WILD HOCKEY!

[OnAFly]

The idea behind bringing Peters up and putting him with Heater was to take some of the defensive load off of Heater. They thought maybe then he could actually spend some time in the offensive zone instead of starting out his shift in the D zone and finally getting into the O zone when he's gassed.

Really, our defense need to stop flipping the puck up ice. All that happens is we give up possession, we change lines, and then our fresh line starts out in the D zone. There's nothing more frustrating than watching 60 minutes of that carp.

What happened to Stoner? He was so dependable early on. Now, it's like he doesn;t know what to do with the puck. Zidlicky needs to improve or go. Simple as that. We pay him way too much for him to have an off game...all season.

[archerystud]

Totally agree about Zidlicky. I always thought he saw similar to Brent Burns with far LESS upside. He is a defensive liability who doesn't score as much. He's good on the point on the PP but I think Spurgeon is already better at it. I think it was just a DR contract that we are stuck with.

I really liked Scandella at the start of the year. I wasn't seeing as many games before he got sent back down but I thought he was great early on.

To be honest I think the D is getting some bad raps because of the inability of the offense to score. We get behind and then eventually start pressing which leads to more offensive opportunities for the other team. Early on when they were winning it seemed as if they were never behind by more than one goal. Now I've been flipping on the TV to find them down 2 or 3 at the mid point of the game. Always easier to play with a lead!!!

[archerystud]

I also like the idea of giving Fontaine a shot. They probably don't want to look desperate as they aren't out of the playoff chase or anything but with the lack of offense they might as well go for it.

Rau just got called back up.

[10,000 Casts]

another Matt Kassian call up and another W. They should have gooned it up 5 games ago and rolled with it, with the lack of talent on the ice, this team needs to win off emotion like they did last night..

pretty cool Rau got a goal last night.. all 4 call ups looked good.

[Guest]

Powe "took it on the chin" (literally) for the team to get them going and boy did they respond! Can't win on just emotion night in and night out though; at some point you have to win with skill. Heatley looked surprisingly good last night, maybe coach or the GM gave him an earful. They will make a trade soon, hope it is a major upgrade!

[OnAFly]

Zidlicky was scratched last night, that helped the turnovers in our end. Ott gave us that game. I don't know why, when his team is up 2-1 and our crowd is out of it, he decided it would be a good idea to get into a fight. It worked out of us that's for sure. It took us 3 minutes and we were up 4-2 after his last fight.

Zids being scratched makes you wonder if a trade including him is in the works. I sure hope so.

Great to see Rau's ear to ear smile after the game.

[10,000 Casts]

Rick Nash, Zack Parise and Eric Staal all want out from their current teams and the Wild have $10 m cap room. There are a couple of top D men out there to. Can the wild make a move???

[cbrooks]

Zach Parise would look good as a wild

[Bear55]

I am all for getting any big name player to the Wild, I just don't want to trade for one and give up a pile of high end assets. Now if we can sign them as a FA this offseason I will take as many of them as we can get. We just need to turn the ship around and show them we have the potential to a winning and get them a chance at a cup. I know Parise has said he want to play for a team that can compete for the SC.

[Musky Buck]

We just got to be patient with Gillies and Sheppard, are either with the team anymore ? I'd guess not. As Tom Petty sings we're free fallin.

[OnAFly]

Free Falling? Things look a whole lot better this year than they did last year or the year before that.

A lot of those high end FAs want on a team that is a contender. We are not a contender (right now). This will make it difficult for us to get Parise especially as he has stated several times that he just wants a cup and wants it sooner than later.

[Musky Buck]

On a fly I meant our like 3-18 stretch, when you go from leading the league to doubtful we'll make the playoffs that's free fallin. We're better no doubt, we should be Setoguchi,Heatley,Bouchard,Lattendresse instead of whatever we had last year.

[10,000 Casts]

Line 1 ---- Parise, Koivu, Heatley

Line 2 ---- LTD, Cullen, Setoguchi

Line 3 ---- Clutterbuck, Brodziak, Bouchard

Line 4 ---- Kassian, Peters, Whoever else..

Stay healthy, and that is a Cup contending line up!

[OnAFly]

Oh, yeah, we were in "the plane is crashing into the mountain" mode, that's for sure. Hopefully we're out of it.

I doubt LTD is back next year unless they let him go to FA then resign him at a lower rate. Even then, it's a gamble. Also, what about our defense? It become clear that our young guys just aren't as rock solid as we all thought during our 1st place run. You'd think they would consider finding some rock solid D man to lend a little leadership to those promising young guys we have on the back end.

[10,000 Casts]

there are alot of good d men out there right now according to a few trade rumor sites. and LTD and Bouchard are both huge question marks as always.. I'd like to see them deal clutterbuck if they can, i don't like his cocky, agitator attitude and constant high wrist shots that miss high and right and fly out of the offensive zone and checks where he leaves his feet.. To me, he is no better than steve ott..

[scsavre]

I hope we don't trade for parise, he isn't enough to take us to the promise land. Id rather get him for free in the off season. Harding and zids for a couple of top players would b nice.

[solbes]

Parise would be an awesome free agent pickup. But there will be other teams also chomping at the bit too. Probably teams that have a better chance of winning the cup than we do.

LTD and PMB can't really be counted in next years lineup. Too many if's. If they play, then great we have more depth. But if not, we better plan for it.

I'm assuming Granlund would be called up next year. Hoping he can be a Line 2 guy down the road, maybe lower to start.

[schmitty3]

Big game tonight if the Wild wanna stay close to the playoff contention. They are currently 1 pt behind the Avs who hold the 8th spot. NBCSN picked up the game as well.

[OnAFly]

Eek, we never do well on nationally televised games for some reason.

[schmitty3]

Backstom goes down early and gives up a sharp angle backhand here early. 1-0 Avs

[schmitty3]

Wild stick with it, and turned the game around, as they actually got a pp goal from the point as Faulk put in his first career. Then Heater puts em up 2-1. They have looked pretty good this period

[OnAFly]

Good for Faulk. Good to see Heater score two in two, too

[schmitty3]

Mcmillan puts in his first of the yr, and 2nd of career. Good to see these guys coming up and putting some pucks in the net. rau has had a few good chances to score as well.

[OnAFly]

I didn't catch the third, I was beat after skating outside for the first time this year. This is a little like when we were rolling. It was a different guy every night coming up with the big goal.

As crumby as it is for Koivu, it's best for the team that he's gone over the All Star break. We lose him for fewer games this way. It would be nice if the team would be on a roll again when he got back in.

[schmitty3]

They played really well all game. They had a lot of scoring chances, and didn't give up too many. When the last time they outshot someone? Hopefully they can keep things going after the break.

[Bear55]

Wow two games in a row, are we on a winning streak?

[OnAFly]

It's better than the other streaks we've had as of late, that's for sure!

[OnAFly]

Zids is scratched for the third straight game tonight. They have to trade this guy, for both parties sake.

Gonna be a tough game tonight I have the feeling.

[10,000 Casts]

Kassian vs. McGrattan, watch for it tonight.

[schmitty3]

Zidlicky apparently had some choice words about being scratched these last 3 games. The guy is terrible, and it just so happens they won both games he's been out so far.

On a side not Koivu and Lattendresse both practiced with the team today. Great news, they can use both of them.