Wild Season Starts Off Strong

The Minnesota Wild are on a roll that’s for sure. Starting the season 2-0, the Wild are pumped to have one more home game before heading out west on a 4 game road trip that includes a stop in Anaheim to play the Mighty Ducks. The Wild play division rival Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday night on their hometown ice at the Xcel Energy Center St Paul.

I was checking a local ticket broker site (since that is usually the only way to get tickets this close to the game) and I see that a Minnesota Wild Tickets site has uppers left for $34 per ticket and lower level center ice for $89 per ticket. Those are some pretty decent prices considering the Wild are hot right now. I know you can pick the tickets up at their little office on West 7th just a block from the Xcel. I did it for the opener and it was super easy.

I know some Minnesotans don’t think highly of ticket brokers, like Ticket King, but seriously if you love sports you have to appreciate that these guys are willing to wait in line for the tickets and to hook up with other sports fans to build an inventory of seats that are available to people that want to go at the last minute. Yeah, sometimes you pay a little more, but they are running a business of convenience and if it wasn’t for them this sports fan wouldn’t be able to go to very many games. Let’s go Wild!

Eric Belanger Provides Spark

After two periods of the Wild's home opener, it appears as though Eric Belanger is the biggest off season addition to the Minnesota Wild roster. He assisted on Pierre Marc-Bouchard's goal and has added energy to a Minnesota Wild team that otherwise lacks energy. I really look forward to watching the line of Bouchard, Belanger and Rolston. In my opinion, they could prove to be the top Minnesota Wild line this year. GO WILD!!!

Sloppy Minnesota Wild

I hope that the first two periods of the Minnesota Wild's home opener is no indication of their potential for NHL dominance. The normally crisp passing Minnesota Wild have spent the first two periods versus the Chicago Blackhawks committing turnovers in their zone as well as failing to take advantage of their odd man rushes. The only good news so far is that the Minnesota Wild leads the game 1-0 with only one period remaining. I hope that the Wild wakes up and realizes that they are a far superior team and put the Chicago Blackhawks away!

Wild on a Preseason Roll

The Minnesota Wild have been on a roll since losing their first preseason game. The Wild have won the past 4 games straight including defeating the St Louis Blues last night 7 to zip at the X. The Wild have two more preseason games before the Wild Season opener on October 4th. Want to read more details about the Wild players and the Wild games? Visit my new SB Nation In the State of Hockey blog site. It’s an honor to be part of such a big blogging network and I want to show all of the other SB Nation Bloggers that Minnesota is the state of hockey and that our hockey fans are better than any other!

Wild lose Preseason to Detroit 1-6

Minnesota Wild lost their preseason home opener last night to the Detroit Red Wings. There were a handful of Wild starters on the ice including Marian Gaborik, Pavol Demitra, Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Wes Walz and Derek Boogaard. You would think with all of that talent the game would have been a little closer. Boogaard got a five-minute major and game misconduct for elbowing. Word on the street is that referees have a target painted on his back. MN Wild Freak hopes that isn’t true because we need the Boogie man to scare our opponents. If the refs are constantly on him and he’s in the box 90% pf the the time, he won’t be very intimidating.

The Wild will have a chance to redeem themselves against the Red Wings on Thursday in Detroit.

Wild fans (and critics) need to remember that Preseason is just a warm-up. The real hockey starts on opening night at the Xcel Energy Center on October 4th. Buy Wild Tickets now!

Minnesota Wild Tickets

My buddy, who is one of the lucky ones to own Minnesota Wild Tickets, called me today to let me know that there was a Minnesota Wild Season Ticket Holder pre-sale for Wild Tickets today. Unfortunately, I couldn't snap any Wild Tickets up because you had to have a special season ticket holder password in order to purchase any Wild NHL Tickets. I swear the guy was just rubbing it in that he has seats and I am going to have to camp out this weekend for the regular Wild Ticket onsale in order to snap any tickets up for my beloved Minnesota Wild. Oh well, it gives me an excuse to go talk Minnesota Wild Hockey with the rest of the Minnesota Wild "Freaks" that are out there. I will see you at the X!!!

New Wild Blog

The world of NHL Bloggers seems so much smaller than their MLB counterparts. There are a million baseball blogs and baseball web pages dedicated to stats and fantasy baseball, but hockey is just starting to hit the internet craze phase. SB Nation, one of the largest sports blogging communities is just starting to get hockey bloggers up and going. I am going to start writing in a new Minnesota Wild blog called http://www.inthestateofhockey.com/ – check it out and be sure to leave a message! Don't worry MN Wild Freak fans, I will keep writing in my blogger page as well. Go Wild!

New Jerseys will Make Wild Players 9 Percent Faster

The Minnesota Wild is getting newer, more technologically advanced jerseys this season as part of a league-wide uniform reform. All I can say is: Please do not change the design of the logo or color pattern! Yeah, sure, it will be great if Pavol Demitra will be able to move nine percent faster this year thanks to his threads, but the Wild has the coolest looking jerseys in the league right now, and an update in style won’t be needed for at least a couple of years. Anyways, the jerseys will be on sale at the Xcel Energy Center and Mall of America Hockey Lodge stores on Sept. 7. Fans can also get a sneak peek of the jersey design at the Minnesota Wild Minnesota State Fair Booth.

Wild Get National Exposure

The Versus network is undertaking national television showings of Minnesota Wild hockey this season, three games to be exact. Hopefully, the Wild can play their best hockey on October 30 against the Pittsburgh Penguins, January 30 against the Anaheim Mighty Ducks and March 17 against the Colorado Avalanche. If Versus gets some footage of the surrounding sellout crowds at the Xcel Energy Center, displaying all the tickets the Wild sell, maybe the national audience will gain some knowledge: Minnesota is indeed The State of Hockey.

Backstrom Puts a Poor Memory to Use

One of the hugest assets that Minnesota Wild goalie Niklas Backstrom possesses is his poor memory. No really, having a poor memory helps out NHL goalies: they let in a goal and it slips out of their mind like a vague dream. Backstrom specializes in poor memory among the best NHL goalies. It’s a steely attitude that succeeds when defending the net against blue-line snipers, and Backstrom perfectly fits the bill. He doesn’t get overly emotional or whiny if things aren’t going his way, something former Wild goalie Manny Fernandez was apt to do. Now that Fernandez is gone, it’s just one less distraction for Backstrom, not like he could be distracted.

Wild Grooming Another Skull-Basher

Matt Kassian was a second round pick of the Minnesota Wild in the 2005 NHL Draft, and they drafted him for a reason. They needed a backup for Boogey. That’s Derek Boogaard for the uninitiated. Boogaard duked it out with Wild opponents all year in 2006-07 while Kassian was in the juniors waiting his turn. Kassian will most likely start the season for the Houston Aeros again, but the Wild is grooming him nicely for an enforcer spot on the club. The 6-4, 247 pound Kassian is reportedly not as good a skater as Boogaard, but summer power skating sessions have seen improvement. But Kassian’s strong point isn’t his skating, it’s his fighting.

Kassian’s been describe as a new-schooler in fighting technique, but some of the old-school fighters like Georges Laraque have an advantage over the younger guys because of their experience. Fortunately, Kassian has worked out with Laraque in the offseason to prepare him for fights against some of the leagues vets. It probably won’t be long before Wild fans get acquainted with Matt Kassian, he might soon be teaming up with Boogaard to bash some real skull!

Kalus Possesses Serious Potential

Just a refresher: It wasn’t just diddly-squat that came the Minnesota Wild’s way when they traded talented goalie Manny Fernandez last month. The team received excellent looking prospect Petr Kalus from the Boston Bruins, and they hope to use him this season if he proves himself in the Wild prospect camp. Kalus plays a speed game not unlike that of Marian Gaboriks’, and coaches are very high on him. Kalus originally caught Wild management’s attention during the IIHF World Championships in the 2004-05 season. Kalus will compile the penalty minutes – he had 110 in 43 games for the Providence Bruins last year – but he is the type of player the Wild need. So far, people are saying he can do everything, hit, skate and score. Sounds like my kind of winger. Bring the kid up and see what he can do! Get some Minnesota Wild tickets today and see some Gaborik and possibly Kalus action this season.