Who will win the 2010 Stanley Cup? Vote here for the NHL Playoff Winners!

Without the Minnesota Wild to capture my attention and free time, I have devoted the last few weeks to following some other hockey teams, don't worry I'm not abandoning my Minnesota Wild Hockey Roots, I'm just looking to fill the time until the 2010-2011 Minnesota Wild Season. My latest obession has been predicting who will win the NHL Playoffs and take home the Stanley Cup. Without a season of obessive game notes and player profiles, however, I'm not sure I'm really qualified to make accuarte predictions.

So if you think you are, or you just like to make Stnaley Cup Predictions, check out the poll on my right sidebar -------> and take a vote as to who will walk away with all of the hockey marbles this season!?

Did the Minnesota Wild ever have a chance at the NHL Playoffs?

I know that looking backwards is not helpful, and that when you do take a moment to reflect your hindsight is always 20/20... however, with the NHL Playoffs taking place sans The MN Wild, it has been hard to keep looking to the future.

There has been a lot of speculation as to why the Minnesota Wild even with a new coach and game plan were not more competitive this season. Some Wild Analysts have even gone as far to say that Richards should get the boot, after promising things he didn't deliver. I am of the opinion, however, that Minnesota Wild fans may have set their expectations too high this season.

In any sport, if the term "re-building" is thrown around, fans should immediately expect a 2 to 3 season change. A franchise is a big thing to change overnight. When Todd Richards stepped up to coach the Minnesota Wild, I don't think he had any intention of having an overwhelmingly successful season. In fact, my guess is that he is pretty happy with how the season went... the Wild won some, they lost some but most importantly they got the feel of the new style of skating and playing that Coach Richards wants to implement.

So to the Minnesota Wild fans how are disappointed the Wild is not playing in the playoffs, I would like you to take a moment and re-evaluate what you expected out of the season... and perhaps think about what it would have taken to get there.

Daoust signs with the Wild

Jean-Michel Daoust, a player for the Minnesota Wild’s AHL Houston Aeros team, has recently signed a one-year contract with the team. Last season, Jean-Michel was the lead scorer with 21 goals and 34 assists. These points were racked up in the 78 games the Aeros played. Jean-Michel is originally from Quebec and signed with the Houston Aeros before the 2009-10 season began. He had come from the Pittsburgh Penguins’ AHL affiliate team and is really excited to finally get his chance in the NHL.

World Championships

There were 16 teams who fought it out, gloves on…for the most part, for the World Championship title. From Norway, to Russia and even Belarus were in it to win it. Since the kickoff on April 24th, the United States had participated in eight games only winning three. I went into this tournament with high hopes stemming from these past winter Olympics, but was sorely let down. Last year we captured 5th place in the world ranking. Russia took the gold this year after taking on Canada this past Saturday in Switzerland. They only took it by one point, but they took it none the less.

10 year Anniversary of the Wild

This past Saturday, May 1, marked the tenth anniversary for the Minnesota Wild. To commemorate to huge occasion, the team unveiled a new mark for their jerseys that they will wear this next season (2010-11). The patch will be worn on the jersey for ever game, except for when they play in Finland which will then replace it with an NHL Premiere patch. The patch is designed as two hockey sticks in the shape of an "X" to represent their ten years in the NHL. I am so pumped for the next season to begin. With three new players now on the team (Cody Almond, Nate Prosser and Casey Wellman), they have a bright future ahead of them and I'm pretty confident there won't be a repeat of last season.