Minnesota Wild GM Rumors

Any thoughts on who might be the next Minnesota Wild General Manager?

The media has been speculating on the following names:
(my personal percentage of probability is in parenthesis)

Chuck Fletcher, Assistant GM for Pittsburgh Penguins (69%)

David McNabb, Assistant GM for Anaheim Mighty Ducks (21%)

Pierre McGuire, NHL Media Guy (8%)

Tom Lynn Assistant, GM for Minnesota Wild (2%)


If it was me, I would take Chuck Fletcher. Maybe I should start selling “Pucks for Chuck” and give the money to Leipold for that new practice facility that he doesn't need.

NHL Playoffs without Minnesota Wild

The NHL Playoffs are pretty exciting as of late even with out the Minnesota Wild. I am thoroughly enjoying the Washington Capitals vs. Pittsburgh Penguins series especially with all the trash talk between sid the kid and ovie. I am also reveling at the strength of the Anaheim Mighty Ducks in the NHL Playoffs year after year. The Ducks are the 8th seed, but have been playing more like a top seed using their physical aggressive style of play to their full advantage.

I have to admit I am bummed that the Wild aren’t in the playoff mix, but it’s a good group of teams this season and frankly I don’t think the Wild had what it takes to be competing at this level any way. Not this year. Maybe next.

Minnesota Wild need Money

The Minnesota Wild moved their annual “Select A Seat” event for season ticket holders up a month. Usually the event is in July and this year it will be in May. What’s up with that?

I am guessing the Wild need to start collecting money from their season ticket holders. I heard that the Wild are having trouble making budget without that playoff money in the bank. Usually (when the Wild make the playoffs), season ticket holders send in money to secure Wild Playoff tickets and then when the Wild lose in the first round that unused ticket money goes toward next years season ticket deposit. So: No Playoffs = No Early $$.

I would hate to think of the Wild as a financially strapped team, but the truth of the matter is that the Wild front office was banking on playoff dollars and they didn’t get them so now they have to lure the season ticket holders into the venue and start collecting money asap.

Other poor NHL teams? The Phoenix Coyotes. I just read they had to borrow tons of money from the NHL just to pay rent. Bummer.

Another Minnesota Wild Player Hospitalized

It just seems injury and surgery are every day words for Minnesota Wild players. The latest player to go under the knife: Niklas Backstrom.

Backstom has two cysts on the bony part of his hip and will have them removed on Friday. Recovery time on this type of operation is 3 to 5 months so that means one of our highest paid players won’t be at training camp and could possibly miss the first week of the season. If Backstrom does miss the opening games and the other goalie is hot hot, will management make the switch or be kicking themselves for spending money a goalie they might not need. Oh, I see drama ahead.

Don’t forget the other Wild players that have recently underwent surgery: Derek Boogaard had a shoulder repaired, Andrew Brunette had the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee repaired and Brent Burns will have the labrum and rotator cuff in his right shoulder surgically repaired.

Minnesota Wild Roster

There is no question that the Minnesota Wild Roster will look dramatically different next year and I don’t usually like to play the guessing game on who’s going and who’s coming, but I think it would be beneficial to the Wild organization on many levels (team skill and fan marketing) to convince Saku Koivu (Mikko’s Brother) to sign via free agency.

Any other predictions on the future of the Minnesota Wild roster?

Minnesota Wild Starting Over - Breaking News

I sort of feel like I should have known this was coming. New owner wants to clean house, no surprise, I guess.

Minnesota Wild Season End

The Minnesota Wild Season End is bittersweet on many levels.

We won the last game of the season 6-3 and we were on a winning streak and probably playing some of the best hockey all season, but it was just too late. The Wild barely missed the playoffs. I just keep thinking if we would have played better in just one other game (like the Feb. 14 home loss after a three goal lead) it could have changed the whole season. I know you can’t go around wondering what if and chasing points, it will drive you crazy, but it sure would have been nice to make the playoffs…but then the question is did they even deserve to make the playoffs? The win one lose one team of the last few months certainly did not.

It’s also a closing of the Jacques Lemaire chapter. He and I have a love hate relationship so I am looking forward to the next era in Minnesota Wild hockey. Are you?

p.s. All the press conferences seem like Jacques made the choice to leave, but a source of mine at the Xcel Center said he was forced to leave. Hmmmmm….either way, Jacques Lemaire is gone and a new chapter will begin.

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!