Lemaire knows this game

Minnesota Wild Coach Jacques Lemaire has a pretty good track record. He has accumulated a total of 11 Stanley Cup Championships as a player, coach, and also as a member of the front office. Twice he has been awarded the Jack Adams Award (1993-94 Devils, 2002-03 Wild) as the NHL top coach. His knowledge for this game goes well beyond the rink and his expertise should never be questioned. That is why I take notice and pause when I hear him utter such things as "maybe this is the team we have" when explaining his teams inconsistent, up & down play.

There really is no mystery or secret here...the Wild do not have the right players and our coach knows that. Lemaire has once again hinted at retirement and the fact that he is given teams that are lacking has to be one of the main reasons. Wild fans should celebrate every day that Jacques has been and is behind the bench because without him, this franchise would have never been able to enjoy the successes that it has already had. Unfortunately for us, all indicators point to Lemaire's departure at this seasons conclusion and this time, he means it. Another sour spot for the fans is the fact that our coach's 'ally', GM Doug Risebrough, will most likely remain in place. Fans come down pretty hard on Lemaire and that is not right. His 'system' has saved this franchise from becoming, not a model to follow, but a model to ridicule. Risebrough is responsible for giving Lemaire the tools he needs to complete the job of winning himself another cup, and that certainly has not happened this season.

Boogaard's fight card

Apparently, Minnesota Wild enforcer Derek Boogaard has a date to meet with some of the NHL heads to discuss his future. The league is in the middle of looking into fighting and its place in the game. Although there is plenty of room for changes, I am sure that the league will once again foul this up and we'll be left with something even worse than we already have. And that might not be their fault alone. Time and time again I have heard enforcers bellow about the 'instigator' rule and how it has hurt the job of the tough-guy on teams. Obviously the extra 2 minute penalty is in the back of the minds of the fighters. Now I hear that enforcers want the instigator rule actually enforced, which is a complete flip-flop from previous opinions. So what we are left with again is NHL management not fully aligned on what they want to do and the players on the opposite side not knowing which is the way to go. We constantly hear that fighting is in place to keep 'order' on the ice when the fact is, fighting does not serve as a deterrent anymore. The league is filled with cheap players who never have to answer to their bush-league play so I don't see how keeping fighting alive will do much for this. I believe the 'staged' fights are what needs to be left alone. Too many times players who traditionally are not involved in fights have to answer the bell simply because of their hard checks and aggressive play. The stage fights are almost always between the teams two heavy-weights, and that are the bouts fans like to see.

Gophers outside soon

With the completion of TCF Banks Stadium coming soon, talk has turned to the other maroon & gold team that would like to take its turn on the field. Only the field in this case will be a frozen sheet of ice as the Gopher hockey team will undoubtedly be given a chance at one of those famed outdoor games. The problem I see already came to us a week ago when famed sport columnist Sid Hartman had a piece in his StarTribune column about how the U would be looking for an opponent outside of the WCHA.

And Gophers athletic director Joel Maturi said the Gophers will stage an outdoor hockey game in the new stadium in either 2010 or 2011. Maturi said he will try and make it a big outdoor hockey week with high schools, colleges and even the Wild participating. "We'll invite a school outside of the WCHA, maybe somebody like Boston College," Maturi said.

So I ask the obvious question, why would we invite someone like Boston College? We have the best rivalries in all of college hockey right here in the WCHA, not to mention the fact that it would be a huge slap to the in-state schools. I truly like some of Minnesota's non-conference opponents and in fact probably enjoy games against Michigan more than any other team. But to make an off-handed comment about something like this really shows that the 'upper management' at the U is out of touch.