Game #72: Minnesota Wild vs Calgary Flames, Sunday March 21, 2010 at 2:00pm (CDT), Xcel Energy Center [GAME PREVIEW]

This afternoon may be the game of the cameo appearance.  In recent days, it has felt as if the Wild were sporting a “cast of thousands.”  Between calling up players from Houston and the recent signing of college players and all the players sidelined with injuries, the roster Minnesota started with is vastly different than what we see before us today.  However, we do have some good (if confusing) news in front of us.

In this morning’s Minneapolis Star Tribune it has been announced that a slew of injured players are listed as “probable” for today’s game.  The most crucial injuries right now are on Minnesota’s blue line.  It is those injuries where the Wild might get some much needed reprieve.  Most likely to return will be Brent Burns.  One could expect him to be chomping at the bit, since this has been a season of recovery for Burns.  At the very least, we should be happy that at least his recent injuries have not been more concussion-like symptoms.  However, it’s the information that Minnesota might get the services of Greg Zanon today that is the most shocking.  Minnesota’s shot-block leader broke his ankle in Nashville, doing what he does best, blocking a shot.  Of course, I don’t know what kind of break he suffered, but having broken my own ankle I simple can’t imagine him being on the ice anytime soon.  Sure, he’s a tough character, but no amount of athletic take, braces, and prescription painkillers are going to make him game ready, especially considering that those painkillers make you a bit “fuzzy” in the head.  Also most likely returning will be Derek Boogaard, who has been sidelined with a nose injury after a fight with St. Louis’ DJ King.  It will be interesting to see if Boogaard returns with some sort of visor or cage to protect the injury.

In goaltender news, the Wild re-assigned Wade Dubielewicz to Houston.  This means that at the very least, Niklas Backstrom will serve as backup to Josh Harding.  While Harding has played well during Backstrom’s absence, if he has another game like the one in Nashville, you should expect Backstrom to make some sort of showing in the game.  There also is a distinct possibility that Backstrom could start as well, as the Flames are fighting even more for their very playoff lives than the Wild.  With Minnesota’s losses in Nashville and Columbus, their playoff hopes are essentially dashed, while Calgary is just on the cusp.  Expect the Flames to come out firing today.  Minnesota’s goaltender question will be answered by a combination of this morning’s skate and the pre-game warmups.

The “new” guys of Casey Wellman and Nate Prosser have seen different amounts of ice-time since their signings.  With the injuries, head coach Todd Richards had no choice but to play Wellman in his first game in Columbus.  The choice paid off, as Wellman tallied his first NHL point in his first NHL game.  Even better, is that he didn’t stop there.  The former U-Mass player was sniffing around the net whenever he was on the ice and almost scored his first goal.  If he can continue to apply that kind of pressure on opposing goaltenders, his goals will come soon enough.  What was interesting, is that Nate Prosser almost saw his own NHL debut on Friday night as well.  While he didn’t play, he did don a Wild jersey during the pre-game warm-up.  With all the injuries on the blue-line that are supposedly bringing players with broken ankles back into action, Prosser may still see his debut this season.  Of course, there is the possibility that the coaching staff and front office held off on his debut, in order to have the Minnesota-native has his first NHL game in front of the home crowd, allowing him to have family and friends in attendance.

Whatever happens from here on out will happen.  Simply hang out, grab some beverages of choice, and try to enjoy the rest of the ride.  Sure it’s hard to enjoy losing games, but with Minnesota sport news quickly turning to the hype surrounding the Minnesota Twins’ new Target Field, I’ll take any hockey over baseball any day.