The captain post....for other teams

There has been a lot of talk about captains for the Wild, so I thought I'd post about other captains in the league and my thoughts on them.

Anaheim-Special Nieds (Scott Niedermayer) he's a very good player, even with his half season vacation. He lost a step, but that just put him only 1-2 steps ahead of everyone else instead of miles. I think he's been a pretty good leader for them, especially since they had kind of a circus for a while. I try to hate him, but in the end I fail.

Atlanta-Ilya Kovalchuk...all I know about him is that he has a horrible sweet tooth and had to have most of his teeth pulled when he came to the US from Russia.

Boston-Zdeno Chara is probably a great captain, because everyone is too scared to cross him. They just do whatever he says so he doesn't eat their children.

Buffalo-Craig Rivet, again, don't know enough about him to pass judgement. Sorry slug fans.

Calgary-Jarome Iginla- as much as I love to hate him, I have respect for him. Mostly because people have been comparing him to Joe Sakic.

Carolina-Rod Brind'Amour-kill me now. Better yet, kill him.

Chicago-Jonathan Toews-I don't think I really have to say what my thoughts are on him, even though he played for the Sioux. (barf)

Colorado-Adam Foote-I was unaware they had named another captain, but Foote will get the job done...just not as well as Joe Sakic.

Columbus-Rick Nash-well he must be doing something right...they sort of made the playoffs.

Dallas-Brendan Morrow-meh, as long as it's not Alvin the chipmunk, I don't actually care.

Detroit-Nicklas Lidstrom-he's not what he used to be, but he's still pretty good. He's now slightly less robotic than he used to be, and he's done a pretty good job filling Steve Yzerman's shoes.

Edmonton-Ethan Moreau-I have to admit, I don't know if this is the best choice, but I don't know who I'd name in his place. He's even more fragile than I am, and that's saying something. Hopefully something goes right this season for the Oilers, and maybe he'll show off his leadership under a new coach.

Florida-no captain...Bouwmeester maybe? McCabe would not be a good choice I feel. As Buddha pointed out to me, Bouwmeester went to Calgary. Clearly he will not be captain of the Panthers. In that case, I have no idea.

LA-Dustin Brown-from what I gather he's pretty young, but so is the whole team, so whatever, right? I like the Kings, so I hope he does a good job.

Minnesota-I think we all know what's going on here. If you want to read about it, my fellow Wild bloggers have pretty much all written something. We all know that Mikko Koivu is the captain of our hearts, so wearing the C is just a minor detail.

Montreal-I'm not sure what's going on here, but I imagine it's not very fun to be the captain of the Habs. So much pressure it's insane. I'm sure something will be worked out before the season starts.

Nashville-Jason Arnott-personally I think he looks like kind of a douche, but I think the Preds should not exist, so that's fine.

New Jersey-Brendan Shanahan-I'm surprised that JL would replace Langenbrunner, but I've been hearing here there and yonder that Shanny is the new captain. That's cool by me, he's a good leader, and it may be his last season. Nice way to end his time?

New York Islanders-No captain at the moment, they better hope the team doesn't take a page out of Vancouver's book, otherwise the team will not have a captain on the ice 99% of the time.

New York Rangers-Chris Drury-he's kind of a wuss, but then when you look at the rest of the team, he suddenly seems a bit tougher. Hasn't been the same since he left 20 Cent's hometown.

Ottawa-Daniel Alfredsson-he makes a really ugly woman, but other than that, he's alright. Not my favorite, but I largely ignore the fact that the Sens exist.

Philly-Mike Richards-from what I hear, many people approve of his being captain. Seems like he has a couple of good alternates, too.

Phoenix-Shane Doan-I don't like him at all, but apparently he's a great leader. I wouldn't follow him if my life depended on it.

Pittsburgh-Cindy Sidney Crosby-ok, I lied. I dislike Crosby more than I dislike Doan. The only place I'd follow him is to a cliff...then I'd shove him off.

San Jose-what a mess. I'm guessing Thornton won't get it....

St. Louis-Eric Brewer-I think he's a fine leader for the young team. I have a lot of respect for him, and I hope they do well.

Tampa Bay-Vincent Lecavalier- I think Vinny's a great player, but I'm not sure what kind of a leader he is. He could be Wayne Gretzky and that team would still have struggles, so I'll reserve judgement on his leadership abilities round two. (He had the C when he was first in the league)

Toronto-another storied franchise without a captain. Sad.

Vancouver-Luongo. I don't think this is a good idea. I mean there's a reason they made the rule that goalies can't be the captain, and I think it's a good rule.

Washington-Chris Clark-who now? I'm sure he's lovely, but I have no idea who he is.

I'm such a good Minnesota sports fan

Coach Richards back in the day. Nice hair, Coach.

Image courtesy of Google

They say hope springs eternal, and I say this phrase was probably invented for Minnesota sports fans no matter the sport. Generally if we didn't have hope, we wouldn't have anything at all. (We can't really complain though, most Minnesotans are cheap, so why would our team owners be any different?) I find myself thinking this to be very true as we stand on the cusp of a new NHL season. I'm really excited for this season to begin. From what I hear, I like the new coach. Granted I heard this from my friend's housemate, whose dad played with Coach Richards for the Gophers back in the day. Regardless, he seems pretty chill, and ready to make a good impression. As a bonus, he's from the better side of the river.

I particularly like the fact that he wants to name a permanent captain. I'll like him even better if that captain is Mikko Koivu. I'm also excited to see the fans back in the game. I think we started to lose our trademark enthusiasm towards the end of the old regime, and that made me sad. Even if the game sucked, the crowds were usually fun back in the day. On top of that, the first thing anyone asks me when they find out where I'm from (after they ask if it's winter year round and to repeat the word Minnesota) is if I'm a hockey fan. It gives me so much street cred for some reason, so I need my brethren in MN to keep up the hockey rep for me.

Besides, it's new. I like new things that are not school years, so anything new is exciting. Exception: the new jerseys. I like the fact that they're green, but they're not quite as cool looking as I was hoping for. My all time fave Wild jerseys are the original green ones. The logo is pretty cool, and it means something with the trees, star, river, and colors. I guess you can't win them all, and green is a much more flattering color for the highly Scandinavian population than red, so it's a step in the right direction.

I'm sure I'll write something a bit more focused in the near future, but I'm back in school and it's Sunday, so that means I have essays/lab reports to write and books to read. I think they stole my focus.

Patrick Kane is a huge douchebag

As I'm sure you've all heard, he and his cousin got arrested and charged with a felony and several misdemeanors. Whoops. They didn't mention underage drinking, but I would be willing to bet that will be included, since he's only 20, and at that hour coming from the nightclub district, was probably smashed. At this point, though, underage drinking is probably the least of his worries.

This was all over 20 cents. I mean co'mon, you're supposed to tip cabbies, I would've handed the man a 20 and been done with it. At the very least just let him keep the change from the 15. THEN he not only took the 15 back, but stole another 100 dollars. Taxi drivers don't make much, help the man out.

The best part of all this in my mind is how much of a jerk this makes him look like. After spending all his time talking about how much he likes being treated like a regular kid (considering how often he says it, he clearly like the attention), he goes out and beats a taxi driver while asking him "don't you know who I am?". Wow. Smooth. I hope Toews rips him a new one for this, because after their awful summer, the Blackhawks really don't need this kind of publicity. I hope if he doesn't have to go to jail, then the judge at least orders some anger management for him. At school, this would be mandatory alcohol abuse counseling, anger management counseling, and possible expulsion. At any other job, he'd get fired, and if convicted of a felony, have a hard time finding another.

TSN has an article and interview with the taxi driver here. I thought this was a joke when I first heard about it by text. None of this is proven, but Jesus, it's not really good for your career to have allegations like this made against you. Even if he gets off, if anything like this happens again, no judge is going to find him innocent twice.

I vote they change his goal song to "Jailhouse Rock" and take him off the cover of NHL '10. He's scheduled to appear in court the day USA's camp opens, I wonder what will happen there.

Alexander Ovechkin is one Crazy Dude!

Haha, I think the title pretty much says it all.

The NHL can't count?

NHL.com is doing a "30 teams in 30 days" thing for August, except as the Ladies... pointed out, there are 31 days in August. Good try, NHL, but that seems kind of awkward unless you have something spectacular planned for the 31st? That being said I'll probably read most of them even though they won't tell me a whole lot, it's good to get a refresher in before the season starts, especially with the amount of info not weather or fishing related that makes its way to me lately.

In other news, the Twins actually won a ball game yesterday, beating the Tribe 10-1 in Cleveland. LOLAH and 18,568RW favorite Kevin Slowey is done for the season with a wrist injury. I definitely feel his pain (2 wrist surgeries) on that one. Feel better soon, dude! Wrist injuries are hard to heal from, but I'm sure you have a good doctor or two on hand to help.

My brother earned the rank of Eagle Scout, so congrats to him.

Housekeeping

Due to my long neglect of the blog, some things needed to be changed, as the blogosphere is a very fluid and ever changing place. I've added, deleted, and changed some links, but if you have a blog and you don't see it on the blogroll, or your link has changed, let me know! I tried to remember who all has changed it up, but y'all are much less lazy than I am and it's hard to keep up sometimes. Also let me know if any of the links don't work. Hopefully I will find the time to update the layout, too.

Thanks!

Summer book club

As I'm sure you know by now, I am interning for the DNR this summer. Because the DNR is a statewide operation, I have to live someplace awfully boring, so therefore I have more time than usual to read. I have finally recovered from the school year, so I've started picking up books on random subjects that I don't normally read about. I've decided to write about a few of the books I've read this summer and what I thought.

Image courtesy of Amazon.com
"Don't Swallow Your Gum!" by Aaron Carroll MD and Rachel Vreeman MD is an amusing book about random health myths and FAQs. Ever wonder if you really do eat spiders in your sleep? This is the book for you. For how informative it is, it's actually a quick read. It's light and fun, and I grabbed a copy off of Amazon to bring back to school for my sorority's bookshelf we are putting together. (Every girl is supposed to bring a book back to school with them on an assigned topic to be put on our house bookshelf. Mine was health.)

I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

image courtesy of Amazon.com

"A People's History of the United States" by Howard Zinn is a fantastic read even for people who are allergic to books about history. It tells the history of the United States from the perspectives of people who aren't white, rich, and Protestant. (Not that I have a problem with those people, but I've read enough books about them.) Women, minorities, slaves, immigrants, the poor, Native Americans, you name it. It's kind of a cool yet depressing look at history from a perspective we don't always hear about, but at the same time it's not whiny. Caution: it's long, and I think he has certain pet subjects that he likes to go on about...

Because some sections were kind of slow I give it 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Image courtesy of Amazon.com

"The Book of the Moon" by Rick Stroud is an excellent overview of the moon. It's not particularly deep, and if you have a strong background in science you might get bored, but it's a nice introduction. The book outlines the history of exploration, myths, astronomy, art, and other human connections to the moon. I did a large project on the geology, origin, and exploration of the moon for a geology class, but I still learned some things about the social aspects of what the moon has meant to mankind throughout the ages. A good book if are curious about the moon and don't want to read a really heavy, scientific work. (There is still good information, it's just presented in a manner that won't bore those of you who aren't science majors.)
It was a quick read and I liked the style for the most part, but it does like to repeat itself a lot to make sure you get it, so I give it 3 out of 5 stars.

How about you guys? Have you read any good books this summer? I'm definitely looking for ideas. I don't tend to read fiction, but this summer might drive me to it.

Goodbye to a great

A very classy, talented man. Look at all that bling!

I didn't mean the title to sound funerary, and I'm really behind I know, but Joe Sakic retired, and that makes me really sad. He was my favorite player in the league, but he left the game on his own terms. Mr. Sakic didn't strike me as the type to hang around forever, and when he felt he could no longer play the way he wanted to, he hung 'em up. I respect that, but I'm still sad as I wanted to see him wear the red and white in 2010 in his hometown. Hats off to you, Joe. I hope whatever you occupy your time with is fun and you don't have second thoughts. Maybe you can follow in Yzerman's footsteps?

Link to his press conference is here

Summer updates

First of all, I'm sorry I have failed and disappeared. First school was crazy, then I accepted a job with the DNR in northern MN, and the internet is hard to find up here. BUT, I did take up golfing while up here, and I'm getting a good tan, so it's not all bad.

Second, I'm pleased that we got Havlat...I think. I'm hoping he stays healthy for us. He Twitters, so he can't be THAT uncool, right? (I got sucked into Twitter. It's more fun than I thought it would be...)

Third, the Twins are picking it up? They blew it yesterday, but I'm hoping that was a fluke. Someone just mailed me a crapton of Twins baseball cards from the mid 80's to present, so if anyone wants a baseball card, give me a player name and I might be able to help you out. I have a lot of random ones including a bunch of Kirby Puckett.

All of you should read Gillies' diary on Wild.com about the prospect camp because it's really funny. He's definitely my new favorite player on the team, and even though I think he's awesome, I think going to the AHL for a bit would really help him out. Playing will help his development more than sitting.

Lastly, Ron Schara is awesome and gives the DNR love. Dennis Anderson...not so much. Moral of the story: Ron Schara is clearly much cooler.

If anyone is headed up north, I can easily get you a fishing report and maybe even think up something fun for you to do if you are looking for ways to have fun without spending a ton of money. Working for the DNR seems to require you to not only know things about nature, but also about the local tourism industry.

Gloating

Ok, so it's no secret that I wasn't Gaby's biggest fan, but when I found out he was no longer with the team, I did a cartwheel. Then I remembered the hard way that I am still very much surgically repaired in my left arm, and also that we let him walk for free. That killed the celebration a bit, but still. Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out. I would give my condolences to the Rangers fans, but by being fans of the Rangers, they should pretty much expect them to sign players like this. They know what they are getting themselves into.

Not gonna lie, I kind of thought he'd go to be with his immortal beloved in Vancouver, but then I would have been very suspicious of tampering.

Also, since I haven't posted for a while, I'm extremely pleased that Dougie R got fired, but this does not completely change my attitude towards our...lovely owner. It helps, but still, he smacks of slime to me.

Maybe Baby Hockey Jesus is listening to me after all. Now if only the prank text I got the other day were true and we signed Toews.

There is no great loss without some small gain...

So the Wild did not have a stellar season, but apparently that not so great season was the kick the Wild needed to create some turnover in the management. I like to review the good things that happened in the past seasons because I think the press tends to focus a bit too much on the negative because it's easier.

1.) Mikko Koivu was mostly healthy the entire season, and he made himself a STRONG case for being the permanent captain of the team. Under the new coach perhaps?

2.) Our veteran players really stepped it up and did their jobs. Hats off to Nolan and Brunette! This does not mean I will stop telling dinosaur jokes about Nolan.

3.) The Wild sucking got rid of Risebrough! If I had known that was going to happen...but that's beside the point.

4.) I got to see the Blackhawks play in person, and it was awesome. That's what I hope our team can turn into. Unfortunately that would involve almost 15 years of horrible teams. On second thought, that would suck.

5.) Foster's return! I'm so happy for him, I'm really glad he gets to play again, and let's not lie, I'm happy he's able to simply return to having a normal life. Walking is a really important thing.

6.) Skoula wasn't as brutal as he has been in seasons past. Granted this could be because several of his fellow defencemen were MORE brutal, but you know, I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt. For like 2 weeks in the middle of the season, he played pretty well.

Did I miss anything major? I wasn't able to watch most of the season, but I read blogs and the paper and watch when I can, so you guys will have to fill in the gaps.

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Happy Monday!

So my playoff predictions kind of fail, but maybe the Blackhawks will save me a little bit.

In their honor, I made this video. See post above. I figured out how to make it post directly here!

If you want to make one of your own, just go to jibjab.com, get a free account, and google some pictures to use. It's an excellent use of your time...they have a bunch of different styles, too.

2009 Playoff Predictions!

Ok folks, here you go. The only time of the year when I make predictions.
West is the best, so I'll start with them.

Western Conference
Round 1
San Jose vs. Anaheim
Sharks in 5
The only reason I'm giving Anaheim a game at all is because of Mr. Scott Niedermayer. He may be kind of a douche, but he's good. Pronger has faltered, the goaltending sucks, but Nieds has been good for them. The Sharks are surging. This finally may be their year, and maybe it will be the year Thornton steps up his playoff game (AKA shows up) and becomes a true superstar in the game.

Detroit vs. Columbus
Wings in 4
After all that whining about not making the playoffs forever, they make it and face Detroit. Bummer, the Wings are going to destroy them, and I'm going to enjoy it, not gonna lie. I'm mostly indifferent towards Columbus, but I do get a little tired of getting lumped in a group with them. Lidstrom, Trianglehead, Zetterdouche, and co won't even have to break a sweat.

Vancouver vs. St Louis
Canucks in 6
I'm looking forward to this series, I kind of have developed a mini hockey crush on the Blues, and I think it's really cool that they pulled out a playoff spot. No, it does not have anything to do with specific players on the team. As much as I'd like to see the Canucks lose (sorry Alix), I don't think they are going to. They'd have to choke more than Thornton in playoffs past to manage that one. The Blues will not go down without a fight, though. I think fighting for a playoff spot can really help the mentality of the team.

Chicago vs. Calgary
Blackhawks in 7
I'm so going to watch as much of this series as I can. It's going to be a good one, though Calgary has lost a lot of momentum lately. The Blackhawks had a mini slump, but several of their players are on FIRE. They are young and hungry, so we'll see how far that carries them. I know Elise will be cheering for the Blackhawks... Maybe I'll be joining her, so sue me.

Round 2
Boston vs. Montreal
Bruins in 7
Le sigh. This prediction breaks my heart to make, but the Habs just don't have it together this season. I'm hoping Luc's lucky hat will help them on to greatness. Stupid Boston. I think I have ingrained, MN hatred of them. I just don't want to talk about this series.

Washington vs. NYR
Washington in 5
The Rangers have no chemistry. End of story. I didn't even think that they would make the playoffs at all, but they did. I'll give them a pity game, but I think for the most part they are going to get destroyed. Lundqvist isn't that good.

New Jersey vs. Carolina
Devils in 6
I don't even know why I'm giving them 2 games, but the karma inspired me to make this prediction, so there you have it. I don't really care about this series at all. Brodeur is awesome, Parise had more than 40 goals, um, Carolina should have lost in the 2006 playoffs. No, I'm not bitter...

Pittsburgh vs. Philly
Pens in 7
This series is going to be bloody, for the Pens. They are mostly a jailbait team while the Broadstreet Bullies are back for the most part. This series really could go either way. The only reason I picked the Pens is because I don't like Briere. At all.

Round 2
Boston vs. Pittsburgh
Boston in 6
The Bruins can totally take on the extremely non physical Pens. The Pens struggled quite a bit this season, and I'm a little surprised they made the #4 seed. This series will hold my attention for less than 5 seconds.

Washington vs. New Jersey
Devils in 7
This series will be a little more worth watching. The Devils aren't the most exciting team ever, but they have a lot of fight to them. The Caps aren't that deep, so they'll rely heavily on Ovechkin.

Round 3
Boston vs. Devils
Bruins in 6
The Devils have good, young talent, but I don't think they will be able to slow Boston's roll this season. Sorry, Brodeur, I know you think you're that good, but I don't think you are.

Stanley Cup Final
Detroit vs. Boston
Wings in 6
It's hard to repeat in this day and age, but I think the Wings can do it if anyone can. It kills me to say nice things about them, but in this case, I kind of have to if I'm trying to keep this objective. They are good, and who knows how much longer they will have this group of players. Should be a good series, though. I look forward to the finals this year. Sometimes it's no bueno, but the playoffs will be fun this year. Very fun indeed.

Who do you think is going to win? Do you think I'm crazy for making these rankings?

Updates

Lake Natomas, where I'll be. Not my crew, btw. We have crimson oars with a gold stripe on the end of the blade.

Well then. I haven't posted in a while, because I really haven't had a lot to say, also no time to say it.
Uninspired play by the Wild? Check.
Professors trying to kill me? Check.
Mini mental meltdown? Check.
Going to Cali to row next week? Check.
Trying to find a way to make hippies do useful work? Check.



Maybe that's why I haven't had time to post. Sorry guys.



Anyways, the WCHA Final Five is this weekend, so that's exciting, I'm sure I'll recieve many text updates about that, and I'm pretty stoked. I have to get a lot of things done before I leave for California for the week, so I probably won't have to much time to follow the tourney on my own, but it should be good. Many bets have already been placed.



I'm ready for baseball season. If only the Twins were opening in Seattle instead of the other way around...that would be sick. This Twins season is going to own. OWN.



All I have to say about the Wild is they had better win tonight, because co'mon. The Avs have been horrible this season. On that note, pleased Hockey Gods bring Joe Sakic back. He's too cool to leave.

Baby Hockey Jesus Trade Deadline

Dear Baby Hockey Jesus,
I know I have been a most undeserving fan recently, but man does my team need your help. While I've been away taking care of my life, the Wild have run into some struggles. (Actually, they were struggling before I left, too.) Mostly stemming from the fact that our GM seems to not want the team to win. Ever. Please help us in your infinite wisdom and power. I will sacrifice Joe Mauer to you for a Stanley Cup. Not that he has anything to do with hockey, but everyone seems to love him, so I figured maybe you did too. Hockey isn't a year round sport, and who knows, maybe you enjoying knocking back a cold one at the ballpark with the other Hockey Gods.

As chief liason between you and the Wild fans, I would ask you for these things:
1.) PLEASE PLEASE let Burns stop sucking. He was so awesome, and now, I don't know what it is, but something isn't going well. Maybe he's having some minor elbow relapses too. Either that or he's spending more time taking care of his pets (if you don't like snakes, don't click...) than focusing. Whatever it is, please help him to see the light. Also, please help the coaching staff see the light and NEVER EVER put him on forward ever again.

2.) Smite Gaborik. If you are merciful, you will smite him in one fell swoop so I don't hunt him down and beat him to death slowly with his own stick. Since they usually make a half a dozen sticks at a time, so 5 other people can help me!

3.) Make Mikko the permanent captain. The team seesm to do soooo much better when he is the captain. He is driven and competitive, two qualities I like to see in my captain.

4.) Please let us either make the playoffs and do well, or get some draft picks. I'm sick of this middle of the road holding pattern that MN teams seem to be cursed with. If you think of it, could you extend this to the Twins as well?

5.) Help me clear out my schedule so I can get more than 4 hours of sleep a night and actually have some free time to read something that isn't assigned/sleep/sit around doing nothing/not do homework whatever that means.

6.) Help Wiz to make his way back to the Blackhawks. Bur is probably crying in the corner as we speak, and the Ducks are dumb. They don't deserve entertaining players.

7.) Keep a close eye on Lombardi and help him to realize his speedy potential in Phoenix. At least he's not a Flame anymore.

8.) Let TSN be correct that Jokinen is a locker room killer. I would like nothing more than to see the Flames self destrct and implode. It would kind of make my life.

9.) Let Shanny and Sakic have graceful exits from the hockey world if they have to leave us. Such great players deserve to be remembered well and treated with great respect.

Please Baby Hockey Jesus help my team(s) on to great success because I want to come home to some playoff hockey in Minnesota!

Go Royals!

I came out of hibernation to support my former high school team. The ladies are playing in the state hockey tourney, and they play the cake eaters (Edina) tomorrow! They beat Irondale and now it's showtime. Go girls! Kick some ass for me! I have instructed everyone I know still in the Twin Cities to cheer for me.

You should all send good karma their way for me!

I miss you all and hopefully will post regularly soon. You can expect me to say a few words about the trade deadline...

Gone (ice) fishing

Dear lovely bloggers and readers,
It is with great regret that I must write a posting notice. As many of you probably noticed, I haven't been around much this past season. I have read other people's blogs as much as I can, but I just haven't been able to keep up with the team well enough to have anything new to add to the blogosphere very frequently.
I'm not shutting down the blog permanently, just making all of you aware of why I can't post much. My personal life has been very hectic out here in Oregon, and I've taken on more than I can possibly handle at the moment. I'm hoping things calm down soon, but until they do, I can't even pretend like I know what's going on in MN for the most part.
Elise, Jeremy, Cortney, Roy, Nick & Co, Buddha, Maggie, Ms. Conduct, Deuce, and all the other good people of the blogosphere will continue to keep you informed, and I'll update my blogroll as I can. I say you should turn to all of them to keep you abreast of current events, and as always, entertained.
My email is listed, and I'd love to hear updates from the Wild world that aren't posted, or if you like you can facebook, text, or call me anytime, I'll probably be awake.
This isn't goodbye, just me taking some time off and if I were in MN, I'd say I was going fishing, back soon. I'll still continue to write the Friday Five for HLOG for the time being, so I'll check in with you all there, and I'll continue to read all of your stuff.

Thanks,

Kirsten
landoflakesandhockey@gmail.com

Mattias Ohlund vs Sheldon Souray Jan 7, 2009

Eat it, Ohlund.

And on the flip side...

I don't really like to make angry posts, so this one is all about the good things I've seen going on with the Wild and in the NHL.

1.) Colton Gillies. I love this kid. He works hard, and I like watching him skate even more than S. Niedermayer. If I weren't against giving Leopold more money right now, I'd buy a Gillies jersey. Definitely my new favorite player on the team. All the season ticket holders who sit around ours like to give me a really hard time about this fact. Probably because they think I'm his age. False. I'm older by almost a year.

2.) LoLaH & 18,568 RW favorite Toews is on the All Star team! A starter no less. Kane is too, but he seems to be hurt or something right now. All I know is that it was amusing watching him sitting in the press box being bored. I've heard reports from Chicago that point towards great entertainment from the young guys on the team.

3.) We have won quite a few of the games since I have been home. I'm hoping this won't end when I leave next week.

4.) NHL TV. I finally found a computer that will let me watch NHL TV, and I love it. So entertaining. Too bad the Wild have not jumped on this boat quite as much as some of my other favorite teams. Elise has kept me informed of all the amusing happenings, and during finals/midterms/school in general, it's a pretty good study break. Thanks, lady!

5.) Shep is working harder and getting more chances than he was at the start of the season. He's had pretty good games for all the games I've seen in person. Here's to hoping he just has the same sophomore curse as most of the sophomores in the league.

6.) The Wild Blogosphere. I love you guys. It helps me stay connected when I'm far away and too busy to watch the games online. I would have been even more clueless if it weren't for the fact that I read all the blogs before coming home. I also love my homies who write for other teams, it's much more entertaining than the mainstream media. I keep up with a lot of teams this way in addition to the TSN, RDS, and newspaper circuits. Keep up the good work my friends!

General Anger

I've been absent for a while, and I'm sorry, but I had surgery and relatives to visit, so that ate up my time and internet connectivity.

I'm mad at the Wild. There are several reasons for this, and most of them include the management. I'm not a patient person, and for me, I've been plenty patient with this team. There are reasons I'm happy with them too, but I'll make that a seperate post.

1.) Risebrough doesn't seem to be doing anything about Backstrom. He has saved our butts on many, many occasions, and when he's not saving our butts, he has saved us from embarrassment. He wants to come back. He likes it here, likes the fans, wants to sign. I fail to see anything wrong with talking to him, and besides, the better he does, the more we have to pay him. With the theory that the cap is going to come down, less money is good.

2.) The Gaborik thing. I'm just pissed at everyone in this situation. Everyone knows of my great disdain for Gaborik, a disdain that I have held for him since I was like 12. Now that has extended to Risebrough. The second he said he wouldn't sign for the very generous offer this summer, I would have packed him off to another team while he was still worth something. Dragging things out this long has made a mess, and now I wouldn't be surprised if he walks without us getting anything for him. WTF, DR? On a petty note, Marian Gaborik's face looks like a potato. Also, Mr. Gaborik clearly doesn't know how to take one for the team. The team he's being paid a lot of money to take one for.

3.) Benoit Pouliot. I keep hearing all about his mad skillz, but all I see is a lazy young man who isn't going to do anything but have potential. Every coach ever has told us "hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard". Colton Gillies seems to be showing this lesson, too bad Benoit isn't learning it. I seriously doubt any GM in the league will be dumb enough to take him in a trade, they've seen him play, and the #4 overall draft pick won't fool anyone, because as Daigle showed us, being drafted highly doesn't mean automatic awesomeness. (Though in all fairness to Mr. Daigle, I think his situation could have been handled better.) He's the Wild's version of Nilsson, not that any of you care about the Oilers.

4.) The expectation that the fans will just sit through this holding pattern. I'm starting to see that we as fans are getting pissed. There are more and more empty seats in the X, and I'm hoping eventually this will send a message. No message will be sent until the season ticket holders start to not renew their seats, though. You have to suffer to get a good team. Detroit in the 80's, Chicago in the late 90's-early 00's. We need to draft better with the picks we get, we need to either get better and make more rounds of the playoffs, or suck more and get higher picks. Something. I'm sick of just sitting in the middle. If I were in charge of my family's season tickets right now, I'd strongly consider dropping them. I still love the team, but I seriously doubt the management will REALLY do anything until we stop handing them so much money.

5.) Defencemen who don't play defence. I don't have a problem with having one on the team, but we have both MAB and Zidlicky. I heard complaints before I got here, but then I saw for myself, and they're right. Jesus. Also, putting them out at the same time? Bad news bears. It's like Souray only less talented and more liable. Skoula is starting to backslide a little bit too. I almost had to be nice to him for a while.

6.) The new Wild owner. There is something about him that I just don't trust/like. Maybe it's cause he's from Wisconsin? I can't put my finger on why I don't like him, I just don't. Mikko Koivu seems to be kind of creeped out by him too.

I'm sure there are more reasons, but my brain is tired. Why are YOU mad? Any beefs you'd like to get off your chest about the Wild? Let's hear 'em.