Fernandez Front Office Spat

Manny Fernandez continues his six-year tirade of trying to get out of Minnesota in an interview with Brian Murphy of the Pioneer Press. Murphy calls the interview Fernandez gave him “wide-ranging,” and from the looks of the article it probably was. Fernandez says he has to “break free of these chains” to reach his full potential in another NHL city. If he wants to go so bad, maybe he should. I wouldn’t mind giving the young and promising Josh Harding a shot at backing up the impeccable Niklas Backstrom. In face, the Wild organization trying to hold on to Fernandez almost has a comical feel to it, being that the Wild don’t really need Fernandez and because Manny is such a whiner. Even his agent in the May 30 article basically calls Manny a whiner by saying “It’s just Manny being Manny.” Perhaps the most hilarious part of the situation is the way coach Jacques Lemaire and assistant general manager Tom Lynn react to Fernandez and his antics.

“At least once or twice a year Manny or his agent have said we’re going to trade him imminently,” Lynn said in the Pioneer Press article by Murphy. “After six years, it doesn’t really register.”

So the Wild just ignore Fernandez and keep him sadistically in a Wild sweater? I’m sorry but I find that amusing. I say keep Manny around so we can hear more funny rants from him this season. Unless of course the Wild can get some real talent in exchange for him.

How Will Wild spend?

With Niklas Backstrom an almost sure lock as the Minnesota Wild’s starting goalie next year, it’s going to be interesting to see what the Wild do with Manny Fernandez, who is due to receive $4.5 million next year. I certainly don’t want to see the Wild paying a bench player that much money, but it would be sweet to have a solid backup for Backstrom. If the Wild is not going to pay Fernandez next season and move him in a trade, the Wild would be able to apply their free cap space a little more liberally during the offseason on hot free agents the way they did in the last offseason. I think it would help to surround the core Wild players of Bryan Rolston, Marian Gaborik and Pavol Demitra with some additional talent, perhaps a scoring defenseman.

Minnesota Wild Tickets are HOT!!!

In a news release, the Minnesota Wild announced that the franchise has 16,500 Wild season ticket holders and more than 7,500 on the season ticket waiting list. In order to get your name on the Minnesota Wild waiting list, you have to place a $200/seat non-refundable deposit.

The Minnesota Wild has sold out every single game in its 274 home games history. The average attendance has been 18,543 per game at the Xcel Energy Center, which has an official capacity of 18,064.

I am sure that the waiting list will continue to grow if the Minnesota Wild keeps playing as well as they did last year. I would get your name on the waiting list now before it is too late.

Manny on the Market

What is the Minnesota Wild doing right now with two number one goaltenders while they have a great opportunity to free some cap space by moving Manny Fernandez to a team that is desperate for goaltending? According to the Star Tribune, both the Florida Panthers and the Phoenix Coyotes could be possible candidates for making a trade for Fernandez. One thing is clear: The Wild is probably going to make Niklas Backstrom their number one goalie to start the 2007-08 season based on his stellar playoff performance, so where does Fernandez fit in if he has to sit on the bench? Let’s not forget that Josh Harding proved himself in his limited opportunities to net mind last season with that big shutout against the Edmonton Oilers on March 1.

Niklas Backstrom & Manny Fernandez?

I was very surprised to read that Assistant Minnesota Wild GM Tom Lynn said, "We feel we can sign Niklas without trading Manny [Fernandez]." In my opinion, the feasibility of retaining two goalies of this caliber and salary level ended when the new salary cap was instituted. The Minnesota Wild is starving for one or two more impact players and they need to cut ties with one of their goalies in order to have the cap room to sign them. I hope that Tom Lynn was simply posturing prior to attempting to trade Manny Fernandez to free up some $.

Xcel Says Good-Bye to Ice and Hello to Music

Now that the Minnesota Wild Season is over, the Xcel Energy Center can focus on their upcoming summer concerts. First up is Billy Joel on May 9th and then Kenny Chesney with his Flip Flop Tour kicking off on Mothers Day May 13th. If your mother or wife is hot for Kenny, Kenny Chesney tickets would be a great gift! Other big names to grace Excel in the next few months include Gwen Stefani, Nelly Furtado, Tool, Roger Waters, The Police, Josh Groban and more! It’s safe to say the “X” is sad the Wild got knocked out of the playoffs so early, but they aren’t sitting around moping about it, they have concerts to prepare for. On the Minnesota Wild website you can watch the Xcel Energy crew take out the ice in the arena. It’s a little sad to see them chopping away at our home pond, but it’s just the final chapter in this year’s short Minnesota Wild season. Here’s a link to watch the crew take out the ice: Xcel Energy Center