This is Stupid

Gaborik should NOT be the captain! He's lazy, whiny, and only seems to play hard when he feels like it/plays on a line with his friends. The theory is that wearing the "C" will give Gaborik extra confidence. Really? If that's true, I don't think that's a good reason to give someone the "C". The best player on the team is not necessarily the best leader. The reason the team has to consider keeping Demitra this summer and run the risk of losing Bouchard is to keep Gaborik happy in the hopes that he will continue to play in Minnesota. Maybe I'm just angry with Gaborik about his comments during the All-Star Break, or maybe I've just really never liked him all that much. Whatever it is, I'm extremely displeased to see him get the "C", especially THIS month of all months. The one that when we make the playoffs, means they get to remain captain throughout the playoffs. A tradition started with Brad Bombardir, then Mark Parrish, both of whom are AWESOME. Long story short, I'm sure Jacques Lemaire knows far more about hockey than I do, but that doesn't stop me from being furious about his selection.

Anyways, the Wild won 3-2 last night on goals from Koivu, Burns, and Veilleux all had goals for the Wild. I got to watch the last 8 minutes of the game due to other commitments (too many early starts. Stupid East Coast bias.) , but Elise (18,568 Reasons Why...)kindly kept me updated. Thanks! I started to get really scared that they were going to blow the game and I was going to have to kill someone. Especially during the last three or so minutes when Backstrom had far too much to do. I flipped my calendar page today, and who should be there wearing the Captain's C? MARK PARRISH! WHOO!

Around the NHL:

• Montreal kicked some serious butt last night! Good for them! I'm not a fan of banana slugs, so it made me happy.
• Both Vancouver AND Calgary lost last night.
• Joe Sakic seems super excited that Adam Foote is back.

Next game: LA Kings on Sunday at the X. The Kings had a tough 5-4 loss to the Oilers the other day, so they might be out for blood. Ckim informed me that several members of the team went back to the minors to compete in the playoffs there. They are my adopted west coast team, so I will definitely be making time to watch this game, and it will be much easier since it's on a Sunday. Game is on 6 PM CT (4 PT) on FSN in MN, and I don't know what in SoCal. I'm looking forward to the game, and I'm sure kms2 of Purple Crushed Velvet, and Ckim of A Queen Among Kings are as well. RudyKelly, the Kings correspondent for Battle of California, will probably have something up as well.

Mikko Koivu Gets Revenge

Photo Courtesy of the Canadian Press

Clearly MK was taught the phrase "don't get mad, get even". Or maybe he wasn't. I don't know if they say that in Finland. His revenge against the Canucks game in the form of the GWG, and also a rather obnoxious goal celebration. What would have made the night even better is if he had beaten on the Sedins a little more, but I'll take a win. I think this means that Mikko Koivu can officially become my second favorite Wild player. He likes pancakes, revenge, pranks, loud music, seems to be reasonably intelligent, good hockey player, and he's Scandinavian. I hear those Scandinavian types are pretty effing cool.

In addition to the revenge, we had Pierre-Marc Bouchard rocking the taco. He had two goals and two assists to be a +3 overall on the night. Butch has been on fire lately, and last night he notched his 200th point in a Wild uniform, becoming only the second Wild player to do so. Marian Gaborik was the first. Brian Rolston snapped his scoring drought. He hadn't gotten a goal since December 29th. Overall it was a good night. The game was fun to watch, but I am sad that the Vancouver feed didn't show Koivu's celebration as well as the Minnesota one did.

Random notes:

My fantasy team cleaned up last night putting me up 8-0 for the beginning of the week.

It's weird being on the other end of the time spectrum. When I lived at home, I'd always hate West Coast games because they were so late, now I love them because the game isn't on during the dinner hour or when I'm still trying to do things.

The Wild are now first in the Northwest division. Hopefully a win tonight over Calgary will help us hold onto that title...hint hint, Hockey Gods.

Leafs GM John Ferguson was fired this morning. TSN has lots more on that story, and they will be having a video clip on the press conference later today. We all knew this was coming, it was just a matter of time. According to Cliff Fletcher, the interim GM, Maurice and his assistant coache's jobs are all all safe for the remainder of the season. The search for a new GM is on.

Tonight's matchup: The hated Calgary Flames. Hopefully we can get Burns to steamroll Iginla so he will stop owning the Wild. Game is on at 8 PM CST on FSN looks like.