A week ago, I was standing outside watching high school hockey in the place where I first learned to skate and play the game in my hometown of Elk River, Minnesota in the wonderful confines of Handke Pit. It was a bit frosty, but for the most part ideal temperatures for outdoor hockey. The ice was in good shape, the atmosphere was tremendous. However, should spectacles that happen every year? Or multiple times in a season? The NHL and NCAA certainly think so with a number of outdoor games being played the last few months. I know I'd like to see the Wild someday host a Winter Classic, and Wild majority owner Craig Leipold has stated he'd be ok with being apart of the Stadium Series events, similar to what is going on today in Southern California and New York respectively. I hate to say it, and I know I might come off as a bit of a prude but if the Wild are not in a Winter Classic then I don't want to be apart of it. The Wild shouldn't settle for anything less than the Winter Classic. If we truly are the State of Hockey (and we are) we should want to be the marquee event, not the undercard. The Wild could show the rest of the NHL, and yes even Canada how to put on an incredible outdoor event. Minnesota has been putting on outstanding outdoor events during our frigid winters for years. From the Ice Palace to the U.S. Pond Hockey Championships to snowcross races Minnesota can make a Winter Classic truly epic. The only question is when the NHL will give Minnesota a chance. I know its so tough for them not to use Pittsburgh, New York Rangers, Detroit Red Wings, and the Washington Capitals but I think they need to.
Ok, end of my Winter Classic / Stadium Series rant. The Wild have keep soldiering on as they hold onto their 8th place position in the NHL Western Conference playoff race. On the day, that marks the 16th anniversary of the announcement of a new franchise for the State of Hockey the Wild have another big challenge in taking down the San Jose Sharks. Can the Wild pull off another upset tonight in the Shark Tank?
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1st Period Thoughts: A good fighter anticipates the approach their opponent will take. If they're going against an aggressive foe, they know to expect the team to be a little reckless and enthusiastic in the first few rounds. That is very much like the 1st period for the Minnesota Wild. In the first few minutes, it was all San Jose as they poured on the pressure early; peppering Darcy Kuemper with shots on goal but Kuemper and Wild did a nice job of preventing the Sharks from having much in the way of 2nd chance opportunities. So it was one and done for San Jose even though the Wild were a bit on their heels at the start. However, like Muhammad Ali, there was a little rope-a-dope going on as the defense was bending but not breaking around Kuemper. After the first five minutes where the Sharks put the Wild under siege, Minnesota started to counter punch a bit. They were using good active sticks to strip pucks from the Sharks and then transitioning quickly to go on the attack. This is precisely how they got their first goal as Matt Cooke swept up a loose puck in the neutral zone, outlegging Brad Stuart for the biscuit and then moving in and beating Antti Niemi with a little shot 5-hole to give the Wild a 1-0 lead. The goal silenced the crowd at SAP Center and the Wild continued to apply good forechecking pressure throughout the rest of the period. Minnesota was giving San Jose a lot of trouble in its own end as the top line of Zach Parise, Charlie Coyle and Nino NIederreiter worked the puck on the cycle down low as they tried to jam a few close range shots through Niemi. Sensing the game and the crowd slipping into a coma, Mike Brown tried to spark his team by dropping the gloves with Clayton Stoner. Stoner did not hesitate and he started hammering away at Brown's face and the Wild defenseman landed a number of quality punches before Brown even started firing some bombs of his own. Stoner's quick strike strategy paid off as he got Brown to wither pretty quickly and that's no small feat. Clear win for Stoner. Minnesota continued to counter punch for the rest of the period and the Wild carried its lead into the 1st intermission. Great effort. Even Mike Rupp had a good shift; where he was assertive even though I didn't think he should be playing in this game. The Wild were outshot 11-7 in the period but a very quiet SAP Center said it all; Minnesota had the momentum in its favor at this point in the game (knock on wood).
2nd Period Thoughts: The Wild looked confident and focused to start the 2nd period. As the Sharks raced in on the forecheck, the Wild defensemen moved the puck with great efficiency and led the breakout without much difficulty. Minnesota would work the puck deep, establishing their forecheck and keeping the Sharks bottled up in their own zone. Jason Pominville would drop a pass off to Mikael Granlund beneath the goal line and the Finn would make a quick turn to evade Marc-Edouard Vlasic and he'd feed a puck out toward the right faceoff dot that was ripped up high over the shoulder by a pinching Keith Ballard to put the Wild up 2-0. It was a pretty set up and finish by Granlund and Ballard. The SAP Center crowd sat there, quietly astonished at how the Wild were outworking and outchancing the Sharks on their own ice. The Wild continued to control the play for the next few minutes. Matt Cooke set up Justin Fontaine for a quick shot that was steered aside by Niemi. A few moments after that the Sharks' Matt Irwin would earn a hooking penalty putting the Wild on the power play. On the man advantage the Wild took their chances to direct shots on goal, and came dangerously clsoe to extending their lead. The best chance came after a long battle for the puck along the wall that ended up being worked out to a wide open Jonas Brodin for a one-timer and the Swede blasted a shot on goal that was fought off by Niemi. After the killed off Wild power play, the Sharks would regroup and try to be a bit more patient in their approach and their patience would be rewarded. Joe Pavelski would skate the puck down low where he fed a pass out front to a waiting Joe Thornton who got off a quick shot that went over the shoulder of Kuemper to cut the Wild's lead to one, 2-1. With blood in the water the Sharks continued to swarm and after an ugly collision at center ice where the Wild tried to attack the San Jose end, the Sharks would counter attack and Tommy Wingels would push a puck up to Patrick Marleau who sort of double clutched it as he flung a quick wrist shot that surprised Kuemper and the game was tied at two. It was the Sharks 2nd goal in just 49 seconds. Wild Head Coach Mike Yeo would call a timeout to calm his team down. The timeout seemed to work as the Wild tightened up a bit defensively and then they started to renew their attack. The top line of Coyle, Parise and Niedereiter would show some demonstrate some excellent strength on the wall as they tried to work it out back front for a shot on goal that was stonewalled by Niemi. The period would end with the crowd moderately into the game and their lead gone at 2-2. A few costly breakdowns were hurting them but the Wild seemed to still be able to attack and put the Sharks on their heels when they wanted to. However, one area really killing the Wild were faceoffs. Kyle Brodziak was 1-for-13 at this point. Ok, so he's not scoring and he's getting his butt handed to him in the faceoff circle but he's still playing while Jason Zucker is the scratch?!?! Uh ok. Still anyone's game at this point but an early Wild goal in the 3rd would really be nice.
3rd Period Thoughts: The Wild would spend the first half of the 3rd period more or less defending its own end of the ice. Penalties taken by the Wild did their part to keep Minnesota in a defensive posture longer than it probably wanted to. On the penalty kill, the Wild keep San Jose to the perimeter and then collapsed well around Kuemper to sweep away the few rebounds he was giving up. The Sharks did not have many quality chances but the the dominance in the Wild zone meant Minnesota was not threatening San Jose at all. Great hustle and effort by Erik Haula and Torrey Mitchell certainly did not hurt the cause. Even with a phantom hooking call drawn by a clear dive by Joe Pavelski, the Wild persevered and they would start to apply some offensive pressure. Again it would start with the Wild's top line of Coyle, Niederreiter and Parise getting things rolling for Minnesota as they worked the puck deep and then cycled well until they moved it out front for a few close range chances that forced Niemi to make some quick stops. The Sharks were still able to generate some scoring chances as a quick shot by Marleau was denied by Kuemper and then he stoned Matt Nieto on the rebound opportunity. Minnesota's top line again did their part to work for the go-ahead goal as Parise set up Coyle for a quick shot that was deflected up and out of play. In the closing seconds the Wild kept battling and a nice dump and chase would have Niederreiter pushing Brad Stuart off the puck and he dished it back to Parise who settled it and fired a shot that was gloved by Niemi at the buzzer and we'd go to overtime. A good period where Minnesota stayed settled and poised the point always helps.
Overtime Thoughts: Overtime was exciting as both clubs wanted to avoid the drama of the shootout. The Sharks had the best initial threat as Joe Pavelski threaded a diagonal pass towards the Wild crease that was pushed just wide by Matt Irwin. Moments after that Ryan Suter would stumble and Joe Thornton threaded a pass up to Marleau but the feed was a tiny bit behind him which was all Suter needed as he scrambled back to lift the stick and strip the Sharks sniper of the puck. However the Wild would pay the price for being a little careless with the puck as Jason Pominville would get jammed a bit near the wall and he'd be tied up by Pavelski who slid a pass over to Joe Thornton and the Sharks points leader wound up and hammered a slap shot over the shoulder of Kuemper to give San Jose a 3-2 overtime victory.
Its tough to blame Kuemper for the loss, as he stopped 29 of the 32 shots he faced. The goals he gave up were due to defensive breakdowns in front of him and with the lone exception of Thornton's game winner, when he saw the shot he stopped them. Defensively the Wild were pretty good against an offensively explosive team. I thought the Wild had good poise in its own end throughout most of the game; especially when the Sharks were really pouring it on. The penalty kill was solid.
Offensively the Wild spent far too much time just defending from its own zone. The only line that was really able to create any kind of sustained offensive pressure was the top line of Parise, Coyle and Niederreiter. While they did not score either of the Wild's goals the line accounted for 10 out of the Wild's modest 22 shots on goal. I am not sure what Jason Zucker did to earn being scratched this evening. Unless they really felt they needed Rupp to police the Sharks who still took liberties against the Wild's smaller players without a response. In their most recent losses the Wild have been guilty of defending too much and at times being too picky in their shot selection. Zucker takes his chances to shoot the puck and he has the speed to put opponents on their heels in a hurry.
This loss doesn't burn you the way Minnesota's embarrassing loss on Tuesday night to Dallas was, but its the kind of game where you ask yourself what could've been, or what should've been. Blowing a two-goal lead isn't terribly improbable, but it certainly was preventable. The Wild now get two days rest before they play the top club in the West, the Anaheim Ducks. Minnesota will have to be a lot better if they expect to come away with any points against a team with only one regulation loss at home this season.
Wild Notes:
~ The Wild roster tonight is as follows: Zach Parise, Nino Niederreiter, Charlie Coyle, Mikael Granlund, Jason Pominville, Dany Heatley, Kyle Brodziak, Matt Cooke, Justin Fontaine, Torrey Mitchell, Erik Haula, Mike Rupp, Ryan Suter, Jonas Brodin, Marco Scandella, Nate Prosser, Keith Ballard and Clayton Stoner. Niklas Backstrom backed up Darcy Kuemper. Jason Zucker and Stephane Veilleux healthy scratches.
~ The 3 Stars of the Game as selected by Dan Rusanowsky were: 1st Star Joe Thornton, 2nd Star Patrick Marleau, 3rd Star Matt Irwin
~ Attendance was 17,562 at SAP Center.
Iowa Wild Report:
Recent Score: Iowa 5, San Antonio 4 SO
Iowa would strike early on a power play goal by Marc Hagel banged home a close range shot from the blue paint off a beauty of a diagonal feed by Steven Kampfer to give the Wild a 1-0 lead. The Rampage would answer back just a few minutes later off a turnover in the high slot of the Wild's zone that turned into a quick slap shot for Wade Megan who beat Johan Gustafsson tying the game at one goal apiece. Iowa would pounce on a Rampage turnover; as Matt Gilroy lost the puck as well as his edge and the puck was taken up by Carson McMillan who moved in and he beat Jacob Markstrom with a sneaky little backhander 5-hole to give the Wild a 2-1 lead. The Rampage would tie the game again in the 2nd period as Colby Robak stepped into a big one timer that blew by Gustafsson to make it 2-2. Iowa did not wait long to answer back as they'd strike a minute later as they worked the power play to perfection as Jonathon Blum ripped a shot from the point that found the twine behind Markstrom giving Iowa a 3-2 lead. Unfortunately, the Wild would relax a bit in the last minute of the period as former Ottawa 67's stud Ryan Martindale would aggressively move down through the middle of the ice where he sniped a shot by Gustafsson to make it 3-3 going into the 2nd intermission. San Antonio would then take the lead in the 3rd on a shot taken off the rush by former Sudbury Wolves star John McFarland that beat Gustafsson low stick side to make it 4-3. The Wild would tie the game about 6 minutes later as Raphael Bussieres entered the zone and then threaded a nice diagonal pass to McMillan for a quick redirection and that led to a big rebound being given up by Markstrom that was pounded by him on a quick shot by Mickey Lang who scored his first goal as a member of the Iowa Wild. The game would ultimately go to a shootout. Gustafsson did a great job, allowing just one goal as Bobby Butler beat him with a sweet backhander, and the Wild would earn the all important extra point as Zack Phillips scored and Jake Dowell would rip a wrist shot by Markstrom to give Iowa the 5-4 shootout victory. Gustafsson had 35 saves in the victory. Iowa and San Antonio face off again this evening.
Wild Prospect Report:
RW – Kurtis Gabriel (Owen Sound, OHL) ~ The rugged power forward chipped in an assist in a 4-2 loss to Guelph on Friday night. Gabriel, the 6'4", 219lbs winger has 9 goals and 31 points and 66 PIM's and is a collective +2 in 39 games.
D – Mathew Dumba (Portland, WHL) ~ Mathew Dumba would add the explanation point with a late power play goal in the Winterhawks 5-1 over the Everett Silvertips on Friday night. Dumba has been dominant since returning to junior, and while he does play on one of the best and most complete teams in major junior he's still providing a huge boost to this club. The Calgary, Alberta-native has 2 goals, 5 points, 11 PIM's and is a collective +8 in just 4 games played.
F – Louie Nanne (Sioux Falls, USHL) ~ It has been a rough year for the former Edina star so far. After de-committing from the University of Minnesota and then committing to play for R.P.I., he has struggled to find his place on pretty awful Sioux Falls squad. Nanne has just 2 assists and 8 PIM's as well as being a collective -8 in 15 games played this season.
D – Gustav Olofsson (Colorado College, NCHC) ~ The lanky defenseman is doing his best to try to help the Colorado College Tigers try to turn around a really tough season. Olofsson blasted a slap shot by Miami's Ryan McKay in the first as the Tigers jumped out to an early lead which ultimately turned into a 4-1 victory. The wirey Swede has 4 goals, 6 points and 8 PIM's in 17 games played this season.
RW – Anthony Hamburg (RIT, Atlantic) ~ The Phoenix, Arizona-native moved up to the Tigers' 2nd line, playing on the wing on a line with Todd Skirving and Blaine, Minnesota-native Ben Lynch. Hamburg registered a shot on goal in the Tigers' 3-0 loss to Niagara on Friday. The 6'1" forward has 1 goal and 4 PIM"s in 17 games played this season.
D – Carson Soucy (Minnesota-Duluth, NCHC) ~ The moblie big-bodied freshman has shown tremendous poise for the Bulldogs, playing on UMD's top defensive pairing with Andy Welinski. Soucy finished Friday afternoon's game against Minnesota State with a +2 rating as the Bulldogs prevailed 5-4 in overtime.
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