Game #11: Minnesota Wild vs San Jose Sharks, Tuesday November 2, 2010 at 7:00pm (CDT), Xcel Energy Center [GAME PREVIEW]

Today is Election Day here in the US.  Do you know where your robocallers are?  If you haven’t been bombarded by those automated calls and buried in an avalanche of campaign materials, you must be living the life of a recluse in some isolated mountain hideaway.  For the rest of us, we’ve had to deal with the nonsense.  Of course, starting tomorrow we’ll get a but a short reprieve from the nonsense, as both parties will soon be gearing up for the 2012 election.  Lucky us.

With all the craziness in the world of politics, one would think that the world of hockey would grant us some peace.  However, that is not always the case in the world of the Minnesota Wild.  While some things have improved, there are still many questions surrounding this particular incarnation of the Wild.  Many of those questions are similar to those that we see at election team.  First off, there are still questions and concerns swirling around head coach Todd Richards.  Fans want to know if he’s really capable of coaching this team.  He’s been dealing with player injuries which have forced him to continually shift the lines.  His practices lately have gone from both extremes.  He’s held a dreaded “bag skate” but then he’s also had one of those questionable optional skates.  The Wild simply aren’t a team that can afford optional skates.  It is curious as to how many more undeserved optional skates we’ll see.

Other questions swirl around the lockerroom just like they do around the Senate floor.  We all know about politicians who simply don’t play well with others.  While the animosity is not that bad for the Wild, we still have to wonder if the personalities on the roster work well with each other.  We’ve heard some interesting quips already that make us wonder if there are personality issues.  One of the goals of starting the season in Finland, was to be team-building.  It’s really hard to say if that really worked.  We’re still seeing a team on occasion that you have to wonder if the players fully respect each other and their abilities, as well as limitations.  For those of us in the real world, we all know that to have a smoothly operating workplace, you don’t have to like everyone you work with.  You simply have to respect everyone.  Yes, it’s sometimes difficult to respect that person who never comes back from their breaks on time, but you generally have a better workplace if you’re not always snipping at each other.

So while you’re standing in line at the polls today, I’m sure you’ll be wondering why you can’t vote on your favorite sports teams.  Wouldn’t it be great if you felt you weren’t seeing the results you would expect, that you could go and vote out members of those teams?  Unfortunately, we don’t have that choice.  However, if we did, would we get even more robocalls?  Perhaps it’s a good thing we don’t get to vote on our teams.