Return of Latendresse, HUGE Freakin' Win!

95 Points To Make Playoffs

Wild Total: 77 Points

Games Remaining: 15

Wins Needed: 10

First things first - another Chalk Talk session with Wes Walz tonight prior to the game.  Sally was along for this one and she got the full Wes Walz experience: from asking him a question to getting her picture taken with him to having her Wild sweatshirt signed by him.  All that and a really informative whiteboard session by Wes on how the Avs were expected to play and how the Wild needed to react.  The more of these I attend the more the lightbulb goes off in my head when I see how the guys line up for faceoffs and how they position themselves going up ice.  And the more I get to gaze at Wes with his salt-n-pepper hair and that melt-my-heart-smile and his utter candor when answering questions about himself or the team the richer I am for having experienced it.  

Game On!
Great first period by the Wild... I mean GREAT, as in Tony the Tiger!  Forechecking like mad men and applying pressure just like Wes said they needed to.  How freaking fabulous is it to have GLat back?!!!!  Love me some Latendresse hulking around the corners and taking up BIG space in front of the opposing team's net.  Gui put in 10 minutes worth of work in his first game back - I'd say he tested himself for sure.  How about the Wild scoring first for a change?  Talk about stoking the team up!  You could feel their energy all the way up in our seats, not just part way up - like to the club level where Vicki and Emily were sitting ;)   Having that 1-0 lead at the end of the first period earned the team cheers, hoots and hollers as they headed down the tunnel.  
Then came the second period and we watched as the Wild tried their very best - to implode upon themselves in typical Wild fashion.  The Avs tied the game on a sneaky goal that had to be reviewed in order to show it hit the in-net camera and bounced back out in a flash.  The Avs continued to outwork, outskate and outshoot the Wild and it paid off with the go ahead goal with four minutes left.  It looked like our guys were giving up.  Then, just when you really need him to, Bruno steps up and says that's enough of that crap - and scored the tying goal with three minutes left in the second.  There was a collective deep breath from the 18,000 plus fans and I'm sure the Wild players were doing the same thing on the bench - whew!    
The third period was glorious!  The guys got their act together during that second intermission and came out gunning for the win.  There were hard fought battles at both ends of the ice and it took until the 11 minute mark but John Madden buried a second or third rebound shot for the lead and the guys never looked back.  SPURGE! got his second NHL goal and his first 2 point game in the NHL (assist on the Bruno goal in the 2nd).  It's the little guys succeeding that make me so proud :)  Jared got himself the third star of the game for his effort tonight, and rightly so.  It took three tries in the last 2 minutes of the game but Kyle Brodziak finally potted the empty netter at 19:52 to make the final score 5-2.  Avs coach Sacco sent out his head hunter, Cody McLeod, with 3 seconds left in the game.  He heads straight for Zhidlicky and hits him up high in the shoulder AFTER the buzzer sounded for the end of the game.  McLeod got 2 minutes for roughing and 10 minute misconuct but I really think that Sacco should get fined.           

Side Note: Gui's new nickname going forward, compliments of Wes Walz: Diesel.  Wes spoke about getting Gui back into the game at this point and what some of the concerns are regarding his 'conditioning'.  Wes acknowledged that Gui is a big guy, compared to the 170 pound guys around him in the locker room.  He likened Gui to diesel engines, needing more time to come up to speed, due to their size.  I think he nailed it on the head.  Wes also said that at some point guys just need to get into the game in order to stop second guessing themselves about where they're at with conditioning and their confidence level.    

Hey Emily - hope your eye and cheek feel better soon!  Way to take one for the team ;)

Testament To Getting The Job Done:
Bruno - played sick tonight after being down for the count yesterday with the flu bug that's trying to make the rounds through the team.  Coach Richards said Bruno looked like crap after the game but said he wasn't surprised by Andrew's dedication to playing through it.  Bruno got the game tied up when we desperately needed to.       

Dave - look down, right underneath this sentence...see the word "comments" ?  Click on it!