Notes about nothing

Wild Olympic connections

Our Minnesota Wild, although not represented in big numbers in the Olympic Games, are making an impact for their respective teams. Mikko Koivu leads the way, as his 3 assists helped Finland defeat Belarus 5-1. Martin Havlat & Marek Zidlicky, representing the Czech Republic, both netted assists in their 3-1 win over Slovakia. Finally, the teams last Olympian, Niklas Backstrom, expects to get the start for his Finish teams' second game tomorrow night.

New sports radio station in town

Finally, a little bit of competition for KFAN, the areas only all-sports radio station. Now on the Fan, there are several enjoyable shows that are hosted by entertaining personalities. However, there is one show in particular that has absolutely tanked, leading back to the days when one of it's co-hosts was taken off the air. The only problem is that what is offered under the new all-sports format at AM 1500 KSTP is not any better during this same time slot. The Colin Cowherd show is no show at all, but instead a non-stop rant of what the host likes and dislikes. It is similar to our own 9 to noon show in that the host pretends to know more than they do and comes off sounding more uniformed than if they were to simply admit to what they did not know. The one thing that gives hope however is that KSTP's new programming is a work in progress and will hopefully improve with time...as down the dial, it seems that the 'voice' will remain stagnant as long as he is the voice. As for the 'local' programming provided by KSTP, it is just OK. Mr. Phunn has hooked up with the station, as he was a former side-kick to HiFi at the Fan, and he is a good one to listen to. Other than that, it is much of the same from Reusse and Soucheray, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. The form a good team and listeners now can listen to their weekend sports talk show during the week.

It is obvious that things are not set yet with KSTP...but it is already a nice alternative to the 'leader'.

Why the NBA is a joke

I heard former Wolves coach and VP Kevin McHale today and he matter-of-factly stated during his interview that all NBA teams pace themselves during the season until the all-star break. Really, they don't always play hard? Or to win either. It is coming down to that time of year when teams will literally play to lose. That draft pick is much more important than integrity and self respect. And the fans don't condemn this idea but instead promote it. Only in the NBA, a league that is disguised as a 'team' sport.

Confidence & Wins

I am not sure if confidence breeds wins or if winning produces confidence, but it appears that our Minnesota Wild have been playing and having results with both. The team is currently on a 3-game winning streak, disposing of the Oilers (3-1), Blues ( 4-3), and most recently on the road against the Kings (4-3) and are playing with confidence. The phrase was uttered by Coach Richards after they held off an onslaught brought on by Los Angeles late Monday night, and it has been ringing true as of late...good teams find a way to win. And that is exactly what the Wild have been doing for much of the season. I hate to bring it up, but subtract that dreadful early season road-trip where they went 0 for 5, and the Wild are right in the thick of it. As it is now, Minnesota is only 3 points off the pace for the final playoff position in the Western Conference.

What a month!

December has been huge for the Wild. In a month where the team's schedule is jam-packed with 16 games, they definitely have held their own, and more so far, winning 10 out of 14 with 2 games remaining this month and calender year. Stop and think about that...20 points out a possible 28, which makes this month the most successful December in franchise history and ties the team record with 10 wins in a month (March 2007). And if the Wild can earn 3 points in the remaining two games, it will go down as the most successful month in team history in terms of points earned. To date, Minnesota earned 22 points during the month of March in 2007 and is the tops.

Big D contributes

It does not seem that long ago where the 'D' were doing just as their position says, playing defense. In Richards system, the position that is labeled 'D' may be just a formality of sorts because more often than not, our defensive players have been charging the offensive net, something that would have earned a permanent spot on the bench under the old bench boss. But with the change in coaches came a change in how involved the defenseman have become , as they are playing an important part in not only playing solid in their own end, but also pinching and forechecking in the offensive zone. The new approach has paid dividends recently...over the past 2 games, Wild defenseman have accounted for 3 goals out of 8 that the Wild netted. In fact, it was back-to-back goals by Shane Hnidy and Kim Johnsson that helped propell Minnesota in its win over the Blues.

Havlat & Latendresse

These two have become two of the biggest acquistions, with one expected to make an immediate impact while the other came in as a bit of an unknown. Havlat, after a slow start, has seemed to have found his touch and has notched 10 points in his past 10 games. This comes after starting with only 11 points in his first 24 games. And his linemate as of late, Latendresse, has been nothing short of spectacular since he was acquired in a trade one month ago. He is living up to his pre-draft scouting report and has 3 goals in his past 3 games. But more importantly, he is using his size, speed, and is driving to the net, all things that Wild fans were hoping for when he came from Montreal.

Quick hits

It may have ended with a disappointing finish, as the Minnesota Wild lost a close one to the Canucks last night 4-3, but you would be making a mistake if you did not consider the teams recent 5-game road-trip a success. The Wild went 3-2 during those five games, posting wins in Nashville (5-3), Colorado (1-0), and Calgary (2-1 OT), while dropping games in Phoenix (0-2) and most recently Vancouver. That 3-2 record is a far cry from the team 0 for 5 that they had early in the season. Unfortunately, that 0-for at the beginning really put this team in a hole...even with their recent points (27 pts in the past 20 games), they still find themselves in last place in the Northwest Division, and more importantly, 13th in the Western Conference, 5 points out of the 8th and final playoff spot.

Winning in the circle

There are a few things that have been pretty constant since the teams inception, one being that they have seen limited success in faceoffs. Putting it in plain and simple terms, this franchise has been downright lousy in the circle. However, this version of the team has been spectacular winning the draws and currently have the 4th best faceoff win percentage at 52.9%. And most recently against the Canucks, the Wild won 49 fo 69 draws, or 71.0%. This is a definitely a departure from seasons past as the Wild have never finished a season in the top-half of the league in faceoff winning %, and instead usually finishing near the bottom. The teams highest finish in faceoff % was 48.5%, which happened twice (01-02 & 08-09).

Below are the stats for players that have taken at least 20 draws...

	FOW	FOL	%
Eric Belanger	221	153	59.1
Mikko Koivu	350	261	57.3
Nathan Smith	26	23	53.1
Kyle Brodziak	192	192	50.0
Owen Nolan	71	83	46.1
Andrew Ebbett	25	30	45.4
James Sheppard	65	92	41.4

Special teams

Minnesota has seen their power-play sputter as of late, netting only 2 man-advantage goals during this recent road trip...and both of those came in the win over the Predators a week ago Saturday. That left the team with only 2 goals on 22 power-plays, a dismal 9.09% and far short of the teams 17.9% season total to date. Fortunately for the Wild, the team has remained steady on defense when short-handed, killing 21 of 24 short-handed situations on the road-tripper, good for 87.5% and slightly above their season total of 82.1%.

First goal

The team is still struggling out of the gate and has given up the opening goal in 4 out of 5 games during this 5-game stretch. For the season, Minnesota has yielded the opening goal in 21 games out of 32 played to date. The good news is that this is seemingly a useless stat as far as the Wild are concerned because allowing the opening goal first has not seemed to hamper the team, as making a comeback seems to be their MO.

Keeping with the 'first goal' theme...Defenseman Shane Hnidy netted his first goal in a Wild uniform when he scored Minnesota's opening goal in the 4-3 loss at Vancouver. Hnidy is only 4 points shy of tying his career high of 12, which he netted two times (06-07 & 08-09) during his career. Hnidy was one of GM Chuck Fletchers first off-season free-agent signings.

Havlat revving-up

Finally, a point streak again from the off-season free-agency signing that fans had anticipated as being our main and top scorer. To date, Martin Havlat has stumbled through the season but looks to be on a roll. He has a 2-game point streak going (1 goal, 3 assists) and has 8 points in his last 7 games...this after a 4-game pointless streak. For the season, Havlat has 4 mulit-point games and 16 points (4 goals & 12 assists) in 26 games.

Outlook is perplexing...no faith in 'system'?

Usually going into a season, I have a pretty good handle on how the season will play out. Of course, the NHL season can be quirky with injury's, but minus the games lost due to the IR factor, I can normally see things clearly. Unfortunately, I don't have a clue going into this season. The puck finally drops tonight for our Minnesota Wild and I have no idea how this team will finish and am at a loss, as I don't know what to think or believe about this current team. I do believe that even with the roster shakeup and the departure of the teams one true star, Minnesota Wild GM Chuck Fletcher found a way to improve his team this off-season. But I am not so sure that I have faith in the 'system' that new head coach Todd Richards is preaching...because I still don't think that the team has enough fire-power.

The hole filled by Fletcher when he added Martin Havlat was an outstanding plug to find. He will be the player that make fans forget about our previous noodle-groin scorer Marian Gaborik...but only if he stays healthy himself. We have been through the 'scorer is scratched' ringer, and it would be nice to see a full season from our go-to guy. But if you look at a 4-season comparison in games played, Havlat has missed more games (138 missed) over that time period compared to Gaborik (121). The good news is that the most recent season was spectacular for our new go-to guy, as he recorded 77 points in 81 games last season, and all signs point to him continuing that success. But even though I believe that adding Havlat was huge, the real find for Fletcher may turn out to be the addition of Petr Sykora. It's not every day that you can get what should be a 50 points producer into camp on a 'try-out' basis.

One of the strong zones that has been pretty constant throughout the Wild's short existence has been the D-zone and with it, very solid goaltending. In fact, the goaltenders that the Wild usually roll out have usually been a top goaltending duo in the league. And our current #1 guy, Niklas Backstrom, is coming off a stellar season. Not only did Backstrom set franchise records for wins (37) and shutouts (8), he was the only goaltender in the league to place in the top 5 in shutouts, GAA (2.33), save % (.924), and wins. Now with that said, the great Wild debate in the past has been whether or not the goaltenders in particular, were the benefactor of a 'defensive system' that was instilled by our former coach Jacques Lemaire or did the Wild always get it right when acquiring goalies. We should get our answer this season. Even if Backstrom seems to be having an off-year, waiting on the bench is Josh Harding, who is seen as a starter by many in this league. So this team does have able and competent players between the pipes but it is yet to be seen what effect the 'system' will have on their games.

On the blue-line, the one thing I do find refreshing is that defense will be leaned on more heavily for offensive production and will be expected to be in the play in the offensive zone. This is something that has always been a thorn in the side of the old regime, but the outcome of holding our D back had always been a solid D-zone. With this new system, I would expect more production from a guy like Brent Bruns, who should have a great season, but will also not be surprised by the teams increase in goals against. I would also expect Nick Schultz to continue his defensive style, and really don't know what to think about our new guys, Greg Zanon and Shane Hnidy, as they both have not been offensive-defensman in the past and would expect them to be hopefully solid shut-down guys.

I would agree with most observers that, for the most part, this team has improved this off-season. However, there is one glaring area that has haunted this team for several seasons and was not addressed by our new management...the lack of scoring centers. The fact that the team was still experimenting with Pierre-Marc Bouchard at this position tells a lot. The team did add Kyle Brodziak (from St. Paul....Alberta), who is a solid two-way player, but other than Mikko Koivu, the team does not have a good scoring center.

I am more confused now than when I started this post. If you were one of the few that waded through this, you can probably tell that this is a mess start to finish, which scares me. Because I cannot get a handle on this team, the only conclusion I can come up with as to why that is may be because of our new 'system'. I love offense and scoring as much as the next fan, but one of the comforts I had with Lemaire was the fact that the team almost always played great defensive hockey. And for a group of players who were not the most gifted scorers, which is what the Wild have had in seasons past, that was a real blessing. From day one, the Wild have never been a slouch in the D-zone and that carried them to many wins.

And from what I see from this current team...not a a lot of gifted scorers.

More PR work

The Minnesota Wild organization has always been a subperb PR machine. You will not find a professional sports team in any city that is tied into the community better than the Wild. And they never, ever, miss a chance to grab the headlines, even if it is somewhat self-serving.

Recently, the team sent out two of their studs, Martin Havlat and Mikko Koivu, to hand deliver tickets to randomly selected season ticket holders. Getting a chance to have this happen is almost enough to make me go out an purchase a season ticket package myself...if I could afford it!

Seriously though, pretty cool that they put together field trips like these...

Harding signs, along with others...

The Minnesota Wild re-inked their backup, and possible trade-bait netminder, to a one year contract, thus avoiding the arbitration hearing that was to take place today in Toronto. A good move, although I am not sure what motivated the two parties to sign on the dotted line, as I would assume all pertinent individuals were already in Canada anticipating the hearing. Nonetheless, for the time being, Josh Harding remains the property of the Wild.

There have been a big handful of small moves made by Fletcher during his short tenure with the Wild. But so far most of the moves have been of the very low level variety. Other than the signing of Martin Havlat, which was a forced move brought on by Gaborik landing with the Rangers, there has been really nothing of substance for the immediate future (just imagine what the masses would have been saying had Fletcher not found a replacement for Gaborik). The Houston Aeros will be the beneficiary of most of the moves made, which leaves the big league club still void of a top-tier center. It's almost a re-run from seasons past...scouring all of the usual credible places looking for rumors and tidbits, only to find that the Wild are seldom mentioned.

A great day to be a spectator

I love spectator sports, even ones that I am not all that attached to. Today's sport was brought to me by the old AM radio, which delivered the news that black Wednesday had arrived in Viking land...the day that set the fate of the upcoming season, depending on who you listened to. Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed that backlash that was left in the wake of one player that was seen as the teams savior, as he decided that for the time being, he would rather remain in Mississippi than join the purple in Mankato. What joy I took in listening to the clowns at KFAN as they simmered, pouted, and acted worse than a 2 year old who wanted to play rather than take a nap. My favorite came from Charch, who went on a 5 minute rant that was baseless and downright weird. But not to be outdone was the head clown Allen, who did his usual and standard back-peddling, trying to convince himself that the sun will rise again tomorrow.

Remember Vikings fans, you will be able to look back yet again, and be calmed by the thought that your favorite team was only one player away...

Day 1-1/2 free agency thoughts...

Gaborik gone...so sad. It was expected, but still kind of unexpected. I truly thought that he would end up accepting an offer, one that I am not so sure was actually made in the end. Depending on who you read, there may or may not have been one last-ditch effort by Fletcher to sign the young star. It will be weird not seeing the high-flying #10, but one thing that seems crystal clear is that he did not want to stay with the Wild and never intended on entertaining the idea of staying in the State of Hockey.

Wild fans go nuts...

The panic was hilarious. A lot of Minnesota Wild fans were certainly in need of meds yesterday, day one of the free agency period, after hearing that the Sedin twins, Cammalleri, Hossa, and then finally Gaborik were signed to teams that were not located in Minnesota. Reading the comments on Russo's blog were entertaining at first, then slid down to idiotic at best as the banter was going back and forth on who was to blame for what was happening...when nothing unusual was happening. Yeah, I admit that I was starting to have post-Risebrough thoughts, but remember this a new regime with a different approach.

Havlat a good get

Martin Havlat is not a bad acquisition if you ask me. He is certainly a very capable scorer and maybe more importantly, he wants to be here, ie: team player. And if he is not quite in Gaboriks' class, he certainly is not too far behind considering he netted 77 points last season in 81 games. And the bonus seems to be that he can actually put the puck into the net in the post-season, as he recorded 15 points in 16 playoff games in 08-09. The key obviously is that the Wild need to make it beyond the regular season to cash in on that bonus, but considering they just added a 70 plus scorer to the lineup, after a near miss to the post-season with a gimpy Gaborik, I'd say our team got a bump up on this deal. The knock however, is one that is very familiar to Wild fans...his durability. But there was absolutely no choice considering that Minnesota needed a player who can put in some points, and he was probably the teams best option from minute one of free-agency.

Foster, Skoula, Bergeron, what's the deal

There has been a lot of speculation on who may be brought in to bolster the Wild's blue-line...there was the addition of Greg Zanon yesterday to answer some of the questions. But there has not been much information on our own UFA's and my question is why? It seems to me that Skoula and Foster are two blue-liners that should have been signed...Foster because I believe he has earned and deserves a fair offer considering his injury and more recently courageous comeback and Skoula because for much of the season he was our most steady and reliable defenseman. But since there was this shake-up in the front office, they must see it differently, otherwise there would have been offers before yesterday.

Koivu would be great

What this team has needed for 3+ years is depth at center and Mikko's older brother would most certainly help with that problem. Why fans poo-poo the thought of adding a 34 year old veteran is beyond me. You will get no argument that he is on the downward side to his career, but Saku did net 50 points in 65 games last season...and remember that the Wild had a total of 2 players reach the 50 point mark a season ago, and one was at the ripe age of 35. On top of that, Minnesota's leading goal scorer was 37...so stop with the has-been Hab chatter. Saku would be a great sign for this team.

One final plea

Please PA, stop pretending to know hockey. I admire your effort, in fact give you an 'A' for trying. But your presentation deserves an 'F'...you definitely come across as someone who does not know but is trying desperately to sound intelligent. I am sure you're a great person but the in your face, confident sounding bits, only make you sound lost on the ice...