The season is over, and the playoffs are in full swing. The Wild of course are officially in their off season having to fail to qualify for the playoffs a 3rd year in a row. That doesn’t mean the organization is on vacation, at least for those in the front office who have plenty of work ahead of them as they attempt to simultaneously prepare for the 2011 NHL Entry Draft in late June as well as a search for a new Head Coach since the team severed ties with Crystal, Minnesota-native Todd Richards. We will talk more about the Wild’s head coaching situation in another article. The Wild is still looking to add talent even during this interim between the draft and they again looked to the college ranks to add another player as the team signed North Dakota senior defenseman Chay Genoway. In 36 games, Genoway had 6 goals and 37 points as well as 26 penalty minutes. The Morden, Manitoba native will never be an intimidating presence on the ice listed at a very modest 5’8″, 165lbs may make him mistaken for the Wild’s Jared Spurgeon who shares a similar slight frame. Like Spurgeon, Genoway is lauded for his tremendous on-ice vision, smooth skating stride and his high hockey IQ that allows him to make good decisions with the puck. North Dakota is one of the best hockey programs in the nation, and has seen its fair share of big physical forwards dress for the green and black but now Genoway will be tested if he can handle those types of players on a nightly basis at the professional level. It was no big secret that when the Wild put Spurgeon on the ice, the opposition put their big bodied forwards out there knowing he would likely struggle to shut them down. Genoway can expect the same sort of treatment.
Will Genoway have a real shot to make the the Wild? I wouldn’t think so; but then again who would’ve guessed Spurgeon was going to be on the team’s roster for 53 games this season. I still think Genoway will probably end up in Houston next season. The Wild have had a decent history of development in its blueliners after having stints with the Aeros with Brent Burns and Clayton Stoner being some of its most notable graduates. Genoway also another undrafted college player the Wild have signed to bolster the talent pool it has selected via the draft. Minnesota missed this time on the Stephane Da Costa sweepstakes but Chay Genoway is a quality player and joins fellow NCAA-developed prospects Jarod Palmer, Casey Wellman, and Nate Prosser. As a fan of college hockey, I have to commend Wild General Manager Chuck Fletcher for continuing to be aggressive in this area. College players are often knocked for the fact they play a far less games than those prospects developed via major junior but especially for those that played four seasons in the college ranks usually are more mentally, emotionally and physically mature. What is often ignored in that criticism is that many of these players played in Jr. A programs where they had those 60+ game schedules before making their way to the college ranks. Genoway is 24 years old and anyone who has gone to college can tell you that you often mature a ton from where you were just out of high school.
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Houston leads playoff series 2-0
The Wild have made significant progress with its American Hockey League affiliate, and are currently holding onto a 2-0 series lead on the St. Louis Blues’ affiliate the Peoria Rivermen. The Aeros earned a dramatic come-from-behind 3-2 overtime victory last night on the strength of Carson McMillan‘s quick strike in OT that beat the Rivermen’s Jake Allen. Houston will now travel to Peoria for their next game to be played on Monday night. Aeros bench boss Mike Yeo has to be given some significant credit for turning around Houston’s fortunes with a nice mix of AHL vets and Wild prospects. The confidence, the effort and energy of this mix of talent has made for a quality development pipeline for the Wild and Minnesota leaned on Houston this season with a reasonable amount of success from the call ups they had.
Houston still employs a score by committee approach and that makes the Aeros very difficult to match up against. 7 different Aeros players have a goal in two games and it is this balance that will hopefully keep Houston in the post-season for quite a while. Matthew Hackett has been a rock between the pipes so far for the Aeros, winning both games with a 1.37 goals against average and stellar .947% save percentage.
WHL Playoffs Rundown
Kelowna Rockets vs. Portland Winterhawks (Portland leads the series 3-2): Kelowna’s Jesse Asteles was the unlikely hero Friday night as he delivered an overtime game winner to keep the Rockets’ post-season hopes alive. It has been a spirited series, but the post-season has been a coming out party for 2011 NHL Entry Draft hopeful Shane McColgan who is trying to make a late name for himself after being rated 125th skater in Central Scouting’s Final rankings. McColgan has been carrying the Rockets on his back, scoring 8 goals and 18 points in 9 games. Portland is having a strong playoffs from Islanders’ 1st round pick Nino Niederreiter (7 goals, 18 points) and Blue Jackets’ 1st rounder Ryan Johansen (6 goals, 14 points). The Winterhawks have a chance to finish off Kelowna on Sunday night in Portland. Wild prospect winger Brett Bulmer has been fairly quiet in the playoffs with a very modest 3 goals and 5 points in 9 games, while prospect defenseman Colton Jobke is scoreless with 7 penalty minutes to his credit.
Red Deer Rebels vs. Medicine Hat Tigers (Medicine Hat leads series 3-1): I called this series the immovable object versus the unstoppable force. The immovable object was Wild prospect goaltender Darcy Kuemper and the unstoppable force was the high powered Medicine Hat offense. So far the unstoppable force has been able to toss around the immovable object like a rag doll. After leading his team to a sweep in their first round series against Edmonton, Darcy Kuemper has been a sieve, giving up 5 goals on just 17 shots in back to back nights and now he has been relegated to the Rebels’ bench in favor of Dawson Guhle. Guhle was between the pipes for the Rebels lone victory in the series and I’d expect him to finish it out. Medicine Hat has been tremendous offensively as L.A. Kings’ prospect Linden Vey and Cole Grbavac have been tearing it up so far for the Tigers. Top rated 2011 NHL Draft prospect Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has been remarkably quiet so far in the post season just scoring 4 goals and 9 points in 8 games. The two clubs play this evening which could be a series clincher.
HIFK one game away from being Sm-Liiga Champions
Good news for one Wild prospect, his team is just one game away from winning a championship. Mikael Granlund is the Wild’s most highly touted player in its prospect pool and he’s had a terrific run through the post season as he’s helped HIFK Helsinki get to the brink of being Sm-Liiga champs. Granlund had two goals in their most recent game against Espoo Blues which ended in a 5-3 victory for HIFK. In 14 playoff games Granlund has 5 goals and 15 points and 4 penalty minutes. HIFK Helsinki plays Espoo Blues Monday night in game four as HIFK has a 3-0 series lead.
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