Game #54: Minnesota Wild at St. Louis Blues, Friday February 11, 2011 at 7:00pm CST, ScottTrade Center [GAME PREVIEW]

Just one more stat, and its the one that matters the most.  Here is your current standings in the Western Conference. 

1st – Vancouver Canucks – 55GP  (35-11-9) ~ 79pts
2nd – Detroit Red Wings – 54GP  (32-16-6) ~ 70pts
3rd – Dallas Stars – 54GP  (30-18-6) ~ 66pts
4th – San Jose Sharks – 55GP  (30-19-6) ~ 66pts
5th – Nashville Predators – 55GP  (29-19-7) ~ 65pts
6th – Phoenix Coyotes – 56GP  (28-19-9) ~ 65pts
7th – Anaheim Ducks – 55GP  (30-21-4) ~ 64pts
8th – Calgary Flames – 56GP  (28-21-7) ~ 63pts
9th – Minnesota Wild – 53GP  (28-20-5) ~ 61pts
10th – Los Angeles Kings – 54GP  (29-22-3) ~ 61pts
11th – Chicago Blackhawks – 54GP  (28-22-4) ~ 60pts
12th – Columbus Blue Jackets – 54GP  (26-23-5) ~ 57pts
13th – St. Louis Blues – 54GP  (24-20-8) ~ 56pts
14th – Colorado Avalanche – 54GP  (25-23-6) ~ 56pts
15th – Edmonton Oilers – 54GP  (16-30-8) ~ 40pts

In many ways the daily picture of the Western Conference standings is sort of like the New York Stock Exchange.  Where the standings can fluctuate from night to night as a single win can propel you past 2-3 teams and a loss can have you left in the dust just as quickly.  The Wild are on the proverbial doorstep of the Western Conference playoff picture, which is admirable achievement considering the slow start the team had.  Minnesota has been playing some of its best hockey for the last two months (knock on wood) but they still find themselves on the outside looking in.  The 3-point games have a lot to do with this.  For teams like Calgary, whom the Wild have already finished their season series with Minnesota winning 4-of-6 games against the Flames are a perfect case in point of just how important the shootout can be.  The Flames, currently in 8th are where they are at due to their success in the shootout, where they lead in the NHL with 7 wins earned from the glorified skills competition.  Before I go any further, I like the shootout and accept it, but the main point I’m making is that making the shootout count by earning wins can be absolutely huge as it really is the reason the Flames were able to climb back into the playoff picture.  It was not that long ago that NHL experts had considered the Flames season dead, and the speculation swirled about the team jettisoning Jarome Iginla, Robyn Regehr and Miikka Kiprusoff for a massive rebuild.  Oddly enough it has been the team’s performance after a 6-0 rout on January 19th at the hands of the Wild that seems to have awakened the Flames and they’ve been red hot ever since.  Obviously, the rumors about dealing Iginla have subsided greatly now that the Flames are playing winning hockey again but the fact that a losing streak can ignite trade rumors can give you an idea how frenetic this time of year can be.  If the Wild have any trump card as of right now, it is the fact they have the 2nd fewest games played in the Western Conference, that means the opportunity to advance in the standings is the greatest of just about anyone with the lone exception of tonight’s opponent the St. Louis Blues.  The Blues are struggling, but there are reasons to believe its fortunes are going to turn around now that its star goaltender Jaroslav Halak is back and healthy again.  Halak gives St. Louis a chance to win each night and Minnesota will have its work cut out for themselves if they hope to overcome playing against a hard-working physical Blues squad.  With a plethora of rugged forwards and defenseman like David Backes, B.J. Crombeen, Brad Winchester, Cam Janssen, and Barrett Jackman the Wild will have to be ready to endure lots of vicious body checks and a healthy dose of trash talk all game long.   

Just like the New York Stock exchange, the trading has started to begin early before the February 28th deadline.  The last few days have seen a flurry of activity as a few teams have already thrown in the towel while others look for that extra boost, and so far most of them have involved Western Conference teams landing the more marquee names in these early transactions.  Just to give you a sampling of some of the trades this week.  The Toronto Maple Leafs traded defenseman Francois Beauchemin back to his former team, 7th place Anaheim Ducks for a 1st round pick (this year) as well as former Minnetonka Skippers stud Jake Gardiner, the oft-injured Joffrey Lupul and a conditional 4th round pick in 2013.  Chicago shipped speedy center Jack Skille along with two minor league players to Florida for Michael Frolik and promising young Slovak goaltender Alexander Salak.  Lastly, the Ottawa Senators threw in the towel by sending Mike Fisher (along with his country singing wife) to the Nashville Predators for their 1st round pick (this year) and a conditional pick in 2012.  There is no doubt that there will be many more moves made but whether they actually bring more success is the important question the next few weeks willy likely answer. 

So will the Wild be making their own splash via trade fairly soon?  I doubt it.  I just do not believe the Wild have the cap space to make a major move nor the assets to entice other teams unless it unloaded prospects and picks and when you consider the effort the team has taken to try to re-stock the prospect cupboard I think that is the last thing they wish to do.  This does not stop the rumor mill though, and reportedly RDS, the French-Canadian version of TSN has reported that Wild scout Michel Therrien has been watching New Jersey Devils forward Jason Arnott rather closely.  I have little doubt that the New Jersey Devils, who have been playing much-improved hockey since the return of former Wild Head Coach Jacques Lemaire behind the bench are still going to look to sell what they can and stock up prospects and picks would love to field offers for Arnott I don’t know if the Wild really wish to part with a young player and likely a draft pick as well for an aging rental player.  It must also be noted that the team should get a boost internally when offensive defenseman Marek Zidlicky returns from his shoulder injury and perhaps Guillaume Latendresse as well.  Both players are skating again, although according to reports from TSN and the Minneapolis Star Tribune its Zidlicky that is in better shape than Latendresse who was already struggling with conditioning issues before he got hurt.  In the past it would’ve killed me to say this, but I really believe the best move for the Wild is to simply stay as they are or look to sell a few of its easy to move assets in veteran forward John Madden who has played very well, and has the playoff experience teams covet this time of year, and Jose Theodore who has been very good playing backup minutes to Niklas Backstrom.  In year’s past it used to annoy me when the trade deadline would arrive and the Wild would make no significant moves other than to attempt to add a role player like Dominic Moore or the mini-debacle that was the trade for Chris Simon.  This year is different and the team is playing well enough that I think the additions of Zidlicky and Latendresse will be just as impactful as adding a player via trade and most importantly will not cost the team valuable prospect(s) and / or picks.  Almost any time a team makes a big splash at the deadline to add big component for a post-season run its often a Faustian bargain.  You make a deal with the devil (no pun intended) you often find yourself on the losing end or at the very least the returns are often rather fleeting.  Just ask the Atlanta Thrashers if it was worth it sending away young defenseman Braydon Coburn for Alexei Zhitnik.  There are a few stories where the late move works, but those are the exception and not the rule. 

More than anything, tonight is an opportunity to continue to gain ground on the rest of the Western Conference as well as suppress a team that would love to pass us up in the standings.  Wins will increase the pressure on the Wild’s management to make a deal to boost the team, while losses will make the team consider selling off some of its assets to stock up for the future.  While I still believe the team will probably be content to stand pat regardless, there is little question the next two weeks will ultimately determine whether this team is buying or selling.  Just as it is in the stock market, you buy low and sell high; and that may be nearly impossible if the fact there have already been a few 1st rounders exchanged tells you the prices to trade may be pretty steep this year, too steep for the Minnesota Wild. 

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