Great season, you guys. Looking forward to next year.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6pZRXU-52s
1976
(1 votes, average: 8.00 out of 10)
Loading... The Wild kick off their season against Los Angeles tomorrow night, and I thought maybe a look at the upcoming season was in order. Minnesota is coming off their first playoff appearance in a few seasons, albeit an appearance of the “blink and you missed it” variety as the #8 seed. What follows is a quick look at some of the factors that may determine whether they can improve on that result.
ROSTER
The Wild lost Matt Cullen (free agent), Devin Setoguchi (trade), and Cal Clutterbuck (trade) in the offseason, and picked up Matt Cooke and Nino Niederreitter. I liked the guys that are gone, but I don’t know that the loss of any of them is a huge impact. The Wild in the past have always struggled to find centermen, so the loss of Cullen could be a touch more concerning, but Coyle and Granlund (maybe Parise?) should be able to fill that role without too much of a dropoff.
The Wild moved their AHL affiliate to Iowa in the offseason, which, when combined with the fact that they are still a very young team, could have a big impact on the roster makeup. It will be a lot easier to pick up a skater from the minors on short notice, and I expect Mike Yeo to have a pretty fluid roster, especially at the start of the season.
I remember Nino Niederreiter from when he almost singlehandedly pulled off the upset of Russia in the 2010 Under-20 World Championships. It seems he hasn’t really established himself yet in the NHL (2 goals in 64 games), but he certainly seems eager to prove himself (rumor had it that he requested his trade from the Islanders after not getting a chance to make the team after the lockout last season).
Matt Cooke…. *sigh*. I hope he keeps his nose clean. That’s really my only hope for him. I really don’t want the Wild to have to deal with any multi-game suspensions.
Parise, Suter, Koivu, Heatley, Backstrom, Brodin are all back. The Wild are going to rely on young players again this season, but they probably have a solid enough core that, if they can avoid catastrophic injuries, they could be right in the playoff hunt again.
REALINGMENT
The NHL went from 6 divisions to 4 and moved the Red Wings and Blue Jackets to the Eastern Conference, while moving the Jets to the West. I feel like the new divisions really set up the Wild nicely. First of all, Minnesota has gone from 10th to 8th in alphabetical order in the conference, so if playoff spots end up being decided based on that, they’re in!
Perhaps more importantly, the Wild ended up in the division containing the fewest 2012-13 playoff teams.
The Central Division consists of: (* denotes 2012-13 playoff team)
Chicago*
Colorado
Dallas
Minnesota*
Nashville
St. Louis*
Winnipeg
Given that the NHL plays an unbalanced schedule (4 or 5 games against teams in your division, 3 against teams in your conference, 2 against teams not in your conference), that means that the Wild have only 40 of 82 games this season against teams that made the playoffs last year. That’s the lowest number (tied with Chicago and St. Louis) of any team in the NHL.
SCHEDULE
Minnesota opens with four of their first five at home (LA on Thursday, Anaheim on Saturday, then hosting the Jets and the Stars at the end of next week) before an east coast road trip (4 games).
Looking ahead, there are a couple of road trips that look like a bit of a trek (8 of 10 on the road at the end of March, 7 of 8 on the road in December), but they finish the season with 4 of 5 at home, which could be helpful if a playoff push is needed.
With that road trip at the end of March, I’d like to see the Wild in a comfortable playoff position going into the Olympic Break (Feb. 6-Feb. 27) in order to feel good about their chances of making another appearance in the post-season.
THIS WEEK
Los Angeles (7:00, Thursday)
Anaheim (7:00, Saturday)
@Nashville (7:00, Tuesday)
OTHER STUFF
NHL.com Wild Season Preview
Russo on Opening Night Lineups
Parise on the Season
another doubleheader sports night in Minnesota
NBA: Portland @ Minnesota 7pm FSN+
If you missed it Saturday, here is Ricky Rubio doing Ricky Rubio things. Saturday was probably the best game the Wolves have played all year. They got out to a huge 1st quarter lead, extended it to over 30 points at times, and cruised to a win.
NHL: Minnesota @ Phoenix 8pm FSN
The Wild made a trade today
The Wild press release describes Rupp this way
Rupp, 33, has totaled 94 points (53-41=94) and 765 penalty minutes (PIM) in 565 NHL games during parts of 10 seasons with New Jersey, Phoenix, Columbus, Pittsburgh and the New York Rangers.
ok then.
lets hope for 2 victories from out favorite winter sports squads!
LA Lakers @ Minnesota 8:30pm
TV: ESPN, My29
a modest win streak has place the Lakers (10) ahead of the slumping Wolves (12) in the West. The Wolves come in with a healthier roster than this time last week, but also have a 5 game losing streak. Speaking of losing streaks, the Lakers have beat the Wolves 19 straight times (and 23 out 24). the roster from the last Wolves win is amazing.
Minnesota Wild @ Anaheim Ducks 9:00pm
TV: FSN
Saku Koivu -v- Mikko Koivu . Also, Teemu Selanne is still playing.
Columbus (2-3-1) at Minnesota (2-2-1) 7:00 pm
TV: FSN
Minnesota lost in overtime to a strong St. Louis team. It was a winnable game, with the Wild going up 3-1 in the second and to see the defense collapse. Ryan Suter is now paired with rookie Jonas Brodin. As noted in the last game log, the lines 2,3,4 need to chip in with some scoring.
Nebrasketball (11-10, 2-6) at #24 Minnesota (15-5, 3-4) 8:00 pm
TV: BTN
well, its been a struggle lately for Tubby's squad. Turnovers have killed this team all year, and it finally bit them when they played some of the stronger B1G teams.
last night, there was no local tv coverage for our beloved Pups. Instead, FSNorth airs college hockey. No, not the Gophers, or any of the other WCHA Minnesota teams. (an aside: notice FSN never shows St. Cloud, Duluth, Bemidji, or Mankato hockey? Its like the Gophers are the only college hockey team in the state #bitterOutstater) They show Michigan-Miami (OH). Really? Heck, they could of showed North Dakota hockey and it would of made more sense.
Well tonight, once again there is no local tv for the most exciting team in market. FSNorth has got Wild hockey on the air, and I wont be bothered to watch that because they play at Dallas and the Wild hasnt won at Dallas since Manny Fernandez was the netminder (Im guestimating there, its been a long time) so once again I'll be monitoring the game on WCCO. The move from KFAN to WCCO seemed odd at the time. Why would the mighty Good Neighbor join up with a pack of misfits like the Wolves? Its not like they are going to bring in the ratings. Anyways, Im glad they are on there because out here in the southern hinterlands 'CCO comes in fine at night where KFAN (AM)dropped signal strength at sundown.
The Houston Rockets are back in town for the 7pm game. Kevin McHale was booed hard last time they were here. Did he deserve it? Probably not, but I just think it was the loyal fans of the team letting out years and years of frustration on inept draft picks and stupid coaching hirings and firings. Maybe the boos will be gone tonight.
Pek! had a monster night last night with 27 and 11 and should replace Darko in the starting lineup. Rubio is freaking awesome. @WolvesRadio tweeted some great numbers about Rubio
@rickyrubio9 becomes the 4th player in #twolves history to have a Pt/Ast Db-Db and have 6+ steals. #nba
In the last 5 2nd halves, @rickyrubio9 has 28 assists and 2 turnovers. #twolves #nba
@rickyrubio9 leads the #nba in 4th quarter assists with 56. #twolves
lets get that .500 mark!
The Wild still aren't scoring much (64 GF - good for 9th out of 15 teams in the conference) but they don't give up much either (57 GA - 5/15 in the conference) and they seem to know exactly when to step up their game. I don't know where I heard the stat (or if it's even accurate) but apparently the Wild have won more games after trailing than any team in the league. In hockey, all that matters is wins and losses...oh, and overtime wins.
The Wild (16-7-3) leads the NHL with 35 points. Since we last talked they are 5-2-0 and are 8-2-0 over their last 10 games. They are currently atop both the Western Conference and the Northwest Division, 2 points ahead of Detroit and Chicago and 6 points ahead of Vancouver. Here's how they got there:
Continue reading All They Do is Win (except when they don’t): Games 20-26
Sounds like Harding in net against the Wings again (he's got 2 starts this season, both vs. Detroit). If you're around, settle in for a long night of getting out-shot.
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.).