Minnesota Wild (0-2-0) 0pts 7th in the Central
2.00 Goals For Per Game (27th in the NHL)
4.50 Goals Against Per Game (27th in the NHL)
28.6% Power Play (11th in the NHL)
87.5% Penalty Kill (8th in the NHL)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #20 Ryan Suter ~ 1G 2A = 3pts
2. #24 Matt Dumba ~ 1G 1A = 2pts
3. #16 Jason Zucker ~ 1G 0A = 1pt
4. #11 Zach Parise ~ 1G 0A = 1pt
5. #77 Brad Hunt ~ 0G 1A = 1pt
Top 3 PIM’s:
1. #19 Luke Kunin ~ 4 PIM’s
2. #36 Mats Zuccarello ~ 4 PIM’s
3. #25 Jonas Brodin ~ 2 PIM’s
Top Goaltenders:
1. #40 Devan Dubnyk (0-2-0) 3.58GAA .887SV%
2. #32 Alex Stalock N/A
Vs.
Winnipeg Jets (2-2-0) 4pts 4th in the Central
3.25 Goals For Per Game (15th in the NHL)
3.75 Goals Against Per Game (22nd in the NHL)
11.1% Power Play (23rd in the NHL)
71.4% Penalty Kill (20th in the NHL)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #55 Mark Scheifele ~ 1G 5A = 6pts
2. #29 Patrik Laine ~ 1G 5A = 6pts
3. #27 Nikolaj Ehlers ~ 1G 4A = 5pts
4. #4 Neal Pionk ~ 2G 1A = 3pts
5. #26 Blake Wheeler ~ 2G 1A = 3pts
Top 3 PIM’s:
1. #23 Carl Dahlstrom ~ 2 PIMs
2. #2 Anthony Bitetto ~ 2 PIMs
3. #9 Andrew Copp ~ 2 PIMs
Top Goaltenders:
1. #37 Connor Hellebuyck ~ (1-1-0) 3.02GAA .913SV%
2. #30 Laurent Brossoit ~ (1-1-0) 3.84GAA .889SV%
Hello all. I feel like I’ve already missed a lot of the season, but honestly it’s only been two games. I had been in Germany since October 2nd and only got back Stateside on Tuesday. I was able to catch part of the first game thanks to some serious jetlag, the iHeart Radio app, and some headphones. With the seven hour time difference, I wasn’t able to really follow the team in any real capacity, plus I was on vacation. Of course, now I’m back home, but yet I still can’t really follow the team. The Minnesota Wild along with several other teams who broadcast their games on their regional Fox Sport Net station who have fans who use Dish Network as their satellite provider are completely blacked out. It also sounds like all negotiations between Dish and Fox Sports have completely fallen apart. Now, I’m sure some of you are thinking “well Theresa, why don’t you just switch providers?” Well yes, that’s a possibility, but who’s to say the same problems won’t later happen with DirectTV or other cable company in the near future? So as of now, we’re having to use a streaming radio version. In a funny way, it’s almost like I’m back in Germany. At least it won’t be 3 in the morning when I’m listening.
I’ll admit, looking at early season stats usually tell you very little about the team’s chances. But this is the Minnesota Wild we’re talking about. Looking at the goals per game stat (and its ranking within the league), it feels like little has changed. But to add insult to injury, combine that with the goals against, and it almost makes you want to cry. When your team’s goals against per game is as abysmal as it is, it makes it almost impossible to believe your team even has a chance at being competitive. So instead, you get to watch your team being used as a practice squad by other teams. But hey, at least that power play (and to a lesser degree, the penalty kill) numbers look halfway decent. Yes, if you’re wondering, I feel like I’m scraping the bottom of the barrel to find something positive about the team.
If you thought this season was going to be an okay one, I would like to know how you thought that was going to be possible. If you thought this year the Minnesota Wild was going to pull off what the Saint Louis Blues did last season, again I want to know how you thought that was going to be possible. When I was listening to the Nashville game, one of the comments I was getting from some fellow fans, was that the Wild just look sloppy. Add that to the team’s overall lack of speed and you’re going to get little in return. Then against Colorado, the team started off slow, to which they were never able to recover. None of this makes me optimistic for the Wild chances either tonight on in the long-run. Until major changes happen on this team, it’s going to be the status quo for some time. So maybe it’s a good thing I can’t watch this team.
My apologies for the short preview today. Since I haven’t seen anything nor have I really been able to listen to the games, I still haven’t really felt that the season has started. All I know is that I would be happy if this team figured out its issues before I overcome my jet-lag. Though considering the brain fog I’m suffering from, I would gladly overcome the jet-lag first.
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