Minnesota Wild (18-17-5) 42pts 7th in the Central
2.70 Goals For (15th)
2.90 Goals Against (24th)
14.5% Power Play (24th)
84.6% Penalty Kill (8th)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #29 Jason Pominville ~ 9G 23A = 32pts
2. #11 Zach Parise ~ 14G 16A = 30pts
3. #26 Thomas Vanek ~ 7G 18A = 25pts
4. #20 Ryan Suter ~ 1G 21A = 22pts
5. #9 Mikko Koivu ~ 6G 15A = 21pts
Top 3 PIM’s:
1. #4 Ryan Carter ~ 46 PIM’s
2. #11 Zach Parise ~ 27PIM’s
3. #3 Charlie Coyle ~ 24 PIM’s
Top Goaltenders:
1. #35 Darcy Kuemper (13-12-1) 2.68GAA .902%SP 3SO
2. #32 Niklas Backstrom (5-5-3) 2.75GAA .893%SP
3. #33 John Curry (0-0-1) 3.81GAA .826%SP
Vs.
Chicago Blackhawks (27-13-2) 56pts 2nd in the Central
2.98 Goals For (7th)
2.21 Goals Against (2nd)
18.7% Power Play (15th)
89.0% Penalty Kill (1st)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #88 Patrick Kane ~ 20G 25A = 45pts
2. #19 Jonathan Toews ~ 13G 23A = 36pts
3. #81 Marian Hossa ~ 8G 21A = 29pts
4. #20 Brandon Saad ~ 12G 15A = 27pts
5. #23 Kris Versteeg ~ 9G 18A = 27pts
Top 3 PIM’s:
1. #65 Andrew Shaw ~ 30 PIM’s
2. #13 Daniel Carcillo ~ 30 PIM’s
3. #4 Niklas Hjalmarsson ~ 28 PIM’s
Top Goaltenders:
1. #50 Corey Crawford (16-8-2) 2.19GAA .921%SP 1SO
2. #31 Antti Raanta (6-3-0) 1.96GAA .934%SP 2SO
3. #33 Scott Darling (5-2-0) 1.97GAA .937%SP
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I ask you dear readers for some forgiveness in advance. As one can imagine, these are getting harder and harder to write. I think what’s even more frustrating about the entire downward spiral of the Minnesota Wild, is that we see the occasional glimpse of what we want and need the team to be. Unfortunately, those glimpses are so far and few between. I must apologize, for I fear that I have become a Minnesota Wild broken record. Instead of being stuck on one of their greatest hits, we’re stuck with the B-side song that no one can stand and no one can put a stop to. Lucky us.
At this point, I don’t know whether to be angry, sad, or name said emotion here. We all expected far greater things than what we’re seeing. Sadly, each outing gets worse and worse. But speaking of emotions, I figure it’s best to take a look to the past. Now I’m not talking about the recent past, I’m talking several centuries past. As in the Medieval period, although the practice I’m going to discuss goes back to the Ancient Greeks and Romans. Back in the day, the people were obsessed with the balance of the 4 humors in their body. The humors were four liquids in the body, which if they were balanced, you were fine. It’s when they were out of balance, that your life became melancholic, choleric, or one of the other emotions. I’m going to stick with these two, as being melancholic (sad) and choleric (quick to anger) seem the best choices right now. For a better explanation, I give you a clip of one of my favorite programs from the BBC. Now the program deals with British history when it comes to food, but right around the two-minute mark, you get a decent, albeit funny, explanation of the humors.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oH5O_fCstyI]
While we are stuck in states of melancholia and face bouts of being choleric, the Minnesota Wild are clearly out of balance with all four of the humors. The humor associated with blood, is the one responsible for courage in a person. There’s a decided lack of courage in the current Wild. The humor associated with phlegm, is responsible for calmness and being thoughtful. Trust me, we’ve seen far too much of that. There is a decided lack of urgency with the team and as for being thoughtful, well we see that in all the passing. Yellow bile, the one ultimately responsible for causing our choleric tendencies right now, when in balance, creates leader-like tendencies. Oh where, oh where are those right now? Of course the black bile that is responsible for melancholia is definitely out of whack for players, coaches, and fans alike.
After yesterday’s game with the Nashville Predators, I am at a loss. The first 20 minutes of the game held such promise. The team looked like they were possibly over their funk, or melancholia if you will. However, I think I can pretty much pin-point the game changing moment. That moment was when none other than Thomas Vanek opted to pass on a break-away instead of taking the shot on goal near the end of the first period. There are those who have argued that Vanek “did the right thing.” Really? What game were you watching? Even the games are out of balance. Even the Nashville Predators were shocked by what they encountered. Michael Russo of the Minneapolis Star Tribune pointed this out on Twitter last night:
More than a handful of #preds said they were surprised by how “low energy” the #mnwild became after such a strong first 20 minutes
— Michael Russo (@Russostrib) January 10, 2015
As I said, the humors are out of alignment with this team. Honestly, I don’t know what needs to happen. Being on NBC Sports Network tonight and Tuesday night in Pittsburgh certainly won’t help matters. I’m just prepared to be the one “cheering” for the more embarrassing team on the ice. Perhaps, the pre-game meal for the Minnesota Wild should hearken back to Medieval times, when food was used to balance the humors. I doubt it would work, but perhaps the crazy meals as demonstrated in this video clip (you can skip ahead to about the 5 minute mark) would make them cranky (or choleric) enough to finally show up and actually play 60 minutes of hockey.
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[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0zE9FR5F0A]But alas my dear readers, I don’t think there is any help for this team.
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