"Koivu's Exploding Shoulder Set Up" named Wild Play of the Year

Throughout the season, wild.com hosted a huge poll for the Top Play of the Year by the Minnesota Wild. After 27 weeks, "Koivu's Exploding Shoulder Set Up" won the title Play of the Year. In a game against Detroit Red Wings on November 1, the Minnesota Wild made an impressive overtime goal, and, although Devin Setoguchi made the final goal, it was Mikko Koivu's use of the "exploding shoulder" against the intimidating Niklas Kronwall that made this the Play of the Year.

Koivu's been doing well in the post-season, it's going to be an exciting season next year.

Can't remember the play? Click here. How did this play win? Click here.

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 Defeat Dallas Stars, End Their Season

The Minnesota Wild defeated the Dallas Stars for the final game of the 2010-2011 NHL Season. The final score read 5-3. It was a win or go home situation for the Dallas Stars. Had they defeated the Wild, they would had advanced to the playoffs, earning a tiebreaker advantage over the Chicago Blackhawks. However, the Stars could not steal 2 points from the Wild. Although the Blackhawks lost earlier in the day to the Red Wings, they hung out to their playoff chances thanks to the Wild. I'm sure the Blackhawk players are pretty big Minnesota Wild fans today.

Weekend Recap, Mikko Koivu injured

The Minnesota Wild hosted a pair of games this weekend, on Friday against the Anaheim Ducks and Sunday against the Detroit Red Wings.

On Friday, the Wild defeated the Ducks 5-1. After Corey Perry's goal in the 1st period, the Wild responded with 5 straight goals for the victory. Scoring for the Wild were Mikko Koivu, Matt Cullen, Eric Nystrom, Kyle Brodziak, and Martin Havlat. Unfortunately, all was not great. Captain Mikko Koivu left the game with a hand injury after the first period and did not return. It's been reported that he has a broken left index finger and will most likely miss 3 weeks. He may or may not require surgery.

On Sunday, the Wild hosted the Wings at 11:30 AM as part of Hockey Day America. The Wings prevailed with a 2-1 shootout victory. Nick Lidstrom scored in the 3rd period to put the Wings on the board, but minutes later Martin Havlat responded with a breakaway goal from a nice pass by Brent Burns. Niklas Backstrom played brilliantly throughout the game and made an absolutely absurd save in overtime. With the shootout loss, the Wild got a big one point. With 68 points, they join five other teams in the 68-70 point range.

Detroit Red Wings Down Minnesota Wild 4-1

In front of a packed house, the Minnesota Wild did not deliver. The Detroit Red Wings, even without Pavel Datsyuk, defeated the Minnesota Wild 4-1 at the Xcel Energy Center on Sunday night. The Minnesota Wild only had 17 shots in the game and the "boo" birds were out in full force. Attendance for the game was 19,227, the fifth-largest regular-season crowd in Minnesota Wild history. Brent Burns scored the only goal for the Wild, with 4 minutes remaining in the 3rd period. It was his team leading 10th goal of the season, the first Minnesota Wild defenseman to post double digits goal totals in more than one season.

Minnesota Wild Defeat Detroit Red Wings 4-3 in OT

The Minnesota Wild defeated the Detroit Red Wings 4-3 in overtime on Friday night. Back up goaltender Jose Theodore stopped 41 shots. Scoring for the Minnesota Wild was Brent Burns, Cal Clutterbuck, Mikko Koivu, and John Madden. Koivu scored with a little over a minute left in regulation to send the game into overtime. John Madden put home a rebound with 40 seconds left in overtime to win the game. It was a fun game to watch and gave the Wild 3 straight victories at 10-6-2.

With Koivu out, Almond is in vs. Detroit

Mikko Koivu will be missing out on tonight’s game against the Detroit Red Wings with an arm injury. This is a result from Tuesday’s game against San Jose, which caused him to miss Thursday’s game against the Flyers as well. Thursday was the first game ever for Captain Koivu to miss, and he is not happy to miss a second. Mikko Koivu is currently the lead scorer on the Wild and, with Latendresse questionable in the health department, the Wild have recalled Cody Almond from the Houston Aeros for some help.

Rare Win on the Road

The Minnesota Wild played the Sabers last night in New York and managed to capture a road win. Despite giving up 5 goals the day before against Detroit, the Wild coaches decided to give Josh Harding a chance to redeem himself. Well, Harding pulled through with 43 saves and helped the Wild beat the Sabers 3-2. Harding may have some shoes to fill, now that Niklas Backstrom is injured, so maybe the Wild coaches won't let Harding go a month without playing in a game next time.

Skills Competition raised $34,446!!!

The Wild's Skills Competition this past weekend raised so much money for the Minnesota Wild foundation and brought in more than 8,000 fans! The foundation's proceeds go to children's medical facilities, education programs and spreading the joy of hockey all across the state, so this is really a great cause. Good job hockey fans! If you missed out on the competition, the highlights are on the Wild's website

On a side note, the Wild's game vs. the Red Wings was intense last night! My friend is in the ROTC through the U of M and was the guy who handed of the hockey stick and flag. It was his first game EVER (crazy...i know) so I'd say he had a great first impression! Wild are playing the Avalanche tonight. I expect you to watch and report back!

Wild vs. Red Wings Tickets

The Minnesota Wild Schedule this season is awesome! From the opener to the very last game of the regular season the Wild pulled a great draw.

The Wild vs. Red Wings games are going to be especially great this season. Although the two teams don't meet up until later in the season, the first Wild vs. Red Wings match up is Thursday January 21st at the Xcel Energy Center. They meet up again at the Xcel Energy Center on Wednesday January 27th. The two teams then meet again in Detroit on Thursday March 11 and Friday March 26th.

There are tickets to be had online for all of these games, I did some looking and for both games at the Xcel Energy Center there are seats Center Ice, row 3 facing the players bench for only $100 and in Joe Louis Arena there are great seats in between the blue lines and the face off circle for $85. There are only so many great seats in both arenas so buy Wild Tickets early if you want to sit in anything better than the nosebleeds...

Stanley Cup Final Game Tomorrow Night

It’s the 15th time in NHL Stanley Cup history that the Final Series is decided on game 7 and this series is definitely one for the history books. Have you been watching? Every game has been intense and is a reminder to me why I am such a hockey freak. I love this game!

The Detroit Red Wings are 11-1 on their home ice, during the playoffs, but the Pittsburgh Penguins are a team that is hungry for redemption after losing the Cup last year to the Wings in front of the Penguins fans. I am so excited for tomorrow nights game I can hardly wait. I bet the ticket brokers in Detroit are making a killing on this game – everyone wants to be there…including me, but I will settle for a ticket to watch the game from my couch! Man, I love this game!

NHL playoffs

Well hockey fans, it looks like the two best teams in the NHL are on a collision course to make it to the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Detroit Red Wings and the Pittsburgh Penguins both lead their conference final playoff series 3 games to none. I guess I can't say this MN Wild Freak is surprised. I love the NHL and I love professional hockey, it’s fitting the two best teams meet up. I just wish I wasn't watching it in my living room and was watching it at the Xcel Energy Center instead.

Insult to Injury!

I thought that I was as depressed as I could get after the Minnesota Wild lost to the Colorado Avalanche in six games. That was until the Avalanche were swept by the Detroit Red Wings in four games in the Western Conference Semifinals. How does a team (Avalanche) and a goalie (Theodore) play so well against the Minnesota Wild and so Poorly the next week against the Red Wings? Give me a break, the Avalanche lost 8-2 in game four!

This is further proof that the Minnesota Wild is jinxed in the NHL Playoffs and may never again advance out of the first round. Could someone please email me and help talk me down off the ledge?

Am I Being a Baby?

I feel like I am being a baby but I am not sure. I watched the Red Wings vs. Avalanche game last night and I couldn't help but feel sorry for myself as well as the whole "Wild Nation." First of all, how does the often injured Peter Forsberg last the entire series versus the Wild yet misses the first game versus the Red Wings? Second of all, how does Jose Theodore play like the second coming of Ken Dryden versus the Wild yet gives up four goals and gets yanked in the first game versus the Red Wings? I can't help but think that if either of these things occurred in the Wild series, there would have been a totally different outcome. However, maybe I am Just being a baby?

Wild Play Well against Red Wings

The Minnesota Wild lost to the Detroit Red Wings at the Xcel Energy Center last night. It was a tight match-up and the Wild lost in overtime 3-2. The fluky goal that sent the game into overtime must have hit a players skate and then one of Backstroms pads. I still don’t know how it went in. The Wild skated extra hard against the NHL leading Red Wings and despite the loss, coach Jacques Lemaire had this to say:

"I thought we played our best game of the year," said Lemaire, "I'm really happy the way our players played. We played hard. We got a point."

Up next for the Wild is another home game against the Dallas Stars tomorrow night. The game is sold out through the Wild and it looks like it is a hot game for ticket brokers as well. Ticket King has Wild tickets starting out at $70 each for the Wild vs Stars game. I guess Minnesota fans are still excited to see Mike Modano and the old North Stars take the ice.

Let’s go Wild!

Wild beat Ducks

The Minnesota Wild beat the Anaheim Mighty Ducks at the Xcel Energy Center last night 5-1. My favorite high-light shot was of Anaheim Goalie J.S. Giguere throwing a fit on the bench. He was kicking his feet like a two year old. The Wild looked to be firing on all cylinders after their short All Star Break.

The Wild travel to Columbus for a game Saturday night and then will be back at the “X” on Tuesday February 5th to take on the Detroit Red Wings. The Red Wings are arguably the best team in the NHL and this Western Conference rival match-up is a game you won’t want to miss. The Red Wings will be trying to avenge their loss to the Wild that happened in Detroit on January 10th. I am sure the Red Wings will want to embarrass the Wild on their home ice, but this MN Wild Freak hopes they won’t succeed. Wild tickets to this hot game are moving fast! Go Wild!

Minnesota Wild Schedule

The Minnesota Wild schedule is not an easy road in the next two weeks. The Wild played the second place Dallas Stars last night and again on January 7, and then the first place Detroit Red Wings on January 10. This is a mean stretch in the season, let's see if the Wild can hang in there in the Western Conference standings. Go Wild!

Wild lose to Detroit, but scored this time

The last time the Minnesota Wild took on the Detroit Red Wings, the Wings sent the Wild to the locker room with a big goose egg. This time, the Minnesota Wild managed to slip one puck between the pipes, but couldn’t stop the flurry of Detroit shots as the Red Wings beat the Wild 4-1 at the Xcel Energy Center. The Red Wings outshot the Wild a crazy 51-19 and completely dominated all three periods silencing the normally loud Xcel Energy Center crowd. Let’s hope the Wild fare better at their next home game vs. the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday, December 29th. Go Wild!

It feels good to be home

The Minnesota Wild skated into the Xcel Energy Center on a two game win streak and beat the Nashville Predators 3-2 last night to extend the streak to three. The Wild were behind most of the game, but didn’t fall into their usual give up because we are behind mentality and battled on to win in front of 18,000 plus fans. This is a good week for Minnesota Wild hockey fans as the Wild play two more home games.

• Wild vs. New York Rangers December 20th
• Wild vs. Detroit Red Wings December 22nd

Let’s go Wild!

Special Wild Ticket Offer

Hey Minnesota Wild fans, there are still great tickets available to upcoming Minnesota Wild home games from local ticket brokers like Ticket King. In fact, Ticket King is offering a special ticket offer to MN Wild Freak blog readers! If you want tickets to the Saturday December 22nd Wild vs. Red Wings game, call 612-341-4131 and ask for Cortney and tell her you want the MN Wild Freak $5 off deal and receive $5 off your Wild Tickets! Ticket King has an office just a block from the Xcel and offers free local pick-up! Go Wild!