Game #26: Minnesota Wild at Phoenix Coyotes, Thursday December 9, 2010, at 8:00pm (CST), Jobing.com Arena [GAME PREVIEW]

Once again, it feels like controversy has surrounded the Wild.  However, it’s not as serious as it has been earlier in the season.  It’s not like when agent Allan Walsh was spouting off in the press about how the Wild were under-utilizing his client, a then under-performing Martin Havlat.  While they’re on a losing streak right now, it’s not quite as bad as the pathetic pre-season.  Perhaps I should take back the word “controversy” and instead call it “scuttlebutt.”

The first bit of scuttlebutt comes in the form of Wild defenseman, Brent Burns.  Where is this coming from?  Well when you run into the helmet of teammate Greg Zanon and head to the lockerroom right away, the talk will naturally start.  Of course one should note that the injury happened near the end of the overtime session.  However, as it has publicly been stated, Burns missed 29 games last season due to a concussion.  According to Burns, the issue at hand was nothing more than a sinus-infection that was cleared up with antibiotics.  Seems that Wild management and team doctors went the overly cautious route, because the sinus issues came so closely after an actual season-ending concussion the previous season.  With this new revelation, Burns has been quite vocal in his interviews that he did not have a concussion last season.  He is so adamant in this that he has gotten rid of the M-11 helmet that has been pushed by former NHL’er, Mark Messier, back to his old CCM one.  The claims of the makers of the M-11 helmet are a bit dubious, as they claim to reduce the occurrence of concussions.  As Burns has correctly pointed out, there is no helmet out there that will prevent a concussion, as the concussion is the result of your brain moving around and smashing against the inside of your skull.  All the helmet will and can do is prevent skull fractures.  However, that hasn’t stopped Pierre-Marc Bouchard from donning his M-11 helmet.  Bouchard claims he feels safer wearing it.  Now, if they would just create some sort of equipment for Bouchard so that he feels safer going into the corners.

Of course the greater bit of scuttlebutt is coming from and about Wild captain, Mikko Koivu.  Seems that he’s upset about how things are going lately.  Well that’s nice to hear, but in the real world, actions speak louder than words.  Until we really see that anger , I don’t know if we’ll ever really believe it.  Of course it doesn’t help matters that his linemates, Andrew Brunette and Antti Miettinen aren’t playing very well either.  Just like if the Wild fall asleep at the wheel during the second period, if the Wild’s supposed top line fall asleep (like they’ve been lately), things aren’t going to go so well.  A top line should be just that, a top line.  There shouldn’t be a question of when they’ll score but more of a how many will they score in any given night.  Unfortunately, the question we’ve been left with is the “when.”  It’s hard to win consistently when your top line is more or less invisible more often than not.

With the Wild out on this three-game roadtrip, I have to admit I’m a bit nervous starting it out in Phoenix.  Not only are they sitting in 2nd place in the Pacific Division, they have improved in some key areas since we last saw them on December 1st.  For example, in just over a week, they went from having the 21st ranked Goals Against per game to a current 14th ranked Goals Against per Game.  They’ve also improved their Penalty Kill in that same amount of time, going from 25th to 20th.  For a team like the Wild that continues to struggle offensively, this does not bode well.  Sure, the Wild have been rather stagnant in their Goals per Game stat all season long, but the once best Power Play in the league has slipped to a current 8th ranked Power Play.  So while we seem to get worse, the Coyotes are getting better, at least defensively.

I honestly don’t know how to feel.  Part of me is glad that I’ll be at work during the game, because if things go poorly, I won’t have to see it.  However, if things somehow manage to turn for the better, I’ll be a little sad that I missed it.  Yet, with the way things have gone lately, I’m going to go with my first instinct.

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