Marian Gaborik Better Get Real

I am not sure if Marian Gaborik has noticed but the Minnesota Wild is currently 14-7-1 and only one point out of first place in the Northwest division of the Western Conference. This is an awfully solid record for a team that has been without their "Superstar" for all but two of its 22 games. If the rumors are true about the Minnesota Wild offering Gaborik a multi year deal for close to the league maximum and him not accepting, he needs to get his head checked. There is absolutely NO WAY, that a "China Doll" like Gaborik deserves that kind of dough.

The best thing about Marian Gaborik being greedy, is that I think the Minnesota Wild players and those people lucky enough to have Wild Tickets have finally figured out that hockey is a team game and the Wild will be fine without Marian Gaborik.

Minnesota Wild Score Big and Win

Loss, Loss, Win – that’s how the Minnesota Wild home stand has been going. The biggest difference between the first two games and the third, besides the obvious? Minnesota Wild offense production.

It seems to this MN Wild Freak that when the Wild score 3 or more goals, they win. We have the defense to shut down the other teams or at least keep the opponents below 3 goals, now we need the offense to score so we can actually win. Youngster Cal Clutterbuck showed how it’s done on Monday when he scored 3 goals against the Capitals, let’s hope the Wild can keep the scoring momentum.

There are still two more games to go sandwiched around Thanksgiving. I am going to try and get out to tonight’s game – If you need tickets, I found a new Minnesota Wild tickets site that looks pretty reasonable and it is run by local folks so I like that. It’s called Hockey Tickets Minnesota.

Upcoming Games:
Wed Nov 26, 2008 Stars@ Wild 7PM

*Happy Turkey Day*

Fri Nov 28, 2008 Lightning@ Wild 1PM

Wild playing well, will get chance to show off at home

The Minnesota Wild is sitting at 11-4-1, fourth in the Western Conference, just a point behind Vancouver Canucks, tonight’s Xcel Energy Center foe.

The Canucks are the first team of five that the Minnesota Wild will face on their upcoming home stand. The five games will be played on an every other day schedule starting tonight. I am sure it wasn’t divinely planned like that, but it’s kind of cool to play a game, have a night off, play a game, have a night off and there won’t be any plane trips to worry about.

The upcoming Minensota Wild schedule looks like this:


Thu Nov 20, 2008 Canucks @ Wild 7PM

Sat Nov 22, 2008 Blues @Wild 7PM

Mon Nov 24, 2008 Capitals@ Wild 7PM

Wed Nov 26, 2008 Stars@ Wild 7PM

*Happy Turkey Day*

Fri Nov 28, 2008 Lightning@ Wild 1PM


The Wild have been playing very solid hockey lately and I see plenty of chances to pick-up some points in the next five games – I am to the point of saying, Marian who?

Wild Scored and Won, Let’s do it Again.

Obviously the Minnesota Wild took my advice during the Wild Avalanche game in Denver last week. The Wild scored 3 goals and guess what? they won! Then they traveled to Vancouver to take on the Canucks and didn’t score at all and guess what? They lost. Wild Goalie Niklas Backstrom is doing his part, I would even venture so far as to saying the defense is doing their part, but I don’t think the Wild offense is aggressive enough and I blame a lot of it on the coaching. Come on Jacques, stop the dump and run plays and carry the puck all the way to the goal – it’s more intimidating, it’s more aggressive, it scores goals.

The Minnesota Wild are at home tonight vs the Phoenix Coyotes. Ticket King St Paul has Wild Tickets starting out at $49 each. That’s not bad. I will need to plan my funds carefully, though, because the Minnesota Wild play 10 of their next 12 game at the Xcel Energy Center and I want to make it out to as many as I can.


Go Wild!

Wild need to score to win

The Minnesota Wild is on a dangerous slippery slope. The Wild have lost three of four games since their illustrious 6-0-1 start. It’s not because of goal tending that’s for sure. In fact, the Minnesota Wild is the best in the NHL right now with just 25 goals allowed. The problem is offense and scoring. The Minnesota Wild has managed seven goals in the last four games.

Jacques Lemaire defensive coaching style is drowning out the offense and stifling players that like to score. I would have expected a few more goals from Pierre-Marc Bouchard and even James Sheppard this season. They have both been disappointing.


Tonight the Minnesota Wild play in Denver vs the Colorado Avalanche and it will be more than just Andrew Brunette with something to prove. Come on boys, let’s get some pucks between the pipes.

...just like this...

What is up with the Wild Powerplay?

How does the Minnesota Wild go 0-10 on the powerplay last night? The most disappointing thing is that I feel like the Wild had multiple opportunities to put it in the net. The powerplay futility reminded me of years ago when the Wild was unbalbe to put the "Biscuit in the basket." I hope that last night's game versus the Canadiens was just a fluke and not a sign of bad things to come. GO WILD!!!

Wild host Montreal Canadiens at Xcel on Halloween Eve

It could be a spooky night at the Xcel Energy Center tonight. The Minnesota Wild is coming off a horrible 4-2 loss to the Dallas Stars last night (pathetic game). I am sure Jacques is up in arms and the team is not going to get a lot of rest to get ready for the Montreal Canadiens tonight.

Since it is Halloween Eve, the Minnesota Wild are encouraging costumes for tonight’s game and are giving away prizes to the top three kids including an autographed Minnesota Wild jersey. The top adult will be invited to make the "Let's Play Hockey!" announcement prior to the game. Let’s hope all the ghosts and goblins don’t spook our Minnesota Wild players into submission.


Luckily, Mikko Koivu isn’t spooked easily, he is off to the best start of his career and I am sure he is excited to be playing against his brother Saku Koivu tonight. It is going to be a great match-up at the X tonight and as much as I hate to pin the season on one single game, this could be a real downer for the next few months if the Wild don’t pull off a win.

Lemaire Over Coaches in Loss

In last night's defeat by the Buffalo Sabres, it became even more evident that there are times when Jacques lemaire over thinks, over scrutinizes and over coaches. With around six minutes remaining in the game and the Minnesota Wild having played great hockey in the second and the beginning of the third period, Lemaire called a time out and instructed his players on what to do the last six minutes of the game. Unfortunately, that moment was the beginning of the end.

The Minnesota Wild proceeded to play the rest of the game tight, unfocused and tentative. The Sabres scored three goals, one of which was the game winner in overtime, in less than five minutes. That left me, and by the looks on the faces of everyone at the Xcel Energy Center who bought Wild Tickets, shell shocked!

I hope that Jacques Lemaire just lets the Wild play next time they are playing well and up by two goals with less than six minutes remaining in the game. I am sure that it will result in a different outcome.

Minnesota Wild Skating Party

The Minnesota Wild has an annual Season Ticket Holder Halloween Skating Party which is going to take place on the ice of the Xcel Energy Center on Tuesday, October 28. This is a great benefit of being a Minnesota Wild Season Ticket Holder and an excellent example of how the Minnesota Wild tries to take care of those that make the commitment to Buy Wild Tickets on an annual basis. GO WILD!!!

Marian Gaborik Situation

One of my loyal readers emailed me on the "Gaborik Situation." I have not looked into the comment but I found it very interesting and insightful.

Kate from California wrote, "Minnesota Wild winger Marion Gaborik is now in the final year of his contract without an extension in place. According to the hockey handicappers at BetOnline.com, the chances of the Wild retaining Gaborik this season are a long-shot. The odds on the Minnesota lefty not being traded are at 7-to-2."

Generally speaking odds makers are really good at their jobs. This leads me to believe that it isn't a coincidence that Gaborik isn't playing tonight. My theory is that their is a trade brewing and the Minnesota Wild can't risk Gaborik being injured. We will have to wait and see!

2008-2009 Minnesota Wild Roster

I am embarrassed to admit it but I can't remember a past year when I had lower expectations than I have this year for the Minnesota Wild. The lack of "big splash" free agent signings as well as the loss of excellent contributors like Rolston and Demitra has me longing for the years when I expected the Minnesota Wild to win and go to the NHL Playoffs. However, let's face it, the Minnesota Wild hasn't exactly prospered in the playoffs since their improbable run to the Western Conference Finals during the 2002-2003 season. Every year after that run, I had extremely high expectations to only be let down by my favorite NHL team. I just hope that this year the exact opposite happens where I expect very little but the Minnesota Wild thrives and brings home their first Stanley Cup!

I am definitely going to grab a few Minnesota Wild Tickets for the Home Opener versus the Boston Bruins in order to see if the impressive preseason record is for real. GO WILD!!!

Boston Bruins vs. Minnesota Wild

This year, I have the unique opportunity to see one of the all-time great players for my favorite WCHA hockey team play versus my favorite NHL hockey team. Phil Kessel (formerly of the Minnesota Gophers) and the Boston Bruins come to the XCEL Energy Center to take on the Minnesota Wild on October 11th. The only thing that makes this even better is that it is the "Home Opener" for the Wild. I have already started hitting up my buddies for their Minnesota Wild Tickets to this game. I am going to have a hard time cheering against a former Gophers Hockey Player but I am going to have to do it. GO MINNESOTA WILD!!!