Record	Pts	Div. Rank	G/G	GA/G	PP%	PK%
Minnesota Wild	(13-5-3)	29	1st NW	2.24 (28)	1.95 (1)	13.8% (25)	83.8% (12)
Edmonton Oilers	(11-8-2)	24	2nd NW	2.67 (17)	2.33 (10)	22.1% (5)	86.5% (7)

 

Minnesota Wild
Top 5 Scorers:	G	A	Pts
1. #9 Mikko Koivu	3	12	15
2. #15 Dany Heatley	6	7	13
3. #7 Matt Cullen	8	4	12
4. #10 Devin Setoguchi	6	5	11
5. #96 Pierre-Marc Bouchard	1	9	10
Top 3 Penalty Minutes:	PIM
1. #22 Cal Clutterbuck	36
2. #16 Brad Staubitz	31
3. #25 Nick Johnson	21
Goaltenders:	GAA	SV%
1. #32 Niklas Backstrom (7-4-2)	1.97	.935
2. #37 Josh Harding (6-1-1)	1.82	.942
Edmonton Oilers
Top 5 Scorers:	G	A	Pts
1. #94 Ryan Smyth	11	11	22
2. #93 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins	8	14	22
3. #14 Jordan Eberle	7	14	21
4. #4 Taylor Hall	6	10	16
5. #10 Shawn Horcoff	6	8	14
Top 3 Penalty Minutes:	PIM
1. #24 Theo Peckham	44
2. #94 Ryan Smyth	33
3. #25 Andy Sutton	33
Goaltenders:	GAA	SV%
1. #35 Nikolai Khabibulin (8-4-2)	1.86	.936
2. #40 Devan Dubnyk (3-4-0)	2.74	.907

"Happy" Black Friday.

By the time some of you read this, you may have just gotten home from the insanity that is Black Friday.  Personally, I avoid it every year.  I do not have the patience to deal with traffic, lack of parking, and crowds, especially the stampede kinds of crowds.  I also refuse to be the kind of person who camps out in a tent outside of a store, days in advance, in the hopes of snagging a supposedly good deal.  On Thanksgiving, I slept in (on a very comfortable and warm bed), ate great food, and enjoyed quality time with family.  I refuse to give that up for the insanity that is holiday shopping.  This year however, I think the retail world has gone off their rockers.  Some retailers decided that Black Friday should start late on Thanksgiving.  To those retailers, I say "shame on you."  I know people who either had to cut their holiday short or (even worse) skip it all together because they had to report to their jobs at 9pm on Thanksgiving and needed to sleep during the day.  Okay, enough angry ranting. 

Since I'm not out shipping, you may be wondering what I am doing.  This Black Friday, like many Black Fridays in recent history, I am spending part of it within the friendly confines of Xcel Energy Center.  Because I live four hours from the Twin Cities, my live game attendance is limited to when we happen to be in town.  The traditional New Year's Eve game tends to be another that we can attend.  I like games around the holidays, as there tends to be an almost additional element of joy to them.  Sometimes (please note I said sometimes) it doesn't matter the ultimate outcome.  This is because many of us have had wonderful gatherings with our families that if the Wild lose, it's not such a big deal. 

In the case of the Wild, it's almost as if Thanksgiving and Christmas have already been wrapped into one.  As Wild fans, we have so much to be thankful for.  For the most part, not one of us pictured our team sitting where they are right now in the standings.  With the way that the season started, we were merely hoping that they played a competitive game every night.  However, since the epic (and possibly season changing) games against Detroit, they've been essentially a new team.  Sure, they had a couple of hiccups, most notably the games in San Jose and Los Angeles, but they picked themselves back up.  Each game has become a new source of excitement and stress.  In fact, the game calendar is a bit like the traditional Advent calendar that many people have in their homes during the Christmas season.  Every day, you open the little door or window to reveal a hidden prize.  Each game is like that.  We don't know what will happen, but we hope for something good.  Of course in hockey, Christmas doesn't really come in June, and it's for one team only, even though all 30 teams send their letter to Santa each year.

Today's game is the same.  I truly do not know what to expect.  I know that I hope that the Wild players aren't overly sluggish from their Thanksgiving dinners.  I also want them to demonstrate to the hockey world why they are the number one team in the league, that it is not a fluke.  Edmonton will make that difficult.  They too are a team that wants the league to realize that they're new and improved.  In Edmonton's benefit, their struggles over the years has given them some fantastic, young talent through the Entry Draft.  Minnesota on the other hand has had to develop mid-round or later picks as well as acquire the right fit in trades and free agency as well as coaching staff.  Both teams will be attempting to prove that they're not the same versions of the Edmonton Oilers or Minnesota Wild from previous seasons.  I hope that alone generates an exciting game for fans.

It is now just after midnight on Black Friday.  I am once again turning in to sleep in a comfortable, warm bed.  No pounding the aisles of some store with the crowds.  I am going to enjoy my sleep much more than you will enjoy your shopping. 

Copyright © 2011 www.StateofHockeyNews.com - All Rights Reserved - Trademarks used herein are property of their respective owners. no comments

I am probably going to date myself, but do you remember the character Schneider (Pat Harrington) from late 70's early 80's CBS sitcom One Day at a Time?  Not old enough or you don't remember.  Let me refresh your memory or enlighten you in case you never had a chance to see the show.  Schneider was the superintendent of the apartment complex that the main character, single mother Ann Romano (Bonnie Franklin) who was trying to raise two teenage daughters.  The superintendent frequently would drop by where he'd do his best to make a pass at the mom, who would quickly dismiss him with some dry wit that would often leave him speechless or looking like a fool.  When he wasn't hitting on 'mom' he was obsessed over keeping his most prized item, his trusty tool belt in perfect shape.  The character as a whole was highly delusional, one where he felt both power in his position as superintendent but highly vulnerable as his sleazy attempts to court just about any woman ended in complete failure.  Its a classic recipe for comedy, but what in the heck does this have to do with the Minnesota Wild?  Like Schneider, I think the league and many of the experts have played the role of mom and see the Wild much the same way as a delusional wannabe which may have achieved a small level of success and want nothing more than to quickly dismiss them.   

  What does One Day at a Time's Schneider have in common with the Wild?

Its hard to blame them.  They have the 28th best offense in the NHL, and a 25th ranked power play, hardly numbers that stand out and demand the rest of the league take notice.  With our top scoring forward posting a very modest 3 goals and 13 points in 20 games we look a lot like Schneider.  Where even when we're at the top of our respective heap we are not exactly impressing many people with our style and our peers may question how legitimate our standing really is.  The Wild's job is to see if they can prove the non-believers wrong, and perhaps use their disbelief as fuel for their own quest as they hope it leads towards respectability.  The Wild are playing against the Predators; coming off a 6-2 defeat at the hands of the upstart Edmonton Oilers who have been red hot lately.  So will the Wild be able to keep the Predators on the skids or will they look like the pretender with delusions of grandeur? 

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	Record	Pts	Div. Rank	G/G	GA/G	PP%	PK%
Minnesota Wild	(12-5-3)	27	1st NW	2.20 (28)	1.95 (1)	13.5% (25)	83.8% (12)
Nashville Predators	(10-6-4)	24	2nd Central	2.75 (15)	2.65 (14)	16.4% (17)	84.3% (11)

 

Minnesota Wild
Top 5 Scorers:	G	A	Pts
1. #9 Mikko Koivu	3	10	13
2. #15 Dany Heatley	5	7	12
3. #7 Matt Cullen	8	3	11
4. #10 Devin Setoguchi	6	4	10
5. #96 Pierre-Marc Bouchard	1	9	10
Top 3 Penalty Minutes:	PIM
1. #22 Cal Clutterbuck	32
2. #16 Brad Staubitz	31
3. #25 Nick Johnson	19
Goaltenders:	GAA	SV%
1. #32 Niklas Backstrom (7-4-2)	1.97	.935
2. #37 Josh Harding (5-1-1)	1.79	.945
Nashville Predators
Top 5 Scorers:	G	A	Pts
1. #15 Craig Smith	7	8	15
2. #11 David Legwand	5	10	15
3. #6 Shea Weber	3	12	15
4. #20 Ryan Suter	4	10	14
5. #27 Patric Hornqvist	7	4	11
Top 3 Penalty Minutes:	PIM
1. #23 Brian McGrattan	34
2. #22 Jordin Tootoo	26
3. #24 Matt Halischuk	23
Goaltenders:	GAA	SV%
1. #35 Pekka Rinne (10-5-4)	2.35	.928
2. #39 Anders Lindback (0-1-0)	3.48	.890

I am apprehensive. 

In seasons past, there was absolutely nothing worse for the Minnesota Wild than a break in action lasting more than two nights.  Right now, the Wild haven't played a game now since Saturday night.  For most teams, a nice break gives players time to rest up and get their energy back.  For Minnesota, it has often been the complete opposite.  A team that one would expect to come out well-rested and ready to go, usually has come out sluggish, and looking worn out as if they had just played six games in eight nights on the road.  I also sometimes get nervous about the games just before the Thanksgiving holiday.  I don't know if players (regardless of nationality) already have their minds on turkey, stuffing and pumpkin pie, but there have been times where the result has not been good.  Hopefully, they will play like they normally do on the Black Friday game.

However, there is a new boss in town.  When we have thought that this team is down for the count, somehow bench boss, Mike Yeo is able to rally his troops and by some miracle get the win.  Even better, we've been able to get the all-important scoring from struggling captain, Mikko Koivu.  Yes, I wish Koivu had more than his measly three goals, but I am hopeful that Saturday's game against St. Louis awoke the sleeping giant inside him.  He can be much more than we've seen this season, and it would be nice to see if his success rubs off on teammates Dany Heatley and Devin Setoguchi.  Yes, it's been great to see both Niklas Backstrom and Josh Harding keep the team in the game with fantastic goaltending, but I have a feeling they would like to see more goals for their team in order to give them a little more wiggle room, especially if they're having an off night.

The even more impressive story about this year's Minnesota Wild has been the contributions of Minnesota's young players, especially those called up from Houston due to injuries.  Most of those call-ups have been for injured defensemen.  Those players clearly benefited spending a year with Yeo in Houston last season, especially a trip to the Calder Cup Finals.  While most will wonder how a team will react to a new head coach, especially when called up, it's clear that these young players know exactly what their head coach wants, and they tend to fit in seamlessly.  As far as defensemen go, Wild fans should breathe a small sigh of relief knowing that Marco Scandella is slated to make his return to action against Nashville.  I know I'm glad to hear that.  It also seems that Greg Zanon should be making his return this weekend.  Zanon is okay, but I know I'm more excited about Scandella's return.

Minnesota will need to come out and play their game (although hopefully with more offense) if they'd like to continue to hold on to the number one spot in the entire league.  I know that I never expected that feat at any point this season.  It's great to see, and it's proof that this group of players has truly become a team.  They have clawed and fought their way to that coveted spot, and they will need to continue to claw and fight to keep that spot.  I am a realist though, and I highly doubt that they'll be able to maintain that spot for long (although I wouldn't mind if they'd hold onto it for a while).  At this point, this could seriously be a team that could make the playoffs.  And after the playoff appearance drought we've endured in recent years, I'll take a playoff berth at the end of the regular season over holding the number one spot for a month and not making the playoffs at all.  And who knows, if we continue to play well, perhaps the National Hockey League will finally take notice.

Copyright © 2011 www.StateofHockeyNews.com - All Rights Reserved - Trademarks used herein are property of their respective owners. no comments

"Movin' on up, we finally got a piece of the pie, fish don't fry in the kitchen, beans don't burn on the grill, took a whole lot of tryin', just to get up that hill, now we're up in the big leagues, gettin' our turn at bat, as long as we live its you and me baby, there ain't nothin' wrong with that, well we're not movin' on up!" is the lyrics to the 1970's sitcom theme the Jefferson's.  Its an appropriate song (minus the obvious baseball references) for Minnesota's improbable rise to the top of the Western Conference standings, let alone to the best record in the NHL. 



But why isn't the league talking about it?  A quick run down of the top headlines on NHL.com this Sunday mid-afternoon and here is what you see. 

~ Canucks are refusing to lean on Cup hangover
~ Hall, RNH combine for 8 points in 9-2 win
~ B's blank Isles 6-0 for 8th straight win
~ Watch BizNasty get goal with mom at game
~ Rangers' streak ends with 4-0 loss to Habs
~ Lupul notches 4 points as Leafs roll 7-1
~ Bryz apologizes, gives stick to fan
~ Datsyuk's pair ends Kings' winning streak, 4-1

I think we could cue a clip of infamous comedian Rodney Dangerfield talking about getting no respect and not be far off the mark.  Last night, on NHL on the Fly, the league's highlight's du jour program didn't cover the Wild game until 11:16PM CST time, almost a full two hours after the game concluded even though they had been recycling the results of the Flyers / Jets game for over 4 hours.  Even once they covered the game, the story was all about the Blues' inability to hold a 2-1 lead than about Minnesota's persistence or the strong play of Mikko Koivu to will his team to overtime and ultimately a shootout victory.  Why are the Wild being disrespected like this? 

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A few weeks ago, Ken Hitchcock's job was as a consultant for the Columbus Blue Jackets and as the occasional call in guest to NHL-themed radio show.  Two weeks ago, the Blue Jackets, still mired as the league's worst team was about to start a little mid-season break and the rumor mill was heating up that Hitchcock could be returned as the Blue Jackets' bench boss as Scott Arniel's days were up.  Hitchcock tried to dissuade those rumors by saying that "ship has already sailed and I doubt they'll want it to come back."  A somewhat surprising turn of events in St. Louis, right after a Wild victory over the Blues where they dropped the axe on then Head Coach Davis Payne a day after the loss.  It shocked many because the Blues were just 6-7 which is not a great record but not as bad as some of the other teams in the league.  Hitchcock was installed as the new Blues Head Coach, and so far he's had the team singing a different tune (yes, I know, bad joke) as they've gone 4-0-1.  Meanwhile Scott Arniel is still the Head Coach of Columbus and they're still mired in complete mediocrity.  (shrugs) 

Minnesota is in the 2nd game of a 6-game homestand.  The Wild have done wonders with a defense that has seen lots of turnover as injuries continue to pile up.  They haven't been big point producers but they haven't been a liability (knock on wood) either.  The Blues will be hoping the aggressive style Hitchcock has endorsed will be enough to draw a better result against the Minnesota Wild.  Minnesota's defenseman must be prepared to endure a physical onslaught as the Blues normally try to thug things up against the Wild.  So will Minnesota's young patchwork defense stand up to the test or will they finally start to show their inexperience?

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	Record	Pts	Div. Rank	G/G	GA/G	PP%	PK%
Minnesota Wild	(11-5-3)	25	1st NW	2.21 (27)	1.95 (1)	12.5% (25)	83.3% (13)
St. Louis Blues	(10-7-1)	21	3rd Central	2.56 (21)	2.17 (3)	10.5% (30)	79.4% (23)

 

Minnesota Wild
Top 5 Scorers:	G	A	Pts
1. #15 Dany Heatley	5	7	12
2. #7 Matt Cullen	8	3	11
3. #9Mikko Koivu	1	10	11
4. #10 Devin Setoguchi	6	4	10
5. #96 Pierre-Marc Bouchard	1	9	10
Top 3 Penalty Minutes:	PIM
1. #16 Brad Staubitz	31
2. #22 Cal Clutterbuck	30
3. #25 Nick Johnson	19
Goaltenders:	GAA	SV%
1. #32 Niklas Backstrom (7-4-2)	1.97	.935
2. #37 Josh Harding (4-1-1)	1.78	.948
St. Louis Blues
Top 5 Scorers:	G	A	Pts
1. #22 Kevin Shattenkirk	2	10	12
2. #20 Alexander Steen	7	4	11
3. #74 T.J. Oshie	5	6	11
4. #42 David Backes	6	4	10
5. #44 Jason Arnott	4	5	9
Top 3 Penalty Minutes:	PIM
1. #25 Chris Stewart	42
2. #12 Scott Nichol	27
3. #5 Barret Jackman	17
Goaltenders:	GAA	SV%
1. #1 Brian Elliott (7-1-0)	1.43	.947
2. #41 Jaroslav Halak (3-6-1)	2.60	.889

I'll believe it when I see it. 

One of the complaints I've had this season is the random passing by Wild skaters to an area, when there is no teammate there to receive the pass.  Usually, what ends up happening, is dumping the puck when our skaters are fast enough (or lack the initiative) to get there first or they end up turning over the puck to the opposition.  And of course, when they do pass the puck to a teammate, that puck is usually passed into the skates of their teammate, which then also yields either a turnover or even worse, kills what could have been a great offensive rush.  Seems that at yesterday's practice, Wild head coach Mike Yeo had his players work on puck support.  Of course, I have yet to see if the lessons taught have really sunk in.

Tonight could easily be a let down for the top team in the Northwest Division, not to mention, the second best team in the Western Conference.  First, St. Louis will simply want to get back the win the Wild got two weeks ago.  On top of that, since the last match-up between Minnesota and St. Louis, a lot has changed.  First, the Wild could almost be blamed for the firing of former St. Louis coach, Davis Payne.  Since then, things have changed for the better for the Blues.  Once they hired Ken Hitchcock, the Blues have gone 4-0-1.  Sure, Minnesota has the winning record in this series, but I'm not about to rest my laurels on that, especially since we are such a low-scoring team.  There have been so many games, that Minnesota could have just as easily lost as they one, and that is not the story told in the standings.

Both teams while playing well, are essentially walking M.A.S.H. units.  Between the the two teams, there are five players out with concussions: Marco Scandella, Marek Zidlicky and Guillaume Latendresse for Minnesota and David Perron and Andy McDonald for St. Louis.  Then there are the assorted, groin, back, and ankle injuries.  On top of everything, St. Louis will be without Chris Stewart who is sitting out due to suspension.  Stewart was suspended three games for a hit from behind on Detroit's Niklas Kronwall.  He won't be eligible to return to action until November 23rd when the Blues travel to Pittsburgh.  Both teams have adversities to overcome, and it will be interesting how each team reacts to the losses to their respective rosters.

I would like to be pleasantly surprised by Minnesota's efforts tonight.  However, I am apprehensive at best.  Sometimes, you just have to wonder how long the good luck will hold out.


Copyright © 2011 www.StateofHockeyNews.com - All Rights Reserved - Trademarks used herein are property of their respective owners. no comments

Are you ever cursed from a bad memory?  For whatever reason, its a memory that sticks with you that may be a bit uncomfortable or annoying.  Whether that memory is from a trip to the dentist or an unfortunate physical gaffe of just being clutzy or something stupid you said at the worst possible moment those memories can sometimes stick for ages.  All it takes is something to trigger you mind back to that moment and you re-live that uncomfortable moment in your mind.  I have a moment that sticks in my mind everytime I think of the Colorado Avalanche.  It was back in 2001 when Colorado won the Stanley Cup.  I was lucky enough to have a hometown hero; Elk River's Dan Hinote (who currently serves as an assistant coach with the Columbus Blue Jackets) as one of the winners and he chose to spend his 'day with the Cup' by bringing it back to Elk River to use it to raise some money for the local hockey association and to thank the program, coaches, and community that got him to where he was.  A generous and noble gesture on his part, without question.  It was advertised the Elk River Star News, that Hinote was going to give the community and opportunity to see the Stanley Cup up close and personal where you could get your picture with Dan and the greatest trophy in all of sports.  So my fiance and I went to the arena.  We got to the arena extra early so we'd get a good seat and thus a good spot in line for this opportunity to see Dan Hinote and the Stanley Cup.  After Dan Hinote gave a speech to the community and was given an honory certificate by the Mayor of Elk River, it was time to stand in line and have this ultimate fan moment, right?  Wrong, because it was at this moment I realized I forgot one very crucial item.  A camera.  At this point I was feeling pretty stupid, since just about everyone else had a camera.  For whatever reason I didn't ask anyone else if they could take a picture and send it to me.  In fact, the thought never even crossed my mind.  I just felt stupid for not remembering such a crucial piece of equipment on this rare occasion.  Needless to say I didn't get a picture with the Cup, just a handshake and a sharing of congratulations over his accomplishment and thanking him for sharing it with the community. 

The Wild play the Avalanche this evening, it will be with an injury-riddled defense that has forced it to lean heavily on its farm system.  Young defenseman Jared Spurgeon, Justin Falk, Nate Prosser, Clayton Stoner, and now Kris Fredheim (who will make his NHL debut this evening) all have less than 100 NHL games of experience.  Minnesota currently sits atop the Northwest Division and in 2nd place in the Western Conference.  Will it remain in this position after tonight?     


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	Record	Pts	Div. Rank	G/G	GA/G	PP%	PK%
Minnesota Wild	(10-5-3)	23	1st NW	2.28 (25)	2.06 (2)	12.7% (26)	82.6% (17)
Colorado Avalanche	(8-9-1)	17	4th NW	2.72 (15)	3.33 (26)	26.2% (2)	76.2% (27)

 

Minnesota Wild
Top 5 Scorers:	G	A	Pts
1. #7 Matt Cullen	8	3	11
2. #15 Dany Heatley	5	6	11
3. #96 Pierre-Marc Bouchard	1	9	10
4. #9 Mikko Koivu	1	9	10
5. #10 Devin Setoguchi	5	4	9
Top 3 Penalty Minutes:	PIM
1. #16 Brad Staubitz	31
2. #22 Cal Clutterbuck	30
3. #25 Nick Johnson	19
Goaltenders:	GAA	SV%
1. #32 Niklas Backstrom (6-4-2)	2.13	.930
2. #37 Josh Harding (4-1-1)	1.78	.948
Colorado Avalanche
Top 5 Scorers:	G	A	Pts
1. #9 Matt Duchene	7	7	14
2. #23 Milan Hejduk	7	6	13
3. #27 Kyle Quincey	3	10	13
4. #26 Paul Stastny	5	7	12
5. #37 Ryan O'Reilly	2	10	12
Top 3 Penalty Minutes:	PIM
1. #55 Cody McLeod	35
2. #5 Shane O'Brien	33
3. #44 Ryan Wilson	18
Goaltenders:	GAA	SV%
1. #1 Semyon Varlamov (5-8-1)	3.30	.890
2. #35 Jean-Sebastien Giguere (3-1-0)	2.18	.920

I think my inspiration for including the YouTube clip above was NHL on the Fly's Kevin Weekes responding to a question by Brian Duff who asked, "Guess where the Minnesota Wild are in the West?"  After a brief cause Duff said in a rather surprised tone, "2nd in the West!"  Weekes immediately answered, "that's crazy!"  Not to pick on Kevin Weekes too much for his reaction, because I think most fans across the State of Hockey never would've guessed this would happen either.  Yes, the Wild have as many as 2-3 games more played than clubs like San Jose (15GP), Detroit (16GP), and Phoenix (16GP) but they still have to win, or force the games to go beyond regulation in order to surpass Minnesota's 23 points.  I agree, its hard to believe the Wild are at where they are in the standings, even when you've been watching every game like I have, to really believe its possible the team is where it is at this point in the 2011-12 season.  If you listen real closely to the experts, you'll hear that they believe Minnesota's current standing is more or less a fluke assisted by outstanding goaltending and strong defensive play.  These are the same experts, many of whom who picked the Wild to finish out of the playoff picture or near the bottom of the Western Conference standings like USAToday's Kevin Allen did.  So if anyone believes this is something the Wild can sustain does that make them certifiably crazy like the hockey fans simply following the bumper sticker asking people to 'Honk if you love hockey.'  Maybe, but it sure has made for an entertaining and fun season thus far. 

Tonight's opponent was that surprise team two seasons ago, when it took an unproven coach Joe Sacco and a plethora of young players like T.J. Galiardi, Chris Stewart, Brandon Yip and led by rookie phenom Matt Duchene where they used a fast start and some strong goaltending from Craig Anderson to propel them to the playoffs.  The young group didn't make it past the first round but most experts were predicting yet another finish at the bottom before the 2009-10 season got underway.  Some of those names are no longer with the Avalanche, but they are still a very young (but skilled) club that plays up-tempo hockey.  I think it can be argued, if this team had better goaltending they could very easily be either above, or very close to the Wild in the standings.  They have a dynamic club that has a fair amount of scoring depth.  Matt Duchene is a rising star and his skill has appeared to rejuvenate Milan Hejduk who has found some of that old form that made him such a deadly combination with former Avalanche super sniper Joe Sakic.  David Jones is a player many hockey fans outside of the Western Conference are probably unfamiliar with, but he has a great knack to light the lamp and is off to another strong start this season.  Rookie Gabriel Landeskog is living up to the hype as a strong and athletic two-way forward he had coming out of Kitchener of the Ontario Hockey League.  Minnesota will have its hands full trying to slow down the Avalanche offense, but when you have such aggressive opponent, making them pay in transition is crucial and Minnesota should have those opportunities this evening.  

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Hall of Fame weekend normally doesn't hold a lot of interest for me.  The inductees are often just formalities as their career accomplishments and statistics.  Occasionally, a player with limited accomplishments sometimes bypasses more obvious choices.  This year's class; which includes Joe Nieuwendyk, Doug Gilmour, Ed Belfour, and Mark Howe.  Its the decision to include Mark Howe that draws my ire a bit.  While Howe had a fairly solid NHL career, and a stellar career in the WHA does he deserve to be in the Hall of Fame more than South St. Paul's Phil Housley?  Housely went from playing in high school to being a star in the NHL.  Housley put up 1,232 points in 1,495 games.  While Housely's detractors will mention the fact he split time at forward and defense his statistics are impressive at either position.  The difference?  Housley didn't have a legendary hockey figure for a father, and let's not forget he's not Canadian either.  Whether the Hockey Hall of Fame wishes to admit it or not, but the group tends to see Canadian-born players with rose-tinted glasses, its how players like Dick Duff could get in before more worthy candidates.  Either way, I think Housely should've been in this time around. 

Minnesota is in the last game of its 5-game road trip.  It has had a mix of success and pathetic failure through its last 4 games.  It may look on paper as though Minnesota is entering the easiest game of this road trip as it faces league-basement dweller Columbus but history has shown the Blue Jackets always raise their game when the Wild come to town.  The Wild will have to be ready to play if it wants to earn a win against what will likely be a very desperate and eager Columbus team.  Will Minnesota play like its capable of playing or will it be another game where you're questioning if this team has what it takes? 

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	Record	Pts	Div. Rank	G/G	GA/G	PP%	PK%
Minnesota Wild	(9-5-3)	21	1st NW	2.18 (28)	2.06 (2)	12.1% (27)	83.3% (14)
Columbus Blue Jackets	(3-12-1)	7	5th Central	2.25 (24)	3.69 (30)	10.8% (28)	73.7% (29)

 

Minnesota Wild
Top 5 Scorers:	G	A	Pts
1. #15 Dany Heatley	5	6	11
2. #7 Matt Cullen	7	3	10
3. #9 Mikko Koivu	1	9	10
4. #96 Pierre-Marc Bouchard	1	8	9
5. #48 Guillaume Latendresse	4	4	8
Top 3 Penalty Minutes:	PIM
1. #16 Brad Staubitz	29
2. #22 Cal Clutterbuck	20
3. #25 Nick Johnson	19
Goaltenders:	GAA	SV%
1. #32 Niklas Backstrom (5-4-2)	2.14	.927
2. #37 Josh Harding (4-1-1)	1.78	.948
Columbus Blue Jackets
Top 5 Scorers:	G	A	Pts
1. #22 Vinny Prospal	5	9	14
2. #61 Rick Nash	4	8	12
3. #14 Grant Clitsome	3	5	8
4. #19 Ryan Johansen	5	2	7
5. #51 Fedor Tyutin	2	5	7
Top 3 Penalty Minutes:	PIM
1. #15 Derek Dorsett	40
2. #32 Cody Bass	27
3. #21 James Wisniewski	15
Goaltenders:	GAA	SV%
1. #1 Steve Mason (3-11-1)	3.67	.875
2. #30 Curtis Sanford (0-0-0)	0.00	1.000
3. #41 Allen York (0-1-0)	3.53	.878

It's not unusual during Wild games, that we flip through the other games on Center Ice.  Many times, it's just to better keep tabs on how the other teams are doing.  On weekends, we also like to catch the "Coach's Corner" and "Hockey Hotstove" segments on the CBC broadcasts on Center Ice.  But then there are some of our favorite games to flip to.  No, we're not looking for the best teams in the league.  Our guilty pleasure is catching broadcasts of the Columbus Blue Jackets.  And they're at their best when you can watch the Columbus broadcast with James Rimer and Bill Davidge.  Of course, they were even better when Danny Gare was on television as well.

Now some Columbus games are more entertaining than others.  This Saturday was no exception.  In fact, it was a true gem.  Now they did mention to win in regulation against Winnipeg.  But Saturday's entertainment had absolutely nothing to do with what was happening on the ice.  The excitement came during one of the intermissions.  During this particular segment, they showed a "State of the Blue Jackets" type meeting between season ticket holders and team management, most notably, General Manager Scott Howson.  If body language could kill a person, that lethal version was demonstrated by the Blue Jackets season ticket holders in attendance.  There were poker faces and crossed arms throughout the room.  Add that meeting, with Howson's blog entry on October 25, 2011, you pretty much have a recipe for fan frustration:

Just under three weeks ago, we started the 2011-12 season with a high level of optimism and positive energy following a summer of transformation and development for our hockey club. What has transpired since has felt like we – management, coaches, players and fans – have been punched in the gut.

No one saw this coming. We had a strong training camp with good results in the preseason. The only negatives coming out of September were the James Wisniewski suspension and injuries to Mark Dekanich and Jared Boll. As we prepared to take the ice on Opening Night vs. Nashville, we talked about the emotions we felt at this time of year. We talked about words like excitement, anticipation, hope and optimism.

The first three weeks have been extremely difficult for all of us. The responsibility for where we are lies with me, our management staff, coaches and players. It does not lie with Brendan Shanahan or the NHL or the officials. It is not about luck. The responsibility for getting us out of it lies also with us... all of us doing it together.

Our fans have been remarkably patient with our franchise. We understand the anger and frustration that has built up over the past decade makes this about more than just the present. All I can tell you is that we are working together to look for solutions every day.

I am an admirer of Bill Walsh and in his book “The Score Takes Care of Itself” he emphasizes that after any setback you have to tell yourself, “I am going to stand and fight again.” We can’t change the first eight games, but we will stand and fight starting tonight. We will focus on being the best we can be today and then being better tomorrow.

Ninety percent of our season remains and that is more than enough time to reach the goals we set for ourselves. We are bent, but not broken, and very determined to get back on track.

Thanks for your support of Blue Jackets hockey.   http://bluejackets.nhl.com/club/blog.htm?id=106

So while the Wild have had their issues this season (many of which you have read in both the game previews and post-game articles), we must realize that things could be much, much worse.  We're not the Columbus Blue Jackets, and thankfully we have never been.  While we have not had the success we would have liked over the years, at least we have seen more success than our expansion brethren.  And to make things even better, the Minnesota Wild are currently in possession of first place in the Northwest Division.  This is an honor that Minnesota has not held since 2008.  It is something to be proud of, but as we are all aware, at this time it is temporal at best.  And of course, it doesn't matter where you end up in your division.  Really the only thing that matters is whether or not you earn the most important piece of hardware at the end of the playoffs.  If you think that doesn't matter, just ask the Vancouver Canucks.


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