Game #45: Minnesota Wild at St. Louis Blues, Saturday January 14, 2012 at 7:00pm (CST), Scottrade Center [GAME PREVIEW]

  
“You’ve got to know when to hold ’em, Know when to fold ’em, Know when to walk away, Know when to run, You never count your money, When you’re sittin’ at the table, There’ll be time enough for countin’, When the dealin’s done,” are the lyrics to the classic Kenny Rogers‘ country music song (one of the few country songs I like) the Gambler.  The song of course is a ballad about a poker player from the wild west days, but the song itself is more or less a general summary of gambling.  In many ways, NHL General Managers do the same thing as the lyrics imply.  They know what assets to hold onto, what assets to give up, and what deals to simply walk away from.  This was the song that popped into my head when I had heard that Wild GM Chuck Fletcher placed former 1st round pick (16th Overall, 2007) Colton Gillies on waivers.  Fletcher was gambling that no other team would take the 4th line winger via waivers.  To use another gambling phrase, “you win some and you lose some.”  In this case it meant the Wild lost Colton Gillies as he was claimed by the Columbus Blue Jackets earlier on Saturday.  So what does the loss of Gillies’ mean to the Wild? 

  Was it addition by subtraction to lose Colton Gillies via waivers?

Another 1st round bust for the regime of the Doug Risebrough and Tommy Thompson to go along with the club’s first one in A.J. Thelen only to be trailed by James Sheppard (who is still on the shelf with injuries) and perhaps Benoit Pouliot.  However, maybe the question should be asked is, who won on this gamble?  An outsider might think the Wild lost; since its former 1st round selection was picked up off waivers but what did the Wild gain by having another team claim him?  One thing the Wild did gain was roster flexibility in their lineup.  Colton Gillies was awarded for his hard work with the Houston Aeros by being tendered a one-way contract.  The one-way contract meant that the Wild shuffled their lineup around Gillies because they did not want to send an expensive (for an AHL’er) contract to the Aeros.  The team instead swapped out players with two-way contracts instead even though Gillies’ play often made him the most deserving candidate to be sent down.  The truth is, the Wild traded a 2nd round pick to move UP in the draft to get this guy.  Wild fans who may be angry at waiving Gillies need to get their head out of the clouds that he was going to be the budding power forward the organization hyped him to be when they drafted him.  Minnesota’s draft guru back then, Tommy Thompson gushed about Gillies’ tremendous skating ability and athleticism and hinted that he was on the verge of blooming into a power forward.  It never happened, and his numbers both in major junior and with the Aeros would confirm him that he’d be pretty lucky to be able to be a serviceable 3rd / 4th line player.  While Gillies was lauded for his sense of humor and team-focused personality, his hockey skills left a lot to be desired.  He didn’t hit often enough to be a great forechecker, and he lacked the hands to be an effective offensive player.  The Wild gave Gillies a chance to make it happen, but the same issue that dogged him in his junior days in Saskatoon, consistency came back to haunt him in his 2nd major NHL stint.  Now he will likely have another chance to prove himself in Columbus, a team desperate for help of any kind.  Perhaps new Columbus’ bench boss Todd Richards put in a good word for him?  With just 2 assists in 37 games its hard for me to say that the Wild really lost out by having someone claim Gillies.  The Wild now have one less one-way contract to deal with and thus can be free to make more moves with its minor league squad. 

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Minnesota will have its work cut out for them tonight.  Facing them is one of its former possible coaches in Ken Hitchcock, who has completely turned around a struggling Blues squad to be one of the best in the Western Conference.  Embracing a defense-first style, the hard working, hard hitting Blues have bought in 100% and the results speak for themselves.  Goals against have dropped immensely and their scoring by committee approach is paying dividends.  Led by a pair of Minnesotans in Spring Lake Park’s David Backes, and Warroad’s T.J. Oshie the Blues have a nice combination of size, skill, grit and youth to go along with cagey vets like Jason Arnott and Jamie Langenbrunner.  Minnesota must be willing to pay the price physically if they’re going to slow St. Louis down.  With Niklas Backstrom still sick, the Wild are going to again lean on Josh Harding to be the club’s x-factor.  Harding struggled on Thursday against Chicago, but I expect the leash to be short as Matt Hackett is waiting for the opportunity to again show his mettle.  Harding will likely have Blues forwards near his crease all night long as they love to chip in the ugly goals near the paint.  This will also mean the Wild’s defense; who is going to dress Mike Lundin over Greg Zanon must be physical around the goal area otherwise this one could get ugly in a hurry whether Harding is sharp or not. 

Offensively, the Wild must operate under the K.I.S.S. principle of Keep It Simple, Stupid and simply fire as many pucks as they can at Jaroslav Halak who has not had a lot of success against the Wild.  Minnesota can ill-afford to try to be fancy and work for the perfect shot.  Thursday’s game against the Blackhawks provided good evidence of what rewards can be had by keeping it simple.  The Wild’s two goals came off of low-lying shots that created rebounds that they capitalized on.  The Blues are very stingy defensively, they know how to take away shooting lanes and deny passes; so any small opening to shoot the biscuit should be taken.  The Wild must also establish some scoring depth.  When the Wild win, they often get scoring from 2-3 of its lines.  Multiple lines need to be involved and taking their chances to put pucks on goal.  There is no such thing as a bad shot, so I hope Mikko Koivu, Devin Setoguchi, Dany Heatley, Kyle Brodziak, Cal Clutterbuck and the rest of the Wild take this approach. 

Minnesota currently sits in 8th place in the Western Conference.  The Blues are sitting in 5th in the West (after Detroit’s overtime win over Chicago earlier today) and the scary thing is they’re in 3rd in the Central Division.  Simply put, if the Wild want to stay in the playoff picture, they have to win games like tonight where you are facing the best in the league.  If you want to be amongst the best you’ve got to (occasionally) beat the best. 

Injury Report:

Minnesota:     Jarod Palmer (concussion), Guillaume Latendresse (concussion), Pierre-Marc Bouchard (concussion, groin), Niklas Backstrom (illness)   

St. Louis:  Andy McDonald (concussion), Kent Huskins (ankle), Alex Steen (concussion-like symptoms), Kris Russell (groin), Barrett Jackman (hip, questionable)

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