You turn on the TV the last month or so and it has been real difficult to bear with political ad after political ad from the positive ones where a candidate tries to tell you how much better our nation will be with them in office or attack ads where they tell us how terrible it would be to vote for the other candidate. Its relentless, its phenomenally expensive and there is almost no relief from it. The news broadcasts obsesses over it, it cranks up the hype machine and at the end of the day we all know what will happen. Life will go on regardless of who or who isn’t the winner in today’s elections. The world will not end, the trains will not stop, the days will keep rolling along as if these elections never took place. That’s the irony of it all. Despite all the grave warnings about so and so being a horrible mistake to vote for (insert candidate of your choice here) on November 2nd in the grand scheme of things it doesn’t really change the way we live all that much. Sure it gives the news something to discuss, but they always find something to prattle on about. I say this as a teacher who teaches civics and tries to instill in our nation’s children the importance of voting but let’s be honest after you vote (and I’d encourage everyone to do so that legally can) its out of our hands unless you’re in office. So do I worry about what will happen with the changes or non-changes that take place? No, not at all. Like most people I just flow with it and make the best of whatever happens next. Yet, won’t it be great (at least for a little while) once this election tomfoolery is all over? If anything to get away from those annoying TV and radio ads? I know I’m looking forward to it. So since we’re talking elections (since it is Election Day in the U.S. afterall) how about we propose a new sort of election for the guy you’d like to see coaching the Wild.
First we start off with our incumbant, current Wild bench boss Todd Richards. It has been a rough first year for the Minnesota-native where many of the fans have begun to question his ability to match lines as well as the effectiveness of his up-tempo system with a roster that seems to suffer from a limited amount of speed. Richards, whose liberal set of rules for the team’s defenseman last season led to an uncomfortably high amount of odd-man rushes that saw goaltender Niklas Backstrom‘s goals against average balloon to over 2.7 goals per game was a side effect of the fact the team gave up 42 goals more than it did under the previous regime in 2008-09. Adding to that consternation was the fact the Wild managed to score the same amount of goals as they did in 2008-09 was frustrating to those who always touted the need for a more wide open system that Richards’ liberal mandate was supposed to provide. Enter in Richards’ challenger in the figurative sense, in his predecessor former Wild Head Coach Jacques Lemaire. Lemaire never seemed to struggle all that much with matching lines and his system demonstrated rather convincingly he could even make a roster filled with NHL journeyman and almost no star talent and make them a stifiling and competitive team. Many Wild fans, even those who once criticized Lemaire’s style in the past when he was coach of the team now admit he was able to get a lot out of his players by playing a defensively responsible system (some would say conservative) known notoriously as the neutral zone trap. Lemaire was certainly not the only coach that used the neutral zone trap or the many variations of it, but his strong conservative leadership and insistance upon its use made him the poster boy / whipping boy depending on which expert was chiming in about its effect on the game. Well it wouldn’t be a political race for office without an outsider or ‘third party’ candidate so let’s toss in newly hired Wild scout Michel Therrien. Michel Therrien is our maverick. An independent minded coach who some may think is closer to Jacques Lemaire than Todd Richards (in that way maybe you’d call Therrien a hockey version of the tea party), Therien has already shown in his previous tenure with the Pittsburgh Penguins he is going to coach his way regardless of the star talent that may or may not be on the team he is coaching. Many Wild fans have speculated that the addition of Therien is perhaps a sign the team is wanting to change back to a more defensive style of hockey, and it is no secret that Wild General Manager Chuck Fletcher has shown a strong connection to his days with the Penguins organization, something that both Therien and Richards share in their previous positions as coach. So who will win our 2010 Wild election? If Minnesota can manage to win tonight over San Jose, Todd Richards’ former team (where he served as an assistant coach) would go along way to helping his chances. That being said, be sure to vote in our poll, and this is at least a place where you can stay home and still exercise your right to vote. We shall see how it all turns out tonight.
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The game had great pace as Minnesota started the game with its 3rd forward unit, the so-called “energy” line as the both teams were moving well from the drop of the puck. The Sharks’ Patrick Marleau would hammer a slapper on goal that was stopped by Backstrom. Minnesota followed that up with its top line and after some good work down low the Wild were unable to get a shot on Antero Niitymaki, until Cam Barker stepped up and he fired a wrist shot that was blocked aside by the San Jose goalie. The Sharks tried to answer back with its own energy line but the Wild were moving well and San Jose was not able to create much pressure at all. You could sense San Jose growing a little impatient and big strong defenseman Douglas Murray decided to use his fame to power his way around Greg Zanon where he tried to drive to and through the crease but was stonewalled by Backstrom before plowing into the Wild goalie. The collision would earn Murray a goaltender interference penalty. On the man advantage the Sharks penalty killing strategy was simple and obvious; stop Matt Cullen. With Cullen being closely shadowed the Wild power play struggled to get set up in the offensive zone as Minnesota tried to use Mikko Koivu to carry the puck along the blueline and dishing it to the boards where they’d try to move the puck back to the point men but San Jose was using good active sticks. All Minnesota was able to manage was a small turnaround shot by Koivu that was easily kicked aside by Niitymaki. The Sharks would try to apply pressure by continuing to move to the crease as Torrey Mitchell attempted a wrap around and then whacked at the puck hoping to stuff it in by Backstrom held strong between the pipes. A few minutes later the Wild tried to go to its 2nd line to create some pressure as a flip into the zone was chased down by Cal Clutterbuck who got lit up by a big hit by Murray. The Wild were taking their chances to take the body as well as supporting well defensively in their own zone and it was paying off by keeping the Sharks settling for long-range chances. Minnesota may have been trying to get its its share of hits, but more often than not it was ending up with the Wild player getting the worse of it; and the Sharks Devin Setoguchi would draw a penalty on Justin Falk who got his arm out there and haul him down as he chased a puck down low. The Sharks power play worked well at getting the puck down low and traffic near Backstrom as they tried to take advantage of screens but the San Jose shots were off the mark. As the Sharks looked to be getting closer and closer to creating a great scoring chance as typified by a slap pass by Dany Heatley to a wide open Joe Pavelski but the Plover, Wisconsin-native drove his shot wide left. The Wild’s penalty killers started to throw their weight around as Eric Nystrom and Greg Zanon paid the physical price to clear the zone and kill off the remaining seconds of the Sharks power play to the appreciative cheers of the Xcel Energy Center crowd. The Sharks were still playing aggressive and Joe Thornton tried to work the puck back to the crease but he would be shut down by a nice stick check by Matt Cullen. The Wild would counter attack as Cam Barker carried the puck down towards the the goal before threading a pass towards a crashing Chuck Kobasew that just failed to click. Minnesota continued to hustle and the Wild woudl draw a holding penalty on Pavelski earning its 2nd power play of the game with just over a minute left in the period. The power play did not start well as a terrible puck drop allows the Sharks to win the faceoff and then losing the puck along the boards and Dany Heatley charged into the Minnesota zone where Mikko Koivu hauled down Thornton for an easy call, negating the man advantage. With the ice a bit more open 4-on-4 neither team was able to do much of it and the period would end with both teams knotted at 0-0 going into the 2nd period.
The 2nd period would start with both teams at 4-on-4 and Minnesota looked as though they were happy to work the puck deep and keep San Jose at bey. The Sharks would have a short power play but Minnesota would do a nice job of eliminating time and space and they even managed to create a shorthanded chance as John Madden stole a puck in the neutral zone where he blasted a slap shot that was blocked away by Niitymaki and the Wild would kill off the remaining 30 seconds of time on the man advantage. The relief from the penalty kill would be short lived as they would take another penalty as Greg Zanon was tagged for slashing. Niklas Backstrom continued to show his brilliance between the pipes with great vision as he came up with a nice collection of saves to keep the game knotted at 0-0. The first coming off a long-range wrist shot by Dan Boyle that he gloved as he had a lot of traffic near his crease. San Jose’s next opportunity came off a nice little one on one move by Logan Couture who drove straight down the slot and by Cal Clutterbuck for a point blank backhand on Backstrom who stonewalled him with a leg pad save and then shutdown his rebound attempt. The last one was a redirected pass that glanced off the skate of Setoguchi that was just pushed aside by the toe save by Backstrom. Shortly after the Wild killed off this penalty, Minnesota fans would have something to cheer about when Torrey Mitchell was leveled by a nice clean hit by Justin Falk. The Sharks’ Ryane Clowe did not like the hit and he moved in and immediately challenged Falk to a fight who obliged but just as they were about to throw punches Falk would fall to the ice after stepping on Clowe’s stick and no fight would occur and both would recieve roughing penalties. Minnesota would benefit from Clowe’s aggressiveness as the Wild would earn a power play as Clowe got an extra roughing minor for initiating the attempted fight. Yet Minnesota was incredibly ineffective as the Sharks just jammed the puck against the wall and nearly killed 25 seconds of power play time as the Wild seemed powerless to dig it out. The Wild power play could not seem to find almost anything resembling time and space and when they did enter the zone they were unable to even generate a shot on goal. Perhaps out of frustration more than anything, Brent Burns tried to lead the attack himself and he drove wide left and attempted to bring the puck to the crease whered he tried to stuff a puck by Niitymaki before running into him earning a goaltender interference penalty. Minnesota went back on the penalty kill but the Wild were aggressive and challenging the Sharks the full length of the ice giving them fits as John Madden, Eric Nystrom and Cal Clutterbuck all managed to harass San Jose as it worked its way through the neutral zone. With another penalty kill success the Wild’s hard work would pay off as the Sharks John McCarthy would draw blood on Chuck Kobasew giving Minnesota a 4-minute man advantage. Minnesota’s power play would have a bit more edge to it as they were blasting shots at Niitymaki right from the start. The Wild would hustle after the loose pucks and Minnesota would draw another Sharks penalty as Torrey Mitchell cross checked Martin Havlat into the boards giving the State of Hockey a big 2-man advantage. Minnesota would take full advantage of the delayed call, pulling Backstrom for an extra attacker and it was Matt Cullen and Marek Zidlicky winding up and unloading slappers that were missing just wide of the mark before Niitymaki was finally able to hold onto a long range shot to earn a whistle. Sensing this critical point of the game Sharks Head Coach Todd McClellan called a timeout to talk things over with his team. On the 5-on-3 the Wild would strike after a wicked cross-ice pass from Martin Havlat to Andrew Brunette who fired a shot off the crossbar, but a few seconds later the Wild would try the same play again and Brunette buried the biscuit to give Minnesota a 1-0 lead. Because of the double minor to McCarthy the Wild still had a long 5-on-3 power play to work with. Minnesota would get a little more passive on the power play and not use as much puck movement and they struggled to do much more than blast a few point shots on goal, the last of which Niitymaki would hold onto which effectively killed off the 5-on-3 as Mitchell would return to the ice. With the power play now 5-on-4 the Wild struggled to find much room and their best chance came off a quick slap of the puck by Clutterbuck that was kicked away by Niitymaki. As the power play ended, Clutterbuck welcomed McCarthy back into the game with a big shoulder that sent him crumbling to the ice and the Wild were showing more nastiness to their game as Eric Nystrom was hitting Sharks players left and right including a nice hit on Joe Thornton that nearly sent ‘Jumbo’ into his own bench. The Sharks were trying to use their superior size and speed and try to crash the Wild crease, but Backstrom again was strong as the denied a shot by Niclas Wallin who was sneaking in down low. Minnesota would again show terrific hustle and prevent the Sharks from developing much offense late as they took their 1-goal lead into the 2nd period.
The 3rd period was more akin to rope-a-dope but the Wild were not just sitting back and hoping Backstrom would stand on his head. The Wild were playing with plenty of moxie, throwing their body around and even going on the attack on occasion and Minnesota was outworking the Sharks and frustrating them with tenacious backchecking efforts. San Jose had a great chance early, as Ryane Clowe was set up on a nice no-look pass by Joe Pavelski but his quick snap shot was steered aside by Backstrom. Minnesota was showing outstanding effort down the stretch but that was nearly derailed when Nick Schultz tripped up Joe Thornton by getting the blade of his stick into the skates of the big foward and he went careening into the boards and was a little worse for the wear. Minnesota’s penalty kill was again aggressive, and Cal Clutterbuck would demonstrate outstanding hustle as he hounded the puck into the San Jose Sharks’ zone into the neutral zone as well killing off valuable seconds. The tremendous hustle would turn into more Sharks frustration and after Dan Boyle had a shot of his blocked by John Madden he tripped up the Wild forward before he was able to at least threaten with a shorthanded opportunity negating the last 30 seconds of the man-advantage. The Wild would go on the man advantage but it was a more calculated effort as they too were frustrated by the excellent puck pressure the Sharks had. Minnesota’s best chance came off the stick of Brent Burns who stepped around a defender as he fired a shot that was deflected high and wide of the goal and the Wild couldn’t make the Sharks play for their lack of discipline. One player who had great poise down the stretch was Wild rookie Justin Falk who was using his 6’5″ frame and winning battles for the puck along the boards and then making a quick and safe play to outlet the biscuit out of the defensive zone. In the closing minutes the Wild simply appeared to want it more, readily dropping to block shots, taking away passing lanes with good active sticks and Minnesota would prevail 1-0.
Niklas Backstrom was outstanding, making 36 saves in the shutout. Backstrom had terrific angles and never seemed to be out of control, even on tough to judge redirect opportunities. He was able to come up with timely saves and Minnesota’s defense was supporting him well by clearing away the rebounds and thwarting the Sharks from having 2nd chance opportunities. All of the Wild’s defense had a tremendous game. They were being physical when they needed to be and I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised how well Cam Barker played in his return to the lineup. He was poised, confident and he played a simplified game that did not yield the turnovers that most Wild fans have come to expect from him. Zanon, Falk, Schultz, Zidlicky, Burns and Barker all deserve a star as far as I’m concerned.
Offensively the Wild did not have much going in this game; especially when they were not on the power play as they were able to generate just 16 shots on goal. The Wild are simply too dependent on the power play and still do not appear to have the ability to create much at even strength. Only Mikko Koivu was able to create some havoc late in the game with a few tricky opportunities but they need more involvement 5-on-5 from Martin Havlat, Andrew Brunette and others. Casey Wellman is not looking too good and I think the team will probably not hesitate to send him down. He has good speed but he looked hesitant tonight and when you’re playing that way against a quality opponent that usually means you get burned.
Minnesota has another tough test in division rival Calgary coming to town on Friday. The Flames have been hot and cold no pun intended but the Wild will have a few days to prepare and get themselves physically and mentally ready to battle against a team that loves to play a punishing style. Tonight was a great win, but Minnesota cannot afford to rest on its laurels. Todd Richards earned a narrow victory tonight, so the incumbant remains in office for now.
Wild Notes:
~ The Wild roster tonight was as follows: Mikko Koivu, Andrew Brunette, Chuck Kobasew, Martin Havlat, Matt Cullen, Casey Wellman, Eric Nystrom, John Madden, Kyle Brodziak, Cal Clutterbuck, Colton Gillies, Brad Staubitz, Cam Barker, Marek Zidlicky, Nick Schultz, Brent Burns, Greg Zanon and Justin Falk. Jose Theodore backed up Niklas Backstrom. Clayton Stoner was the lone healthy scratch while Antti Miettinen is out with concussion-like symptoms, Guillaume Latendresse is out of action with a sore groin and Pierre-Marc Bouchard is still slowing improving and getting closer to returning to the lineup.
~ The 3 Stars of the Game as selected by Let’s Play Hockey were: 1st Star Niklas Backstrom, 2nd Star Mikko Koivu, 3rd Star Dan Boyle
~ Attendance tonight was 16,502 at Xcel Energy Center, still just one sellout for the 2010-11 season.
Wild Prospect Report:
LW – Kris Foucault ~ Calgary Hitmen (WHL)
2010-11 Stats: 11GP 3G 5A = 8pts 15 PIM’s -2
If you talk to Calgary Hitmen fans about Kris Foucault you get mixed reviews. Some say he more or less is the same player he has been throughout his junior career; a very streaky but skilled player who at times can look like the most impressive player on the ice and at others where you scarcely knew he was there at all. Foucault is off to a reasonable start with the Hitmen, even though he is out of the lineup nursing a separated shoulder. While one fan did not see much improvement in the Calgary-native another fan offered up an interesting point about how he felt the 6’1″, 202lbs winger has added a little more aggressiveness physically adding that he stood up for a teammate who got hit from behind on a dirty play. Foucault seems to save his best contributions where he has been nearly a point per game player in the post-season the last two years, including helping the Hitmen win the Ed Chynoweth Trophy as Western Hockey League champions and earning a bearth in the Memorial Cup. The Hitmen are in a bit of a rebuilding mode, and some of their fans believe Foucault may be dealt near the deadline later in the season.
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