Holy Gordy Howe!

Ugly Hockey
That was just bad hockey played by the Wild.  I'll give you the first period - and it was a beauty with two quick goals by Matt Cullen and Brent Burns to set the tone.  But then came the second period and some of the worst hockey played by Minnesota in a long time.  It turned to ugly as the game went on and that third period...well, I have to believe there's a couple of hockey moms out there who are not very proud of their sons after that debacle.  We'll break that down in a little bit. 

I don't know if it's the youth and speed of the Oilers that gets our guys so far off their game?  I don't think there's another team in the league that gets us to take so many stupid, unnecessary penalties - and mostly because we can't keep up with the Oilers when they've got the puck.  Last night we tripped, delayed the game and interfered ourselves into the penalty box six times between the first and second period. Our passing was horrendous and we were out of position on almost every play.  Bad decisions with the puck meant turnovers - STOP PASSING the puck and START SHOOTING it instead.


The Good Old Days
Remember when the Wild were known for their Youth and Speed?  Those were the days when we didn't have any star players and had to play defensively...wait, how's that different than the team we've got today?  

Good Things

• Good thing the Oilers suck on the powerplay these days, 0 for 44 prior to their PPG in the third, or the outcome of this game would be a whole different story. 
• Good thing the Oilers are in a slump right now. 
• Good thing nhl.com shows the goals from the game - the pass from PMB to Nystrom before Eric sent the puck to Cullen on that first goal was just about as pretty as it gets.   
• Good thing Khudobin was lucky as hell - or wickedly awesome, I can't decide which one just yet.
• Good thing the Wild's penalty kill was effing MONSTER, including the 1:40 seconds of 5-3 killed off by a veteran line and a not-so-much veteran line.  They did it, as Eric Nystrom said after the game, by "sheer determination." 
• Good thing the Wild never gave up.  This was a game where, historically speaking, they would have caved in on that 5-3 penalty kill and you could have turned off the t.v. without hesitation or any remorse. 
• Good thing Brunette got his 250 goal tonight - a PPG at that!   
• Good thing 'pretty win' doesn't apply in hockey to get the 2 points.  We'll take 'em!    

Not So Good Things

• Burns gets the Gordie Howe Hat Trick: A goal, an assist and a fight...wait, what fight?  I've watched the third period about a dozen times now and I never saw Brent drop his gloves or throw a punch.  Yet he got 5 minutes for fighting and 10 minutes for misconduct.  Both penalties were apparently defined by the refs as "a player hanging on for dear life while getting punched in the head by Zack - I'm A Piece Of Shit Human Being - Stortini."
• Havlat gives Theo Peckham a retaliatory trip - which started the whole WWE mini-event in the third period and led to Brent's aforementioned Gordie Howe Hat Trick.  Peckham was pissed about the trip and pushed Marty.  Kyle Brodziak rushed in to support Havlat and was tripped up by Tom Gilbert.  Brent was on his way to the scuffle but Stortini grabbed him and we all know how that ended.
  Normally, I'm not a supporter of this kind of play since it usually means the Wild will be shorthanded and that can be costly.  I'm all about smart hockey, folks.  I'm going to cut Marty some slack though so I'm calling this one a Good Thing within a Not-So-Good Thing.  Here's my reasoning: Marty finally had just about enough of Theo Peckham's shit for one game and tripped Theo after being cross checked by him three times during the game without it ever being called.  In the ensuing 'you wanna a piece of me?' stand down between Havlat and Peckham, Theo picked up the extra 2 minutes for roughing.  The Wild go on the powerplay and just 5 seconds in Andrew Brunette scores his 250th NHL goal - nice!!  I always say the best revenge for a bad goal or penalty is quickly scoring a goal on your opponent.    
• Staubitz.  Staubitz, Staubitz, Staubitz.  I wanted to be on your side for this one buddy, I really did.  But I've watched the third period again and again to see the hit on Schultz was clean and therefore your antics were not necessary.  If the league does what it's supposed to in these cases you'll be getting what you deserve: a one game suspension and some time in your coach's dog house after that.  You just cost Richards $10,000.00 for having instigated a fight in the last five minutes of the game.  If I were you I'd be making some bank transfers in order to pay my boss back and then take whatever else he's got in mind for me with quiet humility.
• Reffing is not something I typically make reference of since it's just too easy of an excuse to use while trying to cover up bad plays/decisions by your team.  But for the love of fair play, C'Mon Refs - WTF game were you at???  Audio by Kurtz

Krazy for Khudobin!
Khudobin gives me Steve Miller Band Jungle Love - "He's driving me wild, he's making me crazy, crazy!"  


Anton is so anti-any-other-goalie-out-there!  I'm having fits watching him play.  There's no sense of being in that place of peace and zen like there is with Backstrom.  There's no sense of calm, assertive confidence like there is with Jose.  It's all just a friggin' crap shoot with Dobby as he slides to the left and then has to launch himself like a rocket back over to the right.  He glides on his pads beautifully out to the corner but then finds himself on a trajectory to the side of the net, making a bee line for behind the net!  I never get the sense that he's 'seeing' the puck.  It appears to be one big 'hey-who'dathunkit!' moment when he comes up with the puck in his glove for the save.  All of this is very frustrating to me and yet, completely exhilarating at the same time.



And pull your damn breezers up, will ya?!  I'm all for some good goalie butt crack, Sally and I got SERIOUSLY off track about this at Sunday's game, but I don't need to be distracted by your gear threatening to fall off your ass during a game.   


Wild play in Calgary tonight.  Robyn - you and your Flames friend better have be ready to go with your facebook bet!