I remember when I was in elementary school, every year we had a European/American folk dancing unit for about a quarter. This unit was a combination music and physical education course. In my case, it was painful as I wasn’t a terribly coordinated person (I’m still not). However, that wasn’t even the worst part of it all. I also happened to be the music teacher’s kid. Double whammy in my case. Trust me, most of my classmates (including yours truly) would have preferred to be playing kickball than dancing the minuet, schottisch, or the Virginia reel. And believe me, I heard it from those classmates. The only bit a reprieve was when we got a bit of a break and were able to dance some of the popular party dances that you often see at weddings. Ones that come to mind are the Hokey Pokey, the Bunny Hop, the Chicken Dance, and either a Conga line or the Locomotion. The party dances tend to be a little more free form than the much more organized folk dances, especially ones like the Virginia reel. Yet, there are times in life where both fun and organized have their respective places. Tonight’s game is no different.
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We’ve all attended a wedding where there was the strange uncle in attendance who probably has had a little too much to drink. Whenever the DJ announces it’s time for the Hokey Pokey, it’s that uncle who’s usually the first one out on the dance floor (and probably should be the last person out there). Now, while the Hokey Pokey is complete and utter nonsense, it does require a little bit of coordination. For example, it does require a person to know the difference between their right and their left. There are plenty of adults who have a hard enough time knowing the difference when sober, it gets a little uncomfortable out on the dance floor when you have that person who might not have all of their faculties about them. The first period tonight was a bit like the uncoordinated Hokey Pokey dance. Times when players weren’t where they meant to be or where they were supposed to be. A puck is supposed to go left, but takes a bump and goes right. A teammate thinks a player is one place, and then finds after passing the puck, that they’ve misjudged and the puck is ahead or behind the player. The section of the Hokey Pokey where things can get dicey is where one is supposed to “turn themselves about.” The same happens in hockey. Defensemen run this risk all the time, especially when they have to get from their offensive zone and quickly into the defensive zone. When a defenseman has to make that turn, that is where they often find themselves caught off guard. Nick Schultz found himself caught on Buffalo’s first goal by Jason Pominville just a minute and twenty-three seconds in. In the case of Schultz, his spin was more Whirling Dervish than Hokey Pokey. Strangely enough, if Schultz were to be involved in the Hokey Pokey, it would be more like that of comedian Jim Breuer when he imitates Angus Young of the band AC/DC and James Hetfield of Metallica (well if they ever did perform something so cheesy).
The Wild found themselves starting the second period on the penalty kill. Considering what had happened during the first period, I was afraid we were going to see more of the confused, drunken Hokey Pokey. What reinforced that feeling was that Rob Niedermayer scored the second goal of the night at the 2:04 mark of the second period. If just felt like more of the same. Thankfully, that second Sabres goal seemed to somehow energize the Wild. They became more and more cohesive, and seemed to be working together. Back to those cheesy wedding dances, I think of that 1962 song by Little Eva called nothing more than “The Loco-Motion.” Often that dance starts out small, but little by little, more people gravitate to the dance floor. It fund the risk of becoming a space nightmare (especially if the drunk uncle from the Hokey Pokey nightmare participates), but it’s usually a lot of fun and it brings people together. For the Wild, they came together, let their energy build, and in the long run it paid off. First, a goal by recent Wild call-up, Warren Peters. His goal came at the 14:13 mark. If ever there was a point in the game to score a goal, it was then, because any longer without their first goal, it becomes a case of “too little, too late.” Also, a team tends to start playing desperation hockey, and that is when mistakes are bound to happen. By cutting the lead in half, it allowed them to focus on the game at hand instead of a deep hole. Just over three minutes later, the “Loco-Motion” the Wild had created for themselves found themselves tying it up on the power play with a goal by Marek Zidlicky. Having come back from injury recently, Zidlicky needed that goal if simply for his own confidence.
For both the Wild and Sabres, they found themselves going into the third period, tied. Both teams needed to find energy, yet neither could afford a major mistake. It had to be a well choreographed effort. While the cheesy wedding/party dances are meant to be rather loose, and the mistakes that are bound to happen, simply add to the fun of everything. What was needed was something a little more formal, but it had to be well executed. If you’ve never danced something more organized like the Virginia reel, simply know this, it’s a dance that has to be done correctly. If you turn the wrong way, you will mess up the rest of the line of dancers. Once it’s messed up, it’s hard to get it back on track. Watching the third period, you could clearly see two teams who wanted nothing more than a well-oiled machine with few, if any, mistakes. The third ended up being a a scoreless one. However, both teams had their shots at goal, however it fell to goaltenders Jose Theodore and Jhonas Enroth calling the tune. While Minnesota had some scoring chances, they simply did not get enough shots on goal in the third. Getting just six shots on goal in the final period in regulation in a tied game is simply unacceptable. One must take shots if one wants a chance at scoring.
Sadly for all involved, the drunken Hokey Pokey made its reappearance for the very brief overtime. Not only is that strange uncle involved, but he’s brought along his cousins, you know, the ones your parents never talk about. All it took to finish tonight’s game was forty-six seconds, a determined Drew Stafford, and a clueless, out of position Wild team. It was as if no one knew the difference between left and right, in and out. It wasn’t pretty, and truth be told, quite embarrassing. It’s the kind of thing that will be remembered for a while, much like the antics of that strange uncle are remembered for years, though one would rather forget them.
Wild Notes:
~ Wild roster this afternoon is as follows: Matt Cullen, John Madden, Chuck Kobasew, Andrew Brunette, Brad Staubitz, Casey Wellman, Antti Miettinen, Kyle Brodziak, Eric Nystrom, Martin Havlat, Warren Peters, Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Marek Zidlicky, Clayton Stoner, Greg Zanon, Brent Burns, Jared Spurgeon, and Nick Schultz. Niklas Backstrom backed up Jose Theodore. Cal Clutterbuck and Cam Barker were the healthy scraches. Josh Harding (knee), James Sheppard (knee), Mikko Koivu (broken finger) and Guillaume Latendresse (groin and sports hernia).
~ The 3 Stars of the Game as selected by Let’s Play Hockey were: 1st Star, Drew Stafford; 2nd Star, Marek Zidlicky; 3rd Star, Thomas Vanek.
~ Attendance this afternoon at Xcel Energy Center was 18,091.
~ The Aeros were in their own battle this evening as they played against the Abbotsford Heat this late afternoon in Houston. The Heat would jump out to a 1-0 lead when Gaelen Patterson scored midway through the 1st period. The Aeros would answer back early in the 2nd period when Jon DiSalvatore scored less than 2 minutes into the 2nd period. Abbotsford would re-take the lead on a goal from T.J. Brodie, but Houston would earn the equalizer just 2 minutes later when DiSalvatore found the back of the net on the power play. With the game tied at 2-2, the Aeros would take the lead shortly into the 3rd when Chad Rau scored on the man advantage. Abbotsford would answer right back with a power play goal of its own to tie the game at 3-3 when Quintin Laing found the twine behind Josh Tordjman. The Aeros would jump back on top when Jarod Palmer rifled a shot by Jean-Philippe Lamoureaux, but it was just not to be for Houston. The Heat would tie the game just a few minutes later and then seal a victory on the power play with less than a minute left as Ales Kotalik blistered a shot by Tordjman. Tordjman had 31 saves in the loss.
Wild Prospect Report:
D – Sean Lorenz ~ Notre Dame Fighting Irish (CCHA)
2010-11 Stats: 36GP 4G 9A = 13pts 32 PIM’s
Sean Lorenz’s game is all about not being noticed. The strong, stay at home defenseman has had a quietly impressive season playing on Notre Dame’s top defensive pairing with Chicago Blackhawks prospect Joe Lavin. The 20-year old defenseman from Littleton, Colorado prides himself on good positioning but he has steadily found his way onto the scoresheet a bit more often this season. In this weekend’s series against Western Michigan, Lorenz contributed an assist and an ‘even’ rating as the Fighting Irish earned a split. The junior is making steady progress and giving the Wild plenty to feel good about. Minnesota is no hurry to rush Lorenz and at this point you’d have to think his development is right on track.
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