Ever get that feeling that you’re just a glutton for punishment? Where it seems like in some twisted and subconscious way you just love to put yourself through periodic agony and suffering? Some people call it fate, or a cycle of frustration. Whatever it is, it leaves you questioning why this happens to you even though in most cases you know precisely why. People live in patterns, we’re creatures of habit. Sometimes these habits keep us sharp and well-prepared other times they’re dangerous games of roulette where we continue to flirt with disaster. The more desperate people become, it pushes those habits to the extreme. The risks become greater, and let’s be honest when broadcasters / hockey pundits start trotting out the phrase ‘mathematically still in it’ its a nice sports euphemism for ‘no chance in hell.’ The Wild had to feel that way last night against the Montreal Canadiens. Just 10 seconds into the game, Stephane Veilleux decided to try to spark his team by dropping the gloves with Ryan White. Mind you this was the same Ryan White who more than held his own against Clayton Stoner last year and Stoner is a fairly reasonable fighter. So did Veilleux really have much of a chance? He had about as much chance of giving Ryan White a good solid beating as does Glass Joe against Little Joe in Mike Tyson’s Punch Out (NES). For those of you who are too young or can’t quite remember who I’m talking about the small little picture below will bring you up to speed.
How is Stephane Veilleux like Glass Joe?
See what I’m talking about now? Of course the ‘fight’ if that’s what you wanted to call it wasn’t quite the same it still was a case where the person looking for the fight was the fragile one who was only asking to be knocked out. You could say the same for tonight’s game between the Wild and the Detroit Red Wings. The Wild probably have no reason to be challenging the dominance of one of the best teams in the Western Conference but that is what they must do; and more importantly if they are to keep their ‘mathematical’ hopes alive they must find a way to come away with two points. I doubt we’ll see Veilleux challenge Todd Bertuzzi to a fight, but this team will have to show its ornery side if its to have any chance at all. So will Minnesota surprise everyone and deliver a big punch to the Detroit Red Wings or will the Wild be knocked out after just a few well placed jabs?
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1st Period Thoughts: You know things are going to be bad when all it takes is a mere thirty-five seconds for the Red Wings to score. And then if that wasn’t bad enough, you simply have to notice that it was essentially a lazy control of the rebound by Josh Harding that created that Valtteri Filppula goal. Things didn’t get any better, when the Wild found themselves down a man after Cal Clutterbuck cleared the puck over the glass. Strangely enough, Minnesota managed an okay shorthanded scoring chance. The Red Wings on the other hand would demonstrate their vastly superior skills in just about everything and continue to pressure during the remainder of their powerplay. Thankfully, Minnesota kept the score 1-0. The pressure would continue, because they have the speed and because Minnesota also struggles to clear the zone. Not a good combination if you ask me. Minnesota would once again give Detroit another man advantage after Nick Johnson was called for slashing when he was racing for a puck behind Jimmy Howard’s net. The Wild skaters would have to work hard in front of Harding to keep the puck out of the net. While the Wild have to work hard in front of Harding, they were completely unable to work just as hard in front of Howard. Instead when the Wild are able to get the puck in the offensive zone, the Red Wings simply keep the Wild skaters, and therefore the puck along the boards. Lately, Minnesota’s goals have been ugly ones shot from in close that somehow managed to get by the opposing goaltender. That will most likely not be the case tonight. Probably the best chance that Minnesota had in the period came with around seven minutes remaining in the period. The attempt by Kyle Brodziak seemed to inspire the rest of his teammates. This would be the first real amount of pressure that the Wild would get, however Howard would be there for each and every (albeit few) chances. And just when you think that Minnesota might finally be turning their play around, Detroit reminds us (and the rest of the league) why they’re sitting where they are in the standings. An ill-timed icing call on the Wild and the utter failure by Minnesota to clear the zone, led to Brendan Smith’s first goal. It appears that Detroit will simply out-work and out-play all night. The Wild would try to re-group, but they just didn’t have enough in them. In the mean time, the Red Wings would simply try to make it 3-0 before heading into the locker room. Thankfully, that was not the case. Now, this wouldn’t be the first time the Wild would head into the first intermission finding themselves lacking in the goal column. However, whether they have the ability to turn things around like they did in Montreal has yet to be seen.
2nd Period Thoughts: For a period that attempted to start well with the Wild actually getting shots on Jimmy Howard, Minnesota was simply unable to sustain the pressure. Sure, they got the occasional chance, but with a team like Detroit that sometimes feels like it can score on command, the occasional chance is not going to win you many games. Just because they managed to dig themselves out of the hole last night in Montreal, tonight’s team is a completely different animal. While there was some pressure, there were few actual shots. Of course it doesn’t help matters that just over seven minutes into the period, the Red Wings find themselves up by three goals, when Darren Helm gets a soft goal behind Harding. On a normal team, you would see a team pick themselves up and at least try to look like they’re serious about their job, but alas that would not be the case. The shots on goal were few and far between. And as we all know, you can’t score if you don’t shoot. That has been a mantra that seems to never set in with the Wild. And while the Wild almost seem to refuse to shoot the puck, the same cannot be said about the Red Wings. If you thought 3-0 was bad, Henrik Zetterberg made the game that much more difficult for the Wild, making it 4-0 at the 16:35 mark of the period. And things would continue to get worse for Minnesota. Just over a minute after Zetterberg’s goal, Ian White decided that he needed to make this game 5-0. By this time, fans everywhere know that this game is completely out of reach. While we know that, you wish you could at least see an effort put forth by the players in white. Of course, the big question now is whether head coach Mike Yeo keeps Harding in the game or if he makes the change and has Matt Hackett finish out the game.
3rd Period Thoughts: I’ll admit I was surprised to see that Harding was going to start the final period. For a while, it looked like Harding just might have his head in the game. Sadly, it only took five and a half minutes for things to get even worse. When you give a player of the calibre of Henrik Zetterberg essentially an empty net to work with, you can expect to find your team down six goals. That sixth became the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. Enter Matt Hackett. Hackett found himself under pressure early. The Red Wings are extremely familiar with the “sweet spots” on their boards, and they’re not afraid to use them. Strong shooters combined with shots coming off the boards behind Hackett set the Red Wings up with some great shots on goal. The same cannot be said about Minnesota. Halfway through the third, and Minnesota has only one shot on goal. For whatever reason, Hackett has come ready to play. In fact, you almost wish that Hackett had started the game. While I think we’d still be losing the game, I have a strong feeling that it wouldn’t be so painful. You just have to wonder what is up with Harding, because the shots that are coming in on Hackett right now, most likely would have found themselves behind Harding. While Hackett has had extremely limited playing time in the NHL, you almost have to feel a bit positive about the future. In fact, when it feels like you have little to feel good about when it comes to the Minnesota Wild, you have to latch on to the little things to make you feel better. And if you need more things to feel good about, late in the period (and after a rare Detroit penalty), the Wild find themselves with an amazing sixteen shots on goal for the night. In fact, with just over three minutes left in regulation, Minnesota finally put on some real pressure. After all that hard work, it looked like Darroll Powe would get rid of the goose egg in the scoring column, but the officials immediately waived the goal off. Powe was pushed into Jimmy Howard by a Detroit player. It’s calls like that, that make nights like this even more frustrating. Yet at the same time, when you play the way Minnesota has, you simply do not deserve to get the benefit of the doubt. You just have to wonder why this team simply cannot play a solid three periods of hockey on a regular basis. It’s been this way for years, and it’s getting old. One can only hope that as the last of Doug Risebrough’s acquisitions go elsewhere, that things will improve.
Wild Notes:
~ The Wild roster tonight was as follows: Marco Scandella, Kurtis Foster, Nate Prosser, Justin Falk, Jared Spurgeon, Tom Gilbert, Matt Cullen, Devin Setoguchi, Darroll Powe, Dany Heatley, Nick Palmieri, Stephane Veilleux, Kyle Brodziak, Cal Clutterbuck, Nick Johnson, Matt Kassian, Jed Ortmeyer, and Warren Peters. Josh Harding was the goaltender with Matt Hackett serving as back up. Tonight’s scratches were Erik Christensen and Niklas Backstrom.
~ The 3 Stars of the Game were: 1st Star, Valtteri Filppula; 2nd Star, Henrik Zetterberg; 3rd Star, Brendan Smith.
~ Attendance was 20,066 at Joe Louis Arena.
Where are they now?
LW – Chris Simon (Metallurg Novokuznetsk, KHL) ~ This by far was the most notorious trade deadline day move in franchise history. At a point where the team needed another skilled center, then Wild General Manager Doug Risebrough picked up Chris Simon from the New York Islanders for a 6th round pick in the spring of 2008. Earlier in his career Simon had shown flashes of being both an enforcer, but a player with decent hands as he had 29 goals in 1999-2000. Unfortunately that was not the player the Wild received, Minnesota acquired a player who still had a few games left to serve on his 25-game suspension after he tried to cut Jarkko Ruutu with his skate. Worse, the fans in Minnesota were outraged to get a player with such a limited upside and baggage with his suspensions especially when you considered they were hoping to see the team add some firepower as opposed to toughness. Simon didn’t deliver and the Wild parted ways with the Wawa, Ontario-native that summer. No one else in the NHL seemed to want him either so he took his game to the Kontinental Hockey League who embraced Simon’s colorful personality and toughness. In the last 5 years, Simon has played for 3 different KHL clubs and currently is skating for Metallurg Novokuznetsk. The 6’4″, 236lbs winger has 3 goals and 43 PIM’s in 24 games.
Wild Prospect Report:
Everett Silvertips’ Josh Caron
D – Josh Caron (Everett, WHL) ~ Josh Caron is a player who is doing all he can in a tough situation. After toiling for a struggling Kamloops Blazers squad for years, when the team finally turns its fortunes around he gets dealt to the Everett Silvertips who are going through one of the roughest seasons of their existence. For a tough defenseman like Caron, when the games get ugly its his job to stand up for his teammates and on occasion to drop the gloves hold the opposition accountable. Wearing the assistant captain’s “A” for the Silvertips, Caron has 11 assists and 141 penalty minutes.
C / RW – Charlie Coyle (Saint John, QMJHL) ~ Like a well-oiled machine the Sea Dogs just keep winning and Coyle is becoming a more important part of Saint John’s goals than possibly anyone realized. Coyle got the Sea Dogs going offensively by scoring early in the game on Tuesday against Maritime rival Moncton as Saint John rolled to a 5-3 victory. However Coyle’s biggest score may have been the 3-year Entry Level deal he signed with the Wild yesterday which would award him The Weymouth, Massachusetts-native has 12 goals and 24 points in 16 games.
F – Mario Lucia (Penticton, BCHL) ~ The Penticton Vees are on the hottest winning streak in perhaps all of hockey this season (at any level) by winning their 38th straight game after a 5-3 victory over the Meritt Centennials last night. Lucia and a cast of Minnesotans like Steven Fogarty, the Reilly brothers (Mike and Ryan) as well as Joey Benik have really led the way for Penticton and last night was no different. The future member of the Fighting Irish scored a goal, his 37th of the season and giving him 86 points on the season in just 51 games.
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