Pre/Post Game Minnesota Wild Banter

[OnAFly]

So, Butch, Burnsie, Meittinnen have had concussions, Shultz has one as does Mikael Granlund (top pick, 2010). A few more guys last year had them that are no longer playing for us.

Is what's the deal? Are we cursed? Are teaching our guys to watch their passes?

[spearchucker]

They never used to diagnose them in the past, so that is why you hear more about them now.

[OnAFly]

I guess I don't hear about other teams with 7/8 guys a year getting concussed.

[knoppers]

4 wins in a row, looks like theadore is the hot hand in the nets. we just need to win home games. we have a much better road record than home record.

[spearchucker]

Theo as been good but the whole team is playing better in front of him. He is pretty much our only hand right now with Backstrom out.

[OnAFly]

It's amazing what Richards has done for this team as far as road play goes. Last year the road killed us. This year, with better home play and continued success on the road, we could actually make the playoffs. Currently we are 7th in the west.

[solbes]

They are certainly riding a high right now. Fun team to watch!

[spearchucker]

And then they lay an egg at home...

I didn't think they played as bad as the score showed though. Barker was back to his same old stuff again after playing a few good games. We need more from a 3.1 million player.

[OnAFly]

Yeah, we do. Who's idea was it to pay him that much? A big sigh came from the Chicago head office when he was traded.

In his defense, wasn't he just coming on from a change and kind of got screwed on that one. Still, he needs to (successfully) take the body an that play.

[spearchucker]

He was on the ice for 3 goals scored last night. The one I saw he just got skated around like he was standing still (I think it was the 3rd goal). Another one when Scandella got fried he had his back to the puck and it went in right behind him.

[OnAFly]

Koivu just scored one for the highlight reel...

[spearchucker]

Koivu just scored one for the highlight reel...

It was the only thing for the highlight reels, unless you are a Nashville fan.

[solbes]

Decent effort throught the 2nd anyway. Nothing to show for it though. Tough loss.

[OnAFly]

I got pretty excited when Koivu scored. I thought for sure we were going to pour it on after that. We got control for a while, but never did anything with it.

[spearchucker]

Now Theodore is out with an injury for a while. We need to manage our players better. I didn't like him playing all those games in a row back to back.

[OnAFly]

Yeah, they should have played Koudobin on that back-to-back. I was surprised they didn't. I suppose hindsight is 20/20 though. If Theodore wins that game it looks like a great decision. He was pretty hot going into it.

Koudobin's numbers in Houston are good and he's had a little experience at the NHL level. Maybe he'll be the next Josh Harding (hopefully without the injuries). We do have a reputation of developing good goalies.

[spearchucker]

Koudobin is undefeated in the NHL... 2-0.

[OnAFly]

Wow...so, how long is Theodor out? Khudobin seems able to handle NHL duty out there. He reminds me of Hasek. Lots of flopping around, but somehow makes huge saves.

I went to sleep after the 2nd, sounds like I missed all the fun of the third. Stortini running around, Staubits getting an instigator in the final 5, Peckham taking out Havlat repeatedly. Another reason why the instigator penalty doesn't work. It only punishes the guys who are supposed to be out there protecting their teammates.

[spearchucker]

The NHL rescinded the Instigator penalty against Staubitz and Richards doesn't have to pay the $10,000 fine for sending Staubitz to fight. Refs let that game get completely out of hand at the end. Why does Burns get tossed when he didn't even drop his gloves or throw a punch? The ref just back up and let everything happen, they should be fined for what they did.

I think our defense saved as many as the goalie last night. He doesn't slide from post to post, he goes wall to wall. The defense is in the net and Khudobin is on his back at the hash marks...

[Bear55]

Random Wild Thought of the Day!

Cal Clutterbuck (14 goals) is currently out scoring the following names.

Patrick Kane

Ilya Kovalchuk

Marian Hossa

Jason Spezza

Marian Gaborik (15) would have been on the list had he not netted 4 goals against Toronto yesterday.

[spearchucker]

I think Cal has been our most consistent player all year overall. He gives it all every shift. I hope they are not due for 3 bad games now that they have won a few again. Great games against the Oilers and Calgary.

[Bear55]

I hope they are not due for 3 bad games now that they have won a few again.

I was just thinking the same thing, win or lose lets play some solid hockey. Those losing streaks make you want to pull your hair out.

[OnAFly]

I'll be optimistic. The Wild are good on the road and are coming off of two good wins. Backstrom looked like his calm, collected self last night. Not moving much, almost always in position for the next shot (if he gives up the rebound).

We will have to play solid defensively and play hard the whole game, but we can win in SJ.

Will Bruno extend his goal streak to 4 games?

[schmitty3]

Another good road win against a good team tonight. Backstrom was huge tonight!

[OnAFly]

Backstrom was the reason we won. He was stellar in the first especially. Good momentum going into the break with a 3-1 road trip.

Hopefully they don't come out flat afterward. They seem to have that tenancy after long periods of off time.

[spearchucker]

Take away the end of the 1st period and we controlled the game.

[OnAFly]

Had he let another in in the 1st and it would have been a different game.

We definitely didn't control parts of the third. Before we scored our fourth, I thought we were going to give up the game tying goal.

[spearchucker]

Had he let one more in at the end of the first, it would have been the teams fault as much as his. He got peppered at the end of the first. They couldn't get the puck out of the zone.

[scsavre]

It was good to see the wild come back and win after loosing the lead. That doesnt happen with them much.

[hanronson]

Finally. The Wild win a shoot-out. With Backs in goal even. Yayyyyyyy ! ! !