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!

I'm not scared

...yet. A lot of people are really scared for their upcoming hockey seasons, but I'm not that concerned. I really think we will be ok, and here's why.

Note: I will make no actual predictions, that's a good way to get the Hockey Gods to frown on you. The only time I will make predictions is for the Stanley Cup playoffs, and even then I usually don't lay out what I really want to happen.

Demitra left, but Brunette came to replace him. Andrew Brunette has always been very reliable and healthy, and we really need someone to actually be near the net. Demitra was not always the healthiest or the hardest working, so we've clearly upgraded in getting a hardworking, healthy player.

As much as Keith Carney was a great teacher, I think Brent Burns is ready to go out on his own in the world. He's turned into our number one defenseman, and I no longer cringe and avert my eyes when he steps out on the ice. Sean Hill was pretty much no help at all, so I'm not sorry to see him leave. Nick Schultz is a good, steady prairie kid who is durable, less prone to getting smashed, basically the rock of the defense. Now if only we could get rid of Skoula...


I've mentioned this on other people's blogs, but don't panic about Burns' surgery. I've had two wrist surgeries and an elbow surgery (and probably one more elbow surgery in in my near future), so I know what I'm saying when I say: he will be back soon, and he will be fine. My elbow healed probably five times faster than my wrist did. It just seems to be a tough joint. Wrists on the other hand, do not heal all that quickly. They have more going on in them, and are easy to mess up again.

We have Koivu, M., Burns, Bouchard, Gaborik (if he shows up), a goalie fight, prospects hungry to crack the roster, two new guys that I don't know too much about, but hopefully will want to prove themselves, Shep who has rapidly learned how to make his way in the NHL, Bruno, Schultz, and soon a healthy Foster. Now all we need is Jonathan Toews and life will be good.


Nice fish, bro. The Blackhawks just went up in coolness points. Or at least Toews did. Same thing, right?

Twins update: The bullpen sucks. That is all.