Minnesota Wild (6-3-1) 13pts 2nd in the Central
3.30 Goals For Per Game (5th in the NHL)
2.10 Goals Against Per Game (3rd in the NHL)
16.1% Power Play (19th in the NHL)
96.3% Penalty Kill (1st in the NHL)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #20 Ryan Suter ~ 3G 7A = 10pts
2. #12 Eric Staal ~ 4G 4A = 8pts
3. #3 Charlie Coyle ~ 3G 4A = 7pts
4. #16 Jason Zucker ~ 2G 5A = 7pts
5. #64 Mikael Granlund ~ 2G 4A = 6pts
Top 3 PIM’s:
1. #7 Chris Stewart ~ 19 PIMs
2. #3 Charlie Coyle ~ 18 PIMs
3. #5 Christian Folin ~ 8 PIMs
Top Goaltenders:
1. #40 Devan Dubnyk ~ (5-2-1) 1.51GAA .928SV%
2. #35 Darcy Kuemper ~ (1-1-0) 4.00GAA .871SV%
Vs.
Colorado Avalanche (4-5-0) 8pts 6th in the Central
2.22 Goals For Per Game (27th in the NHL)
3.11 Goals Against Per Game (25th in the NHL)
19.4% Power Play (15th in the NHL)
78.4% Penalty Kill (22nd in the NHL)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #9 Matt Duchene ~ 5G 3A = 8pts
2. #29 Nathan MacKinnon ~ 1G 5A = 6pts
3. #92 Gabriel Landeskog ~ 2G 3A = 5pts
4. #28 Patrick Wiercioch ~ 1G 4A = 5pts
5. #4 Tyson Barrie ~ 1G 4A = 5pts
Top 3 PIM’s:
1. #12 Jarome Iginla ~ 27 PIMs
2. #14 Blake Comeau ~ 14 PIMs
3. #28 Patrick Wiercioch ~ 9 PIMs
Top Goaltenders:
1. #31 Calvin Pickard ~ (2-0-0) 2.49GAA .912SV%
2. #1 Semyon Varlamov ~ (2-5-0) 3.30GAA .891SV%
Well, this should be interesting folks. This is the first time we’re going to see the Colorado Avalance up close and personal without Patrick Roy as head coach. I’m going to miss the ego behind the bench. He always looked like the kind of guy who would either benefit from anger management or transcendental meditation. Considering his most recent exit from the Avalanche, I highly suggest the former. His leave-taking was like the little kid in the sandbox who didn’t get his way, so he pitched a fit and packed up all his toys and stomped off. If he wants to relax a bit and gain some inner peace, I suggest he moves to Maharishi Vedic City, Iowa. He can focus his mind and even send his children to a school that practices transcendental meditation in everything it does. Trust me folks, he can definitely use it. It can’t possibly be good for his health and relationships.
When you get a new coach, you generally hope for a fresh start. As Wild fans, we’ve experienced several new coaches in recent years. We didn’t quite the fresh start that anyone wanted. Todd Richards, Mike Yeo, and to a degree John Torchetti struggled with locker room attitudes. We now are fortunate in having Bruce Boudreau at the helm. However, we could still be in a bit of a honeymoon period, where everything is all peachy-keen. We’ll know who is in charge of this team when we get deep into the season. So far, things have been going okay. Jared Bednar so far hasn’t even gotten a honeymoon out of the Avalanche. Is Colorado an un-coachable team? Was Roy perhaps correct? In Bednar’s case however, this is his first time as an NHL head coach. He’s probably trying to figure out how he wants to coach and the players are probably testing his boundaries. Boudreau is having no first-year jitters. He walks into the locker room and onto the ice, and immediately demands respect. He has the experience, pedigree, and success that demands it. And this is something that hasn’t been behind the Wild bench since Jacques Lemaire. It will be interesting how the coaching effects both of these teams throughout the rest of the season.
I am curious to see how Minnesota handles themselves after a lengthy break. They’re currently in a lull in the season. The last game they played was Tuesday. Then after today, they won’t play again until Thursday. We all know this is a team that plays worse after a long break. However, considering all the injuries, it’s probably a good thing that this time off is happening now. Unlike past coaches, who have held optional practices when no one deserved optional anything, I can only hope that Boudreau has had them in the weight room and on the ice. This is a team that needs to be kept busy. If you’ve ever had a dog, you know that a bored dog is often a naughty dog. You know those new shoes you just bought? Well the bored dog turns them into their newest chew toy. You have to keep dogs occupied and give them attention in order to keep them out of trouble. The Minnesota Wild are much the same. They need to keep busy and occupied in order to keep them focused on hockey. So yes, it will be interesting how the Wild look this afternoon.
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