establishment.
Or, just let me get my money back after the season ends, and let's go our separate ways.
Time to put up, or shut up, Minnesota Wild.
Labor peace has washed over the contentious relationship between the NHL and its' players. But as many others already this morning have mentioned, there are no winners in this protracted, farcical scenario. Only losers.
The NHL Owners have lost the trust of the players, the very employees that they make their obscene amounts of money off of, possibly forever. The turning of the owner-player relationship at the highest levels of the sport, into an adversarial exercise in 'He said, He said', dragged the dispute into rarely-seen levels of discourse.
The NHLPA have also lost the trust of the owners, to help build and expand the reach of the game thru their own efforts, and the fact that the game was taken away from North America's hockey fanbase with very little apology or rancor has little, if any, effect on any player or players' agent.
And the fans? Those who pay the freight for both sides to enjoy the record revenues of the last five seasons?
BOTH SIDES ignored the fans. BOTH SIDES ignored the facts. BOTH SIDES ignored reason, and all sort of common sense.
And the fans are the ones coming out the worst in all this. Yes, we hockey lovers are a very gullible lot; we will return whenever they throw open the gates. But we are, indeed, jaded about the sport we love as we wait for the revised, 50-game schedule to be released (sometime today or, more likely, tomorrow). "Oh, this will be the BEST hockey."
Yeah, right. Now show me that you care. Show me that you want me back. Show me that you, Craig Leipold, Wild CEO, want me to keep spending my entertainment dollar at your establishment.
Or, just let me get my money back after the season ends, and let's go our separate ways.
Time to put up, or shut up, Minnesota Wild.
Sunday, December 2, 2012
OK, NHL, you've lost most of us
It hasn't been that fun being an NHL fan these days, has it?
You know that in most cases, nothing else will do. Not college hockey, not high school,. nothing else. And certainly, not the evil basketball. The NFL is doing its' job in occupying the American sports consciousness; but north of the 49th parallel, the CFL has suffered thru the 100th Grey Cup, and now becomes a nation lying in wait for its' heritage sport -- professional ice hockey, at its' highest level -- to quit being another case study in bad labor/management relations, and get back to what it does best: Entertaining fans, and giving them something to while away cold Northern winters (except in the Bettman-promoted Southern markets, where they while away somewhat less-than-cold Southern winters).
I, for one, have kind of gone into 'shut-down' mode: 'get back to me when you have some REAL news to report'. I don't believe anything that either side says any more. No amount of grandstanding, posturing, or other attempts to show the public you're 'trying to come to agreement' will sway most fans. We've all just moved on to other things, other pursuits, other interests.
We fans are saving our money. No pre-game restaurant dinners, no post-game refreshments, no money spent on parking, gas, souvenirs. No new items from the 'team store'. (Or, from any store, if that item has any NHL or NHL team logo on it.) And that has its' down side as well; layoffs at numerous restaurants, bars, stores, etc., going into the Christmas/New Year's holiday season. The fact that until now, the Minnesota Wild's staff has been somewhat insulated from the rest of their owners' recalcitrance, pales in comparison to the 600 Xcel Energy Center part-time employees, who comprise the Wild's game day staff. Most of them took these jobs as second (or, in some cases, third) jobs, to earn a few extra dollars to make their lives that much better.
Now, even the Wild's permanent, full-time staff is being affected; beginning after the New Year, their workweek will be shortened by 20%, as the NHL's own full-time staff has been since the start of the dispute, along with several other member clubs. Sadly, the staffers have no one to blame, except their own bosses; if they would actually come to an agreement, come ready to really negotiate, not to 'Draw a line in the sand', then turn and walk away when the other side says 'No' to the latest demand, this would all have been behind us a long time ago.
The fact that neither side -- owners and players -- is willing to give even an inch shows what a disasterous condition the NHL is in right now. The fact that two of the most stubborn lawyers on Earth -- Gary Bettman and Donald Fehr -- lead the two sides, behooves most of us to believe that the final solution will not be achieved this season. Nor maybe even next season.
But, for now, just go ahead, NHL. Just vote next week (in your Board of Governors meeting on Wednesday and Thursday, in New York) to take this already-moribund season off life support. Kill the victim so the disease of the labor dispute can be cured. Then, after the air has been cleared, let's get back to the business at hand.
Let's play hockey.
You know that in most cases, nothing else will do. Not college hockey, not high school,. nothing else. And certainly, not the evil basketball. The NFL is doing its' job in occupying the American sports consciousness; but north of the 49th parallel, the CFL has suffered thru the 100th Grey Cup, and now becomes a nation lying in wait for its' heritage sport -- professional ice hockey, at its' highest level -- to quit being another case study in bad labor/management relations, and get back to what it does best: Entertaining fans, and giving them something to while away cold Northern winters (except in the Bettman-promoted Southern markets, where they while away somewhat less-than-cold Southern winters).
I, for one, have kind of gone into 'shut-down' mode: 'get back to me when you have some REAL news to report'. I don't believe anything that either side says any more. No amount of grandstanding, posturing, or other attempts to show the public you're 'trying to come to agreement' will sway most fans. We've all just moved on to other things, other pursuits, other interests.
We fans are saving our money. No pre-game restaurant dinners, no post-game refreshments, no money spent on parking, gas, souvenirs. No new items from the 'team store'. (Or, from any store, if that item has any NHL or NHL team logo on it.) And that has its' down side as well; layoffs at numerous restaurants, bars, stores, etc., going into the Christmas/New Year's holiday season. The fact that until now, the Minnesota Wild's staff has been somewhat insulated from the rest of their owners' recalcitrance, pales in comparison to the 600 Xcel Energy Center part-time employees, who comprise the Wild's game day staff. Most of them took these jobs as second (or, in some cases, third) jobs, to earn a few extra dollars to make their lives that much better.
Now, even the Wild's permanent, full-time staff is being affected; beginning after the New Year, their workweek will be shortened by 20%, as the NHL's own full-time staff has been since the start of the dispute, along with several other member clubs. Sadly, the staffers have no one to blame, except their own bosses; if they would actually come to an agreement, come ready to really negotiate, not to 'Draw a line in the sand', then turn and walk away when the other side says 'No' to the latest demand, this would all have been behind us a long time ago.
The fact that neither side -- owners and players -- is willing to give even an inch shows what a disasterous condition the NHL is in right now. The fact that two of the most stubborn lawyers on Earth -- Gary Bettman and Donald Fehr -- lead the two sides, behooves most of us to believe that the final solution will not be achieved this season. Nor maybe even next season.
But, for now, just go ahead, NHL. Just vote next week (in your Board of Governors meeting on Wednesday and Thursday, in New York) to take this already-moribund season off life support. Kill the victim so the disease of the labor dispute can be cured. Then, after the air has been cleared, let's get back to the business at hand.
Let's play hockey.
Sunday, November 11, 2012
I was supposed to be in Newark, but...
Continuing labor dispute, ego-driven negotiations doom NHL 2012-13 season; will they EVER play again?
Well, today is Day 57 of the NHL Lockout. They're talking, albeit begrudingly; the fans are just flat out in limbo, just waiting to see what will actually come out of talks and the shuttling between Toronto (NHLPA headquarters) and New York (NHL HQ). Granted, the interruption that was Hurricane Sandy (Ok, ok...Superstorm Sandy, for you weatherheads out there) did put a few days' distance in the talks, but the loggerheads that have occurred between NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and the Fehr Brothers, the two-headed negotiators for the Players' Association, need to be put behind them, and we all need to just MOVE ON.
For Minnesota Wild fans, this weekend was supposed to be a stiff test of what the Wild was to have become: last night, the Wild should have been in Detroit, facing the Red Wings at Joe Louis Arena; tonight, a 5:00 PM (EST) contest against none other than the New Jersey Devils was to have taken place at 'the Rock', a.k.a. the Prudential Center in Downtown Newark. These would have been games number 4 and 5 of the Wild's then-killer 6-game Eastern road swing.
The Wild should have been then traveling down the Northeast Corridor, to the City of Brotherlyhate Love, to take on the Flyers Tuesday night, at the First Union Wachovia Wells Fargo Center. The fact that the lockout came when it did might actually, from the perspective of the last two weeks, worked out in the Wild's favor, should the lockout actually end this winter and the team begin playing again.
This was to be the biggest WRT road trip in three seasons (since the NHL Premiere trip to Helsinki). Now, there's no trip, no games, nothing. I just sit here, and save my $ for that rainy (or, since we are in Minnesota, snowy) day. No tickets, no flights, no hotels, nothing. Just staying home and waiting for Messrs. Bettman and Fehr to get done doing their thing.
C'mon guys. Please, figure this thing out. Before I get absolutely claustrophobic here at home, watching the Vikings lose. Again.
Well, today is Day 57 of the NHL Lockout. They're talking, albeit begrudingly; the fans are just flat out in limbo, just waiting to see what will actually come out of talks and the shuttling between Toronto (NHLPA headquarters) and New York (NHL HQ). Granted, the interruption that was Hurricane Sandy (Ok, ok...Superstorm Sandy, for you weatherheads out there) did put a few days' distance in the talks, but the loggerheads that have occurred between NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and the Fehr Brothers, the two-headed negotiators for the Players' Association, need to be put behind them, and we all need to just MOVE ON.
For Minnesota Wild fans, this weekend was supposed to be a stiff test of what the Wild was to have become: last night, the Wild should have been in Detroit, facing the Red Wings at Joe Louis Arena; tonight, a 5:00 PM (EST) contest against none other than the New Jersey Devils was to have taken place at 'the Rock', a.k.a. the Prudential Center in Downtown Newark. These would have been games number 4 and 5 of the Wild's then-killer 6-game Eastern road swing.
The Wild should have been then traveling down the Northeast Corridor, to the City of Brotherly
This was to be the biggest WRT road trip in three seasons (since the NHL Premiere trip to Helsinki). Now, there's no trip, no games, nothing. I just sit here, and save my $ for that rainy (or, since we are in Minnesota, snowy) day. No tickets, no flights, no hotels, nothing. Just staying home and waiting for Messrs. Bettman and Fehr to get done doing their thing.
C'mon guys. Please, figure this thing out. Before I get absolutely claustrophobic here at home, watching the Vikings lose. Again.
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