Guillaume Latendresse to Test Free Agency

It appears the Minnesota Wild won't have Guillaume Latendresse returning for the 2012-13 season.

After trying to sign Latendresse to a new contract, the forward said he is planning on testing the waters of free agency. Latendresse is seeking a team closer to his home in Montreal so he can spend more time with his four year old son, Hayden.

Minnesota Wild Announce Preseason Schedule

The Minnesota Wild announced their preseason schedule. Oolala! I can't wait to join Nordy and the gain at the Xcel Energy Center! Take a peak at the preseason schedule and plan ahead.

Tuesday, Sept. 25 at Dallas Stars CenturyLink Arena 8:00 p.m.
Wednesday, Sept. 26 Dallas Stars Xcel Energy Center 7:00 p.m.
Thursday, Sept. 27 St. Louis Blues Xcel Energy Center 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 29 at St. Louis Blues Scottrade Center 7:00 p.m.
Tuesday, Oct. 2 Winnipeg Jets Xcel Energy Center 7:00 p.m.
Thursday, Oct. 4 at Winnipeg Jets MTS Centre 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 6 at Calgary Flames Scotiabank Saddledome 8:00 p.m.

Xcel Energy Center Photos

I recently went around Minneapolis, St. Paul and a few of the surrounding suburbs to take photos of all the great venues! I took pictures of 24 total venues.

Enjoy these Xcel Energy Center photos.

The Minnesota Wild NHL Team

The The Minnesota Wild are the NHL team for the state of Minnesota. The Minnesota Wild play their home games at Xcel Energy Center St. Paul, Minnesota.

The NHL Wild is part of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League. The Minnesota Wild history began in 1997 when the National Hockey League announced that Minnesota had been awarded an expansion franchise to begin play in the 2000-2001 NHL season.

The six final team names for the new Minnesota NHL franchise were: Minnesota Blue Ox, Minnesota Freeze, Minnesota Northern Lights, Minnesota Voyageurs, Minnesota White Bears and Minnesota Wild. The Minnesota Wild name was officially chosen the following year along with the Minnesota Wild team colors of red, white, green and gold.

The Minnesota Wild logo is a bear head made to look like the Minnesota wilderness, complete with Minnesota pine trees and a meandering Minnesota River. The Minnesota Wild home jersey uses the primary Wild logo within a circle with the words Minnesota Wild in the circle, on a jersey primarily of red.

Minnesota Wild Defend the Blue Line in a charity game

Matt Cullen wears a camouflage jersey before the Defending the Blue Line game in February 2011

Can't wait for the 2012-2013 season to start? Luckily, two of the Minnesota Wild players will be playing in another Defending the Blue Line charity game. On June 20th, Josh Harding and Nate Prosser will be playing at the Ridder Arena in Minneapolis. Not only will fellow NHL players be playing, but Gigi Marvin, the star female hockey player, is scheduled to play as well.

Last year several Wild players participated in a Defending the Blue Line charity game in February, so it's a nice surprise that there will be another charity game. (And another game with Wild players)

Defending the Blue Line is a Minnesota-based charity for soldier's children to have the opportunity to play hockey and is endorsed by several teams in the NHL.

"Koivu's Exploding Shoulder Set Up" named Wild Play of the Year

Throughout the season, wild.com hosted a huge poll for the Top Play of the Year by the Minnesota Wild. After 27 weeks, "Koivu's Exploding Shoulder Set Up" won the title Play of the Year. In a game against Detroit Red Wings on November 1, the Minnesota Wild made an impressive overtime goal, and, although Devin Setoguchi made the final goal, it was Mikko Koivu's use of the "exploding shoulder" against the intimidating Niklas Kronwall that made this the Play of the Year.

Koivu's been doing well in the post-season, it's going to be an exciting season next year.

Can't remember the play? Click here. How did this play win? Click here.

Everyone's excited for Mikael Granlund

After Mikael Granlund's signing on Wednesday, everyone breathed a sigh of relief before getting really, really excited. In his native Finland, Granlund is a celebrity, even appearing on a postage stamp, and it's expected that he'll continue to impress with the Minnesota Wild (No word yet on if we can expect a postage stamp). Even more impressive, we can expect Samuel Savolainen, a writer for one of Finland's most popular sports magazine, to continue writing on Granlund - after all, he's moving to Minnesota for Granlund. Expectations are high and the hopes even higher, and we'll see how Granlund compares.

The Minnesota Wild can certainly expect great things from Granlund, but we're wondering, what are you expecting from Granlund?

Mikael Granlund to (finally!) play with the Wild next season

Mikael Granlund during his time with the HIFK in Finland

Time to stop holding our breaths, Mikael Granlund will finally be signing with the Minnesota Wild sometime this month. He fulfilled his obligations in Finland, the last being the world championship that ended Sunday, and will be signing soon.

It's been a long two years since Granlund was chosen in the 2010 NHL draft, but it will hopefully be well worth the wait. The Wild has apparently signed him to a three year, $2.7 million contract and Wild fans will finally get to cheer for him next season. He, along with the drafts next month, should be turning around the whole team and I will definitely be watching out for it!