The End Of My Hiatus

Yeah, yeah, yeah...I've been missing in action.  All is well, no worries.  Busy with the job, studying, taking a few road trips and watching hockey.  It's been suggested that I kick the twitter account into high gear and start tweeting during games instead of texting in order to reach the wider audience, not just a select few.  I'll contemplate that.  In the meantime, let's get this party started.

Happy Birthday to the busiest hockey mom out there - Mom Daggett!
 


Hockey, Bitches!
Well, what more is there to say about the Wild than INCONSISTENCY.  Why, after 13 years, should anything change?  Instead of breathing easy with a playoff berth cinched we're still biting our nails over every game.  We piss away games and the higher seeding while teams below us have been playing their hearts out, inching their way up to knock us down to the final seed.  Living on the edge, that's how we roll in MN.  I just really want to see the Wild stay in a solid playoff seed and not end up clinging to the 8th seed by virtue of another team not winning their last game, in the last seconds of regulation. 

IRON HORSE
There's no mistaking Suter is a bonafide STUD.  I can hardly believe he's one of us.  The only down side is that we rely on him sooo much and it's become very clear that he's hurt.  Hopefully he can rub some dirt on it and continue to play.  You know, like Brunette used to do on a totally shredded knee.  Not that I advocate playing hurt, but we're fucked if Ryan goes down at this point.  Sorry, that's the simple truth.

LEAKY BLUE LINE
Yep, despite having Suter out there for over half of each game our defense really kinda sucks.  Brodin (aka Suter 2.0) is a Stud-In-The-Making but he's still just a baby and again, if Suter - his mentor and D partner - goes down there's really nobody to fill that hole.  Spurge is solid and plays big but he is a small guy and let's face it - he's no Suter.  Then there's Prosser - um, well he's from MN so there's that, right?  Yes, he's effective more often than not but he's not Suter or Brodin.  Next there's Tom Gilbert who is falling from grace almost as fast as Stoner.  Oh wait, NOBODY has fallen from grace faster than Stoner.  Anybody even remember that we have a D guy named Justin Falk?  Didn't think so.  And who is this Brett Clark guy and why did we get him?

HOME BOY DOES GOOD
Who else would I be talking about - Zach Parise.  He's an experienced/certified NHL star.  And he's ours, all ours.  Mikko Koivu wears the C but it's become clear that Zach is the captain of this team.  From his play to his practice habits to his ability to call himself and his team mates out after a shitty game, this guy is the leader.  Zach is the first to give credit to a linemate and to talk about the importance of working as a team.  Somebody tell the trainers to encase Zach in bubble wrap after each game from here on out.  No sense taking any chances, right? 

THE REST OF THE GUYS 
Mikko, the team's actual captain, is finding his game with much of the spotlight off of him and pointing elsewhere.  It seems to me that Mikko is relaxing and just playing hockey, which is to say that he's excelling without having to shoulder the captaincy all on his own.  Even his interviews are not painful to listen to these days - a sign of someone who's becoming comfortable in his own skin. 
The loss of the Fuckin' All Star hurts, not gonna sugar coat that one at all.  As much crap as I give Dany on a number of levels I know what he brings to the team and we're already feeling his absence.         
Speaking of absence - we needed Cullen back and how.  I haven't been the biggest fan of Matt in seasons past but this guy just never quits, on himself or the team.  That's something you can't buy or teach.  His in-game mentoring of Zucker is just one example of why he's a leader on and off the ice.  He basically told himself he needed to prove his worth to Fletcher and then went out and did it.  Matt finds a way to get the puck on the net or to a line mate who's near the net almost every shift.  Hard to imagine Fletcher won't be trying to make a contract happen for Cullen this summer.   
Setoguchi is nothing, or very little, without Cullen.  Reminds me of the whole Gaborik/Demitra combo - no disrespect for Pavel, RIP.  Much disrespect for Gaborik.  Players need to make things happen, regardless of who their line partner is.  See Ryan Suter for example.  Much was made of how Shea Weber made Ryan who he is.  Well, we all know how that's worked out.
Bouchard - love your accent, hate your hockey play - or lack thereof.  Seems the only time Butch shows up on the ice is when Zucker is here trying to take his spot in the lineup. 
Brodziak, Mitchell and Clutterbuck - WAKE UP!  C'mon guys, you're the lunchpailers, the grinders, the shutdown guys.  Get back to making the other team cough up the puck because you're all up in their shit. 
Hard to mention the Wild's youth movement without automatically thinking of Granlund, Coyle and Zucker.  I'm a little concerned about Granlund but it's VERY early in his NHL career so there's plenty of time to see him develop.  Charlie Coyle - the REAL value of the Burns trade and the reason I squealed like a teenage girl at the draft, just ask Tim.  Coyle, like Brodin, seems to ooze natural hockey ability.  Zucker is a natural scorer.  He needs some work on his all-around game, but hey - what youngster doesn't?  These three kids are the Wild's future and boy are they bright. 
Konopka.  What can I say about Konopka?  He has a pet bunny, named Hoppy.  That endears him to me from the "awww, that's sweet" side of things.  He's good at getting under the skin of our opponents and that's his job.  He's the first one to hold the other team accountable for having harmed or even thought about harming one of our guys.  Zenon has made some nifty contributions on ice besides using his fists.  I think the local media has made a bigger case for Konopka's hockey skills than is warranted.  This is my opinion and this is my blog so neener, neener, neener.
Rupp - always in the wrong place at the wrong time in terms of taking penalties.  I mean REALLY stupid penalties which almost always end up with the other team scoring while he's in the box.  See above mention of over-hype by local media regarding his value as something other than a thug.  Again, my blog - so there. 

Niklas Backstrom - Work Horse Extraordinaire 
Night in, night out Nik's been just short of stellar.  He's HAD to be.  With zero to 1 goals from the team in front of him on most nights lately, it's all been on his shoulders.  He's mostly been in his place of zen and peace.  He has his moments but what goalie hasn't?  When it's not your night, it's not your night.  All will be well once Josh Harding gets through his conditioning stint in Houston and can return to the Wild in order to give Backstrom a well deserved night off...once in a while.  I just wish Nik wasn't prone to sucking at the shoot out. 

EVERYBODY DRINK!
Jason Pomenville is the latest addition to the Wild and boy has he made a prompt and positive impact.  And not just on the ice with his assists and goals like he's some kind of assist and goal machine, cuz he is.  Jason is responsible for my latest Wild drinking game involving taking a shot whenever a player's name is mentioned.  I'm sure Jason took a lot of crap about his name while growing up.  If he didn't, then it's about to start now cuz I've renamed him POMMERDOODLE.  Someone suggested pommerschnoodle but nah, I'm sticking with Pommerdoodle.  I thought I would pass out when we drank every time SPURGE scored or assisted.  POMMERDOODLE will likely be the end of my liver as I know it.  It's a sacrifice I'm ready to make on behalf of my team.  Go Wild!  Go Pommerdoodle!