New system finally arrives

Now that is what we have been waiting for.

Ever since the Minnesota Wild hired Todd Richards to coach this team and he uttered the phrase 'fast-paced' as one way to describe the style his team would be playing, we have been waiting patiently. Game after game we have gone from witnessing nothing close to a fast paced game to spurts of fast paced play. But so far have we have seen nothing reminiscent of a team going all out in any kind of fast paced manner for an extended period of time. Tonight however was different. Tonight, NHL game 0234 will go down as the first time fans witnessed the full product on display as the Wild's defeated the Dallas Stars 3-2. The system has arrived.

Call it the early season slump, the new system funk, or whatever you want. But until tonight, this team had not played a complete 60 minute game. But they were awfully close in this game. Start to finish, the Wild carried the majority of the play and really ramped up their game. This 'fast paced' style we have been waiting for really shone through, as it was obvious that something finally clicked on that Minnesota bench. Shift after shift, player after player, it was constant pressure from our Wild. Even Derek Boogaard got into the act and had two shots on goal somewhere in his 8 shifts. And they were both legitimate scoring chances. When is that last time that has happened?

This was one for the DVR, not because of the win, but because of the historical nature of that win. Our Wild really looked the part tonight, as they finally unveiled this new system that we have all been hearing about. The question now becomes, did this new system come with any consistency attribute?

Close call

The Wild's sellout streak is still intact, now reaching 375 games after hosting the Stars tonight in front of another huge crowd of 18,558. However, I have to believe that Thursdays game against the Vancouver Canucks has to be the closest this franchise has been to going under capacity for a game. The crowd at the X that night was 18,105, only 41 tickets over the capacity of 18,064.

This is a great streak...but unfortunately will most likely come to an end this season.