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.

Minnesota Prepares for Home Opener; Will the Streak Continue?

It appears that the Wild are rolling out the red carpet for Opening Night here in Minnesota tomorrow night (as is becoming the custom for NHL teams trying to get fans excited for their season) and the Wild are hoping it will be a good one.

The team is 8-0-1 in Home Openers and has won its last eight straight.

Basically, what this has meant in the past is that no matter how horrible the season is or was shaping up to be, you could always count on the Wild to come and put on a great show in front of their hometown crowd for the first time of the season.

As I will do a lot this season, being a season of nostalgia for Wild fans as the team heads into its 10^th season in the NHL, here are some memorable Home Opener performances:

• ’00-01: Darby Hendrickson scores the first goal in the Xcel Energy Center as the Wild tie the Philadelphia Flyers for their first point in the NHL.
• ’01-02: Stacy Roest pots two goals and Manny Fernandez makes 35 of 36 saves as the Wild beat the Boston Bruins to start the streak.
• ’03-04: Sergei Zholtok has a three assist night to lead the Wild past the New York Rangers.
• ’05-06: Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Marc Chouinard and Todd White all have three-point nights, leading the Wild to a 6-3 win over the Calgary Flames.
• ’07-08: Niklas Backstrom made 27 saves to give the Wild their first shutout in a Home Opener.
• ’09-10: The Wild scored three third period goals to come from behind after giving up three second period goals and beat the Anaheim Ducks in overtime.

As you can see, the Wild have had a lot of success and a lot of great moments on opening night in Minnesota. Will they be able to keep it up though?

They’ll have a tough go of it, as they’re going to be going up against an Edmonton team that I don’t know that anyone has expected to be as good as they have been early.

Edmonton is led by their “kid line,” that sees veteran Shawn Horcoff center Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle – a line that has been fantastic so far in this young season, creating chances and flying around the ice. The Wild will have to contend both with them and also with Nikolai Khabibulin in net, who is having a spectacular start to this season.

Tomorrow I’ll have the gameday thread up, and I’ll take a deeper look at the game then, but it shouldn’t need to be said that this is an important one for the Wild.

They’re coming home with just one point (which is, quite frankly, one point more than I thought they deserved), but are coming off of a good, if uninspired, performance.

In their last game, they showed flashes that this team has not forgotten all that they had been taught by Jacques Lemaire. They played team defense.

The idea is simple. Protect Niklas Backstrom.

Backstrom is a tremendous positional goalie. He is very, VERY strong on the first and, for the most part, second attempts. He’s going to cut down the angles, he’s going to play the shot and he’s not going to give up much ground in net. That being said, his downfall is his athleticism (which is clear when you look at his struggles in shootouts).

In order for Backstrom to be successful and, ultimately, the team as well the Wild NEED to cut down on the amount of second chances they are allowing. Backstrom dominated for so long in the league because, one, his weakness was masked a bit by the Wild’s tremendous team defense but also because he was sort of an unknown. Now that teams have seen his game, they are learning what they need to do – get their first shot on net in an area that a) he can’t gobble up and b) he can’t direct the rebound.

When teams do that, he is forced to rely on his athleticism.

Unlike some hybrid goalies (Dominik Hasek or Martin Brodeur, for example), Backstrom is not at his best when he is flopping around the crease like a fish out of water.  Backs is at his best when he is stationary and able to play the angles, but when his defense in front of him is not clearing the puck away from the net, he’s forced to turn to his athleticism and try to make spectacular saves.

Is he capable of it? Absolutely. But he’s a better goaltender when he’s able to use his brains as opposed to his reflexes.

So what does this mean for the team?

Exactly what they did in game two in Finland – take care of their own zone first.

That doesn’t mean that they need to forsake the offensive game. That doesn’t mean that their d-men shouldn’t pinch and join the play. That doesn’t even mean that they should scrap Richards’ system and go back to a good, old fashioned, 1-2-2 neutral zone forecheck.

What it means is that, when a shot is taken, not all five players on the ice should be releasing to transition to offense. They need to stay back and make sure that the puck is moved out of a scoring area. Then can come all of the fun offensive firepower that Richards promises with his system.

When Richards installed his system, it was mentioned that the biggest change to it was the forecheck. Not once did  anyone mention that anything of the defensive zone responsibilities were changing drastically.

Sure, maybe two forwards release instead of one or none, but overall the defensive zone objective remains the same – get the puck away from the net, THEN get it out.

The Wild did that against Carolina and dominated for the first period when they played with a fire in their bellies. The second and third periods were still good, but that dominant team that came out with something to prove in the first period was no longer there. Instead, they were content to play their game and not force the issue on anything.

Good? Yes. They protected Backstrom well and got some fantastic scoring chances – proof that you CAN play solid defense and solid offense at the same time.

But if this team can harness that intensity that they had in the first period of the game for a full game, they could truly be a scary team to play.

I’ll be watching tomorrow night, as I will the rest of the games regardless of the team’s performance – I will watch and support this team regardless of their performance – but if this team wants to move from bubble team to a playoff contender they need to find that intensity for a full 60 minutes, each and every game.

Can they do it?

We’ll have to wait and see.

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

Gameday Thread – Game 39 – Wild @ Kings

It’s amazing how much difference a couple months time makes.

After a 3-9-0 start, the Wild were looking to be in the running for the Taylor Hall Sweepstakes. The turnaround that the team has made the season, however, has been nothing short of miraculous.

After their horrific start, the Wild are 16-7-3 and were 9-4-0 during the month of December and now are just four points back from the odds on favorite to win the Northwest Division this season, the Calgary Flames, and third place in the division.

More importantly, they are just four points back from a playoff spot.

The combination of new blood being injected into the system and the old blood learning the new system has proven to be a potent mix and the team is looking poised for a solid run at the Stanley Cup Playoffs after missing out last season.

They come into Los Angeles tonight with a record number of wins for the month of December and are looking to increase on that total against a very good and very surprising Los Angeles Kings team.

The Kings are third in the Pacific Division and fifth in the Western Conference despite slumping of late. A testament to how good the Pacific Division has gotten, the Kings dropped from first in the division to third after a stretch of two losses and eight games off in between.

Lineups
The Wild will be short one of their top checking players, as Chuck Kobasew is going to be on the shelf for about 4-to-6 weeks with a sprained MCL. While his injury will certainly hurt the team, it is possible that it may have opened up a spot for Petr Sykora to return to the lineup sooner than hoped.

Sykora is travelling with the team on their two-game road swing but has not yet gotten approval to play. If that changes, though, the Wild could see a big addition to their lineup.

Barring Sykora’s return, though, here are the forward lines for the Wild as predicted by Wild.com:

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

Now, while Belanger’s line is listed as the team’s second line here, it’s important to note that the Kings will likely see a large dose of Ebbett’s line early and often. They have been one of the hotter lines on the team since Latendresse and Ebbett have both gotten healthy and that could bode well for the Wild. In addition, the injury to Kobasew might just give Sheppard yet another chance to prove himself. He’s played much better of late, but he needs to step his game up another level if he wants to continue to find playing time as players begin returning from injury.

On defense, Clayton Stoner has been an absolute revelation for the Wild and looks to have stolen John Scott’s spot from him. In his five games since being called up, Stoner has a pair of assists, an even rating, a couple fights and is averaging just under 13 minutes per game. His solid skating ability and his willingness to throw his body around has quickly endeared him to Wild fans.

Wild.com lists the defensive pairings as follows:

Zanon-Zidlicky
Stoner-Johnsson
Hnidy-Schultz

The one thing that I like the most about these pairings is that it gives the Wild a 100% legitimate shutdown pairing in Hnidy and Schultz. But what’s more is that the defensively responsible Stoner and Zanon give both Zidlicky and Johnsson chances to step up into the play a little bit more often—something that benefitted the Wild in their 4-3 defeat of the Blues on Saturday.

There was a break between the games, so in net we’re most likely going to see Niklas Backstrom again. Backstrom has been absolutely fantastic in his last eight games, with six wins and a 1.87 goals-against average.

What to Watch For
The Wild have forward on their team that is white hot right now, and he’s not who you’d think.

Guillaume Latendresse has notched four goals in his last four games and six in 13 games with the Wild. In addition, in those 13 games, the Wild is 11-2-0 and is 4-0-0 when he scores a goal.

You don’t believe me? Do the math yourself.

G-Lat has quickly become an important cog in the Wild’s offense and is continuing to get more and more ice time with Minnesota.

The other key is going to be Martin Havlat. He was largely invisible on Saturday night against St. Louis, but has really snapped out of his early season slump with nine points in his last eight games with a plus-six rating.

He is going to be very important to the continued success of the Wild and the continued success of both Latendresse and Ebbett. He has shown great chemistry with both and this looks to be as bona fide a second line as the Wild has had all season long.

If these three start clicking in a game, watch out…It can be scary good.

Key(s) to the Game
Shoot the puck.

Both teams have great records when outshooting their opponents and tonight should be no different.

For the Wild, LA’s Jonathan Quick is a goalie that thrives on confidence. If they can get to him early, they can have success. But Quick gets better as the game goes on and as he gets more confidence, so hitting him early and often will be paramount for a Wild win.

For the Wild, stopping Anze Kopitar will also be a huge task. Kopitar is one of two Kings players in double digits for goals this season and is the only one who is active (Jarrett Stoll is out with a groin injury). If the Wild can stop Kopitar, they’re that much closer to stopping the Kings.

Kopitar, however, is not the only player that the Wild need to focus on. Ryan Smyth quickly asserted his presence in the Kings’ lineup this season before getting injured and has since returned to the lineup and will provide a huge boost for a Kings team playing without Stoll and Justin Williams.

The puck drops tonight at 9:30 CST and will be broadcast on Fox Sports North.