Game #78: Minnesota Wild vs San Jose Sharks, Friday April 2, 2010 at 7:00pm (CDT), Xcel Energy Center [GAME PREVIEW]

The spirit of one of the State of Hockey’s famous sons permeated the hallowed walls of Xcel Energy Center during Thursday’s practice.  However, it was not an enjoyable experience for the men on the Wild’s bench.  Head coach, Todd Richards who was furious after the Wild’s no-show on Wednesday night, channeled the most famous coach of his alma mater.  Anyone familiar with the “Miracle on Ice” team or any of his antics while coaching at the University of Minnesota know of some of the high octane practices of Herb Brooks.  You do have to wonder why Richards waited this long to pull the “Herbies” out of his coaching bag.

Yesterday’s practice was only 37-minutes long.  Richards wanted them on the ice longer, but with today’s game he kept it short, but painful for all involved.  There were no pucks involved.  What was involved was an intense and brutal skating session, up and down and around the ice.  There was no joking around on the ice, nor was it evident in the lockerroom.  Seems that as soon as practice was over, players left immediately.  Richards is hoping that he made that practice brutal enough, that there won’t be a repeat of it anytime soon.  However, considering how little is left of the season, it definitely seems a case of too little, too late.  Perhaps instead of holding all those “optional” practices and practices without coaches, Richards should have held more practices like this one.  At the very least, there is one player on the bench that felt the impact of the practice and knows what it means.  Andrew Brunette was embarrassed by the team’s performance, and pretty much eluded to one of the most famous quotes by Herb Brooks, that the name on the front of the jersey means more than the name on the back of the jersey.  Brunette realizes that the fans deserve more, and it would be wrong of the team to tear down what has been built up over the years.

One can only hope that the rough justice that was meted out on Thursday displays some benefit tonight.  If any team should play with some fire in their bellies, you would hope it would be the Wild.  Between the embarrassing 4-0 loss at home to Chicago and yesterday’s tough practice you’d hope they come out and play to the best of their abilities.  While losing is never fun, a loss that at least shows hard work, effort, and heart is a little more acceptable.  Yet, the Sharks are fighting to hold on not only to the Pacific Division Champion, but to win the top spot in the Western Conference as well.  Playing a team fighting for positioning could be another pitfall for a sliding Wild.

Hopefully the one characteristic that Herb Brooks was both revered and reviled for makes its way into the Wild’s lockerrom tonight.  Somehow Herbie was able to create a team mentality through hard work and tearing down individuals.  All the Wild can demonstrate from here on out is hard work and desire.