Intersting live chat with Russo

Just by luck, I had a chance to view and participate in the live chat put on by the StarTribune's Michael Russo. It was a chat session where you sent in the questions and the editor, or whoever was assisting Russo, decided what would be published along with Russo's response. They also had a few polls going for fans to vote on that included whether or not Jacques Lemaire would be back and who is the team MVP.

There were many good questions by the participants, and as you will always get, a few that slipped through that were basically tiresome. The 'why don't the Wild ever draft a Minnesotan' is one that is older than hockey itself. But for the most part, it was a good session with good questions. I did find a few responses from Russo that caught my attention. On whether or not the Wild could receive something good in return in a Marian Gaborik trade, Russo thinks that the teams that may be looking will have cap trouble taking on the salary of Gaborik, so they will have to unload something in return. Another one that I found interesting was the idea that the Wild may not move Niklas Backstrom before the NHL trade deadline even if they have not re-signed him. And one more I can think of was a thought I had the day they introduced Kevin Constantine as the new coach of the Houston Aeros back in 2007...the question being who is the likeliest candidate to replace Lemaire if he retires.

Anyway, it was a good 'chat' session. I believe that Russo does a great job keeping us informed, and for the most part, tells it like it is. It is somewhat rare these days to find a beat writer who sticks his neck out for the fans. And as for being on the same page as the fans, there is no one more in-tune with us than Russo.

Here is a link to my boards where I posted the entire session...
Russo's Chat