http://youtube.com/watch?v=acxnmaVTlZA
For Wild fans, pre-season hockey is like a two-week long New Year’s Eve. In honor of that, I figure we needed a musical rendition of that classic poem by Scotsmen, Robert Burns. However, considering the tragic off-season that hockey fans around the world have suffered, I’ve gone for the more introspective (and my personal favorite) version performed by Dougie MacLean. So to those we’ve lost this summer, you may be gone, but you will never be forgotten.
Just this past weekend, Wild fans were invited to the friendly confines of Xcel Energy Center for this year’s open practice and scrimmage. It has become a welcome tradition for fans, especially for those who are looking for an affordable hockey event for the family. For those who did venture to downtown Saint Paul, you already have an inside look of Tuesday night’s first pre-season game against the Edmonton Oilers. According to Michael Russo of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the exhibition roster from this weekend will be the first line-up of the pre-season:
Fowards:
Guillaume Latendresse-Matt Cullen-Pierre-Marc Bouchard
Darroll Powe-Kyle Brodziak-Cal Clutterbuck
Brett Bulmer-Warren Peters-Jed Ortmeyer
Matt Kassian-David McIntyre-Jarod Palmer
Defensemen
Jordan Hendry-Mike Lundin
Clayton Stoner-Jared Spurgeon
Justin Falk-Nate Prosser
Extra, it appears: Tyler Cuma
Goalies:
Josh Harding, Matt Hackett
The strange thing about the pre-season, is that if you’re like me, you catch yourself saying, “huh?” for the first game or two. I get so excited for the start of the season, that I forget that it is pre-season, and the roster that I have in mind, is usually not what is on the ice. The obvious absences on this roster for forwards are Mikko Koivu, Dany Heatley, and Devin Setoguchi. “Missing” on defense are Marek Zidlicky, Greg Zanon, and Nick Schultz. Honestly, I don’t know how early in pre-season we’ll see these player, but I would imagine if the Wild start out the pre-season like they did last year, we’ll see them sooner rather than later.
So here we go. Another game, another year. Things can only get better from last season.
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