Coach Tired of Boos, Inflated Numbers, BOGO Shootout Goalies

Boo Birds Piss off Todd Richards
Coach Richards is "sick and tired of being booed by the home crowd."  And what, pray tell us, are you going to do about it, Todd?? 

That was my question going into tonight's game at home - you know, the place where the Wild have played like crap for the better part of the season so far.  Well, I don't know what else he said in the locker room but Holy Grit and Grind - the team responded with one of their top five games to date for this season.  It's hard not to burst with pride when your team plays the way they did tonight.  These kind of games are far and few between so I'll take them for what they are - a gift, that cool drink of water in the middle of the desert.  Russo's Coverage

Not that we didn't have our less than stellar moments:
Backstrom looking lost on two of the goals against and the team pissing away 3 power plays, including the 4 minute penalty that Mikko took stitches for.  

All in all, the team played with determination and pride.  Man, it's such a beautiful thing - it gives me chills!  I'll be taking the sleeping pill tonight otherwise I'll be too jazzed to catch more than 2 hours after watching the game on DVR.  I love feeling like this coming out of the arena!  When you need both hands to count the players who left it all out on the ice you know you've seen a great game.   

Why - oh - why can't they do this 9 out of 10 games?  Why can't tonight be the norm instead of the laziness and lack of effort which has defined the last season and a half?  Why must we endure game after game like the beat down by the Red Wings and that sad effort in Columbus?  I'm greedy, I want more games like tonight!                  

Key To Wild Attendance
It's amusing to me that nobody, not the Wild or the media, is pointing out the real reason for the higher attendance numbers for these last few home games... free tickets were given to the 10 Year Season Ticket Holders.  Each 10Y STH was given free tickets for a game - our choice from the home games between November 26 through January 2. 

The 12.26 game, hosting the Red Wings, was one of those games and it showed.  In addition to the extra hometown butts in seats from those free tickets, there were more Wings jerseys in the arena than I think I've ever seen before.  Those Wing Nuts drive and fly into Minnesota in droves...curse them. 

Tonight's game was missing the huge traveling fan base from California but just about everybody I talked to from the upper deck and the lower bowl was there by the grace of 'courtesy' or free tickets.  Some folks had received them from family members or friends as a gift but most said they bought them from a ticket holder.  So tonight's 19,131 announced attendance was tainted.  But hey, at least everyone was treated to some great hockey!     

Two Sieves In Shootouts
Going into the shootout in Columbus I was comforted by the fact that it was Jose in net and not Backstrom.  Nik's struggled with the one-on-one since last season and that's no secret.  Evidently I was lulled into a false sense of confidence by having anyone but Nik in the net after overtime.  Jose proceeded to let in the pucks like he wasn't even there and my heart just sank, thinking that we've got some serious issues in net if both goalies can't stand the heat in the shootout.  Imagine my surprise the next morning to see this headline from Russo: Wild Fires Mason... I immediately thought he was saying the Wild's goalie coach, Bob Mason, had been fired.  Evidently, the editor needs some help creating headlines that are grammatically correct.  

Must See TV
Archer is coming back for the next season on January 27. 
Burn Notice - catch up on missed episodes with the marathon of episodes 12.30
Fairly Legal - new show on USA Network.  I've liked Sarah Shahi since her role on NBC's defunct series Life, where she had the hots for my man Donal Logue's character.  
The Good Guys - This Fox show just gets funnier with each episode!  

For Bobbi - You'll know what this is for :)