Minnesota Wild Should Benefit from Four Day Break

The Minnesota Wild, 2-1-3 this season in games decided by one goal, don't play until Thursday. This long break is giving the Wild a great opportunity to rest injured players as well as improve.

Greg Zanon and Guillaume Latendresse, who both missed Saturday's game in Vancouver, did not practice today at the Xcel and are day-to-day. However, this four day break will be important for their rest.

One area the Wild need to improve upon is the power play. Minnesota is 0-18 on the power play in their last five games. On the season, the Wild have only scored three power play goals in 31 opportunities. That needs to be a lot better.

Minnesota Wild Suffers Worst Home Defeat

I wish this was an optimistic column, I really do. Yesterday the Minnesota Wild were defeated by the Montreal Canadians 8-1 at the Xcel Energy Center. 8 goals. Three of them were scored from rookie defenseman P.K. Subban. It was the worst loss in franchise history. It was the 5th consecutive loss. Head coach Todd Richards may be coaching now to keep his job, after fans are becoming more vocal and have high expectations. Simply put, we want to see a playoff team that has the ability to make a Stanley Cup run. This season indicated we still need a big asset - scoring. We need some snipers that can bury the puck. All is not lost, as the team has a pretty good nucleus of Mikko Koivu, Brent Burns, Martin Havlat, Cal Clutterbuck, and Guillaume Latendresse. Hopefully we can manage to get back on track these last few weeks.

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Minnesota Wild Defeat Edmonton Oilers 4-2

The Minnesota Wild defeated the Edmonton Oilers 4-2 on Thursday night thanks in large part to a 3 goal 1st period. Kyle Brodziak scored twice to open up the period and Guillaume Latendresse added another in the 1st. The Oilers made it interesting in the 3rd period when it was 3-2 until Brent Burns put home an empty-netter from the opposite end of the rink. It was a nice all around game by the Wild and they will now play at Vancouver tonight.

Minnesota Wild Down Vancover Canucks 6-2, Fan Gets Shoved

The Minnesota Wild trounced the Vancouver Canucks 6-2 on Tuesday night, however that isn't the headline after the game. The headline happens to be Canuck forward Rick Rypien who grabbed a Minnesota Wild fan after he was headed to the dressing room. In any sport, athletes are not allowed to touch fans. Rypien has already been indefinitely suspended and will have a hearing on Friday to determine how long. For the game itself - the Wild had 6 different goal scorers and built a 6-1 lead midway through the 2nd period. Zidlicky, Clutterbuck, Latendresse, Madden, Brunette, and Cullen scored for Minnesota. Talk about goals!

Minnesota Wild lose to Carolina Hurricanes 4-3 in NHL Opener

The first NHL game played in the 2010-2011 season was played yesterday. The Minnesota Wild were defeated 4-3 to the Carolina Hurricanes. Scoring for the Minnesota Wild were Guillaume Latendresse, Matt Cullen, and Brent Burns. The Wild scored first 3 minutes into the game but the Hurricanes responded with 3 goals in the 2nd period. A 4-2 lead proved too much to overcome. They will play again today in Helsinki, Finland. Former Wild draft pick Nick Leddy played 20 minutes for the Chicago Blackhawks in his NHL debut as well last night.

Can Guillaume Latendresse Make the Next Leap?

In 55 games last season with the Minnesota Wild, 23 year-old Guillaume Latendresse scored 25 goals and notched 12 assists. Along with Mikko Koivu, he was the team's best player since he arrived. Going into the upcoming season, we will find out if Latendresse can build on his rookie campaign with the Minnesota Wild. If he can make another leap and increase his production, Latendresse will be a force. He clearly has the talent and ability to. He has a knack around the net and a goal scorer's touch. The main line of Koivu, Latendresse, and Martin Havlat will be relied on a lot for production.

Koivu captures Minnesalsa title

Wild Captain Mikko Koivu was deemed the Minnesalsa Player of the Week after making three points over the three games last week, including two against the Dallas Stars on Sunday. Over this past Wild season, Koivu had 22 goals and 49 assists. This was Mikko Koivu’s first win of the Minnesalsa title this season, while Guillaume Latendresse has captured four and Andrew Brunette has three.

Latendresse up for the Masterton Trophy

Guillaume Latendresse has been nominated for the NHL Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy for his outstanding performance this season with the Wild. The Masterton Memorial Trophy is awarded annually to the person who best shows the qualities of sportsmanship, determination and commitment to the sport of hockey. Latendresse is the type of player who never gives up, which has catapulted him to new career highs in every offensive category this season even after being traded by the Montreal Cadaniens to the MN Wild. The trophy will be decided by a poll at the end of the regular season. Last year, the Masterton Memorial Trophy went to a Nashville Predator.

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!

One small step for the Wild...

One big
leap for
Latendresse.

Guillaume Latendresse, at left wing, has become a top scorer for the Minnesota Wild. Latendresse is not the same player he was when he played for the Montreal Canadiens. Latendresse was named the NHL's "Third Star" after scoring a career-high four points in one game and his first career hat trick in another last week. He has come a long way seeing as he had only scored two goals and one assist in the 23 games he was in Montreal. With the Wild, he has scored 13 goals and a total of 19 points. Let's hope that this spark of confidence and skill will rub off on the other Wild players before the season is out! Go Wild!