Another season has kicked off for the Wild, with quite a few new faces. A quick rundown of those who migrated to the State of Hockey to begin the 2011-2012 NHL season.
Dany Heatley - Traded to the Wild from San Jose for Martin Havlat as the search for Marian Gaborik's heir continues. Heatley has the potential to pot quite a few goals and he can be a power-play wizard. The question is whether he will get enough chances to make the difference that a top-notch goal scorer can.
Devin Setoguchi - Traded to Minnesota from San Jose on draft day as part of a big deal that sent Brent Burns to the Sharks. He's averaged 24 goals/year the last 3 seasons, and the hope is that his pairing with Koivu and Heatley will yield him plenty of opportunities to match or exceed those totals.
Brett Bulmer - Made the jump from Canadian Juniors straight to the opening day NHL roster. He was a 2nd round pick of the Wild's in 2010, and he's only 19. More of an energy guy than a goal scorer, and I'd expect him to spend some time in Houston this year, but it's a fun story that he made the team.
Nick Johnson - Spent last year with the Pittsburgh AHL affiliate before coming to the Wild. Nothing special, but could be a role-player.
Darrell Powe - Traded to Minnesota from Philadelphia for a 3rd round pick (2013). Checking-line winger, adjusted plus/minus and Corsi don't think much of him, but I haven't seen enough to really say anything.
Contrast those additions with the loss of Mittens, Brunette, Burns, Havlat and Madden. The biggest impact on the offensive side might end up being a healthy Bouchard and Latendresse. If those guys are healthy and productive, I think this team could be somewhere around a league average offense, which would be a nice change.
Defensively, they are about the same, although they lose the puck-moving of Brent Burns, they look to Marco Scandella and some younger guys to provide that. They should be alright but nothing spectacular in that respect.
So average offense, and a passable defense, does that spell playoffs? It's within the realm of possibility, but I think things need to break right (no injuries, some breakout seasons, etc.).
GAME 1: MINNESOTA 4, COLUMBUS 2 -- (1-0-0)
This was a good start to the season, as the Wild jumped on the Blue Jackets. They were up 3-0 in the second period, and cruised to a victory. The Wild's record in home openers is pretty ridiculous (10-0-1) and this one was another good start to the season. Heatley and Setoguchi got goals in their first game in front of the home crowd.
GAME 2: NEW YORK ISLANDERS 2, MINNESOTA 1 -- (1-1-0)
A game that started at noon, so I saw none of it. From what I read, it sounded like the Wild started very slowly and couldn't quite recover all the way. The Wild went 0 for 5 on power plays and outshot NY 19-5 over the final two periods. Cullen scored for the second straight game (he started hot last year as well).
GAME 3: OTTAWA 4, MINNESOTA 3 (SHOOTOUT) -- (1-1-1)
Kind of a conflicting game, the Wild led 2-0 after the first period, but really didn't have control of the flow of the game. Then they dialed it down a notch and got dominated in the second and most of the third period to blow their 2-0 and 3-1 leads. Minnesota couldn't find the game-winner at the end of the third or in overtime. The inevitable shootout result (3 Senators scored on Backstrom) left the Wild with a point that they didn't really earn, but that they should have bettered.
(standings and points leaders will start in next week's whangdoodle)
Next week's schedule:
THURSDAY (7:00) - Edmonton (home)
SATURDAY (7:00) - Detroit (home)
TUESDAY (6:30) - Pittsburgh (home) - on Versus
Did people like the idea of a live chat for the Wild game? Would you prefer game logs here? (I'm guessing there would be some pretty lean nights, but chances are I'll only ever be around to run live chats for about 40-50% of the games at best, so it might be more reliable)
Or neither is also an option I guess. We could hold off for a bit and see if it takes over the CoC too often or something...
I don't think Bulmer can go to Houston this year. He's still a junior player, so they have the 10-game rule where he can be sent back there without burning a year of his three-year contract (and 40 games before starting his free agent clock). But it's ultimately either Minnesota or Kelowna for him this season.
You are correct. He's got some points in his first couple games, making that decision a little tougher. Hoping the Wild's track record with 19-yr olds (see - Sheppard, James) is a thing of the past.
Where should Bulmer spend the season? I'm going to say Minnesota, but not on the fourth line. Let him play third line minutes when he's in there unless he starts to be totally overmatched.
I'm sure there will be some injury gaps to fill as the season progresses that he can fill.
Bulmer looks pretty good thus far, from what I have seen. He's got a bit of the Clutterbuck hustle in him.
I've heard good things but have only watched the 2nd, 3rd, OT & shootout of the Ottowa so I haven't seen much of him in action. With the team we currently have, I guess I'd like to see him get a bit more experience in the juniors and/or minors.
I'd rather see a game log here, but I'm probably in the same category as you - being around for perhaps half the games.
Any response to this news?
I don't think we'll really miss Nystrom. The real interest in that story is the strange way the salary cap/floor played into the Wild's hands and got them out of paying his contract. I'd say that's a big win for Minnesota.
What a goofy rule.
I watched tonight's finale in the Miltona bar with my father-in-law, where we both vowed to get back into hockey this season.
So, long story short, I'm hoping that I have something to add (or at least something to learn in this space in the coming months.)
Hey, Backstrom won a shootout! Or, since it was Edmonton, does it not count?
I think we takes what we can gets with shootouts.
I wasn't watching, so he didn't feel that extra pressure.