Minnesota Wild (41-25-7) 89pts 4th in the Central
2.82 Goals For (10th)
2.47 Goals Against (10th)
15.1% Power Play (27th)
86.7% Penalty Kill (1st)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #11 Zach Parise ~ 28G 28A = 56pts
2. #26 Thomas Vanek ~ 19G 30A = 49pts
3. #29 Jason Pominville ~ 16G 32A = 48pts
4. #9 Mikko Koivu ~ 11G 31A = 42pts
5. #20 Ryan Suter ~ 2G 34A = 36pts
Top 3 PIM’s:
1. #44 Chris Stewart ~ 79 PIM’s
2. #6 Marco Scandella ~ 52 PIM’s
3. #21 Kyle Brodziak ~ 45 PIM’s
Top Goaltenders:
1. #40 Devan Dubnyk (32-11-3) 2.10GAA .929SV% 6SO
2. #35 Darcy Kuemper (13-12-2) 2.65GAA .904SV% 3SO
3. #32 Niklas Backstrom (5-7-3) 3.04GAA .887SV%
Vs.
New York Islanders (44-25-4) 92pts 2nd in the Metropolitan
2.99 Goals For (4th)
2.74 Goals Against (22nd)
18.1% Power Play (16th)
77.3% Penalty Kill (27th)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #91 John Tavares ~ 33G 40A = 73pts
2. #18 Ryan Strome ~ 15G 30A = 45pts
3. #21 Kyle Okposo ~ 15G 30A = 45pts
4. #29 Brock Nelson ~ 18G 22A = 40pts
5. #51 Frans Nielsen ~ 12G 28A = 40pts
Top 3 PIM’s:
1. #17 Matt Martin ~ 114 PIM’s
2. #3 Travis Hamonic ~ 83 PIM’s
3. #15 Cal Clutterbuck ~ 54 PIM’s
Top Goaltenders:
1. #41 Jaroslav Halak (35-15-1) 2.41GAA .913% 5SO
2. #33 Chad Johnson (17-8-8) 3.08GAA .889%SP
3. #30 Michal Neuwirth (7-19-4) 2.98GAA .915%SP
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWcaSLjaKDU]
Tonight my friends, marks the end of an era. And who better to express that end of a chapter than Mr. New York himself, the late Frank Sinatra. While we’re thinking of tonight and the much needed and wanted two points, I think we need to sit back, take a breath, and look back. If you’re wonder why I’m in this nostalgic mood, it’s this. Tonight marks the last time that Minnesota will play a regular season NHL game at the aging Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum and on Long Island in general. Sometime next season, the Minnesota Wild (and every other team in the league) will be playing in Brooklyn instead.
I don’t know about you, but there’s something almost kitschy about the old Coliseum. If you haven’t visited the current home of the New York Islanders, you’ve definitely missed out. Now I’m sure, there are those reading this who are thinking “but it’s old, dingy, and has none of the modern amenities that the new facilities have.” Well that’s true. However, there’s something old-school about attending a game at the Coliseum. When you walk in, you can actually feel history. The Coliseum bore witness to four consecutive Stanley Cup Championships in the early 1980’s. As Minnesota Hockey fans, many of us still get teary over the finals in 1981, in which the North Stars lost in their first of two appearances in the Stanley Cup Finals to the New York Islanders.
For myself, I made one trip to the Coliseum. Now before you think I made a trip all the way from Minnesota, you can discard that notion. During the Wild’s inaugural season, I happened to be attending graduate school in Hartford, Connecticut at the time. Let me tell you, when you walk into the home of a storied franchise (albeit at that time, the Coliseum was known as the Mausoleum), wearing a Minnesota Wild jersey, you definitely stick out. There were maybe a handful of people in all of the Coliseum wearing this new-fangled jersey that few on Long Island had seen for themselves. I was such an oddity, that I was approached by the host family of a Japanese foreign exchange student and had my picture taken. I even became the target of this individual:
Goldie, as he’s known by many, is an Islanders super fan. I honestly had no idea the guy existed. I learned afterwards on an now defunct message board, that he’s a bit of an institution. He likes to approach visiting fans and chat with them, and in a Wild jersey, he simply couldn’t resist. I’m sure that between my gender and the fact that the Islanders had no history with the Wild, he was much nicer to me than say your typical visiting Rangers fan. I have to wonder if he’ll make the journey to Brooklyn for every game, or if this season will be the end of an era for himself.
In that game, I had the chance to watch a young goaltender who many hoped would be the future of the team. No, it wasn’t Manny Fernandez or Jamie McLennan. In fact, I can’t remember who was on the bench as backup or why either of those two were the starter. What I do remember was that I got to see Derek Gustafson pitch a game that was one goal short of a shutout. Not only that, for a team that wasn’t exactly known for scoring many goals, they did score four goals in one game. Back then, that was an accomplishment. What was funny about the game, is that Wes Walz would apologize to Gustafson for the one goal that the Wild allowed. If I remember correctly, the Wild were five or minutes away from a shutout, but Walz failed to clear the zone. Sadly, after this great outing by Gustafson, his career never really took off. He spent most of his professional career with the Wild’s various minor league affiliates. Gustafson retired after the 2007-08 season with the Alaska Aces of the ECHL.
So tonight, we say goodbye to the Coliseum. The only way we would see this building again, would be a Stanley Cup Final between the Islanders and the Wild this season. Considering that both teams are in playoff positions, there is a possibility of this happening. The last time it happened was 34 years ago, and I think it would be nice to see a repeat, albeit with a different outcome. Of course, we need to get there first. So to Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum and the New York Islanders faithful, we join you in the end of an era. Yes, you get a new home next season at Barclays Center, but with all the glitz and glam of new arenas, I know part of me will miss the old-school feel of the Coliseum. Since the Wild won their first game at the Coliseum, I would love to see them win their last game there as well.
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