Gameday Thread – Game 48 – Wild @ Blues

Wow.  That’s honestly all I can say about the Wild’s recent homestand. 

Wow. 

They start with an inspired performance against the Calgary Flames, defeating the Northwest leaders 4-1.  Following that up, they took on the team many consider to be the class of the NHL and pulled out the biggest comeback in team history, coming from four goals down in the third period to win 6-5 in a shootout. 

In a homestand where they played two division leaders, the defending Stanley Cup champions and one of the hottest teams in the NHL, those two games in and of themselves would have made it a successful stand. 

The Wild didn’t stop there, however, as Guillaume Latendresse and Niklas Backstrom picked the team up on their shoulders and carried them to victory over the struggling Pittsburgh Penguins with a 4-3 victory. 

Then there was Wednesday night’s game. 

If I were to be thinking of a byline for it, it would most certainly be “Rivalry Renewed.” 

Despite being badly outshot through two periods (26-16), Minnesota came out in the third even with the Canucks and put the pedal to the floor, scoring three goals in the first ten minutes of the period to propel them to victory. 

The victory not only was big in the sense that they had laid to rest the monkey on their back that was the Vancouver Canucks this season, but there was also a tangible reward from this game—Minnesota is now just two points out of the eighth playoff spot. 

That fact alone makes tonight’s game a very big night indeed for the surging Wild. 

Lineup(s) 

It’s been well documented that Todd Richards doesn’t like to mess with a winning formula, and that’s what he’s gotten here.  That doesn’t bode well for James Sheppard and Petr Sykora, who have become pressbox staples as of late.  Here’s likely what we’re looking at for the Wild’s forwards: 

Brunette-Koivu-Miettinen
Latendresse-Brodziak-Havlat
Nolan-Belanger-Clutterbuck
Boogaard-Ebbett-Earl 

While the exclusion of Sheppard and Sykora may not make sense to many (myself included), you can’t fault Richards for wanting to stick with what works.  Boogaard has earned Richards’ trust in a way that he never had been able to with Jacques Lemaire and, surprisingly, the team is 9-2-2 with Robbie Earl in the lineup. 

The one question mark that I have in all of this is Ebbett.  Since coming back from injury, his ice time has steadily decreased and his confidence looks just about shot.  It’s not to say that he’s been playing poorly—just that he hasn’t played with the same jump that Wild fans saw from him when he was initially claimed off of waivers by the team. 

While scratching him might not be the answer to his woes, wouldn’t one be inclined to think that it might warrant giving Sheppard or Sykora a look in his stead? 

Meanwhile, on defense, Clayton Stoner still has his tweaked groin and Richards has said that he’s going to keep him out until it is 100%, so the same lineup will be on the ice against a Blues team that is playing with a renewed physicality. 

Zidlicky-Zanon
Schultz-Johnsson
Scott-Hnidy 

I have to say, I’m anxiously awaiting the returns of Stoner and Brent Burns.  While Hnidy has been serviceable on the blue line, the last few games he has looked like a pylon on the ice.  His mobility seems to be less than it was early in the season and he, quite frankly, isn’t always getting the job done like he once was. 

Scott, meanwhile, gives the Wild the added size and physical presence but for everything he has in size, it is found equally lacking in his mobility.  He is solid defensively, but against quicker teams he is going to be victimized and St. Louis is definitely that. 

In nets, Richards has an interesting quandary on his hands for tonight’s game.  Josh Harding is the rested goaltender (Backstrom faced 31 shots in Wednesday night’s tilt), but Backstrom is the hot hand, having stopped 64 of 69 shots over his last two games and being a large reason why the Wild won both games. 

While I would expect Richards to go with Harding in this game, Harding is 3-1-0 in his career against St. Louis, with a .924 save percentage and a 1.88 goals-against average, it is conceivable that Richards could continue to ride the hot hand and stick Backstrom in net again. 

What to Watch For 

I’ll say this about these two teams.  They like physical play. 

St. Louis has ratcheted up their physical play since Davis Payne took over as their head coach (they are 2-2-1 in that span) and seen the results of it against Columbus, while Minnesota has their notorious spark plug, Cal Clutterbuck, as well as noted enforcers Derek Boogaard and John Scott in the lineup. 

Add in the fact that David Backes is dead set on fighting Olympians, and we may very well have an interesting tilt or two on our hands in this one. 

This looks to be a very intense game, with one team on the verge of sliding into a playoff spot and another looking to turn their season around.  I would expect a playoff-type atmosphere in St. Louis tonight and I would look for this game to get chippy in a hurry. 

Keeping that in mind, the Wild have scored at least four goals in their last four games.  This is a team that may very well finally be finding their offensive stride due, in large part, to the play of Latendresse, Brodziak and Havlat. 

Everyone and their mother knows that the Wild’s big line is the “AMA line.”  But if the Wild can continue to generate offense with their second line?  Watch out, because they could get dangerous in a hurry. 

Latendresse and Brodziak both have career-high point streaks going, while Havlat’s point streak was broken on Wednesday.  This line is going to need to continue to produce for Minnesota, and all indications are that they are more than capable. 

Key(s) to the Game 

Minnesota has to set the tone of the game early. 

They are on the tail end of back-to-back games and starting a three game road swing against three teams that they have had struggles against recently (some, Phoenix, more recently than others). 

The Blues are going to come out and bang early and often.  They’re going to get into the Wild’s face and try to force the team into dumb mistakes.  The Wild need to do the same. 

What is even more important for Minnesota, however, is protecting their goaltender. 

They need to limit the quality scoring chances that St. Louis gets—at least as much as they are able to.  They need to force the puck to the outside and not give up many prime chances, as St. Louis definitely has players that can bury the puck. 

St. Louis is a team that, if you give them an inch, they’ll take a mile and, coming off of a big, emotional win against the Canucks, the Wild can’t afford to give them that inch. 

The puck drops tonight at 7pm CST and is televised on Fox Sports North.

Morning Links Ahoy!

First of all, sorry for my absence for the blog for a few days.  Unfortunately life gets in the way of hockey and, while I try to avoid that as much as possible, there are occasions where it just plain happens.  I’ve got another hectic week this week, BUT, on the upside…The Wild have won three straight and are going for four tonight! 

I’m hoping to have a gameday preview up for everyone this afternoon, but it all depends on my day job.  In the meantime, here are some links to keep you tided over. 

• I took a stab at the Power Rankings this week at Hockey Primetime.  A lot of the credit for the polish goes to our editor extraordinaire, JP Hoornstra.  That said, I’m a tad sad that my Swingers reference got removed.
• A little more shameless self-promotion, then I swear I’m done.  Here’s an article I posted on the Bleacher Report about the Wild’s struggles at keeping the puck out of their own net this season.
• We here at Wild Nation love us some Bourne’s Blog – in a completely non-creepy, platonic way, of course.  Check out his take on Alex Burrows, Conan’s late night struggles and so on and so forth.
• And what would I be if I didn’t also pimp my girl Ms. C’s blog (ok, that sounded vaguely wrong…Sorry Ms. C!).  Check out her blog on her drop-in game on Tuesday.
• Moving away from the Wild/Aeros/Fun category for a moment, here’s an informative little piece by Adrian Dater on the Versus website.  I say informative because I honestly didn’t know that Jonathan Quick was a rookie.  What?  He’s not?  Well, I guess there’s always next year then.
• The incomparable Elliotte Friedman takes a look at two controversies in the NHL starting to boil over.  As a hockey fan, my take on the Burrows/Auger thing is that, if it’s true, it’s a disservice to the game.  As a Wild fan, though, my take on the whole thing is: “Good.  The little @#!$ had it coming to him.”
• The only thing that this look at American Olympic selectee David Backes is missing is the Bud Light “Real American Heros” guy singing in the background.
• Say all you want about high scoring games, but there isn’t much that makes a hockey fan just stop and say “Wow!” like a combined 96-save, 1-0 shootout victory.  Just check out the highlights, if you don’t believe me.
• WHA??!?  It appears that hockey blog luminary James Mirtle is moving on to bigger and better things.  Ok.  Maybe not bigger and better, but it looks like he’ll now be blogging and writing at the Globe and Mail.
• Mr. Plank has a good look at the Sharks’ secondary scoring at Fear the Fin, including a name for their top line.  HTML.  Slightly geeky, but cool nonetheless.
• My how I love Spector.  Especially with blog titles like “Shooting Down Dumb Trade Rumors – January 2010.”  Yes.  We like that very much.
• And finally, to end on a Wild note, Brian Stensaas’s article about a newly confident Guillaume Latendresse.  Seriously folks.  Go out and buy a Star Trib at least once this week.  75 cents to make sure that solid hockey writers like Stencils and Russo get to stick around in Minnesota.

That’s all from me for now.  Schedule permitting, I’m hoping to have my analysis of some top defensemen free agents up sometime this week.  Also, you’ve still got time to send in your questions for the mailbag, which will be answered early next week. 

Until then, enjoy the link feast!

An Early Look at the Off Season Pt. II – The Forwards

In my previous blog, I looked at the situation of the Wild for this coming off season and their impending free agents, both unrestricted and otherwise.

The Wild potentially have six forward spots to fill from within and through free agency.  There are a few players in the system that might be ready to step up but, on a whole, the Wild will likely be looking elsewhere for help.

So…

Here…We….Go.

Forwards
Ilya Kovalchuk – LW – 28 – Est. Salary: $11M
The bottom line is that Kovalchuk is the best of the best of this off season.  He is exactly what the Minnesota Wild need and exactly what they can’t afford.  At least not with their cap situation over the next couple seasons.  Kovalchuk would be a dream to see playing alongside Andrew Brunette and Mikko Koivu, to be sure, but with a potential $42+ million already spent on 15 players, it would be very, very difficult for the Wild to fit in a cap hit of $11M for one player.

That said Kovalchuk is the type of player that you make the cap room work for.  The Thrashers current captain has scored 40+ goals in five straight seasons, two of which he scored 50+.  He is a finisher, plain and simple, and a player that the Wild would love to get their hands on.

Despite the fact that Kovalchuk has only been to the playoffs once (for four games), he has provided leadership to an otherwise leaderless Thrashers team and he has also proven his worth in international tournaments as well, most recently last season’s World Championships in which he had five goals and 14 points in nine games.

Wild Nation Verdict: A dream come true.  Kovalchuk would be the finisher that the Wild so desperately need.  As it stands now, though, the Wild would need to do some serious finagling with their roster to both fit Kovalchuk AND field a full roster – especially not while he is expecting to make the league maximum.  If Minnesota can utilize the loopholes to get the cap hit down to seven or eight million, then it’s doable.  If not, you’ll see Kovalchuk playing elsewhere in the league.

Patrick Marleau – C – 31 – Est. Salary: $7-8M
Marleau has had an up and down career, but is certainly well on his way to a career season in what could be his last in San Jose.  He is just 11 goals away from tying his career high and he’s topped 25 goals in six of his last eight full seasons (not to mention topping it already this season) and he’s topped 30 in three of his last four.

San Jose will have some difficult decisions to make this off season and losing their former captain may very well be one of them.  If that is the case, he could be a lesser substitute for Kovalchuk.  Marleau is nowhere near as dynamic as the Russian sniper, but he is still a solid scorer and a much better two-way player.

The biggest question mark is whether or not Marleau’s inflated production this season is due to an improvement with him or his linemates.  Either way, however, he would be a welcome addition and one that the Wild could afford as well.

Wild Nation Verdict: It wouldn’t be the ideal situation, but it wouldn’t be a bad one either.  Marleau is a proven scorer and he can play a two-way game – something that Minnesotans appreciate.  While not as quick or dynamic as the aforementioned Kovalchuk, he still brings a lot to the table.  Not only that, but his salary would allow for the Wild to fill other holes in their roster as well.

Olli Jokinen – C – 32 – Est. Salary: $5M
Jokinen will be going into next season coming off of a down year.  After scoring 29 goals and 57 points last season, Jokinen has just eight goals through 42 games this season.  He’s been a dynamic scorer in the past and is capable of being one again, but the problem lies in his attitude.

Since coming to Calgary, Jokinen has been talked of as being a “locker room cancer” and his underperformance this season has played a large part in bringing this talk to the forefront.  Keeping that in mind, however, he has scored 20+ goals in his last six seasons and 30+ goals in four of these.  He has the talent, but the biggest question is if he has the desire and the drive.

Wild Nation Verdict: No thank you.  As talented as Jokinen is, the rumors of him being a cancer in the locker room are just not enticing.  Coming off of a low point into this off season, a team could find themselves with a bargain should he right the ship.  For a Wild team struggling to find their identity on and off the ice, however, I just don’t see that happening.

Saku Koivu – C – 36 – Est. Salary: $3-4M
While Koivu is not the player he was in his prime, there’s no doubt that he can still be an effective player.  The question is, in what capacity.  He is having a solid season thus far for Anaheim and could well find himself north of the 20 goal plateau again.  He was linked strongly to the Wild during the off season and will again likely be linked to the team until he retires because of his brother.

The question mark with Koivu remains how much tread is left on the tires?  He has struggled with injuries of the last few seasons and one has got to believe that all of those injuries will begin to take their toll.  In addition, he has stated that he doesn’t want to step on his brother’s toes by coming into Minnesota.  But would he consider taking on a role as a third line center with the team, as he is still a fantastic defensive player.

Wild Nation Verdict: Time will tell and maybe the Olympics will help him answer some of these questions; however Koivu remains an unlikely possibility for Minnesota, but a possibility nonetheless.  The elder Koivu would be a fantastic third line center, but for the price, they could likely do better.

Alexander Frolov – LW – 29 – Est. Salary: $5-7M
Frolov is an admittedly intriguing player for Minnesota to consider.  He is a dynamic scorer, though not quite as impressive as Kovalchuk, but he is enigmatic as well.  Despite having an off season, Frolov is the type of talent that most simply won’t be able to ignore.

He’s scored 20+ goals in all but his first season in the NHL and has topped 30 twice in that time, not to mention showing that he has the potential to top 70 points on a regular basis when healthy.  The problem with Frolov has always lied in his work ethic, but the Wild could be looking at a situation similar to what they had with Guillaume Latendresse – simply a player that needs a change in scenery.

Wild Nation Verdict: If neither Kovalchuk or Marleau are attainable or available, the Wild should consider Frolov.  In the right system, in the right situation, Frolov could be an extremely dangerous player.  With playmakers like Koivu, Brunette and Havlat, Frolov could be downright lethal.  It’s just a matter of whether or not he’s able to put a full season together.

Chris Higgins – C – 28 – Est. Salary: $2-3M
Another enigmatic player this off season is Chris Higgins.  Higgins burst onto the scene in Montreal, scoring 20+ goals in his first three full seasons with the team before fading away this season and last.  The talent is there, but he just hasn’t been able to recreate his success in his early seasons.

Despite his struggles, Higgins is a big bodied, talented player – something that Chuck Fletcher likes.  The Wild had success with a similar enigmatic Montreal player and therefore could take a chance on Higgins.  He has the potential to be a very low-risk, high-reward player as well.

Wild Nation Verdict: I’ll be honest.  If the cards fall in the right manner, the Wild could take a chance on Higgins.  He could fill in an important role on the Wild and, honestly, the price could be right for him as well.

There are obviously many more prospective forwards out there for the Wild to consider, but these are just a few of the ones I find most intriguing.  Chuck Fletcher has a unique opportunity to build this team the way he wants it to be built and there is no doubt that the forwards are where he is planning on starting.

As I’ve mentioned, this is obviously devoid of any possible trades he might make or players he might secure during these trades, but one thing is for sure…The Wild are firmly in his hands right now.

Up Next: Defensemen

An Early Look at the Off Season

So I got to thinking today.  The Wild are going to have a big off season in front of them.  They have a huge number of free agents coming up and this will be as good of a chance as any for Fletcher to start shaping the team in his image, so I decided to take a look forward at the off season because, quite frankly, taking a look at the last week or so is just too dang depressing.  So, without any further adieu, here’s how the team will look minus all of their free agents. 

Forwards
Martin Havlat ($5M)
Pierre-Marc Bouchard ($4.08M)
Mikko Koivu ($3.25M)
Chuck Kobasew ($2.33M)
Andrew Brunette ($2.33M)
Antti Miettinen ($2.33M)
Kyle Brodziak ($1.15M)
Cap Hit: $20.47M 

Defense
Brent Burns ($3.55M)
Nick Schultz ($3.5M)
Greg Zanon ($1.93M)
Cap Hit: $8.98M 

Goaltenders
Niklas Backstrom ($6M)
Cap Hit: $6M 

Total Cap Hit: $35.68M

Here are our impending free agents and what they made this season: 

Forwards (NHL)
Owen Nolan ($2.75M)
Eric Belanger ($1.75M)
Petr Sykora ($1.6M)
James Sheppard ($1.4M)*
Derek Boogaard ($875K)
Guillaume Latendresse ($803K)*
Cal Clutterbuck ($726K)*
Andrew Ebbett ($500K)* 

Forwards (AHL/Junior)
Morten Madsen ($850K)*
Petr Kalus ($822K)*
Danny Irmen ($708K)*
Andy Hilbert ($650K)
Nathan Smith ($550K)
Robbie Earl ($550K)
Matt Kassian ($525K)* 

Defense (NHL)
Kim Johnsson ($4.85M)
Marek Zidlicky ($3.35M)
Shane Hnidy ($750K)
Clayton Stoner ($665K)
John Scott ($550K)

Defense (AHL/Junior)
Jaime Sifers ($650K)
Ryan Lannon ($525K)*
Brandon Rogers ($513K)* 

Goaltenders (NHL)
Josh Harding ($1.1M)* 

Goaltenders (AHL/Junior)
Anton Khudobin ($587K)*
Barry Brust ($550K) 

* denotes Restricted Free Agent 

So the way I look at it, we’ll have approximately seven forward spots, six defensive spots and one goalie spot on our NHL roster open.  Of our impending unrestricted free agents at forward, honestly, unless Nolan gives us an amazing deal, I don’t resign a one of them.  While Nolan is good and has been extremely important to this team, he isn’t work $2.75M of cap space.  We can find someone who does the same for cheaper, pretty much.  That said, he might take a discount because the odds are that he’ll get more to play here than he would elsewhere. 

As far as Belanger is concerned, we can find someone who can do what he does for cheaper, especially if he continues to have as strong of a season as he is having.  Sykora was always intended as a one-year player for us, I think, and Boogaard…Well…You know my feelings on Boogaard. 

For our impending defensive unrestricted free agents, I would let Johnsson, Zidlicky, Hnidy and Scott walk.  While there isn’t a huge wealth of talent on the blueline in this off season’s free agent crop, we can replace them for likely cheaper than what we could keep them for and Stoner has proven that he deserves at least a one-year, one-way contract to prove himself for a full season in the NHL. 

As far as our restricted free agents, at forward, there’s no doubt that we have got to resign Latendresse, Clutterbuck and Ebbett.  All three have been invaluable to our team this season and deserve to stay with modest bumps in pay.  Sheppard is somewhat of an enigma.  You can see that the talent is there, but it’s just not firing in his brain.  The problem with keeping Sheppard around is that, in order to keep him, we have to give him at least a 15% bump in pay (qualifying offer).  That would leave his minimum contract at $1.6M…Is that too high a price to pay for a player that we’re not sure can develop?  If he comes out of his shell, he could be a bargain. 

Goaltending, I say let Harding walk.  We can find a better back up for cheaper, quite honestly…But I don’t think it’ll come to that as I think he’ll be moved before the end of the season. 

Of our minor leaguers, Kassian stays, in my opinion, and could find himself as our enforcer next season.  Madsen and Kalus will both be gone.  Irmen will probably stick around, as we’ve grown attached to him, and Earl might get a consistent shot at the big squad.  For defense, I don’t see a problem signing any of the three and for goaltenders, I believe that both get signed as well. 

So, here’s the scenario IF everything goes the way that I outlined it.  Salaries for RFAs are estimated to what I would offer them were I in Fletcher’s shoes. 

Forwards
Martin Havlat ($5M)
Pierre-Marc Bouchard ($4.08M)
Mikko Koivu ($3.25M)
Chuck Kobasew ($2.33M)
Andrew Brunette ($2.33M)
Antti Miettinen ($2.33M)
Cal Clutterbuck ($1.25M)
Guillaume Latendresse ($1.25M)
Kyle Brodziak ($1.15M)
Andrew Ebbett ($675K)
Cap Hit: $26.645M 

Defense
Brent Burns ($3.55M)
Nick Schultz ($3.5M)
Greg Zanon ($1.93M)
Clayton Stoner ($750K)
Cap Hit: $9.73 

Goaltenders
Niklas Backstrom ($6M)
Cap Hit: $6M 

Total Cap Hit: $42.375M
Estimated Salary Cap for Next Season: $56M 

I estimated the Salary Cap for next season to drop from $56.8M to $56M; however, it sounds like it could potentially drop more than that as well.  But, for argument’s sake, we’ll just go with $56M.

So that’s what we could be looking at for next season.  Our main needs look to be a finisher up front and a solid puck-moving defenseman, as well as a backup goalie.  With that in mind, my next post will be looking at the potential free agents that the Wild could target.

Until then…Keep sending in your mailbag questions for me!

Gameday Thread – Game 43 – Wild @ ‘Hawks

If anyone needed a break, it was the Minnesota Wild. 

After a hot December that saw them tally ten victories (a team record for the month), the team proceeded to lose three games in five days, looking like a very tired team for the majority of those games. 

But a two-day break in the Windy City and the presence of their fathers has the team rejuvenated and ready for action against the team that is arguably the best in the league—the Chicago Blackhawks. 

The Wild have an extremely daunting task in front of them, as their loss on Saturday to the New Jersey Devils kicked off a month of January in which nine of the team’s 14 games are against teams that are currently in playoff contention and three more are against teams currently ahead of them in the standings. 

In other words, January will be a good measuring stick for just how good this Wild team actually is. 

The good news for the Wild is that Brent Burns has made this trip with the team and, though he didn’t practice, he is getting closer and closer every day to returning. 

What’s more is that, by all accounts, the Wild held one of their hardest working practices of the season yesterday—in large part because of the presence of their fathers.  The speculation following practice was that the Wild would have heard it afterwards if they didn’t, and I suspect the same will go for tonight’s game. 

As for tonight’s game, the Wild will be facing a Blackhawks team that has won three straight and eight of their last ten.  In fact, there’s not much that has not been going right for the ‘Hawks this season. 

Lineup(s)
I haven’t heard of what the lines might or might not be for the Wild but; the injuries have been talked about.  While Burns travelled, he is still out with a concussion.  In addition, the Wild might be down one of their more important players and team leaders in Owen Nolan, who is questionable for tonight’s game.  Assuming that Nolan doesn’t go, here’s my attempt at the forward lines: 

Brunette-Koivu-Miettinen
Latendresse-Ebbett-Havlat
Clutterbuck-Belanger-Sykora
Boogaard-Brodziak-Sheppard 

I think that, in the case of these lines, you could easily see James Sheppard and Cal Clutterbuck switch spots.  First, because Clutterbuck and Kyle Brodziak have some absolutely sick chemistry with one another and second, because Sheppard is more of a playmaking-type player—something that could be important to getting sniper Petr Sykora rolling after returning from his concussion. 

In addition, don’t be surprised if Sykora gets some shifts on Martin Havlat’s opposite wing, with Belanger in between them.  The three were showing some fantastic chemistry before Sykora went down and it took the Wild a while to find some other players that fit with Havlat.  That said, Havlat is riding a four-game points streak and has five goals and 15 points in his last 15 games, most of which has come playing with Andrew Ebbett and Guillaume Latendresse. 

On the other hand, if Nolan is able to go tonight, I’d expect the casualty to be Derek Boogaard due, in large part, to his lack of mobility. 

As for defense, I doubt you’ll see much of a change there.  Clayton Stoner has recovered from his tweaked groin and continues to gain the confidence of the coaching staff.  While he’s cooled off from his “call up” hot streak, Stoner has continued to play solid, physical defense—something that has endeared him to the coaching staff and the fans. 

In addition, against the ‘Hawks quick forward group, I’d be surprised if the Wild rolled out John Scott who, as with Boogaard, isn’t the most mobile member of the team. 

Zanon-Zidlicky
Schultz-Johnsson
Stoner-Hnidy 

In nets, expect to see Josh Harding who will give Niklas Backstrom a much needed break following performances that have seen him give up three goals in six of his last seven games. 

Especially in his last few games, Backstrom simply looked tired and, because of this, I would expect Harding to be in the cage tonight regardless of the score—especially with an ever-important divisional match up coming tomorrow night. 

What to Watch For
Keep an eye on the Wild’s defense tonight.  Against both Los Angeles and New Jersey, they didn’t give their goaltenders much help and that will need to change in a big way against Chicago’s high octane offense. 

As was mentioned earlier, the Wild’s fathers are on this trip and I would expect the team (and the defense especially) to play a solid, blue collared, hockey game—lots of hitting, lots of good positioning and lots of hard work. 

For the Wild, keep an eye on the usual suspects—Havlat, Mikko Koivu and Andrew Brunette. 

These three players have been three of the Wild’s hottest players of late, with Koivu picking up the Wild on his shoulders and shouldering much of their offensive load. 

The dark horse for the Wild, however, is defenseman Marek Zidlicky. 

While ‘Z’ has driven Wild fans crazy with his play in his own zone, he has certainly come into his own this season and is playing much better defense than he did last season.  His pairing with Greg Zanon has turned into the Wild’s top defensive unit and he is showing that he is a true asset moving the puck. 

In his last five games, Zidlicky has six assists and is a plus-one.  He has had the hot passing hand and his ability to break the puck out will be crucial to the Wild’s transition game. 

Key(s) to the Game
Which leads me into the first key to the game. 

The Wild need to, need to, need to get their transition game going early.  They are simply not going to get a whole lot of quality chances against the Blackhawks team and are going to be pressured early and often. 

The Blackhawks give up just over 24 shots per game, while taking around 33.  For the Wild to win, they are going to need to take advantage of the ‘Hawks aggressiveness and catch them pinching.  If they can do that, they can get quality chances against this team.  If they can’t, though, they might not be seeing too many of their pucks hitting the net. 

Anyone who watched the Winter Classic can tell you that a solid transition game can change the tempo and the momentum of the game and that a solid transition game can win the game. 

My second key to the game is discipline. 

The Wild need to a) hope that Chicago remains disciplined and b) remain disciplined themselves. 

The reason I say this is twofold.  The Wild’s powerplay, of late, has largely been a momentum killer for the team.  Much of this likely has to do with the loss of Brent Burns on the blueline but, on a whole, the Wild’s powerplay has been ineffective. 

For the ‘Hawks, however, their powerplay has been buzzing of late, having converted at least one opportunity in each of its last seven games.  The team is 8-for-25 during that time—an impressive 32% clip.   

Finally, it is paramount in this game that the Wild get out to a good start.  This is a very potent offensive team that they are playing and stumbling out of the gates could very well lose the game for them.  

Minnesota has not started well for most of the season and it is very important that they get their legs under them early.  They need to slow down Chicago with physical play and they need to grind it out with them, plain and simple. 

The puck drops tonight at 7pm CST on Versus.

Reminder: I’ll be answering my first Wild Nation mailbag here next week.  If you have any questions or comments, be sure to send them to blake.benzel@hockeyprimetime.com.  So far, I’ve gotten just one response, but I’m confident that I have more than one reader, so be sure to send in your questions.

Cody Almond

One guy I’ve been impressed with since he first set foot on Aeros ice is Wild prospect Cody Almond.

He hasn’t gotten much attention because he’s shown up only once on the score sheet (before last night), but I’m telling you, the kid has the goods.

It took me a few years before I understood, or at least created my own understanding, of what “hockey sense” is, but watching Almond for a few games clarified it for me.

He just does the little things right. Every game, at least twice, I say to my colleagues on press row, “Did you see that? Did you see what Almond did there?” Just a handful of games into his pro career (because of a broken wrist early in the season), he’s showing a level of sophistication above and beyond your average rookie.

And last night in the Aeros 6-2 victory over Milwaukee, he finally put that together with the offensive skill he showed in junior and earned his first pro goal and an added assist. I had to send a “stop the presses” email to my editor, as the article was set to run today and Almond had tripled his points!

But if you’d been watching him closely like I have, you knew it was coming. So I talked to coach Kevin Constantine about him and his assessment was pretty glowing. He, too, knew it was coming.

The best part of writing this story was the look on Almond’s face when I told him that KC was very happy with his progress and promised he’d play in the NHL. Now, that’s a fun message to deliver.

Anyway, without further ado, click here to read the piece at Pro Hockey News.

Here are some cool pics of him from this week’s games in the mid-west, courtesy of Chris Jerina:

All Photos by Chris Jerina

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