Author's Posts
Don't Blow Up Your Team Over a Hot Goaltender
April 25th, 2017 A chorus of voices calling for a scorched Earth policy is rising. Fans of the eight teams eliminated in the first round want heads dangling from the rafters by October. The heads will serve as a warning for future players and coaches. Don't betray us ever again. It's a hallowed tradition of hockey fandom. A playoff loss means a team...
Blues Defense Key to Beating Wild
April 21st, 2017 Despite the absurd shot differentials in their opening-round series, the Blues' defense has been the key to thwarting the Wild in three of the first four games. Most playoff previews started an assessment of St. Louis with the blue line. In part, that's because of the Wild's deep forward group. But it's also because the Blues looked...
10 Players Who Most Deserve Their First Stanley Cup
April 14th, 2017 Almost every season the Cup champions have a veteran on the roster who has waited a long, long time to reach the summit. It's one of the best parts of the Cup presentation ceremony, whether it's legends like Ray Bourque and Dave Andreychuk or underappreciated vets like Kimmo Timonen or Antoine Vermette. Looking around the first round...
Wild Shouldn't Change a Thing
April 13th, 2017 Game 1 of the opening-round series between the Minnesota Wild and St. Louis Blues is mercifully over for the Wild. It took a little more than 77 minutes for the Blues to eek out a win despite being outshot by almost 30 shots. In spite of the end result, it's the Blues and not the Wild that needs to make adjustments before Game 2. The...
Badgers Are the Team to Beat in Women's Hockey
February 16th, 2017 The University of Wisconsin Badgers women's team has grabbed their second straight WCHA regular season championship. With an 8-0 win Sunday over the University of Minnesota-Duluth, the Badgers clinched the championship one weekend before the end of the regular season. They hit their final series of the season -- a border battle...
Two Reasons for Mikael Granlund's Career Year
February 15th, 2017 When the Minnesota Wild drafted Mikael Granlund ninth overall in 2010, he was expected to be an explosive offensive force. There have been stops and starts, hot streaks (mostly in international play), cold stretches, and playoff heroics. But the Granlund promised was an elite playmaker and top-line center. That wasn't the player the Wild...
