My Popular-Game Picks

Don't miss these popular out-of-town visits at the Xcel Energy Center:

Boston Bruins 2/19: defending Stanley Cup champions come to town
Anaheim Ducks 10/27, 2/14
Calgary Flames 11/27, 3/11, 3/22
Chicago Blackhawks 12/14, 4/5
Dallas Stars 1/21, 3/13
Detroit Red Wings 10/29
St. Louis Blues 11/5, 11/19
San Jose Sharks 1/10, 2/26
Winnipeg 2/16: first ever trip to the Xcel Energy Center!
Vancouver Canucks: 11/3, 2/9, 3/19: defending Western Conference champion

Minnesota Wild On 3 Game Winning Streak

The Minnesota Wild are on an impressive 3 game winning streak with a 4-0 victory over the Vancouver Canucks, 4-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers, and a 6-0 victory over the Calgary Flames. The victories at Edmonton and Calgary were at their respective arenas. Anton Khudobin earned a shutout against Vancouver and only gave up 1 goal against Edmonton. Niklas Backstrom returned from injury and showed his top form against the Calgary Flames with a 6-0 victory.

Minnesota Wild 3, Calgary Flames 1

The Minnesota Wild defeated the Calgary Flames 3 to 1 on Saturday night in Calgary. To follow up on that game, the Calgary Flames will now visit the Xcel Energy Center on Monday. Both squads are fighing for a playoff birth after missing the playoffs last season. Marco Scandella is back with the team and is expected to play tonight. I think he has a lot of ability and impressed me last season with Team Canada at the World Juniors Tournament last winter.

Calgary Flames vs. Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center

The Calgary Flames are making a visit to the Xcel Energy Center tonight. Personally, it is one of my favorite match-ups with the Minnesota Wild. Maybe it is the red and white C jerseys (one of the best in the league I might add). Maybe it is the fact I've been a huge Jarome Iginla fan (one of the best captains in the league). Either way, tonight makes a great game for any hockey or Minnesota Wild fan. Get your Minnesota Wild tickets today! Purchase your Minnesota Wild tickets with Hockey Tickets Minnesota!

Colorado Avalanche 7, Minnesota Wild 4

The Minnesota Wild were defeated by the Colorado Avalanche 7-4 on Saturday night. Scoring for the Minnesota Wild were Antti Miettinen, Matt Cullen, and Kyle Brodziak (twice). The Colorado Avalanche used a 4-0 second period to take a 5-2 lead heading into the 3rd period. It was a deflating loss for the Wild, who had a nice victory on Friday afternoon against the Nashville Predators. The Minnesota Wild will play the Calgary Flames on Monday in Calgary.

Minnesota Wild Win 3 In a Row

The Minnesota Wild have won 3 in a row. They have defeated the San Jose Sharks (1-0), the Calgary Flames (2-1), and Columbus Blue Jackets (3-2). They currently have 16 points through 13 games and are in 2nd place in the Division. Brent Burns and Niklas Backstrom have played great thus far and could be on their way to All-Star Game appearances if they keep it up. This week the Minnesota Wild will play at the Atlanta Thrashers (Thursday) and Florida Panthers (Friday).

Minnesota Wild Home Opener October 14th

This Thursday, the Minnesota Wild will have their home opener against the Edmonton Oilers. the Oilers are 2-0 with wins against the Calgary Flames and Florida Panthers. The Xcel Energy Center is not expected to continue to sellout streak that many Minnesota Wild fans are used to, but that doesn't mean the Minnesota Wild will quit. The team must rely on sound defense, depth, and timely scoring. For any Minnesota Wild tickets, check out Ticket King!

Wild lose momentum

Although the Wild was able to beat the Calgary Flames last week, the Flames managed to one up them this past Sunday. Jarome Iginla, of the Flames, recorded his tenth career hat trick against the Wild while Vesa Toskala made 27 saves in his first start with Calgary. Iginla has become the all-time leading scorer against MN even though he hasn't had a goal against them since mid-2008. The Wild will have to watch their backs the next time they play the Flames, because Iginla is on fire! Luckily Guillaume Latendresse was able to capture a couple goals, which took away the shootout from Calgary. Tune in tonight to catch the Wild play the Florida Panthers!

Wild off to a good start vs. Calgary

The Wild dominated the Calgary Flames last night with a 4-0 end on their own turf... or ice i should say. After Niklas Backstrom and Mikka Kiprussoff played side beside on the Finland team during the Olympics, everything changed last night when they went against each other in Calgary. Backstrom captured his second shutout of the season with 29 saves. This win is a great boost for the Wild morale, especially since the last eight games on the road were losses. Lets hoep they can keep it up!

Chance at the Playoffs?

The Minnesota Wild have 21 games left and to make it to the playoffs, they need to win every one of them...or at least the majority of them. The Wild know quite well asking for a 21-0 in the last stint of the regular season is not realistic. As of now, the MN Wild are 13th in points in their conference and cannot afford to falter in the next few games against Calgary (tonight at 10 p.m.) and Edmonton. These will be important games to keep building the momentum.

Wild's 400th game at the Xcel

The Minnesota Wild will play their 400th game at Xcel Energy Center this coming Sunday against the Calgary Flames. The Wild hope to continue their sellout streak to 400 games, which would be the longest in the NHL and the 3rd longest in league history. With 27 preseason games, 13 playoff contests and 359 regular season matches, the MN Wild are confident of their loyal fan base. During the first season for the MN Wild, they set an NHL expansion team attendance record when they drew 751,472 fans in 41 regular season contests.


Buy your tickets for the game or tune in at 2 p.m. on March 7 to catch the action!

Wild Tickets

It is obvious to me that the Minnesota Wild fans understand just how important Friday's game versus the Calgary Flames is. I took a quick peak online at Minnesota Wild Tickets on my favorite Minnesota Ticket Broker website and found that there are very few available and they are relatively expensive. I think that I am going to stay at home in St. Paul and watch the game on TV. GO WILD!!!

As a side note, I have never been so fired up for the Minnesota Twins season as I am this year. I am 100% going to snag some Twins Tickets for opening weekend. Maybe, they will bring Minnesota the championship that I am afraid the Wild won't bring us this year. GO TWINS!!!

Wild Better Tighten Up the Laces

The Minnesota Wild Schedule looks brutal over the next month – in fact, the Star Tribune puts it like this:

“One of the toughest stretches of the Wild's season is here, and the players had better be ready. It starts with a three-game stretch against some of the best teams in the Western Conference -- Calgary, Detroit and Chicago. After that, the Wild plays nine of the next 11 on the road.”


The players better be ready? Uh, yeah. They better. I think we will be able to tell if this Wild team is going to make it to the NHL playoffs this year just based on the next few games. Any thoughts Wild Fans?

Let’s hope for a home ice win tonight against Calgary Flames to start this tough stretch of schedule off right.

A Wild Record We Aren’t Proud Of

After losing to the Mighty Ducks on Sunday in Anaheim, the Minnesota Wild set a franchise record for most consecutive regular season losses: 5.

Let’s hope the Wild can stop the skid down the slippery slope tonight at home against the Calgary Flames. Marian Gaborik should be back on the ice, but I wouldn’t count on him to be the silver bullet –we will need a total team effort to score goals and keep up the defense.

Gaborik has missed the past 27 games thanks to his groin problems. He missed 5 games last year and 34 the year before that. Fan support for this “star” is definitely waning and if he doesn’t come out and play big tonight, it might as well be over for him. I am guessing you might hear some boo’s in the Xcel Energy Center UNLESS Gabby can score a goal (or two) then all will be forgotten in the state of hockey – because we just to win, perhaps at all costs.

Wild can’t handle the Flames in Calgary

The Minnesota Wild had a great chance at Calgary on Tuesday night to put some separation between themselves and other teams in the Northwest Division. They got off to a promising start with Brian Rolston’s first period goal, but the Wild were stalemated the rest of the contest while giving up two goals to the Flames. Wild killer Jarome Iginla was shut out, but it still didn’t matter for the Wild, who has a history of struggling at Calgary. A bright spot for the Wild was Josh Harding, who started in net and made 35 saves. The two goals netted on him were from bad defense by Keith Carney and a turnover, respectively.

The next time the Wild play at home is after the All Star break when they take on the Mighty Ducks. You can get Wild tickets from local brokers like Ticket King for around $80 each. Let's go Wild!

Jekyll & Hyde

Now when I tune into a Minnesota Wild game, I watch the first ten minutes with one eye open and one eye shut. Generally speaking, I am able to figure out which Minnesota Wild team has shown up in that span of time. Is it the lethargic team that just goes through the motions and loses or is it the energized hard skating team that pressures their opponent into a submissive victory?

Well, last night, the Minnesota Wild team that flies around the ice, fore checks with a reckless abandon and back checks like their lives depend on it while taking advantage of their opponent’s mistakes showed up. The Minnesota Wild completely outplayed the Vancouver Canucks on way to a 4-2 win on the Canucks ice.

I really hope that the same Wild team shows up tonight against the Calgary Flames because Jarome Iginla and the Flames have the Minnesota Wild’s number. The Wild have only won once in their last 12 visits to Calgary. I will definitely watch the first ten minutes of the game tonight with only one eye open. GO WILD!!!

Wild Road Trip

The Wild are halfway through their four game divisional road trip and it doesn’t look good. The Wild lost to both the Colorado Avalanche and the Calgary Flames and still have to face the Oilers and the Canucks this week. The Wild are missing key players with Marian Gaborik and Pavol Demitra out with groin injuries and Wes Walz out on a personal leave to ponder retirement. Those three guys are key penalty killers for the Wild and with all three of them MIA, it’s a tough for the Wild to win on the road. The Oilers are pretty weak right now, let’s hope the Wild can come out of this road trip at .500. Let's go Wild!

next home game:
Wild vs Avalanche Sunday November 18th

Minnesota Wild dominate in NHL

It’s no secret that the Minnesota Wild are playing tremendous hockey right now. In fact the Wild are the only team in the NHL to remain undefeated in regulation play. The Wild should be leading the NHL standings with 15 points, but the Ottawa Senators are listed on top with 16 because they have one more game under their belt.

The Wild are on the road tonight against the Calgary Flames. Here is a Wild Flames Preview if you want. Be sure to check out my www.inthestateofhockey.com site for great Wild Articles – including:

Minnesota Wild Injury Report

Derek Boogaard Love Hate Article

Minnesota Wild Hockey Moms Report

Wild Can't Beat Hot Colorado Avalanche

The Minnesota Wild dropped another contest Saturday night against the Colorado Avalanche for their third consecutive loss. The Wild have already secured a playoff spot, but their chances of gaining the third seed in the Western Conference are fading. The Vancouver Canucks currently hold that spot with 101 points in the Northwest division. Colorado Avalanche power plays got the Minnesota Wild in trouble as the Avalanche were able to cash in to beat the Wild 2-1. The Minnesota Wild is sadly losing some of their previously furious momentum going into the NHL hockey playoffs. Instead, the Colorado Avalanche is the hottest team in hockey right now, as they set a Colorado Avalanche franchise record for wins in the month of March. The Avalanche is still behind the Calgary Flames for the eighth spot in the Western Conference playoffs despite their solid play in March.

DID BACKSTROM LOSE HIS MOXIE?

In watching the shoot out in Minnesota Wild game versus the Calgary Flames on 3/27 and the first period of the MN Wild vs. Flames on 3/29, I am worried that Backstrom has lost his goal tending edge. He was beaten badly twice in the shoot out and then game up two soft goals in the game on Thursday. This is bad timing for the Minnesota Wild. They need him to get hot again and get back to the unbeatable form that he has shown since Fernandez went down. I hope that it wasn't a sign of things to come. Would the old Niklas Backstrom please come back.