Minnesota Wild (13-9-2) 28pts 1st in the Northwest
2.29 Goals For (26th)
2.42 Goals Against (7th)
16.3% Power Play (20th)
86.5% Penalty Kill (4th)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #9 Mikko Koivu ~ 4G 16A = 20pts
2. #11 Zach Parise ~ 11G 8A = 19pts
3. #20 Ryan Suter ~ 1G 17A = 18pts
4. #7 Matt Cullen ~ 3G 11A = 14pts
5. #15 Dany Heatley ~ 8G 5A = 13pts
Top 3 PIM's:
1. #28 Zenon Konopka ~ 61 PIM's
2. #27 Mike Rupp ~ 32 PIM's
3. #4 Clayton Stoner ~ 20 PIM's
Top Goaltender(s):
1. #32 Niklas Backstrom (11-6-2) 2.30GAA .914%SP
2. #35 Darcy Kuemper (1-2-0) 2.02GAA .924%SP
3. #37 Josh Harding (1-1-0) 2.92GAA .885%SP 1 SO
Vs.
Anaheim Ducks (18-3-3) 39pts 1st in the Pacific
3.38 Goals For (3rd)
2.46 Goals Against (9th)
27.8% Power Play (1st)
76.8% Penalty Kill (28th)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #15 Ryan Getzlaf ~ 10G 21A = 31pts
2. #10 Corey Perry ~ 9G 15A = 24pts
3. #9 Bobby Ryan ~ 8G 13A = 21pts
4. #11 Saku Koivu ~ 7G 14A = 21pts
5. #8 Teemu Selanne ~ 6G 11A = 17pts
Top 3 PIM's:
1. #25 Brad Staubitz ~ 41 PIM's
2. #39 Matt Beleskey ~ 33 PIM's
3. #44 Sheldon Souray ~ 27 PIM's
Top Goaltender(s):
1. #30 Viktor Fasth (10-1-1) 1.92GAA .929%SP 2 SO
2. #1 Jonas Hiller (8-2-2) 2.85GAA .899%SP 1 SO
Click on "Continue Reading" for the rest of the article…
Happy March. I know I'm a few days late for such a greeting, but it seems appropriate now that the Wild are home for a few games. Between last week's State High School Tournament and next week's WCHA Final Five, the Xcel Energy Center has been a busy place. Of course, this is nothing new for Wild fans, as it's par for the course. In normal NHL seasons, this is the month of extended road trips. However, this season is anything but normal, and the games are bunched up in different ways this year, and in odd configurations of road and home games. This will be the last year of the WCHA Final Five as we know it, since the University of Minnesota will be part of an unwanted Big 10 hockey conference. Since the advent of Xcel Energy Center, the Final Five has been played in St. Paul. I highly doubt that the other members of the Big 10 will allow St. Paul to always host the Big 10 championship. It's sad that Barry Alvarez of the University of Wisconsin had to ruin the tradition of WCHA hockey and the Final Five atmosphere in St. Paul.
And now, on to the big news of the day. Brace yourselves. We're got trouble, right here in River City, um I mean St. Paul. The Minnesota Wild have finally decided to reassign Mikael Granlund to the Houston Aeros. This is something that longtime Wild fans have been essentially begging for. It was clear from the beginning of this shortened season, that he was not ready for the National Hockey League. Sadly, the front office pretty much told us that no matter what the length of the season was going to be, Granlund was going to start with the Wild. That right there rubbed Wild fans the wrong way, because no young player deserves a roster spot because of hype. He needs to earn that time. The best part, is the players who actually had to earn their roster spots are playing quite well for rookies. Granlund was handed the Golden Ticket and never did anything with it. He never figured out where he fit in. There are those out there that will blame head coach Mike Yeo for failing Granlund, but you can just stop with that nonsense. He's managed to figure out where to put Jason Zucker and Charlie Coyle. Now it took some time, but it's working. Yeo had more time to work with Granlund, but a good portion of the blame has to rest on Granlund himself. He was given every opportunity in the world to succeed. Hopefully this stint in the American Hockey League will allow him to get his head screwed on tight (Granlund claims he's lacking in confidence when it comes to the North American game) and figure out his game.
Of course now that I've openly admitted that I'm glad that Granlund has been reassigned, I've opened myself up for criticism and hatred from the nation of Finland. I don't know what it is about Grunlund, but if you say anything remotely negative on a message board, even when in the form of constructive criticism, you can count on (what feels like) the entire nation of Finland to descend upon the board and tell you you don't know what you're talking about or that you're racist against Finland. Both accusations are laughable, especially on a Minnesota hockey message board. I have met plenty of people who still remember when the National Hockey League consisted of six teams. They've seen players come and go, and they know who has "it" and who doesn't when it comes to skill, ability, and heart. Minnesota fans for the most part watch and follow hockey at all levels, so to accuse them of not being able to judge talent is just pure crazy talk. Now when it comes to the anti-Finnish accusation, that's the one that gets me the most. I want to know where these accusers were when we had a Finn by the name of Antti Laaksonen. Now there was a Finn with heart. He also know the North American game by playing for four years at the University of Denver. He also played in the AHL and ECHL before coming to the Minnesota Wild. We could count on him for sixteen or so goals every year. He knew his role and he played it to the best of his ability, and was successful in that role. He was a fan favorite, and it was because he earned that.
While the Wild have found some success lately, especially by taking over the number one spot in the Northwest Division, tonight is definitely a test. Playing well against Nashville and Vancouver are often a test of mental fortitude. They're teams that it depends almost what mindset they start the game with as to how the game will ultimately go. Both nights, we saw a Wild team that came out with some fire in them. Anaheim is a different team altogether. There's a reason, they're the number two team in the entire league. They can score, they can prevent goals, and they're just a frustrating team to play. The Wild need to bring the mental fortitude they've had in the past two games along with the scoring touch they've also recently found, to stand a chance against Anaheim. Now that teams have figured out how to crack the Chicago question, Anaheim is going to want to nab every two points they can so they can gain ground on the Blackhawks. Hold on folks, it's going to be a bumpy ride tonight.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
