Great effort, another loss

After last night's lopsided loss to the Calgary Flames, Minnesota Wild fans had to wonder again which team would show-up in the second of back-to-back games against the Edmonton Oilers. Tonight, it was team 'A' that emerged, as team 'B' was left behind in the other Alberta city. The Wild showed little interest in winning against the Flames, as they only recorded 16 shots on goal and were a power-less 0 for 5 with the man advantage. Fortunately for Minnesota, they carried most of the play and dominated the third period tonight. The unfortunate part however, was that Oiler goaltender Dwayne Roloson played unbelievable, as he turned away 43 Wild shots and only let in 2. The team gave fans much different approaches in the two games but we got the same results. Calgary 4, Minnesota 1 last night & Edmonton 3, Minnesota 2 tonight.

It's one or the other

I really don't think this can be up for debate because in my mind it is black & white. And why the league sees it the other way is insane to me. But when you get down to it, it's real simple. And maybe that is the problem, it is too simple. After all, large corporations around the world like to micro-manage and complicate things...and the NHL is no different. A dive is a dive...and that's it. If a player dives, then there should be no other call. If a player trips another, as was the case tonight, then it's tripping. It is impossible to have both be legitimate infractions on one play. If you were truly tripped, then how could you dive? And if you really took a dive, then how were you tripped? Wake up NHL, it has to be one or the other.

Notebook needed

As far as I can tell, NHL disciplinarian Colin Campbell does not take very good notes of his work. The suspensions he hands out really leave one scratching their heads sometimes trying to figure out his reasoning. In fact, it would not surprise me a bit if there was a big 'wheel of suspensions' that Campbell spins every time he is needed, and wherever the wheel stops, that is the penalty that is given out. The latest is the 5 games Derek Boogaard received for his elbow in last nights game against the Flames. Now I don't have a problem with the number of games, as I thought it was a bad play on Boogaard's part. But what I have a problem with is the lack of consistency that comes from Campbell when he doles out his suspensions & fines. More often than not, there seems to be no rhyme or reason as to the length and/or amount. So what I propose is that the NHL budget in a notebook for Campbell so that he can record every penalty he hands out and thus will be able to look back and try to come up with a more consistent method when taking action against players.

Sellers or buyers

I have scoured the web searching for information, rumors, and stories on the upcoming trade deadline. And I have found that it seems there is a clear side that most teams are on, either looking to unload or looking to add-on. And for the Wild, one of the most frustrating thing about this team is that fans never know what they are up to and what side they are on. It's always a mystery with this management team and only after something is done, do we see the direction that the team has decided to go. Story after story that I stumbled across listed player after player, speculating who might be going where. And nowhere could I find anything about our Wild other than the line that the Wild are negotiating with Niklas Backstrom. Never mind that most of the high-end players that may move would fit in perfectly with Minnesota, there is apparently no interest from our side. Several teams seem to be in need of a strong puck-moving defenseman, and what I see in our lineup is that we have at least one too many, especially with Curtis Foster on the verge of coming back. It's almost as if the Wild are a team without an identity...are we coming or going. It sure would be nice to know.