Nate Prosser Gets Extension

The Minnesota Wild announced today that they have signed defenseman Nate Prosser to a two-year contract extension.

The 25-year-old Prosser has six assists in 23 games for the Wild this season. The Wild are 14-7-2 with the rookie in the lineup, and coach Mike Yeo has praised Prosser's poise and ability to adapt to the new style of play.

Prosser's extension will kick in next season.

Wild Top Avalanche

In a particularly dry winter, with barely any accumulation on the ground, it seems fitting that the Wild stop the Avalanche before they can start.

Backstrom had 37 saves for his third shutout of the season and 25th of his NHL career as the Minnesota Wild beat the Colorado Avalanche 1-0 in Denver.

Greg Zanon played the hero for the wild, scoring the winning goal with 13:56 left in the first period. The goal, only Zanon's second of the season, came off an icing by Colorado. Kyle Brodziak won the faceoff to Dany Heatley, who slid the puck to Zanon. Zanon skated through the center of the zone before nailing the goal.

Colorado didn't go away easy. The Avalanche recorded 17 shots in the final frame. Ryan Wilson hit the post with 15 minutes left when Colorado was swarming the Minnesota end.

The Wild needed a win, coming off a couple shocks in recent games. Hopefully they can start stringing together wins again.

Wild Get Erik Christensen From Rangers

The NHL trade deadline is still more than three weeks away - which in professional sports time is like, a lifetime - but the Rangers made a minor deal Friday morning, sending center Erik Christensen to the Minnesota Wild for 24-year-old center Casey Wellman. The Wild will also receive a conditional seventh-round draft pick in 2013 in the trade.

Christensen is a highly-skilled-yet-inconsistent center, which seems to be the theme of the Wild lately (at least the inconsistent part). Christensen has not played for the Rangers yet this calendar year, his last minutes coming back on December 17. He has appeared in only 20 games total this season.

Wellman will report to the Rangers' minor league team, the Connecticut Whale.

Top Minnesota Wild Games

Here are my guesses for top selling Minnesota Wild games:

1/21 - Wild v Stars
2/19 - Wild v Bruins
3/19 - Wild v Canucks
3/27 - Wild v Rangers

If you want to go to these games, get your tickets early because they are bound to sell out!

Few January Home Games

It's kind of weird to think January is right around the corner. Even more weird is to think that there are only a few home Minnesota Wild games. If you want to catch the Wild at the Xcel Energy Center, get your tickets!

The Wild are bound to turn their performance around, leading to fast ticket sales. See you at the X!

Koivu Returns, Wild Lose Seventh Straight

The Minnesota Wild continued to play their lethargic offense with a 4-2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche at the Xcel Energy Center. Pierre-Marc Bouchard and Cal Clutterbuck provided the only offense for the Wild each scoring a goal.

There was some good news for the Wild, as the team captain, Mikko Koivu, returned after being sidelined the past two weeks with a leg injury. Koivu played well, even scored an assist, but his return was not enough to stop the Avalanche.

Wild Slump

It has been a Wild ride so far this season as the Minnesota team looks to end their slump.

Mikko Koivu has been placed on injured reserve and is doubtful for the Edmonton Game. Koivu has already missed four straight games.

The Wild are still sitting pretty in first place in the Northwest Division despite their ugly losing streak. Hopefully the Wild can end their losing ways against the Oilers.

Yes, the Wild Can Make History!

The Minnesota Wild have brushed off a series of injuries as well as several opponents.

Kyle Brodziak scored twice, Niklas Backstrom returned to make 35 saves as the NHL-leading Minnesota Wild beat the Coyotes 4-1. The win extended the Wild win-streak to seven games - a frachise record.

The Wild will look to make it eight in a row tonight in Winnipeg.

Can Wild Make History?

The Minnesota Wild have a chance to make history against the Kings. The Wild haven't won six in a row in nearly give years, and they've never won six straight on the road. They can accomplish both of those feats tonight in Los Angeles.

The Kings dominated the Wild last month.

Can they do it?

I ran out of time for my own thoughts!

Conference Realignment

Along with the realignment, apparently we are calling them 'conferences' now, not 'divisions'. Here is how they realignment would shake out according to the current plan:

Central Conference: Minnesota Wild, Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings, Columbus Blue Jackets, Nashville Predators, Dallas Stars, St. Louis Blues, Winnipeg Jets.

West Conference: Anaheim, Calgary, Colorado, Edmonton, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Jose, Vancouver.

East Conference: Carolina, New Jersey, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Washington.

The... other East Conference: Boston, Buffalo, Florida, Montreal, Ottawa, Tampa Bay and Toronto.


There will be six games against each conference opponent; 3 each home and away. In what was the West Conference, there will be five or six games against each, with a rotating schedule to determine who plays who how many times.

Your thoughts on the realignment?

Minnesota Wild Beat Edmonton

The Minnesota Wild are fast stealing the spotlight of this NHL season.

The season is just over a quarter of the way through, so there is plenty left to play, but it looks as though the Wild may be the team to beat this year.

After the recent meeting with the Edmonton Oilers, the fourth of six meetings between the teams this season, it is apparent that the Wild will have to take it one game at a time, but that they are headed on a victory path. The Wild won the first two games in shootouts before Edmonton won last week at the X. That win broke a 17-game losing streak for Edmonton in Minnesota.

Minnesota Wild End Losing Streak

The Minnesota Wild, along with other NHL teams around the league, I'm sure, have become more popular with the NBA off the courts. In the Wild's case, however, the Wild have been propelling their popularity with the fans by winning, winning and winning!

While the Minnesota Wild did recently have a two-game losing streak, they stopped that streak with a 3-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday night. Cal Clutterbuck's short-handed goal and Pierre-Marc Bouchard's go-ahead score in the second gave the Wild all the offense they needed.

Mikko Koivu had an assist and an empty-net goal for an insurance point in a game that was quick and clean, featuring only four penalties.

Backstrom improved to 5-1-1 in his career against the Lightning, and entered the game with a 1.79 goals-against average. The game was a bounce-back for Backstrom.