Minnesota Wild Reduce Roster

The Minnesota Wild hockey team has reduced the roster to 47.

The team reassigned Joel Broda (RW), Justin Fontaine (RW), Mike Kramer (RW), defeseman Sam Lofquist and defenseman Kyle Medvec to the Houston Aeros.

Others reassigned were center Tyler Graovac to the Ottawa 67s, defenseman Colton Jobke to Kelowna Rockets, defenseman Josh Caron to the Kamloops Blazers and left winger Carter Sandlak to the Belleville Bulls.

The Minnesota Wild open their season at home on 10/08 against the Blue jackets.

Mike Yeo Joins Host of New Minnesota Coaches

With the exception of the Minnesota Twins, all of the major sports teams in Minnesota will be/are experiencing the transition that coincides with a new head coach.

The Vikings are 0-2 under new head coach Leslie Frazier. The Minnesota Timberwolves just hired Rick Adelman. And the Minnesota Wild... Mike Yeo. (Even the Gophers have a new boss)

Yeo has the reputation of holding a serious work ethic and pushing his players to have the same. Yeo has said this job with the Wild has been a long time coming, a story more than 20 years in the making. He started taking notes on coaching over two decades ago and has finally landed his goal position: an NHL head coach.

Yeo is looking to bring a strong defensive system to the Wild, applying tough pressure to the puck, forcing their opponents to think quickly - forcing errors. He recognizes there may be no quick fix for a team three years out of the playoffs, but is striving to bring glory back to the ice of Minnesota.

Minnesota Wild Strengths and Weaknesses to Look Forward

I felt for my last blog post of the summer, I wanted to get you guys pumped up for a bunch of blogs that I have coming up for the rest of the year. I have spent the last week or so working on the strengths and weaknesses of each member of the Minnesota week. Some time during the season, I am going to start posting those strengths and weaknesses. I spent a lot of time on them, and I think they're going to be really great. So if you're really bored and you have a bad day at work, just know that you have those to look forward to.

Ex-Wild Pavol Demitra Dies

Pavol Demitra played for the Minnesota Wild from 2006-2008 and he was definitely one of the better players on the team. Sadly, Demitra died in a plane crash today and we only have the memories of him in NHL uniforms to cherish. He was playing for a Russian hockey team and the plane crashed this morning, killing everyone on the plane. Here's the statement that the Minnesota Wild released:

"The Minnesota Wild organization joins the rest of the hockey world in mourning the tragedy involving the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl hockey club. Pavol Demitra was a valuable member of our team for two seasons and helped the Wild claim its first-ever Northwest Division title in 2008. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Demitra family as well as all of the families that lost loved ones today."