Game #57: Minnesota Wild vs Winnipeg Jets, Thursday February 16, 2012 at 7:00pm (CST), Xcel Energy Center [GAME PREVIEW]

Don’t hate me dear readers.  I know you’re going to have this song in your head for the rest of the day, and possibly at inappropriate times.  Like say, that important meeting at work or during a test at school.  The closest word we have in the English language for that particular phenomenon is “perseverate” which means “to repeat something insistently or redundantly.”  Our friends in Germany actually have a word for this annoying occurrence.  That word is “Ohrwurm” which literally means “ear worm.”  That seems just about right.  We hear something and it crawls around in our brain, never going away.  So, enjoy your ear worm for the day.

The reason this song came to me today, is because of one simple bit of Wild drama.  It seems that the Marek Zidlicky soap opera refuses to go away.  As reported yesterday by Michael Russo of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Zidlicky has waived his no-trade clause and is heading to New Jersey.  The problem with that, is that Chuck Fletcher is saying that Zidlicky and/or his agent have yet to approach him and tell him that he would like to be traded and that he would like New Jersey to be his destination.  Then Zidlicky says things like “we’ll know in a couple of hours.”  Well as of this morning, Zidlicky is (unfortunately) still on the roster.

While this never-ending saga plays itself out in the press, it puts the team in a tough spot.  We’re beginning to see the frustration in the choice of words by head coach Mike Yeo.  The worst part, is that according to this morning’s paper, Yeo has yet to have a face-to-face chat with the melodramatic defenseman today about this newest development.  In the words of Yeo about the situation:

“We want people that want to go to war for each other, that’s for sure,” Yeo said. “… It’s us against them, and by them, I mean everybody. It’s our group. We have to believe in ourselves, and we have to play for each other, we have to stick together and we have to want to fight through this together. So we need everybody all in for that.” 

While Zidlicky’s play has improved as of late, I have a feeling it is for purely selfish reasons.  He’s not playing in an effort to help his team.  No, he’s playing better so that he can be traded and traded where he wants to go.  His play is not the embodiment of Yeo’s words.  And if you’re not willing to fight for the team you find yourself on, then you shouldn’t be playing.

All I know is that if Fletcher is able to unload Zidlicky on another team, we better get something decent in return.  Now if he really wants to go to New Jersey to play with his friend, Patrik Elias, so be it.  But I’m not even going to throw out some of the harebrained trade ideas that have been out there, usually involving Zach Parise.  Trust me folks, to get Parise, we’d have to give up a heck of a lot more than a disappointing Marek Zidlicky.  While our prospect pool is the deepest it’s been in years (if not ever), I’m not ready to trade draft picks.  Considering how well our prospects have played this year when they’ve been called up, we’re going to need to restock the shelves when those prospects find themselves in St. Paul full time.  Considering what we’ve put up with this season when it comes to Zidlicky, if other teams want him, we deserve to get something decent back in return.  If I see we get nothing but the dreaded “future considerations” I will be beyond annoyed, and that’s the nicest way to say it.

So while this drama is swirling around the team, the team is continuing to swirl around the drain.  I don’t know what it is.  Why can’t this team score more than one goal these days?  Why can’t our goaltenders win the game for their team like they have in the past?  Why does team defense crumble at the worst possible time?  Those are the kinds of issues that drive a fan nuts.  And while we wallow in our misery, Wild fans will be surrounded by loud, boisterous Jets fans tonight who are busing down to St. Paul in droves.  Tonight’s attendence is projected to be over 19,000.  It will probably be the loudest Wild game this season, but not because of Wild fans.  And when the Wild are once again riddled with injuries, a healthy Jets team is in town. 

I’d like to have positive thoughts about tonight’s game, but I just don’t think I have it in me.  And unfortunately the only thought I have right now, is that darn song….

Injury Report:

Minnesota:      Cal Clutterbuck (charley horse, questionable), Carson McMillan (lower body), Clayton Stoner (hip), Guillaume Latendresse (concussion), Pierre-Marc Bouchard (concussion, groin),   Clayton Stoner (leg)    

Winnipeg:  HEALTHY

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