Wild Lose Koivu; Replacement Comes With No Easy Answers

Well, here we are. The one player that the Wild couldn’t afford to lose and they’ve gone ahead and lost him.

From what I understand, Minnesota’s captain was hit in the hand while blocking a shot in last night’s 5-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks and injured his finger – bad. Like might need surgery bad.

I won’t lie, this is a catastrophe for the Wild. Not only was Koivu their captain, their heart and soul leader in the locker room, but he’s also the number one center on a team without a solid number two.

Maybe, in the best case scenario, Matt Cullen or Pierre-Marc Bouchard could step up and fill the void, but would they be able to bring to the first line what Koivu could? They’re the best internal scenarios, and even then they’re not the greatest options.

I may be preaching to the choir here, but the Wild now need to make a trade before the deadline if Koivu is going to be out for an extended period of time.

But who do they go after? The West is so freaking tight right now, who could the Wild realistically make a trade with?

They could maybe target Koivu the other or Todd Marchant from Anaheim, but Anaheim is just one point ahead of the Wild in the standings. Do you think they’re going to help Minnesota out?

The same goes for Calgary, L.A. and Dallas. All teams that the Wild are chasing in the standings. Even San Jose and Nashville probably aren’t realistic possibilities. Neither are Phoenix, Vancouver or Detroit.

If the bottom falls out on Chicago or Columbus, they might consider a trade, same goes with St. Louis. The most likely options are Colorado or Edmonton, but there aren’t really any players on either team that would fit the bill that wouldn’t be part of the team’s rebuilding efforts.

The bottom line is, if the Wild want to make a move anywhere it’s going to be in the East.

But who?

Buffalo? Maybe Tim Connolly fits the bill, but with the Sabres making a playoff push there’s a good chance they’ll want Connolly to be at the center of that.

Florida? Stephen Weiss would be a good move for the Wild, but he hasn’t shown any indication that he wants out of Florida and he has a NMC.

Toronto? They could maybe get Mikhail Grabovski, but I doubt he’ll come cheap. Same with Clarke MacArthur.

The bottom line is that the Wild are going to need to pony up something good in order to get something good. They may even need to overpay. Likely a roster player, a prospect and/or a pick. But who do they move?

Andrew Brunette? Not likely. While he might have the most value, there’s no way that he’s going to be moved. He’s too valuable to the team.

John Madden? He’s got experience and he could be valuable to a team making a playoff push, meaning he’s likely going to be too valuable for the Wild to give up.

There’s been rumblings of Martin Havlat being moved, but that’s just not going to happen. NMC not withstanding, Havlat is the Wild’s biggest offensive threat. He won’t go anywhere.

No, the best players the Wild have to be moved that they’ll consider moving at this point are likely Cam Barker and Antti Miettinen. While both have value to the team at this point, both are essentially replaceable.

Basically, the pickings are slim and the players we would be able to give up are even slimmer, but the Wild need to make some sort of move in order to keep up with the Western Conference.

Wild Beat Ducks; Maybe Lose Koivu for Season

What a win that was. A costly win, but a win nonetheless.

I’m only going to focus on the game briefly, because I’m going to have another blog coming up about where the Wild is at without Mikko Koivu now, so let’s get to it.

The Wild played a terrific game last night against the Ducks, rebounding from a slow start that saw Corey Perry get a beautiful tip-in goal and turning it on to score five unanswered goals to turn away the Ducks 5-1.

Let’s see here. I don’t want to just run down the action, so here are some quick thoughts:

• As I mentioned, the Wild will be without Koivu, who injured his hand blocking a shot in the first. Russo said that it sounds like it’s a finger injury, one bad enough that could require surgery, so it’s basically wait-and-see time for the Wild’s captain. According to Fletcher, an update won’t come until Monday at the earliest, so we can expect Mikko to be out for Sunday’s day game against Detroit at the very least.
• How good was Kyle Brodziak last night? Brodziak was essentially filling in as the Wild’s number one center with Koivu out and played a good chunk of ice time and responded in a big way. All three of his points were on absolutely beautiful plays and Brodziak was on all night long. My personal favorite was his assist on Martin Havlat’s goal in the third period that was just a gorgeously executed touch pass back to Havlat who had fed the puck to Brodziak. I really can’t say enough good stuff about his game. He really answered the bell after being called upon to help fill the void left by Koivu’s absence.
• I’ve really been impressed with Cam Barker lately. The last couple weeks, he’s been really engaged in the game both physically and mentally. He’s been physical, he’s been smart and he’s making the right plays at the right time and not really taking stupid penalties. Last night was more of the same and he’s making Todd Richards’ decision very hard about who to sit with Zidlicky back in the line up (though I’m guessing Spurgeon will draw the short straw for the time being.)
• Backstrom looked back on his game again after giving up three goals on not too many shots against the Canucks. I don’t know what it is, but Backstrom seems to just have those games every once in a while and if that’s the price we have to pay to have him be as dazzling as he was last night, I’ll gladly take it.
• You may not have noticed, but Pierre-Marc Bouchard has been really good lately. He’s doing all of the things that the Wild have expected him to do. He’s creating plays, he’s controlling the puck and he’s even shooting more often. It’s going to be a long road back before he’s as good as he was before his concussion, but he’s at least on the right track.

That’s it for the gamer. Stay tuned on the options for the Wild as they (possibly) go forward without Koivu.

Wild Crush My Optimism; Drop a Pair in Helsinki

With the Helsinki games done, the Wild head back to St. Paul with a measly one point out of four available.

The Wild have looked very good, in spurts, but overall showed that they have a long, long way to go to join the ranks of the league’s elite.

I will say that today’s game had the Wild looking much, much better but still was not a consistent effort for a team that desperately needed one.

The Wild came out very, very flat in yesterday’s game and had many mental and defensive lapses. They showed many of the same weaknesses that they showed last season – leaving pucks free in front of the net, leaving the slot open and making poor outlet passes and difficulties exiting their own zone.

Today’s game was much better, in that fashion. The Wild didn’t necessarily have the mental lapses that they were prone to and their defensive zone coverage was much better. When a puck was free in front of the net, it was quickly shuffled to the perimeter – either down to the corner or to the sideboards. When a man was in the slot, he was quickly shadowed and tied up when the puck came to him. To that end, the Wild have got to be very happy with their performance today.

But a general lack of intensity was plainly clear after the first period and the Wild looked listless for long stretches during the game after coming out and dominating early. Whether it was the length of the trip wearing on them or whether it was a lack of motivation, I don’t know, but the Wild clearly have to find that intensity if they want to be successful.

Again, however, I hate to beat a dead horse but this all goes back to the coach.

The Wild came out like gangbusters early in today’s game. They had intensity and they were playing aggressive, angry hockey. They looked ready, plain and simple. But they couldn’t sustain that intensity. Just like the pre-season and last season – they had it, then they went into the locker room and left it in there.

Plain and simple, either these players aren’t buying into what Richards is preaching, or he’s not getting through to them – either way, something is lacking behind the bench.

It’s like what my fellow Hockey Primetime Colleague, Justin Bourne, said in his Puck Daddy Column today:

The first games on the schedule are more important, because positive momentum is paramount in a hockey dressing room. Once that snowball gets rolling in either direction, it’s tough to turn around.

It’s how a team like the Phoenix Coyotes can come from nowhere last year to become one of the more formidable opponents in the West.

They got a few early wins, started to believe in Coach Dave Tippett, and bought into the systems. If they start 0-3, the little behind-the-scenes pot-shots start (along with creeping doubt), and maybe the train never gets on the tracks. Instead, they had a fantastic start to 2009-10 — a 6-3 win in Los Angeles — and that makes a guy eager to get back to the rink and do it again. Winning is addictive.

Plain and simple, it happened last season and it’s happening again this season and you’ve got to wonder how much longer Fletcher will continue to let it happen before he makes a change.

But enough about that, for now. The Wild looked good on the ice today, lack of intensity aside. They showed good presence in the defensive zone, keeping players out of the slot and clearing pucks away from the front of the net and Backstrom rewarded them with a spectacular performance. Even in the post-game skills competition, Backstrom looked sharp, only getting beat on what was a spectacular move by Jeff Skinner.

Offensively, the Wild looked good in spurts and, were it not for a spectacular performance by Cam Ward, they could have easily skated away with four or five when it was all said and done.

So there are a lot of positives that can be taken from this game but, in the end, the Wild are 0-1-1 heading back to St. Paul and that is definitely not what they wanted.

Some random thoughts about tonight’s game:

• I love me some Cal Clutterbuck, but honestly I can’t understand Richards’ insistence that he play on the second line with Havlat and Cullen. For the second straight game, Clutterbuck looked out of place (in my opinion) on the second line while Latendresse looked like he was being wasted on the fourth line. Indeed, Latendresse created more chances than all but a handful of the Wild’s roster while only playing 12 minutes, while Clutterbuck was largely ineffective. Both Latendresse and Wellman played great in limited ice time and it is baffling to me how they were not used more in a game that desperately needed the Wild to generate some sort of offense.

• How great was Backstrom tonight? Other than his little brain fart on Jeff Skinner’s breakaway, Backstrom was the Wild’s best player all night long. He made 36 saves and he was the reason why the game even got to a shootout. Even in the shootout, he was solid and the lone goal that beat him was just a dandy.

• Two games down and two losses. I know a lot of people are saying that Richards has more job security than Denis Savard did a couple seasons ago, but at this point I can’t imagine that he’s got that much more – especially not with Michel Therien now on the team’s payroll. I know, I get it. Therien was brought in as a scout and I truly believe that he was. But what his presence does is give the Wild options. If they decide it’s time to make a move, they have a former NHL coach that they can just insert right in. That’s heartening for Wild fans and could be a little disheartening for Richards.

• It was nice to see Burns and Schultz have a solid game. These two should easily be the Wild’s top defensive pairing. Schultz is one of the most under-rated shutdown defensemen in the league, while Burns is looking like he’s figured out that he doesn’t have to do it all in order to be effective. Burns had a stellar game today, creating chance after chance and other than a couple penalties (one of which was a terrible call, in my opinion) Schultz did as well.

• On the topic of defensemen, Cam Barker was better today, but not great. He’s got to, got to, got to, got to move his feet better. Too often he gets caught flat footed, and that’s where he gets caught taking bad penalties. You can tell he’s got all the tools to be a really good defenseman in the NHL – he just needs to start using them.

Wild Nation’s No Longer Ridiculously Early Season Previews: The Northwest Division

It wasn’t long ago that the Northwest Division was one of the toughest divisions in the NHL.

The 2002-03 season saw four of its five teams qualify for the playoffs and, up until the 2008-09 season, the division qualified at least three of its teams for the playoffs every season.

The last two seasons, however, have seen an interesting disparity in the division begin to arise and it’s now become a matter of the haves versus the have-nots. Last season saw two teams pick in the top-10 and would have seen one more in the top-15 had Calgary not sold its soul to Phoenix for Olli Jokinen.

The season before saw both Minnesota and Edmonton starting out in the top-15 as well; needless to say, the division’s competitiveness is waning at the moment.

So how will they match up this season?

Calgary Flames – Flames General Manager Daryl Sutter is either going to be lauded as a genius or be burnt in effigy following this season.

Sutter has been largely ineffective at running the team in a salary cap world and has found himself forced up against the cap more often than not and has seen his team go from one that was one win away from winning the Stanley Cup to one that is struggling to keep their heads above water and is no longer a shoe-in to make the playoffs.

Sutter responded to missing the playoffs by bringing in two players that were largely ineffective in their previous stints in Calgary. First, there’s Olli Jokinen, who quickly feel out of favor after a solid stint with the team after being traded there but didn’t seem suited for the new system that Brent Sutter brought with him to the team. Then there’s Alex Tanguay who returns to the team after two seasons away. Tanguay was, again, effective in his first season with the Flames as a point-per-game player under Jim Playfair, but when Mike Keenan came in Tanguay just couldn’t find his stride.

IF these two players can find their form with the Flames and Jarome Iginla can prove that last season’s 69 point performance was an aberration, this could be an effective team. But these two players have been in decline over the past few seasons leaving many to question whether or not their best days are behind them.

On defense, the Flames are anchored by Jay Bouwmeester and Robyn Regher. Bouwmeester, last season, seemed to not be able to cope with the added pressure of being in a hockey-crazed town such as Calgary but will have a big opportunity to rebound with his first full season as Calgary’s top defenseman with Dion Phaneuf now in Toronto.

Regher, meanwhile, will provide the same thing that he always has – a hard-nosed, gritty defenseman. He’s not going to put up the gaudy numbers of Mike Green, but he’s the type of heart and soul guy that can really help a team out.

Past Bouwmeester and Regher, the Flames can turn to Mark Giordano and Ian White, both of whom had terrific seasons with the Flames last season and are looking to build on their solid seasons. Giordano put up career highs in nearly every statistical category and proved that he was capable of being the defenseman that the Flames thought he could be when they signed him in 2004. White, meanwhile, was probably the best cog that the Flames received in their trade for Phaneuf. White put up 12 points in 27 games en route to a career season split between the Leafs and the Flames. If he can continue that performance in 2010, there’s no doubt the Flames could have a formidable blueline.

In net, the Flames will again rest their hopes squarely on the shoulders of Miikka Kiprusoff.

Since coming over from San Jose, Kipper has been a mainstay in net for the Flames and seemed to return to form last season after two subpar years. While Kipper may have led the league in losses last season, it certainly wasn’t for a lack of trying as his goals against average and save percentage were the best they’d been since the ’06-’07 season.

What the Flames have to manage, though, is whether or not Kipper is able to handle the amount of games that he’ll be getting in net. Behind him will be Henrik Karlsson, who the team signed in the off season. Karlsson played marvelously for Farjestad last season and the hope is that he’ll provide a better back up option than Vesa Toskala.

The pieces are all ready for the Flames this season and the hope is that they will all fall into place. If they do, they could be contending for the Division crown once again. But, if they don’t as many fear that they won’t, they’ll be a bubble team for the playoffs once again.

Colorado Avalanche – There are a lot of questions surrounding the Colorado Avalanche this season.

First and foremost is whether or not last season’s run to the playoffs was a fluke or whether this team is the real deal.

The team returns every single one of their key players from their playoff run last year and, with $18 million in cap space, has a lot of wiggle room to improve their roster throughout the season.

The forward crew will again be quite young and inexperienced, though not as inexperienced as last season. The big question marks will be whether or not their key forwards can replicate their impressive seasons that they had last year.

Chris Stewart is freshly signed and looking to build on his breakout season, which is the first extremely impressive season of his pro career. The fact that 17 of his 28 goals came in the second half of the season, however, is very promising and he’s certainly going to get his share of ice time.

In addition to Stewart, both Paul Stastny and Matt Duchene should continue to improve, though Stastny will be looked upon to set up some of the team’s goal scorers more than he’ll be expected to score himself. Look for Duchene, however, to take his next step towards being one of the league’s top superstars heading into his sophomore season. He likely won’t be as explosive as Steve Stamkos was in his second year, but Duchene will certainly get the job done for the Avs.

Peter Mueller is likely not as productive as his 20 points in 15 games last season suggests, but it does show that he is as explosive as they come. If he can carry a hot streak through a good part of the season, he could have a productive season for the Avs and give them another scoring threat.

On defense, the team has two kinds of defensemen — either ones who are extremely mobile or ones who are barely able to take the ice without the use of a walker.

All kidding aside, the Avs have a couple defensemen that are certainly either starting or in the waning of their career in Scott Hannan and Adam Foote. The good news, though, is that these two are both character players and both able to impart good leadership and good knowledge on the younger players of the team.

Past them, they have John-Michael Liles, who is good for 30-plus points and also good for a headache for any fan of the team watching. Players like Kyle Quincey and Kyle Cumiskey are still growing and are looking like they could turn into top flight defensemen for the organization.

In net, it’s pretty safe to say that Craig Anderson has answered all questions about his ability to perform. Last season was really his coming out party, as he finally had success in a full time starter’s role. That success will likely continue on into this season as the team has had barely any turnover from last season.

If Anderson can stay healthy and their young players can continue their progression and don’t have any major steps backwards, it’s safe to say that the Avs could once again be in the thick of things in the playoff race.

Edmonton Oilers – Well, there’s good news on the horizon for Edmonton fans.

The Oilers can only get better, because they certainly can’t get much worse.

To say that last season was a disaster for Edmonton would be an understatement, to say the least. The franchise had their lowest point total since the 1992-93 season and their lowest point percentage total since the 1980-81 season.

Suffice it to say, it was a bad year.

I’m sorry to say that this season probably won’t be much better, but I can say that it will be better.

Young guns Taylor Hall, Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson and Jordan Eberle will be on the roster this season and will get plenty of time to show what they can do. Will any of the there be rookie sensations the like of Crosby or Ovechkin? Probably not. But they will be upgrades over what the Oilers had last season and that is something that fans should take heart in.

In addition to their big three, the Oilers will also get a full season from Ales Hemsky, which likely would have helped them tremendously last season. Hemsky, Sam Gagner and Gilbert Brule all missed time due to injuries last season which likely would have made a serious impact on the team. With Hemsky fully healthy and playing on Gagner’s wing, and likely across from Dustin Penner, the forward unit will be a much improved unit over last season’s.

On defense the team is still looking to move the albatross contract of Sheldon Souray, but the good news is that they have a serviceable defensive unit behind him.

Ryan Whitney and newcomer (and underrated free agency signing) Kurtis Foster will find themselves manning the point on the powerplay and players like Jim Vandermeer and Tom Gilbert add a bit of character to the blueline. Ladislav Smid and Jason Strudwick also provide a bit of oomph on the back end, but the unit will have to get better at limiting opponents scoring chances, on a whole, if the team is going to climb from the cellar.

One of the biggest questions will be in net.

Namely, will Nikolai Khabibulin be healthy enough (or free enough) to reclaim his duty as starting goaltender and give the team some stability in net.

If he is it gives the team somewhat of a luxury that they haven’t had in recent years – the ability to relax and know that their goaltender will be there and, at times, be able to bail them out.

If he’s not, however, the team is back to the uncertainty of a goalie tandem of Jeff Deslauriers and Devan Dubnyk – something that I don’t imagine any fan is looking forward to.

As I said previously, this season isn’t going to be great for the Oilers. They still have a way to go to get back to the level of an elite team. But it will be a great improvement over last season – and that’s a start.

Minnesota Wild – How much longer will the State of Hockey tolerate a sub-par team on the ice?

Well, if things don’t go well this season, owner Craig Leipold may very well find out.

Last season was an unbelievable disappointment for Wild fans and the fact that the team had a point percentage of above .500% for the eighth straight season was little consolation.

But, the good news is that the old regime’s players are beginning to cycle through and be replaced by players that are more conducive to the new style of play that the team is aspiring towards.

Added to the roster are Matt Cullen, Eric Nystrom and John Madden – three players that are both talented and gritty. Cullen will be expected to fill in the ever elusive second-line center role that the team has been searching for now for years and will likely be slotted in between Guillaume Latendresse and Martin Havlat.

Now the team’s lack of success isn’t to say that they don’t have talent up front, but there are far too many question marks to be able to concretely say that they are going to be a top team.

If Latendresse can continue to perform like he did last season (25 goals in 55 games for Minnesota) and if Havlat can find the form that caused Minnesota to sign him to a lucrative free agency contract, it’s certainly going to be a welcome addition.

On top of these two, the biggest question mark up front lies on the performance of Pierre-Marc Bouchard. When healthy, Bouchard can be one of the game’s elite playmakers, but he has struggled with injuries for the last season and a quarter and his production has not been up to par because of that. Last season, he missed the entire year with a concussion, but he has been scrimmaging at pro camps leading up to training camp and he will likely play at some point this season, though it is not known when.

If he can come back and play his game, he will certainly be a difference maker on the ice.

On defense, again, the team is faced with injury questions.

Brent Burns had a breakout season three seasons ago, but the last two years he has been mired with injury and inconsistency. If he can return to the player that he is capable of being, he will be a dangerous force on Minnesota’s blueline. If he doesn’t, though, he becomes little more than a defensive liability and a player that the team is reluctant to turn to when the going gets tough.

The Wild will also be hoping that defenseman Cam Barker can find his game again after a subpar performance last season. Barker is certainly better than his 21 point season indicated, but he will have to find that offensive mind frame and physical edge if he is to make an impact.

Also up in the air is the Wild’s sixth defensive spot.

Currently, it is thought that the spot will go to a younger defenseman – Clayton Stoner, Nate Prosser and Marco Scandella are all names that have been mentioned. The biggest concern, however, is that these three only have a handful of NHL games between them and, though they have performed well at times, none have the body of work that would lead one to think that they could handle a full season.

In net, the Wild are again looking at the familiar duo of Niklas Backstrom and Josh Harding, but that is not to say that there are not questions there.

Harding started slow last season, but gained his legs late and helped steady the boat when Backstrom was underperforming. Backstrom, on the other hand, struggled much of last season and a lot of that is being attributed to the fact that the team’s system is no longer as goalie friendly as it once was.

I, for one, don’t believe that Backstrom is nearly as bad as he looked last season and, with a little help I believe he could be right back where he was in seasons past. He’s a good goaltender that was, unfortunately, not given much help last season and I would look for him to rebound with a better season this year.

Overall, I don’t see the Wild contending for a playoff spot this season. While they have talent, not all of the players are in place for them to make a playoff push. That being said, they do have talent and if everything falls into place I could easily be proved wrong.

Vancouver Canucks – It may be the pre season, but the hype machine is already in full swing for the ‘Nucks.

It started with Roberto Luongo stepping down as the team’s captain and, as training camps begin, the Canucks are again one of the front runners to make a move deep into the playoffs. But will they be able to shake the monkey off their backs and make it to the Stanley Cup Finals?

At forward, the mantra will likely be maintain.

The team returns most all of their key forwards from last season, but the biggest question will be whether or not their top three can keep it going. Henrik Sedin is one year removed from a remarkable career season, and his brother Daniel would have been right there with him were it not for injury. Ryan Kesler put up career numbers last season. Now, the question that needs to be answered is was that their ceiling or are they capable of repeating.

With the Sedins, I’d be tempted to say that they are very capable of repeating. The two have long been one of the most potent duos in the league and that isn’t likely to change. Will it be another 100-plus point season for one, or both of them? Probably not. But I don’t think that another very strong performance by the two is out of the question.

Kesler, however, may have hit his peak at 75 points – a respectable number, to be sure. The team is deep in scoring, but will need Mikael Samuelsson to continue his scoring ways, as he scored more than 20 goals for just the second time in his career. On top of that, they will look at Mason Raymond to take on an increased role and continue his development.

The addition of Manny Malhotra will help the team’s checking line and their penalty kill, but won’t be much more than that. But that’s also why he was brought in. He’s a reliable checker and a solid penalty killer, which will only help the Canucks this season.

On defense, the team addressed their significant lack of grit the last couple years by bringing in Keith Ballard and Dan Hamhuis. Along with Bieksa, Salo, Edler and Ehrhoff, the ‘Nucks top-six defensemen all make over $3 million and, with the team $3 million over the cap heading into the season, will likely need to move one of them.

But, that being said, Hamhuis and Ballard are a huge upgrade over their previous defensive unit and the team certainly is looking better on the blueline than they have in previous seasons. With that being a huge concern for the Canucks, their fans should no longer be worried. This is a defensive unit, regardless of whether or not a move is made, that can handle the physical play of clubs bigger and stronger than them and will help protect Roberto Luongo much better.

Speaking of Luongo, he’s once again in net for the Cancucks in potentially the most uninteresting portion of the team to talk about.

Luongo’s in net, Schnieder’s behind him. There’s no question about the performance of either of the two and there’s no uncertainty about anything that is going on here. The only thing that could derail them in net is injuries, but that isn’t typically a concern of Bobby Lou.

Overall, this is the easiest to call. The Canucks will be back in the playoffs, just like they will win the division again. There aren’t any questions about any of these things.

Predictions

Alright. Here we go. This is how I think the Northwest will shape up:

1) Vancouver Canucks
2) Calgary Flames
3) Colorado Avalanche
4) Minnesota Wild
5) Edmonton Oilers

To be honest, the only for sure playoff team in this division is the Canucks. Both the Flames and Avs are bubble teams, though I could see both making the playoffs if everything aligns.

Up Next: The Pacific Division

The Minnesota Wild Season in Review Part 4 of 5: The Management

Well, we’re just about there. The NHL Draft.

On Friday, the front offices from all 30 NHL teams will be together in one place for two straight days, drafting and wheeling and dealing.

They’ll be looking for the best fits for their organizations and, suffice it to say, this is as good a time as any for us to talk about the coaching and front office of the Wild this season.

Granted, this season wasn’t the easiest for either the management or the fans. The management (namely Todd Richards and Chuck Fletcher) had to deal with players that weren’t necessarily the right fit for their system while the fans had to suffer through a team that wasn’t necessarily playing at the top of their game because of this.

That being said, I have some strong opinions about this, so let’s get started.

Head Coach
If you’ve read anything I’ve written over this past season, you know that I was very underwhelmed with the first NHL season of Todd Richards.

Richards came to the Wild with a winning pedigree and a reputation of being a “winner.” He hadn’t missed the playoffs in his career and he was sold to fans as a coach that would make the team competitive right away.

What ended up happening, though, is that Richards just couldn’t get through to the team.

While it was expected that Richards would push the team hard during training camp and that pushing would allow the team to pick up his new, up-tempo system quicker, it was very apparent that the team was not comfortable with this system, even heading into the Olympic break.

Now, whether this is an indictment of Richards’ ability to get through to the team or just a matter of the conditioning of Jacques Lemaire not wearing off as quickly as they had hoped is a matter that is up for debate. My personal opinion, however, is that it was the former.

Richards often looked lost on the bench, especially early on in the season. He didn’t look like a man who had control of his players early on—he looked like a man who was searching for answers and finding none.

Maybe it’s because I was used to the demeanor of Lemaire, who typically wore his emotions on his sleeve, behind the bench but Richards’ cool and calm demeanor oftentimes came off as aloofness and confusion rather than someone who knew what to expect from his team.

To Richards’ credit, the team suffered through a rash of injuries this season that was fairly spectacular (to the tune of 300+ man games lost to injury) and he had to work with what he had, but I never got the feeling that he was quite in control of the team the way that a coach should be.

That being said, as the season progressed, Richards seemed to control the bench much better and get much more comfortable both being vocal with his players on the bench as well as with the referees.

As the team progressed and got more comfortable with Richards and his system, Richards got more comfortable behind the bench and it showed.

The biggest moment that, in my opinion, defined the beginning of his season was the Petr Sykora debacle.

Sykora came to Minnesota on the hopes that he would provide both goal scoring and a player to mix with newly acquired Martin Havlat but, for whatever reason, Sykora never really got that chance.

Now, to be fair to Richards, I don’t know the behind the scenes goings on of the team. Sykora could have been dragging down the locker room with his attitude or he could have not been putting forth the effort—I just don’t know. But, from my view point, Sykora was never given an ample chance to succeed with the Wild and it ended up costing the team a player that could have been a valuable goal scorer.

In all, Richards season was a fair representation of the Wild’s—a maddeningly inconsistent one. He improved as the season went on, which gives me hope for his future with the team, but he certainly needed to be better this season for the Wild to both understand and execute his system to the fullest.

Grade: C+

General Manager
The opposite of Richards, if you’ve read anything I’ve written this season you’ll know my opinion of Fletcher.

In short, he did a marvelous job with not a whole lot of assets to work with.

It started at the 2009 Entry Draft, where he wheeled and dealed, picking up more picks and also center Kyle Brodziak, who would turn into one of the team’s most reliable checkers and players this season.

Fletcher has been derided by many Wild fans for some of his moves (trading down to pick Nick Leddy, giving up too much for Chuck Kobasew) and, to their credit, the moves are moves that could easily be classified as questionable. Overall, however, Fletcher did a fantastic job.

While I won’t look at all of his moves this season, let’s look at a few.

Alexander Fallstrom, Craig Weller and a 2nd Round Choice in the 2011 NHL Draft for Chuck Kobasew

This is one of the more questionable trades that Fletcher made this season and the biggest thing that stands out in this one was the inclusion of either the 2nd round pick or Fallstrom.

Many thought that the inclusion of one or the other would have been enough, but the Wild were not dealing from a position of strength and were desperate to find another NHL-level player.

It remains to be seen what Fallstrom will develop into, or who the draft pick will turn into, but for what the team needed at that point in time it was a calculated risk, though not one I necessarily agree with.

Benoit Pouliot for Guillaume Latendresse

This trade could easily be one of the best trades of the season for both squads.

Both Pouliot and Latendresse were supremely talented players that desperately needed a change of scenery. Both were being knocked for having the same downfalls and both went to their new teams for a fresh start.

While I won’t speak of what Pouliot brought to Montreal, I will say that Latendresse flourished under his fresh start to the tune of 25 goals in 55 games.

While Latendresse’s season with Minnesota was far from perfect, he turned into an instant fan favorite and became the hard-hitting power forward that Minnesota had always lacked.

In other words, this trade was a tremendous coup for Fletcher and the Wild.

Kim Johnsson and Nick Leddy for Cam Barker

This trade is one that many people were concerned about, especially given that Leddy was just selected in this past draft in the first round.

Many thought that the trade of Leddy stunk of hypocrisy because of the high value that Fletcher placed both on draft picks as well as developing from within their own system, but the reality of the situation is that you have to give in order to get.

While the Blackhawks were able to shed Barker’s salary by taking on the expiring contract of Johnsson, they weren’t willing to just give Barker up for just that.

The reality of this, however, is the same as with the Kobasew trade. Fletcher gave up a valuable asset, Leddy, who is at least two or three years away from being a potential contributor on the team for one who is ready now.

On top of that, Barker’s youth is something that will be extremely useful for the Wild. At 23, he still has his best years ahead of him. He’s big, he’s physical and he has offensive tools and, while he isn’t the best skater, that can be taught.

The bottom line is that Fletcher gave up a player who is still three years away from being an NHL player for one who can help the team immediately.

The bottom line for Fletcher here is that his first season as a General Manager was a bit of a mixed bag.

He made some good trades and signings and he made some that might not have panned out as he would have liked.

In the end, however, his season was one that should give Wild fans a lot of hope. Unlike his predecessor, he is not content to sit around and maintain the status quo. He is going to do whatever he has to do to try to improve the team and that in and of itself is a welcome change for those used to the mindset of Doug Risebrough.

Grade: A-

Up Next: A look to the future

The Infernal Ramblings of an Incoherant Mind

Look, I’ll be honest here.  There’s really not a whole heck of a lot going on in the Wild universe to talk about. 

I didn’t catch all of last night’s game, as I turned it off after the second due to a combination of my wife being sick, my daughter being on a sugar high (without any sugar, go figure) and my disgust at the way the Wild were playing. 

Imagine my surprise when I pulled up the boxscore on my Blackberry later on in the night only to see the Wild pulled out a win in overtime. 

“@#$!. @#$%. @#$!.” 

That was about what it sounded like when I found out I turned the game off about 20+ minutes of game time too early.

Buuuut, win we did.  And it was a big one too, at least in terms of confidence.  We won with Koivu out of the line up, we beat a Flyers team that is still pretty decent, even with the injuries that they are suffering through and Casey Wellman proved that he is a beast (or, in the immortal words of our almost-GM, a MONSTER). 

Wellman was our most impressive player on the ice for about 75% of the game that I saw, and that’s not a knock on him or on the team — he just played that good. 

He also proved that he’s a good teammate too, jumping Carcillo after his hit on Latendresse despite being a buck-seventy, soaking wet. 

But, since I’m not able to speak to much of when the Wild played well last night, I’ll instead focus on thoughts on tonight’s game. 

* Not that there’s ever a GOOD time to face the Red Wings, but tonight’s tilt could be a very poorly timed one for the Wild.  Why, you ask?  Because Detroit has lost just twice in regulation since the Olympic break and just once more in overtime.  That’s right, they’re 9-2-1 during that time and haven’t lost a game in regulation in over two weeks. 

And you know what else?  They’ve scored 41 goals in these 12 games while giving up just 30.  And since their last regulation loss?  23 goals in seven games, giving up just 13. 

* Josh Harding is probably going to get the nod in nets tonight for the Wild and I wouldn’t expect another disaster like the last time the Wild visited Motown.  Harding knows that he didn’t play his best game that night and he’s probably had this game circled on his calendar since.  He’ll be ready. 

* Playoff probability reports need to start taking reality into their equations as well. 

I understand that the Wild could theoretically still make the playoffs, but come on…Can’t we all just agree that 0.2% means there’s a snowball’s chance in Hades that they’ll make it and stop giving people unrealistic hope? 

* I was knocked out of one of my two fantasy leagues this season — the one run by Justin Bourne.  I feel like I should get a part of whatever he’s going to give out as a prize though if he wins it because, after all, it was my spectacular collapse in the waning weeks of the season that allowed him to sneak in at the 7 spot. 

* Is there any question that Latendresse for Pouliot is the best trade in the NHL, bar none?  Here are their stats prior to and since moving to their new teams: 

The Tenderness w/ MTL: 23 GP, 2 G, 1 A, -4, 11:21 TOI
The Tenderness w/ MIN: 49 GP, 25 G, 11 A, +4, 16:33 TOI 

{Author’s Note: Yeah, Latendresse’s work ethic was definitely the reason he wasn’t producing, not a lack of ice time or a stifling coach…} 

Pool Boy w/ MIN: 14 GP, 2 G, 2 A, E, 11:56 TOI
Pool Boy w/ MTL: 32 GP, 15 G, 8 A, +11, 16:53 TOI 

{Author’s Note: See Previous Note} 

Imagine that.  They both start getting more ice time and quality line mates and they both start producing.  Who woulda thunk it? 

* Can I gush some more about Wellman?  I’m absolutely amazed that this kid has just one point with us.  He was given more ice time last night and he responded by playing just a fantastic game. 

In fact, I would say that he played the type of game that’s been expected of a certain other young center all season long.  (Hint: It rhymes with Games Peppered.) 

* Speaking of good trades, Cam Barker is quickly falling into that category as well. 

He’s not flashy, he’s nothing spectacular, but he’s got a great shot, he’s played D well for us and he’s proving to be an effective partner for Mr. Burns. 

* And speaking of Mr. Burns (eeeeexxxxcellent), I think it’s safe to say that he’s starting to get back to form. 

His defensive mistakes have been drastically cut down on and he’s starting to play like Brent Burns can play.  It’s only a matter of time before he gets hot and starts burying the puck on a regular basis. 

Well…That’s it from me for now.  Enjoy the game tonight all!  The puck drops at 6:30 and it’s on FSN.

Random, Random, Random

Well, the Olympics are here. 

That means that the Wild news slows waaaaaaaaaaaaaay down.  At least for a few weeks. 

Day one of the Olympics brought exactly what was expected.  Team USA ground out a win over the Swiss, Team Canada overcame early jitters to dominate Norway and Russia overpowered Latvia. 

But, no Wild players played, so there’s really not much for me to talk about. 

Today, though, could be a different story.  At 2 p.m. Central time, the puck will drop on Finland’s first game of the tournament, which will see Mikko Koivu and Antti Miettinen take the ice for their home country, and Niklas Backstrom likely get some splinters backing up Miikka Kipprusoff. 

That leads me to the match up of the night.  The new versus the old.  Martin Havlat versus Marian waitheshurtagain?  Well.  Nevermind.  I guess the subtext to that matchup just won’t work here.  But in all seriousness, it should be one hell of a game, as it will be the first time that two of the teams considered medal contenders face off in this tournament. 

Now that I have that out of the way, it occurred to me that I never weighed in on my thoughts of the Wild’s big trade in the hours leading up to the trade freeze. 

Wow.  I mean, wow. 

Whether you like the trade or not, there’s one thing that you absolutely have got to admit.  Chuck Fletcher’s got balls.  I mean a biiiiiiig brass set. 

Personally, I love the trade. 

Fletcher managed to dump the Wild’s most unsightly contract (let’s be fair, Butch gets a free pass here until he’s had at least a full season under the new system) and picks up a solid top four NHL defenseman and he’s 23 years old?  What’s not to like? 

I’ve read the fan reactions to the trade a hundred times and it seems to be a 50-50 split.  Half love the trade, half hate it.  But, I’d be willing to assume that the half that hate it were also the half that were whining about Doug Risebrough never making any moves of significance at the trade deadline or never trying to improve the team or always know what’s best for the team. 

Again, personally, I love the trade, and here’s why. 

First, it saves the Wild some money.  It moves Johnsson’s contract before the Olympic Break, meaning that the Blackhawks, not the Wild, have to pay him for sitting on his duff doing nothing.  

Second, it moves an older player with an expiring contract for a younger player with a few years left without giving up anything.  Say what you will about Johnny and Barker, but they both have relatively the same skill set, though Barker seems more willing to throw his weight around. 

Third, it moves a prospect that, quite frankly, I haven’t been too impressed with.  I wasn’t the biggest fan of the team drafting Leddy, but I did my best to try to see it in a positive light.  The bottom line is, though, that Leddy’s development (as was the case with Kyle Okposo before him) had started to stall.  The U is known for a great many things, but their development of their players over the last few years has been much less than stellar.  The Wild recognized that and decided to take the devil they knew over the devil they didn’t, so to speak. 

Leddy could very well turn into a top flight defenseman down the road, but he’s still at least three to four years away from being an NHL player.  Barker, meanwhile, is just five years older than Leddy, has 201 NHL games under his belt and is ready now. 

Barker will help a powerplay that has been shaky, at best, this season and will give the Wild a third young defenseman that they can count on as part of their defensive core. 

Does Barker have many of the defensive shortcomings that Johnsson did? 

Absolutely. 

But the difference between the two is that Barker is young enough to have those bad habits broken by our defensive taskmaster, Mike Ramsey. 

Anywho…That’s all for now.  I swear I’m still working on the mailbag and will have it up sometime during this Olympic break.  If you want your questions answered, I’m still taking submissions so feel free to send them in!