One fact was pretty clear before the start of the Minnesota Wild’s first round series against the Chicago Blackhawks. The Wild would need their rookies to step up and be counted in their first ever playoff action. That fact was only reinforced after Minnesota were edged out 2-1 in overtime in a fascinating and tightly ...
Pre-season projection: Playoff team Final team record: 26-19-3 (8th in Western Conference) Flip a coin. The Minnesota Wild made the playoffs for the first time in five years; they almost played themselves out with a 5-6-1 finish, blowing their shot at the division. They scratched out critical season-ending tilts with the Los Angeles Kings and ...
When you think of the Minnesota Wild, the names Zach Parise, Ryan Suter, Mikko Koivu, and Niklas Backstrom come to mind, as they should. Suter and Parise were acquired to vault the latter two Finns into playoff contention for the first time since 2008.
While the dual free agent signees’ impact has been noticeable, a relatively small Wild lineup (save for a healthy Mike Rupp) has been actively seeking bottom-six forwards capable of a shutdown, bump and grind style.
In the Old West, a renowned but aging gunslinger usually ended his career with a bullet in a ditch. In the new West, he’s paid $7.5 million this year and next. Times indeed have changed. The challenge for Dany Heatley, once one of most feared goal scorers in the world, is a nightly duel between ...
An army made up of just privates and generals cannot win a war. Much the same, the Minnesota Wild, breaking in promising recruits like Mikael Granlund, Jonas Brodin, Jason Zucker, and Charlie Coyle, while led to the battle by Zach Parise, Mikko Koivu, and Ryan Suter, is lacking the quality personnel between the bottom and ...
The Minnesota Wild are currently outside of the Western conference playoff spots with an 8-7-2 record through 17 games. This is not the position that many fans expected to find their Wild in after the big summer free agent signings of Ryan Suter and Zach Parise, though it should be noted that Minnesota are only ...
Captain Kirk once learned that one Tribble is cute, but too many Tribbles are trouble. The same goes for rookies on an NHL team. In a topsy-turvy season, the Minnesota Wild has been forced to go against gospel, playing an unusually large number of rookie skaters in high-leverage game situations. Freshmen Mikael Granlund, Charlie Coyle, ...
A week and a half ago, I started a two-part article about the Minnesota Wild prospects eligible for the 2013 World Junior Hockey Championship. After the bombshell of Wild goaltender Josh Harding’s battle with MS hit, I decided an article that was developing in my heart and mind was more important than immediately finishing up ...
October 13th, 2012 was going to be great, a day that I would long remember. Unfortunately, instead of seeing Finnish wunderkind Mikael Granlund play his first NHL game at the Xcel Energy Center, I was stuck at home attending a USHL game in another state away thanks to a very disgusting word—lockout. I was crushed; ...
In last night’s Houston Aeros game against the Oklahoma City Barons (Edmonton Oilers AHL Affiliate), the top two prospects of the Minnesota Wild, Mikael Granlund and Jonas Brodin, fell to injuries caused by 2010 1st overall NHL draft pick Taylor Hall and Co. This is not good news for Wild or Aeros fans, but is nothing ...
