Sucks to be the CBJs

Now please do another signing so that can be MY sweater.

I get the feeling that Ken Hitchcock does not take losing all that well, but to his credit he has done good things with the Blue Jackets.

I would like to wish Mark Parrish a very happy 31st birthday. Glad they got a win for you, buddy! Hopefully the guys will buy you a few beers to celebrate, and the Twins will buy you a third baseman.

The Wild beat the Blue Jackets 4-1 on the road to continue their Streak of Awesomeness. Nick Schultz is the captain again, and I'm going to grumble about that fact, but concede that the Wild played very well in January. Foster got a goal tonight, and it seems like every time I see him play he has one, so why is he suiting up in the press box so much? Stupid Marian Gaborik got two goals tonight, and Rolston got one too. Mikko Koivu! had an assist on Foster's goal, and Gaborik's life partner (you are so right on that one, Margee), Demitra had an assist on both of Gaborik's goals. Michael Peca!, whose name I adore saying, also had a good game, but only Derick Brassard (and I'm not sure who that is...) had a goal for Columbus.

In other news, the Habs clobbered the Islanders, and I hear if it weren't for DiPietro, it would have been much, much worse. The Leafs actually beat the Sens and Jason Blake (WHOO MINNESOTA) had a goal.

Teebz, over at Hockey Blog in Canada, has a rather insulting post about the Gophers up, though he promises to make UND look bad in the near future.

The Widget I have to the right I stole from Double D(ion), run by HockeyGirl. Thanks, chica! I'm glad to see that you're back in the blogosphere!

Up Next: The Red Wings at the Xcel Energy Center. Game is on KSTC at 7 PM Central Time. Bring it on, Steph, bring it on. Let's hope for a repeat of that awesome game where we beat you guys, k?

I Guess Scott Niedermayer Really is THAT Good

Photo Courtesy of Hockey Canada

We had beaten the Ducks twice on their pond, so I was optimistic. Granted this was before the return of the better Niedermayer, and since then everyone has been saying Scott Niedermayer this, Scott Niedermayer that. Earl Sleek did a big write up on the team before and after the return of the former captain. Not only did he do that, he had nice things to say about the Wild. At least I have the ookies over at IBP to cheer me up. They aren't exactly SN's biggest fans ever, and my favorite quote ever about Nieds comes from them. "Nieder totally looks on the ice as if he’s humming like a llama. Just this contented, slightly absent, animal-esque hum." -one of the ookies, I forget which. Thanks, ladies.

At the end of the first period, the Wild had three shots on goal. After their two goals, they then had five shots on goal. We did end up with 27 shots on goal according to TSN, but TSN and FSN are having shot total disagreements. Gaborik took that stupid penalty, and after that, I exploded a little bit. There was another bad one at the end of the game. The too many men on the ice penalty. This game just really didn't sit well with me. I was happy that Schultz got his first of the season, and that Koivu got a goal (assisted by Parrish! Both of them looked really excited), but as for the rest...notsomuch. I think what really rubbed the horribleness in my face was who got the goals for the Ducks. Todd "Hey Wild fans, don't bother buying tickets for game 6" Bertuzzi and FCP. Oh yeah, and Corry Perry, but whatever.

The Wild need to start winning these games. Teams can gain or lose places in the standings within hours in the league these days. We need all the points we can get. We play all division rivals on the road until the All-Star game, and then the Ducks again. They had better get it together.

Let it be known before baseball season begins, that I am officially in support of the Colorado Rockies as my western US team. I was given a sticker to signify my new fanship of the team. I figure they don't really clash with the Twins at all, and Bert likes their field.

Sidney Crosby is out four weeks with a badly sprained ankle, according to TSN, various announcers, and several of my now gleeful friends. Sucks to be him, but not the rest of the league. Lecavalier is probably practicing his Hart trophy pose right as I type this.

Tomorrow I will answer Sherry's challenge that she posed on her blog and correct all the errors I made typing this at almost 11 PM.

Captain Saltine Cracker

For the first time in his NHL career, Nick Schultz has been named captain for the month of January, and according to my friend Janessa (who went to high school with him), he has the personality of a saltine cracker, so that is his new name. When my mom and I met him, he was very polite, just not terribly entertaining or personable, but at least he was polite, right? I have to admit, he's been playing better this year. I've hardly noticed him at all, and that's definitely improvement. Especially since my family used to play a game where we would guess how many times he would get absolutely annihilated along the boards each night and then count to see who was right. Congrats, Nick. Please lead us to many glorious victories.

Russo, the Wild beat writer for the STrib (Minneapolis Star Tribune), has written an article about his time in the stands with us fans and how he learned just how much we fear Skoula. It's a good read, I highly recommend it. http://www.startribune.com/sports/wild/12962511.html
Part II is coming tomorrow with responses from Coach Lemaire and Skoula.

Nick over at Hitting the Post also has an excellent post up on the topic.

Elise, a new voice in the Wild Blogosphere (please see sidebar), has responded to my challenge about why Skoula still has a job in a post over at her blog. You should check out both the post and the blog.

Speaking of new blogs, I've been reading a few new ones lately, and in case you hadn't noticed, the Wild Blogosphere is expanding! jdoghooey is over at Wild View From Section 216, and Paul is over at Cup Crazy's National Hockey League Blog. CCNHLB is not exclusively a Wild blog, but the Wild are one of his teams, and he writes really good articles on lots of other stuff too.

If I missed anyone's blog and they would like to be added, please leave me a post or drop me a line, and I'll happily add you. (PS, it doesn't have to be a hockey blog, anything is fine, as long as it's in reasonably good taste.)

Ckim (A Queen Among Kings) posted an amazing video with Ryan Miller telling yo momma jokes. It's hilarious.

The Onion continues to be brilliant. The Sports issue on stands now is a hoot and a half. This "article" about the Yankees is my favorite. Just a warning, the f-bomb is used a lot. http://www.theonion.com/content/news/fucking_yankees_reports_nation

WJC Update: Team Canada has recently beaten Team Finland twice in a row. GO CANADA GO! This was the first time they have played in the quarter finals since 1997.
All Team Canada info is courtesy of TSN or my Canadian friends who have been keeping my up to date since I'm an idiot and forgot to watch the game today.