One thing about pre-season, is that it takes me back to the days where we lived on the north side of our building and we had dial-up internet. We moved to southern Wisconsin in the summer of 2002. Because of our apartment’s location, we couldn’t have a satellite dish. So any games we watched had to be on ESPN. The vast majority of the nights, we had to hope that our dial-up internet cooperated enough that we could listen to the game online. It was painful, but it’s what a couple of desperate hockey fans will do. So now, here it is the NHL pre-season, and I’m listening to the game using online streaming. While it’s harder to listen to the game, at least I’m doing it with high-speed internet. Gone are the days of buffering. Gone are the days of getting kicked off and having to re-dial. I must say, back in those days I never expected that I would own a device such as a Kindle. Thank you technology. And of course there is the added advantage of listening to Bob Kurtz and Tom Reid on the radio. I will say, while it’s nice to have hockey back, from a blogger’s perspective, I don’t know if I’m ready. However, if you’re a night owl and you get NHL Network, you can watch the re-broadcast at 11:00pm tonight.
First Period Notes: The Wild would start with Niklas Backstrom in net. I have to admit, it’s been forever that I’ve seen him in a Wild uniform that I’ve essentially forgotten he was a member of this team. With that in mind, it appears that we’re going to have another season with unknown goaltending. Josh Harding with his broken foot, Darcy Kuemper with a new contract, and tonight’s backup (and will play half of the game), Ilya Bryzgalov on a pro tryout. Nothing like starting a season with that soap opera. Minnesota would get the first power play of the night, but were unable to do much with it. Of course, when you’re dressing a roster with a bunch of young players hoping to secure a position in the NHL, it’s not much of a shock that it was an uneventful power play. However, it appears that Winnipeg tonight is dressing an actual attempt at an NHL roster. When the Jets earned their first power play, they certainly had more and better scoring chances. And were it not for the veteran Backstrom in the net, the Jets would be up 1-0. Between the 2 penalties and a fight between Stu Bickel and Chris Thorburn you begin to wonder how long the teams will take to feel each other out. The Wild would get the their second power play due to a holding call. The Wild would get some better scoring chances, but it still seems that the prowess they need just isn’t quite there yet. But then, when you compare the two different rosters, it could be a long and painful night for Wild fans. The other aspect of pre-season games, is that you often see tougher players playing in order to make a name for themselves. The second attempted fight would be between Curt Gogol and Anthony Peluso. The officials let them get no further than removing their helmets much to the disappointment of the fans. The Wild definitely need to add some toughness to the roster, so perhaps we’ll see one of these tougher guys stick once the regular season starts. Thankfully, the Wild would head into the locker room with a 0-0 score on the scoreboard.
Second Period Notes: Players such as Brett Bulmer are clearly trying to make themselves valuable. Early in the second period, he would get a decent scoring chance only to be shut down by Ondrej Pavelec. Bickel and Peluso also decided they wanted a piece of each other. Since they learned that they needed to keep their helmets on, they were allowed to dance. Since we’re seeing a lot of young players tonight, many fans have to wonder when we’ll start seeing the vets. Now this is not unusual, but it sounds like head coach Mike Yeo is going to be working those vets in earlier, so that when the regular season starts, the core will have more game experience under their belt. This is a change that Yeo wanted to make over last season. If that’s the case, it could be a more interesting pre-season for players and fans alike. With the exception of the penalties and fights, the game has been moving right along. Bob and Tom made the interesting note that well into the second period, we have yet to have an icing called in a game. Those are the kinds of plays that tend to slow a game down to a snail’s pace. Charlie Coyle would head to the penalty box just seven minutes in for a roughing call. The Jets were able to really move the puck until Nino Niederreiter interrupting the play combined with lazy play by Winnipeg’s Dustin Byfuglien. As we head to the half-way point of the game, we have to wonder when both teams will make their goaltending changes. And as we head to a radio time out, we’re now going to see both teams make their switches. This could certainly make the game a bit more interesting on both sides. And now the Winnipeg fans have decided to once again serenade Bryzgalov. Hopefully, he gets the same results as the last time he wore a Wild jersey in Winnipeg. Just mere minutes into his start for the night, Bryzgalov will have to face his first power play due to a Justin Falk penalty. The Jets skaters decided the best game would be to attempt to pepper Bryzgalov, and the plan worked since Byfuglien would give his team the 1-0 lead. The Wild would attempt to get their own power play goal of the night. While they could move the puck, they just didn’t have the same kind of fire power and chemistry. Minnesota would finish out the second period on the power play, due to a high-sticking call against Tobias Enstrom. The Wild would head into the second intermission down by one goal.
Third Period Notes: The third period would start out again with some of the usual uncertainty that we often see a period start with. Unfortunately, that uncertainty wouldn’t last, at least not for the Jets. Winnipeg would take a 2-0 lead off an early period goal from Bryan Little. The young Wild players and Bryzgalov will have to dig deep in order to make a come back attempt. I can’t imagine I’m the only one out there who hates losing even pre-season games even though they don’t count in the long run. However, these games do count in one aspect. Performances by individuals often determine where they play once the regular season starts. I do worry sometimes that the nerves of players hoping to make the Wild cause them to stumble and mess up the team chemistry. One player that many have been excited to see, has had a great game. Many have been waiting for Christian Folin. Hopefully if he makes the team he will ultimately put some pressure on Jonas Brodin to improve his game this season. We know we need some improvement on the blue line, so some competition just might be what the doctor ordered. Of course anything that would increase scoring for the perpetually low-scoring Minnesota Wild would also be much appreciated. The sad thing is, is I find that every season I ask for those two things, and I am often disappointed. It’s kind of like the little girl who every year asks Santa for a pony for Christmas but receives a decidedly non-equine gift. The one gift the Wild would get is that the game wouldn’t be 3-0 because instead of Michael Frolik being awarded the empty-net goal, he was sent to the box for roughing. And when you think the game is over, Tyler Graovac prevented the shut-out thanks to the much-needed speed of Jason Zucker. At this point, I’ll take a goal, even if there were only 13 seconds left. The Wild came close to tying it up, but at this point I’ll take the 2-1 loss.
Wild Notes:
Wild Roster: Charlie Coyle, Jordan Schroeder, Cody Almond, Jason Zucker, Stephanne Veilleux, Nino Niederreiter, Brett Sutter, Michael Keranen, Curt Gogol, Tyler Graovac, Brett Bulmer, Kurtis Gabriel, Keith Ballard, Stu Bickel, Christian Folin, Jonathan Blum, Gustav Olofsson, and Justin Falk. Niklas Backstrom started the game and Ilya Bryzgalov played the second half.
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