Spurgeon leads Wild to 4-3 win over Oilers

I don’t want to get your hopes up and say that this is an indication of how Jared Spurgeon’s season is going to be, but Tuesday’s game against Edmonton was certainly an encouraging sign.

Spurgeon put book ends on a game that saw the Wild let a three-goal lead slip through their fingers and potted the winning goal with just under two minutes to go in the game to give Minnesota their first exhibition win over an NHL team since the 2009-10 season.

Sure, it’s an exhibition game and it doesn’t mean much, but boy does it feel good.

I listened to the game on the radio, so I can’t speak to a ton of the game, but here’s what I noticed by listening:

• The Latendresse/Cullen/Bouchard line was on point tonight. Some good scoring chances and a combined four points and plus-five on the night. Easily the Wild’s best line all night long, including an absolutely beautiful snipe by Pierre-Marc Bouchard (which I can say because I saw it on NHL On the Fly). Butch just picked his corner and went for it and Khabibulin never had a chance.
• Harding was very good in his first game back. He played about 30 minutes, give or take, and stopped 14 of 15 shots. Even Mike Yeo thought so, calling Harding’s return and play “Unbelievable.” (Thanks to Russo for that quote from the big guy). The encouraging news? After a shaky start to the game, Hackett was just as good. He gave up two goals in his first six minutes in the game, but really settled down and helped keep the score even for the rest of the way.
• The Wild are obviously still getting used to Yeo’s system, as evidenced by the second period. The first and third periods, the shots were 7-7 and 9-7 respectively, but the second period the shots were 17-5 in favor of Edmonton. Credit also has to go to Yeo for getting the team settled down after a horrible second period and getting them refocused. Again, an encouraging sign.
• Matt Kassian, who I’m making no bones about my hopes that he makes the squad this season, came out with a brilliant display of pugilism. He absolutely hammered Darcy Hordichuk after Hordichuk took a run at Nate Prosser, then dropped Hordichuk with three big punches.
• Jordan Hendry took a step back, in my opinion, but not a huge one. He played good hockey for two periods but had an abysmal second. I feel like he’ll get a couple more chances, but he’s got to play a steady game to make the squad.

As far as my questions go, let’s take a look, shall we?

David McIntyre braces for the face-off against Anton Lander

Will Josh Harding be the same goalie that we’re used to? Or will his string of injuries adversely affect him? Yes and no, respectively. Harding was rock solid in this one.

Will the line of Guillaume Latendresse, Matt Cullen and Pierre-Marc Bouchard be as dominant as they were during the scrimmages this past weekend? I wouldn’t necessarily call them dominant, but they were very, very good all night long. Exactly what the team wants from its second line.

How will the team’s youngsters fare (Jarod Palmer, Brett Bulmer, David McIntyre, Matthew Hackett)? Palmer had a goal, Bulmer annoyed everyone on the other team and Hackett rebounded from a rocky start to have a pretty good game. McIntyre wasn’t really noticeable, at least on the radio, but for a youngster that’s not necessarily a bad thing either. All-in-all, I thought the Wild’s youngsters had a pretty decent game.

Will Jordan Hendry continue to make a positive impression during his tryout? Yes and no. He had two pretty good periods, like I mentioned, but really had a rough second period. For a defenseman with over 100 games of NHL experience, that’s not the type of game that’s going to win you a contract. He’ll get some more opportunities, but he needs to rebound from this to make the squad in my opinion.

Can Clayton Stoner and Jared Spurgeon grab a hold of that lightning in a bottle that saw them both have impressive seasons in their own rights last season? Yes. Both definitely did this. Stoner played his game. He was physical, he was in great position all night long and he blocked shots. Everything that would be asked of him. For Spurgeon, he was the team’s best d-man all night long and he looked dynamic on both sides of the puck.

That’s all for right now, but I may be back later today. It’s my daughter’s birthday, so we’re going to go do whatever it is that she wants to do. The Wild are back in action on Thursday against the Blues, so I’ll update you with their roster as soon as I have it.

Photos Courtesy of Getty Images

Pre-Season Gameday Thread: @ Edmonton

Well, there’s going to be a bit of a change to the gameday threads this season — namely, they’re going to be a lot shorter and a lot more for your discussion than anything else. I’ll be popping in now and again to chat with y’all but, for the most part, you can just discuss.

But, before I get to the gameday part, some pandering. Check out my first power rankings of the season at Hockey Primetime, right here.

Alright, now that that’s out of the way, on to the game.

There are actually a fair amount of questions for tonight’s game that I think bear discussion:

Will Josh Harding be the same goalie that we’re used to? Or will his string of injuries adversely affect him?

Will the line of Guillaume Latendresse, Matt Cullen and Pierre-Marc Bouchard be as dominant as they were during the scrimmages this past weekend?

How will the team’s youngsters fare (Jarod Palmer, Brett Bulmer, David McIntyre, Matthew Hackett)?

Will Jordan Hendry continue to make a positive impression during his tryout?

Can Clayton Stoner and Jared Spurgeon grab a hold of that lightning in a bottle that saw them both have impressive seasons in their own rights last season?

Feel free to discuss them here or on our Facebook page. I’ve got my fantasy draft tonight, so I’ll be back later tonight or tomorrow to take a look at these questions as well as have my first Fantasy column for you all. Enjoy tonight’s game!

Wild Down Oilers…Again

Well, so far the Wild have decided “No Koivu? No problem.”

Granted, offense is coming much, much harder and their power play looks a bit disconnected, but this team is determined.

Last night in St. Paul, the Wild came out and put on yet another terrific performance, this time downing the Edmonton Oilers 4-1 in what is becoming quite a heated rivalry between the two squads.

I’ll save you the bland rundown of what happened, but here are my thoughts on last night’s game:

• Jared Spurgeon finally got rewarded for all of his hard work and terrific play, scoring his first career goal. Let me tell you, this kid is going to be a good defenseman in the NHL for a long, long time. I love his positional game, I love his defensive game, but the fact that he has that vision to make that first breakout pass in a way that the Wild have struggled with ever since they traded Kim Johnsson. After all of their searching for a puck-moving defenseman, after all of their attempts at trades and signings, they found one that was within their own organization. That, above everything else, bodes well for the Wild. I know, I know. It’s hard to believe, but they actually filled a pressing need from within their organization. Guess what? For all of you people whining that Chuck Fletcher hasn’t done enough to improve the organization, start drinking the Kool Aid because it’s working. It’s not going to be a quick fix. It might even be four or five years before they Wild have the type of organizational depth that they aspire to, but they’re heading in the right direction.
• Pierre-Marc Bouchard was terrific last night. I know I sound like a broken record, but he looks more and more like his old self with each game. He’s gotten some sick chemistry with Martin Havlat that could prove interesting once Guillaume Latendresse returns to action. A line with three players with that sort of chemistry? That could be a scary good line for Minnesota.
• There was enough good last night that I feel the need to point out one of the things that really is bothering me about this team. I’ve mentioned it before, but this game could honestly have been (and should have been) about 6-1 or 7-1 with all of Minnesota’s missed chances. The reason why this team is having such a hard time scoring, with all of the offensive chances that the get from game-to-game is simply because they don’t have that offensive juggernaut of a player that can pick up a loose puck and bury it. Yes, Latendresse is hurt and he is arguably their best goal scorer. But they’re going to need more than just him if they want to compete against the top teams in the West. The difference between Detroit and Edmonton was clear last night. You can afford to not convert on these scoring chances against a team like Edmonton and still get two points. But miss scoring chances like we did against Detroit and you wind up with a loss.
• Martin Havlat was again very good for the Wild and, frankly, I’m starting to get a little sick of some of the criticism surrounding the dynamic winger. I was speaking with a friend of mine the other day and the guy made mention that he wished Havlat would do more to get engaged in the game. At first glance, sure. Every player can look a little listless from time to time. Everyone has their off games, so I made mention of that – that the game he was watching, Havlat just was having an off game. But that wasn’t what he was talking about. He went on to say how Havlat was a 100-point talent playing 70-point hockey. How Havlat doesn’t get involved in any of the physical stuff on the ice. He doesn’t go hard into corners after the puck, he doesn’t block shots etc.

First of all, is Havlat a 100-point talent playing 70-point hockey? Maybe. But you also have to consider the players around him. Havlat is a playmaker, plain and simple. He feeds off of the players on his line and, for a lot of this season, he’s been playing with Kyle Brodziak and Cal Clutterbuck – neither of whom are known for their offense. So yeah, maybe he’s having a mediocre season this year, but how much of that is due to who he’s been playing with?

Next, the fact that Havlat doesn’t play the physical brand of hockey that my friend (and many others from what I’ve gathered) would like. Okay. So you want our leading scorer taking chances on laying hits on people, taking himself out of opportunities where he can get the puck and putting himself in harm’s way in terms of injuries? That sure makes a lot of sense. The physical part isn’t part of Havlat’s game. That’s not to say that he shouldn’t be a little more physical from time to time. There are times when he looks soft, sure. But I’d rather have him look like that and be in position to get the puck when it comes loose than go barreling into players willy nilly.

Then there’s the final part, about how Havlat doesn’t do the “little things” like go hard into corners or block shots and so on. Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but having your $6 million player whom you pay to create offense getting in the way of a 100 mph slap shot on a regular basis seems kind of stupid, don’t you think? There’s a reason Havlat isn’t on the team’s penalty kill on a regular basis. Going hard into the corners, blocking shots, that stuff isn’t his role. His role is to be in a position to get the puck once we come out of those hard areas with it, or once it ricochets off of a defender’s shin pad. If Havlat is going hard into the corner after a puck, or blocking a shot, there is a significant problem with either his linemates or the defensemen because that is not what he’s supposed to be doing on the ice. That’s not to say that he shouldn’t be pursuing the puck, or trying to prevent goals, but he’s more useful to the Wild being in position to collect the puck after these things than being right in the center of things doing them.

• Finally, there’s Niklas Backstrom. I know I probably sound like a broken record, but if the Wild make the playoffs it’s on his shoulders and, right now, his shoulders are as wide as the rink is long. If Backstrom is not getting any sort of Vezina consideration for the season that he’s having right now, it’s an absolute crime. He’s been one of the best goalies in the league all season long. He has had his share of stinkers, but he has also lost seven games in which he’s given up two or less goals this season. Seven! He’s made less than 90 percent of his saves just nine times in 37 games and has had to stop 35-plus shots eight times. He’s on, folks, and when he’s on there aren’t many in the game that are better than him. He’s given up just three goals in his last three games and the Wild are going to need to ride him for the rest of this season.

That’s that for this one. I’ll be back on Thursday with the gameday preview (sorry I missed yesterday’s) and gamer and on Friday with the Wild Nation Trade Deadline primer.

Wild Win in Edmonton; Khudobin Shines Again

The Wild walked into Edmonton and, by hook or by crook, snuck out with a victory.

After two quick goals in the first period, the Wild seemed to put it on cruise control for the better part of the second and third periods before getting two more quick ones in the third to secure the win.

Honestly, neither of these two teams really deserved to win. It’s just that the Oilers deserved to win just a bit less than the Wild did – which was, in large part, due to the continued phenomenal play of Anton Khudobin.

The Dreidel was great once again for the Wild, despite his “unorthodox” style that has probably taken years off of Todd Richards’ life over the last couple games. He was definitely playing his game again tonight and, were it not for a laser shot by Magnus Paajarvi (one of the few power-play shots that actually hit the net), we’d be talking about his second straight shutout right now.

But, there’s more to talk about than just Khudobin’s game.

• Clayton Stoner was absolutely fantastic – possibly even playing his best game of the season. His game wasn’t quantifiable on any stat sheet, but it was absolutely spectacular nonetheless. He was physical, he played smart and he had quite the little battle going on with Taylor Hall throughout the night. Quite plainly, he was in Hall’s kitchen all night long and was exactly the player that the Wild thought he would be.
• Pierre-Marc Bouchard continued to be the Oiler Killer, with a pair of pretty plays that got him a goal and an assist. He didn’t play a whole lot (mostly because of the fact that the Wild was on the penalty kill for the better part of the game), but when he did he managed to control the play and showed some of the spark that had Wild fans so excited for his return.
• Theo Peckham continues to be one of the more annoying players that the Wild have to face. He “plays with an edge” which, in this case, is just code for he’s one cheap player. His battle started with Marty Havlat last night and he just flat out hounded him all night long – cross checking, hooking, holding – anything and everything he could to hinder Havlat and knock him off his game. And, on top of all of that, he continued trying to be a tough guy by trying to get Havlat to drop the mitts with him, yet avoiding fights with players more his size. Real tough guy, that one.
• Is there nothing that Brent Burns can’t do? I mean, first there’s the goal and the assist – that’s enough right there, but then to tussle with Zack Stortini for the Gordie Howe Hat Trick (albeit, a very weak one)? Burns is on top of his game this season and it only continued with this game. Apart from the stat sheet, he made some spectacular defensive plays, blocking passes and shots that could have easily turned into scoring chances.
• Just out of curiosity – would it be even remotely possible for the Wild to stay out of the box against the Oilers? The Wild once again paraded to the penalty box and, once again, got very, very lucky by the fact that the Oilers’ power play was extremely inept. Seriously? Can we just give them three power plays in a game? Just once?

The Wild are back in action tomorrow night in Calgary – Niklas Backstrom is expected to get the start.

Wild Set Franchise Record; Down Edmonton

Don’t fret. If you didn’t catch last night’s game, it wasn’t any franchise record you’d like to see. The team took ten minor penalties last night, tying a record set back in the early years of the organization.

To take five penalties in a single game is considered to be a fairly bad game, but to take ten? Absolutely ridiculous.

Yet that’s exactly what the Wild did last night, facing off against the Edmonton Oilers.

Time and time and time again was the team’s parade to the penalty box; a lot of which were for penalties of the lazy kind.

Thank God for a strong first period, otherwise this game could have been looking much different by the end of the night.

Kyle Brodziak had two early goals and Guillaume Latendresse capped off the scoring to give the Wild a 3-1 lead heading into the first intermission and it was a lead that they would be glad to have by the time it was all said and done.

What was heartening, though, was the play of Niklas Backstrom in nets. Of the 36 shots that he saw, Backstrom had to face 27 of them in the final two periods as the Wild was drastically out played and out hustled by the hungry Oilers.

Backs stood on his head, though, and provided not only exactly what the Wild needed, but exactly what he needed as well – a win in Edmonton.

Random Thoughts

• I’ll be honest, I was surprised that the Wild held on to win last night. It was a very poor performance by the team, yet still they came out on top. These are the types of games that the Wild are going to need to gut out a win during on the road, and that’s exactly what they did. If they want to continue to have success on the road, though, they need to have a better effort than last night.
• The ice time in last night’s game tells the story of it all. 11 minutes for Andrew Brunette? 13 for Guillaume Latendresse? Both are players who don’t play on the penalty kill. The Wild took lazy and stupid penalties and, despite the disparity (yes, there could have been one or two more called on Edmonton) the Wild deserved every penalty they got. The worst part was that most of the penalties were due to the fact that the Wild just simply weren’t moving their feet. They were playing lazy and getting caught using their sticks more often than they should have.
• How good has Latendresse been in these last few games? Since being re-united with Martin Havlat and playing on the team’s second line, Latendresse has been one of the Wild’s best players, getting a goal and an assist in both last night’s game and Tuesday’s tilt against Vancouver. This is good news, indeed, for a Wild team that desperately needs him to be the same player that he was last season. So far, he seems to be returning to form quite nicely.
• Theo Peckham is quickly working his way up my sport-hate list. I’m sure that’s his role on the team, but I continue to be unimpressed with the way he plays the game. It’s much too close to Matt Cooke for me. He plays with a reckless edge that doesn’t show any respect for the players he plays against and, oftentimes, this leads to dangerous hits and situations on the ice. I’ll say this – at some point this season, we’ll be talking about Peckham in the same vain as Matt Cooke.
• Man, did Taylor Hall look good or what last night? I don’t know if it was hi demotion to the third line that lit a fire under him or what, but he came out like gangbusters. He only had two shots on goal last night, but he fired a total of 11 Backstrom’s way. Six that missed the net and three that were blocked.
• I’m guessing there was a reason why Ryan Jones, Zack Stortini and Colin Fraser didn’t see a whole lot of ice time last night. Fraser? Minus-two in 3:40 of ice time. Jones? Minus-two in 1:03. Stortini? Minus-two in 58 seconds. Something tells me that there’s going to be a special place in practice for these there today.
• Burnsie continues his resurgence this season with another two-point night. He now has five points in six games and three of these are goals. Granted, last night’s was an empty-netter, but it proved one thing to me – I wouldn’t dare play pool against the guy.

Gameday Thread – Game 6 – Minnesota @ Edmonton

This is potentially a dangerous game for the Wild.

The Wild roll into Edmonton with much of a different attitude than they had the last time they played the Oilers.

Coming into the home opener, there was a sense of trepidation surrounding the team. The sense that, at any moment, this season could turn and the Wild could set the record for least points in an NHL season.

But now, following their 6-2 trouncing of the Canucks, this is a team that has a sense of optimism surrounding them. For 59 minutes, against the hated Canucks, they dominated play. They controlled the tempo of the game and they attacked, attacked, attacked. And even when they didn’t attack, they were able to keep the Canucks to the perimeter and not allow them to get to the net and create havoc.

For the Wild, this was the best and most complete game I’ve seen them play under the Richards regime.

So, this is a dangerous game.

Why?

Because of the letdown.

First of all, this is a Wild team that has become notorious for its inconsistency. They’ll come out one period and look like the best team in the world and the next they’ll look like they couldn’t find the net with a GPS tracker.

But the second reason why this game is such a big game for this team is the fact that, if they can keep their performance from Tuesday going, they’re going to have a load of momentum on their side heading back into Vancouver, and momentum can be a dangerous thing both ways. This could be both a momentum builder or a momentum killer.

Either way, it’s a pivotal game for the Wild.

The Skinny

Minnesota Wild	@	Edmonton Oilers
2-2-1 (5 pts)	W-L-T	2-2-0 (4 pts)
3.2	GF/G	3.0
2.4	GA/G	2.75
45.8%	PP%	15.8%
85.2%	PK%	73.7%
55.6%	FO%	40.2%

There’s no question that this is a pivotal match up. The Wild are going into a building where both Niklas Backstrom and Jose Theodore struggle and they need a big performance out of their goalie.

Their powerplay is clicking, their defense is working well – now they just need to start scoring more at even strength and they’ll be in business.

Either way, they’re going to have to deal with the Oilers’ young trio again, which they did quite well in their last meeting. If the Wild can limit their chances like they did against Vancouver, it’s going to be a good game for the man in nets.

If they can’t, it could be a long, long night in Edmonton.

Line-Up(s)
The biggest news coming out of this is that it sounds like Taylor Hall will be moved to the third line, playing with Gilbert Brule and Dustin Penner to try to relieve some of the pressure from him. Replacing him on the team’s first line will be fellow rookie Magnus Paajarvi.

For the Wild, I’d expect the same line up tonight as against Vancouver unless there’s someone that absolutely can’t play.

It has been confirmed that it will be Nicklas Backstrom in nets for the Wild, so it will be Jose Theodore tomorrow in Vancouver.

Key(s) to the Game
Limiting Edmonton’s chances in this one, especially early, is going to be key.

Backstrom struggles in Edmonton and they’re going to need to give him confidence in both himself and his defense. If they can limit the Oilers’ chances, especially second and third chances, it will go a long way towards giving Backs that confidence and keep him on his game.

But defense isn’t going to be the only key to this one.

In Minnesota, the Wild got on the board early and they’ll need to do it again. The more action that Khabibulin gets before the Wild get on the board, the more difficult it will be.

Khabibulin thrives on momentum and once he gets going, he’s even more difficult to beat. If the Wild can drive to the net, get some powerplays early and keep driving towards him, it will be a long game for him.

If not, it’s going to be a difficult one for the Wild.

The Bottom Line
The Wild put it together on Tuesday and, if they can keep it up they’re going to be one difficult team to beat.

It’s still early in the season, but stringing wins together is one of the things that the great teams do. Not just one or two, but strings of three and four. That’s what’s going to get this team into the playoffs and that’s what’s going to make this team successful.

This might not necessarily be a must-win for the Wild, but it’s as close as an early-season game gets.

Gameday Thread – Game 3 – Oilers @ Wild

The Wild are finally are ready for their first game stateside this season, and it’s shaping up to be a doozy against the Edmonton Oilers.

As I mentioned yesterday, the Wild have a tough test against the Edmonton Oilers tonight if they want to keep their home opener unbeaten streak alive. The Oilers are much improved this season already, with a healthy Nikolai Khabibulin and Ales Hemsky, as well as their young trio of players in Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle and Magnus Paajarvi.

Last season, the Wild was 3-2-1 against a miserable Oilers team, so I’d look for this one to be a very close, interesting match up between these two teams.

The Wild return home from Finland with a lone point to their credit, and already fans are frothing at the mouth at the thought of a third straight loss – even so far as some fans to say that Richards needs to be replaced if the Wild lose this game.

Mike Russo put out a great blog yesterday giving some perspective to the Wild’s “slow” start, saying basically that it’s two games and that Richards should still have some semblance of job security.

Now, I agree with that to an extent. I really don’t like the way that this team plays under Richards, but I won’t go so far as to say that he should be fired if the team loses tonight.

In their second game in Finland, the Wild made some significant strides – strides that they simply could not make last season. If they continue to make these strides this team could turn into a solid competitor.

Now, eight of the Wild’s next ten games are at home. Last season, the Wild was 25-12-4 at home. The Wild is, essentially, coming home from a two-game road trip in which they got one out of four points – something that was pretty par for the course last season on the road.

Richards’ job shouldn’t be in danger yet. If ten games from now, this squad hasn’t won more than three games? Then yes, Richards probably should start preparing to see a pink slip hanging from his office door.

Until then, though, Wild fans need to back away from the ledge just a tad.

The Skinny

Edmonton Oilers	@	Minnesota Wild
2-0-0 (4 Pts)	W-L-OT	0-1-1 (1 Pt)
3.5	GF/G	2.0
1.0	GA/G	2.5
25%	PP%	30%
100%	PK%	80%
43.5%	FO%	63.8%

The bottom line with this match up is this.

The Wild are facing a team that they, typically, play very well against. Niklas Backstrom against the Oilers in Minnesota has been, for the most part, a solid bet. But, this team is also facing off against the new-look Edmonton Oilers – a team that is very fast and very skilled. If Minnesota can’t get their legs going early, this could be a very painful game to watch for Wild fans.

Khabibulin is playing great for the Oilers in net and their young players are doing exactly what they hoped their young players would do – excel. This is a team that is very exciting to watch and one that plays a highly skilled game.

Meanwhile, Minnesota is coming off of a performance that was better than most gave it credit for. Yes, they lacked intensity for two-thirds of the game but what they lacked in intensity, they made up for in a very cerebral game.

Backstrom was well protected; the team picked their spots and got lots of good scoring chances – overall, a solid game despite the outcome. Now, that may be of little solace to most, but the game was definitely one that the team could build on and, were it not for a spectacular game from Cam Ward, the outcome could have been much different.

Line-Up(s)
Both Andrew Brunette and Marek Zidlicky will be in the lineup tonight for the Wild, so the only healthy scratch for the team will be Clayton Stoner, which is really no surprise.

Jose Theodore will be the back up goaltender tonight for his first game in a Wild sweater. Barring an injury, he probably won’t see the ice tonight, but he’ll probably get his first look on the Wild’s brief road trip this month, as they play on back-to-back nights in Edmonton, then Vancouver.

Key(s) to the Game
First and foremost, the biggest key to this game is going to be to protect Backstrom.

If the Wild can do exactly what they did against Carolina in the second of the two games in Finland and clear free pucks from the front of the net and keep the front of the net and the slot locked down, they’re going to be in this game the entire way.

Once defensive breakdowns start, however, it’s typically a slippery slope for this team and this could go downhill in a hurry.

That being said, the team is coming off of a very solid performance and is going to be pushing hard to build off of that.

My second key to this game is that the Wild need to get on the board early. Nikolai Khabibulin has given up just one goal this season thus far and the Wild need to beat him early if they want to have any shot at this game.

This means that they are going to have to do whatever they can to get the best matchups on the ice and, if that’s the case, they’re going to eventually need to look at moving Cal Clutterbuck off of their second line and replacing him with Guillaume Latendresse.

The team has, reportedly, not been happy with G-Lat’s fitness level early on this season, but he has been one of the team’s best players in the last two games despite limited ice time and has created some great scoring chances. If he can continue to create these chances on the fourth line, he may leave Richards no choice but to put him back up with Matt Cullen and Martin Havlat.

Finally, the Wild need to bring the fire that we saw in the first period in their last game.

This was a team that came out with fire in their bellies and, because of that, dominated the Carolina Hurricanes for the entire first period. Then, the buzzer rang and they came out in the second flat and uninspired.

Quite simply, they can’t get into that habit. They need to come out with fire and intensity and they need to sustain that for the entire game. They have a big and fast team – they have the ability to dominate teams physically and, if they can do that on a regular basis, this could be a scary team to play against.

The Bottom Line
This is a key game to the Wild’s season, if only because a victory could silence a lot of the naysayers in their own fan base.

If the Wild can protect Backstrom and come out with a hard, sustained effort, there’s no reason to think that a solid victory is out of their grasp in this one.

It will be interesting to see which Wild team comes out tonight, but I have to believe that the Wild are capable of putting together a second-straight solid performance, whether they win or not.

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

Wild Sign Brodziak

The Wild have avoided arbitration with recently acquired forward Kyle Brodziak by signing the youngster to a three-year deal worth $3.45M.

Brodziak, 25, was acquired by the Wild from the Edmonton Oilers at this year’s NHL Entry Draft.  In 175 games, all with the Oilers, Brodziak has posted 26 goals and 59 points, as well as a -6 rating.  He was acquired to give the team depth at the center position, as well as because of his ties to new coach Todd Richards, who Brodziak posted a 24 goal, 56 point season for in the AHL in ’06-’07.

The signing of Brodziak leaves Josh Harding as the only remaining Restricted Free Agent for the Wild to sign.  His arbitration hearing is scheduled for July 29.

The Road Trip and Wild Notes

Finally, after delays and sleeping in airports, back home.

The site has been vacant as of late and there is most certainly a reason for this.  The past few days, I have been in New Jersey being hosted by the venerable owner of Hockey Primetime, Sam Woo.  A friend and I flew out for the Devils/Wild game on Friday night and I must say, I was pleasantly surprised.

All of the buzz that I have heard about Devils fans was, quite frankly, that they were some of the worst fans in the NHL.  I had heard to no end that they were dispassionate about their team and that when they did get riled up enough to actually go to the games that they were rude, loud mouthed and quite inconsiderate to visiting fans.

What I found, however, was that this was a group of fans that were passionate to no end about their team.  The arena, while not filled, was not as empty as you are always led to believe.  The upper areas of the arena were full, for the most part, and the majority of the seats open in the lower bowl were open in the Fire and Ice Lounge sections.  Why?  I can think of about 250 reasons why, as the price for those seats is astronomical.

As far as the characterization of the fans?  Absolutely untrue.  Yes, all fans have their bad apples, but the New Jersey fans I ran into were extremely friendly and extremely considerate.  I was wearing my Wild gear, as I do to every game, and I got fans walking up to me asking questions about the team to no end.  Asking about Gaborik’s return, about the team in general, everything.  On top of that, any cheers that were focused at the Wild fans there were all done in good fun.  There was no animosity towards the fans in the least.

There were also people telling me about the town of Newark and about the area surrounding the arena.  I was hearing that the town and area around the arena was extremely dangerous.  Again,  I did not see that one bit.  The area around the arena was no worse than in downtown Minneapolis or downtown St. Paul.  Common sense should be exhibited but I, for one, never felt in danger in the least.

The bottom line is this.  New Jersey fans are getting a bad rap.  The team is a fantastic team with fans that are passionate about them.  I was wearing my colors proudly and cheering on my team proudly (though there wasn’t too terribly much to cheer for in the 4-0 loss) and was met with nothing but the acceptance of knowledgable, friendly hockey fans.  There is no doubt in my mind that I will return to Newark in the future to catch another hockey game and to spend some more time amongst some of the best fans in the NHL.

Wild Notes

• The injury to Mikko Koivu has definitely thrown a wrench in the Wild’s postseason plans.  With the loss of Koivu, the Wild’s season’s hopes lie squarely on the fragile “lower body” of Marian Gaborik.  With Koivu out, Gaborik will be looked towards to replace him offensively.  Whether or not this is something that he can do remains to be seen, but the hope for now is that he can return as soon as possible to help this team make a push for the playoffs.
• More news on the injury front for the Wild; Brent Burns is still sidelined with concussion-like symptoms.  It’s hard enough when one of your top players is out, but having multiple star players on the shelf is just flat out demoralizing and could be the kiss of death for this team.
• On the up side, these injuries are giving us good, long looks at players that could be in the line up next season.  Peter Olvecky has performed well in the absence of Gaborik and will need to continue to do so in the absence of Koivu.  He has gotten time on the power play (which, in Lemaire’s book, means he’s doing something right) and has been placed on the ice in increasingly more important situations.  John Scott is another that is slowly working his way up the depth chart.  While not as offensively skilled as the other Wild defensemen, Scott is a fantastic physical presence on the blueline and is playing fantastic hockey at the moment.
• The Wild have a crucial road trip coming up this week.  They have back-to-back games in New York (of the Rangers and Islanders variety) followed by back-to-back games in Calgary and Edmonton.  This road trip will likely be the determining factor as to whether or not this team makes the playoffs.  If they can come away with 5 or 6 points on this trip, they will be sitting pretty.  Less than 4 points on this trip and I would wager that the playoffs aren’t anything more than a pipedream.
• Finally, as you can see on the side bar, the Clutter-Watch 2009 is getting close.  Cal Clutterbuck, the Wild’s resident bowling ball, is just ten hits away from breaking the NHL hits record in his rookie season.  While his stats may not be as impressive as other rookies, there are few other rookies this season that have made the impact that Clutterbuck has.  So remember…You can’t spell Calder without Cal!

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