Minnesota Wild (7-3-0) 14pts 1st in the Central
3.40 Goals For (3rd)
1.80 Goals Against (1st)
6.4% Power Play (29th)
89.3% Penalty Kill (4th)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #11 Zach Parise ~ 4G 6A = 10pts
2. #26 Thomas Vanek ~ 1G 7A = 8pts
3. #16 Jason Zucker ~ 5G 2A = 7pts
4. #29 Jason Pominville ~ 3G 4A = 7pts
5. #20 Ryan Suter ~ 1G 6A = 7pts
Top 3 PIM’s:
1. #11 Zach Parise ~ 17 PIM’s
2. #3 Charlie Coyle ~ 12 PIM’s
3. #18 Ryan Carter ~ 10 PIM’s
Top Goaltenders:
1. #35 Darcy Kuemper (6-2-0) 1.62GAA .930%SP 3SO
2. #32 Niklas Backstrom (1-1-0) 2.52GAA .886%SP
Vs.
Pittsburgh Penguins (7-2-1) 15pts 1st in the Metropolitan
4.10 Goals For (1st)
2.20 Goals Against (11th)
41.9% Power Play (1st)
85.4% Penalty Kill (9th)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #87 Sidney Crosby ~ 7G 11A = 18pts
2. #71 Evgeni Malkin ~ 5G 10A = 15pts
3. #72 Patric Hornqvist ~ 6G 8A = 14pts
4. #14 Chris Kunitz ~ 7G 6A = 13pts
5. #9 Pascal Dupuis ~ 4G 5A = 9pts
Top 3 PIM’s:
1. #23 Steve Downie ~ 25 PIM’s
2. #47 Simon Despres ~ 22 PIM’s
3. #71 Evgeni Malkin ~ 12 PIM’s
Top Goaltenders:
1. #29 Marc-Andre Fleury (7-2-0) 1.89GAA .931%SP 3SO
2. #1 Thomas Greiss (0-0-1) 3.75GAA .871%SP
Once upon a time (this time is before Facebook, Twitter, and the internet as a whole), the concept of trash talk was much different. You pretty much had to go to a game and either be the visiting fan or encounter a visiting fan at your arena. There are some venues where you essentially could be taking your life into your own hands. Trash talk today has a complete new venue, a virtual one. I remember hanging out in Yahoo chatrooms during the Wild’s inaugural season. From there you could find me on message boards. Many fans have since gone to using platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. Personally, I prefer the older message board format as opposed to the more popular social media applications out there. I suppose it may be due to the fact that I’m pushing 40. However, I think it’s mostly due to the fact that I have long-time acquaintances with other members of the Wild’s official message boards, both positive and negative.
I’m not adverse to Facebook, it’s just not my style for talking about hockey. Those that do talk about hockey on Facebook very much provide me a lot of humor. I find especially humorous the comments by non-Wild fans trying to trash talk Minnesota. These comments happen without fail when the National Hockey League posts a picture and short blub about the Wild’s latest win, most often within the very friendly confines of Xcel Energy Center. Bruins fans were very confident in their team after the Wild did a complete chock job in Manhattan. However, I think the most annoyingly funny fans are those of the Pittsburgh Penguins. They are absolutely positive that their team is the best. Sure, they have Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and some other guys (yes, that’s an intentional dig), but I’m not about to tremble in my boots just because a possibly overrated group of players that have a bunch of delusional fans are coming to our arena. Minnesota has been playing well, and some of the talk around the league is about just how well they play at home. Yes, we’re well aware that Pittsburgh has the best goals per game and best power play in the league. However, I highly doubt those same Pens fans are aware that we’re also in the top three for goals per game as well as a fantastic goals against per game and penalty kill. Yes, goals are important, but the ability to stop goals is just as important.
I’m not the kind of person to say “I told you so” but there are certain fans I do love to do that to. My short list would contain the Vancouver Canucks, the Columbus Blue Jackets, and the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Canucks and Blue Jackets are on that list for obvious reasons. The Pittsburgh fans are on my list simply for their superiority complex. They (along with the Chicago Blackhawks fans) have this sense of entitlement, that just because they’re loaded they way they are that the rest of us should just bow down to them. What’s funny, is that many of those fans seem to conveniently forget that it took for them to land those prized draft picks. They had years of absolute horrid play, years where fans were sometimes hard to come by. With the exception of the 2000 Entry Draft and the 2005 pure lottery draft, the highest that the Wild have ever drafted has been number six (Mikko Koivu in 2001). Minnesota has had to build itself through middling draft picks, waiver pick ups, developing their drafted players, trades and free agent acquisitions. We’ve had highs and lows since 2000 (and 1993, 1991, and 1981 for North Stars fans), and we’re finally starting to look like a real team. So while the Pittsburgh Penguins and their fans may have won a Stanley Cup thanks to their bounty of high draft picks, they haven’t done much since then. While, I want to see that hardware in St. Paul, I would much rather see it won thanks to the hard work and steady progress by a dedicated owner in Craig Leipold and general manager Chuck Fletcher.
So tonight, I hope that Minnesota wins (another) game in regulation. Those regulation wins will definitely work in the Wild’s favor when it comes to playoff positioning. Plus. I really want to see the whining by their overly whiny fans.
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