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!!!

Minnesota Wild Playoff Picture

This is the most important link for a Minnesota Wild fan right now:

NHL PLAYOFF PICTURE

Its’ the NHL Current Playoff Matchups courtesy of ESPN.

For those who don’t know the down and dirty of the NHL Playoff chase, the deal is this: the top eight teams in each conference qualify for the playoffs. The division winners in each conference are seeded Nos. 1 - 3, and the remaining five teams are seeded Nos. 4 - 8, according to point total.

Every game is crucial for the Wild, we are still in the hunt. I check this link daily to see where we stand - no joke.

Wild Win In New York, but only once

The Minnesota Wild schedule put the Wild in New York for back to back games against the Rangers and the Islanders. After a 1-2 pathetic loss against the Rangers on Tuesday, the Wild picked up the pace last night and slammed in six goals to beat the New York Islanders 6-2.

This season has been full of ups and downs so I guess I wouldn’t expect the final month of the season to be any different. Amazingly enough, the Wild are still in the NHL playoff chase. Everyone knows I fall into the “Gaborik hater” group, but for the sake of the Wild team and the fans, I hope Marian Gaborik can provide a magic spark to get this team into the playoffs.

Wild Players Analysis

I want to add a list of Minnesota Wild players that I think did well and a list of players that did not play to potential when I saw them last Tuesday night and no, I wasn’t too drunk off the green beer (which I couldn’t find at the Xcel anyway!) to read the jersey numbers to be sure I got my ‘facts’ straight:


Players that ROCKED:

Stephane Veilleux (always hustling! Got credit for the second period goal although I am certain he didn’t touch it – it was all Skoula – hard to believe, I know)


Andrew Brunette (tons of shots on goal, great passing and setting up plays)

Mikko Koivu (more than once I saw him talking to the guys before a face-off setting up plays and just rallying the players, great leadership and his sweet backhand in the shootout rocked)


Players that SUCKED:

James Sheppard (he was sloooooow and majorly out of position on several plays, I still can’t believe Jacques let him out on the ice so many times, Jimmy may need a hockey 101 brush-up)

Kurtis Foster (wasn’t as solid as I remembered him to be, I hope he gets better with each game)

Pierre Marc-Bouchard (although he did have couple of shots on goal, they weren’t very good ones and his passes were pathetic, plus he let a puck slip right by him during crunch time, this is the NHL, that can’t be tolerated)

BIG WILD GAME ON SUNDAY! Wild vs. Oilers. It must be a hot ticket too because local broker like Ticket King St Paul hardly has any Minnesota Wild tickets for sale!

Wild Avalanche Game Intense

I went to the Minnesota Wild Colorado Avalanche game on St Patricks Day – the Wild won in a shoot-out – whew! The overall intensity of the game was high. In the first period, the Wild were crashing the net like crazy, but just couldn’t get anything to go in. The overall play was pretty physical, but the refs didn’t let the punches fly and there were hardly any penalties. Just a lot of clean checking. Derek Boogaard almost got a goal, but he is so damn slow that the goalie had time to put his pad down in front of it in the corner of the crease. I could tell Boogie was disappointed (I was sitting right behind the goal).

The Wild looked slower in the second period, but came back in the third and tied the game up 2-2 with less than two minutes on the game clock. The crowd went crazy and no one went home early. I was nervous when the Wild couldn’t put anything together in overtime and had to go to a shootout. Colorado Avs players are known for their precision shooting. I screamed out, “Show us why you make the big bucks Backstrom.” He did (for the most part) and our Wild shooters proved to be more precise after all.

Still just barely out of the playoffs . . . come on hockey gods, be kind!

Gaboriks Popularity at All Time Low

Let’s face it, if they posted approval ratings for NHL players, Marian Gaboriks would be at an all time low. Fans are sick of him, the press is sick of him, the coaches are sick of him. Need proof? Read my past blog entries where I state how disgusted I am with Marian Gaborik and his lack of toughness. OR just read the paper today – When asked about Marian Gaborik, head coach Jacques Lemaire:

“rolled his eyes….then he thought for a minute.
‘I guess if he feels like skating, he'll skate,’ he said. ‘If he wakes up and feels like skating will be a part of his day, it will be. If he doesn't, it won't.’”

Rolled his eyes? Wow – approval rating = zero. If he feels like skating, he’ll skate – sounds very Randy Mossish. The Minnesota Wild doesn’t need a diva, they need a hockey player who wants to play, wants to score, and wants to win.

Wild play in Colorado tonight – two points are needed – plain and simple.

Wild Playoff Picture

The Minnesota Wild Playoff pictures looks bleak, but only because the team is not playing well. The Wild are only three points out of a playoff spot, but they aren’t really looking like a playoff team. The defense has been sloppy, but the scoring has been even worse. What happened to pass, pass, shoot? I hope the Wild can pull off two points tonight, we need it . . . or the playoff hopes may be over.


20 games left. Stay Tuned.

Niklas Backstrom is here to stay

Niklas Backstrom inked a big contract with the Wild this week. Backstrom signed a 4 year for $24 million contract, making his the 5th highest paid goaltender in the NHL and probably the highest paid Wild player on next year’s roster. This is the most the Wild has ever paid a goalie, but it makes sense that they secured a deal. It’s no secret that Backstrom has saved this Wild team more times than ever expected and that he is respected and liked in the Wild locker room.

March’s Minnesota Wild Captain Mikko Koivu said this to the press:

"I think probably the most important thing on a winning team is goaltending, and you get a guy like that for four years, obviously it's a good foundation.”


Let’s face it, Niklas Backstrom is the best player on the Wild team and the best player should be the highest paid. I need to buy a Backstrom jersey…it will be a good investment.

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.

Wild Win Big over Ducks

Good game last night. No, Great game last night. Wild goalie Niklas Backstrom shut-out the Anaheim Mighty (or not so mighty) Ducks 3-0 in front of another sold out crowd at the Xcel Energy Center. The win puts the Wild 7th in the Western Conference, but just two points out of 5th and within reach of the division leader Calgary Flames.

Niklas Backstrom said: "We're getting better every night, and that's the way it should be: The more games we play, the better we should be, but we can't be too satisfied. You look at the standings; they're probably going to be completely different tomorrow."


There are 30 games to the playoffs, but the Wild are just taking it one game at a time. Next up? Let’s hope for a repeat of last night’s performance when the Wild host the Nashville Predators on Friday night. There are still tickets available from hockey ticket brokers like Hockey Tickets Minnesota. Wild ticket prices have been pretty low after the Wild had a disappointing December, but as the team starts to build steam, you can bet those Minnesota Wild ticket prices will go up as well. Go Wild!

Wild Playoff Hopes

I read this in Charley Walters column today:

The Wild held a team meeting this week and were reminded that they don't have a lot of time to make a playoff push.

Duh. You never know if Walters is telling the truth or just making a joke that’s why he is a "columnist" and not a reporter, but I hope that the Wild team managers and coaches are reminding the Wild players EVERY DAY that they have squandered away too many wins to sit back now, they need to win every game if they hope to make the NHL playoffs this year.

Good thing the Wild came out strong Tuesday night over the Maple Leafs. I wish every game looked like that.

Brunette Plays Hurt, Plays for the Team

Marian Gaborik could take a lesson or two from Andrew Brunette. Bruno played in back to back games with a banged up leg – notching two assists in the Chicago Blackhawks game and another assist during the depressing LA Kings game. In fact, he played over 19 minutes in the Kings game and looked like one of the best players on the Xcel ice.

"It's my worst fear," Andrew Brunette said after the Wild's 5-2 loss to the Kings. "It's that people will think I'm selfish. I've never been selfish. I'm not that way. I won't ever be that way.”

Those are words you will NEVER hear come out of Marian Gaboriks mouth. Now, who do you think is the true hockey player? Which player would you rather have on your team? Gaborik has got to go.