“Up on the Housetop reindeer pause, out jumps good ol’ Santa Claus, down through the chimney with lots of toys, all for the little ones Christmas joys, Ho ho ho! Who wouldn’t go? Ho Ho ho! Who wouldn’t Go?” those are the lyrics to Up on the House Top which has been redone countless times but perhaps most recently by the online indie-pop group Pomplamoose and its performance of the song in Hyundai Commercials that can be seen in almost every break in the action during sporting events. I am not sure about you but this is the part of the holidays that annoys me perhaps the most, the obligatory “Christmas music” that is thrown in with each and every commercial whether on TV or the radio. Its nearly impossible to get away from it, yet Pomplamoose’s version of it was custom built to get carved into your mind so that it will never leave. Maybe this Seattleweekly blog that I found will express more elaborately just how the song itself can slowly drive a person crazy.
http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/reverb/2010/12/pomplamooses_christmas_hyundai.php
Maybe you feel this way about the holidays, and then again maybe you don’t. And no matter which way you lean on this issue its ok with me. Afterall its the holidays and looking forward to some much-needed time off from work is more than enough to make me not too bothered one way or the other. So apart from being annoyed the holidays also brings travel for millions of people all over the world. Traveling home to visit family and friends, so the grind of getting there is just another part of the whole experience. The Wild are feeling that grind as they travel to Colorado for a quick one-game road trip. Although unlike myself who is going to make the trek right after I finish work, the Wild have had a few days to rest before making its way west.
For holiday travelers, the bustle of bringing along clothes, gifts etc can be quite a production. It just naturally makes a person feel a little rushed as you meet and greet relatives, friends and as long as the wait was for the holidays to arrive they are over and done with before you know it. So will the Wild have a pre-Christmas game to remember or just to forget amidst all of the other events of the holidays? Hopefully it will be far less annoying than the Pomplamoose commercials.
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First off, let me apologize for the delay. I have been traveling to see the relatives for the holidays and could not get access to a computer right away, so again I am sorry to have put any of my readers at an inconvenience. I did see the game, and what I saw really impressed me. The Wild as most people know do not play firewagon, up-and-down hockey. While some fans may feel as though Wild management was not delivering on its premise to play an up-tempo brand of hockey I ask them to watch the 2009-10 season all over again and ask me if they like what they’ve seen more the last few games than what they had all of last season. Is it precisely what they promised, no. However, I think their current style better fits their personnel and certainly seems to be maximizing what they can get out of their talent than attempting to trade end-to-end rushes with opponents who can easily expose the Wild’s lack of skill and limited team speed. Now we’re seeing this team play responsibly in its own end, plus show bursts of sustained offense. They will not be confused for the Edmonton Oilers of the 1980’s but they never should’ve attempted to be like that vaunted group either. One player who fits this sensible transition from aggressive and reckless to calculated and smart is defenseman Brent Burns. Burns, from the 2008-09 to 2009-10 seasons was a riverboat gambler in a compuslive gambling addiction sort of way; where he took a lot of gambles and lost far more often than he ever won making him a liability to his team. Fast forward to this season and Burns has re-stabilized his defensive game and is picking his spots and the result is a player who no longer hurts his team in the defensive zone but is also being rewarded offensively in the process. Its been a huge turnaround and Burns has gone from enigmatic disappointment to the team’s most valuable defenseman overnight.
Another player who is gaining his form is forward Pierre-Marc Bouchard; since coming back from a concussion where he lost the entire 2009-10 season and nearly a 1/3 of this season, his return to the Wild has been largely quite positive. I must admit I was highly skeptical of his return, and have questioned just how short this ‘comeback’ would be; since it didn’t appear to take much to make him miss an entire season. Bouchard has been a bit of a catalyst for the Wild’s 2nd line of Martin Havlat and Kyle Brodziak which has been a nice mix of grit, skill and creativity that has given Minnesota two lines that can apply legitimate pressure on the opposition. In their most recent game against the Avalanche, Bouchard even started to show signs he was beginning to assert himself offensively beyond just distributing the puck. Against Colorado, Bouchard may have only had 3 shots, but there was less hesitation in his game and he was pulling the trigger without taking much time to mull it over. A classic example was in the 3rd period where Bouchard took a puck from the corner and with no other viable options to pass the puck immediately took the puck to the crease to try to jam it by Peter Budaj. Normally, Bouchard would’ve gathered the puck and waited and waited for someone to get open and if no one managed to do so he’d just pass it back out to the point. This time he showed some confidence and a level of fearlessness and that may be the truest sign of them all that he is no longer fearing the physical price that may be paid if he were to take the puck to the high traffic areas of the ice. The diminutive winger is a far better player when he takes his opportunities to shoot the puck and he does possess an above average shot so its another potentially lethal shooter to add to a Wild offense that still is in need of scoring. Havlat also had a strong game in Colorado and his overall play has improved considerably. He is backchecking with tenacity, he is being more involved physically and most of all he is beginning to play like a star calibre player who is the go-to offensive threat the team has been missing since the departure of Marian Gaborik. There is even a level of swagger to his game as he has gotten under the skin of the opposing defense like he did Calgary’s Robyn Regehr and the Avs’ Adam Foote on Thursday night. A healthy and confident Havlat means team captain, Mikko Koivu has a cohort on another line to take off some of the focus that was being directed at him throughout most of last season. The 2nd line has also had some great play by Kyle Brodziak who has displayed grit but also an element of scrappiness when challenged at points in the game where the Wild needs to defend itself. His 1st period fight with Clay Wilson will never be mistaken for a Bob Probert-esque slugfest but it did send a message to Colorado that the Wild will fight back when disrespect is given. Their late period fight could even be said to have inspired Colorado’s David Koci decide to take a few liberties with the Wild that ultimately resulted in an Avalanche penalty that gave Andrew Brunette his power play goal that ensured a Minnesota victory.
The real story of the game was the play of Matt Cullen who was making things happen all over the ice. Along with Cal Clutterbuck who registered a team-leading 7 shots on goal in the game, the two were creating havoc all over the Avalanche zone as it was personifiedby the Wild’s first goal. Clutterbuck used his speed and stocky frame to protect the puck as he carried it to the crease on a shorthanded rush where he put a hard forehand shot on goal that was stopped by Craig Anderson and Cullen was right where he needed to be to slam home the rebound to give Minnesota that all important 1-0 lead. After the Avalanche had managed to tie the game on a play where Niklas Backstrom was unable to corral a puck it was stuffed in by David Jones. Minnesota answered back near the end of the period, set up by an off target shot by Marek Zidlicky which caromed off the back wall and out front where an opportunistic Cullen tapped it in on an empty net while Anderson was caught out of position. The Wild did a nice job of using the lively Colorado boards to their advantage and the tally late in the first helped preserve the momentum of Cullen’s shorthanded goal earlier in the period. In the 2nd period, Minnesota did not just rest on its laurels and spent time attacking Colorado’s zone and had one their best 2nd periods in recent memory. The 3rd period was rather similar, with the Wild giving a solid effort, doing the little things needed to win by dropping to block shots, backchecking ferociously and continuing to hustle. The feeling afterwards was one of excitement and relief. Minnesota was playing some of its best hockey, playing smart, opportunistic hockey. If only this team had the ability to make this last, but as any kid will tell you, they don’t always get their wish.
Leave it to the Detroit Red Wings to drop off that lump of coal.
The confidence and swagger from Thursday night’s game was replaced by frantic and sloppy play and that normally spells doom against a team like the Red Wings who have refined puck possession into a science. The mistakes quickly turned into goals and the Wild found themselves in a 2-0 hole before the teams were 9 minutes into the 1st period. The Red Wings were one step (or more) ahead of the Wild all night long. The Red Wings outsmarted and outplayed the Wild who found themselves chasing or getting caught standing still as Detroit put on a clinic and in someways the result was quite predictable. Minnesota was coming off a few days off to play a home game, which throughout the team’s history has been a formula for disaster. The team usually returns to home ice unfocused, rusty and slow out of the gate; all factors which played into Minnesota giving up 2 goals early. I am not sure if its because the team hits the snooze button one more time before they make their way to Xcel Energy Center or just being too relaxed but it was another paltry home effort after a long break. The Red Wings are still one of the league’s best teams, and tonight it was simple, fundamental hockey on display. The Red Wings goals were the result of simply taking a shot and putting it on goal and or crashing the crease where they were creating all kinds of trouble near Niklas Backstrom’s crease all game long. Backstrom gives up a few soft goals and the Wild’s hopes were dashed before they were really ever able to start.
The Wild did not help their cause by committing all kinds of pointless turnovers. Time and time again the Wild, even with time and space available would simply try to attempt an area pass to another player and these easy giveaways are what the Red Wings thrive on. They love puck possession and to give away the puck so easily to them simply plays into their hands. Minnesota’s cast of rookies on its blueline of Marco Scandella, Clayton Stoner and Jared Spurgeon were turnover machines. They were throwing the puck away all game long and Detroit was pouncing on those ill-advised passes and turning it into offensive pressure that kept Minnesota bottled up in its zone. The Wild tried to counter attack and in a few instances were even able to sustain some offensive pressure but then the finishing ability of the Red Wings compared to the Wild really began to separate itself. Backstrom did have some great saves down the stretch as he attempted to keep the Wild into the game but poor performance on the first 4 power plays prevented Minnesota from getting into the game emotionally and only Brent Burns 3rd period power play tally saved the team from complete embarassment. Burns’ goal was his 10th of the season, which leads the team and that speaks volumes when the Red Wings boast 3rd liners like Dan Cleary who has 16 goals already.
With quite a few Red Wings fans in attendance, the Wild looked and sounded like the road team. The Wild looked tired, easily frazzled and disorganized. Even simple passes were botched and just skating the puck out of the zone seemed to be frought with danger. In the largest crowd to see a Wild game for quite a while the team laid an egg and that is not good for an organization which is desparately trying to convince its fanbase that all is not lost. The Wild do not have much time to forget about this one as it ventures to Columbus to take on the Blue Jackets who are vying for their 2nd trip to the post-season in franchise history.
Wild Notes:
~ The Wild roster on both nights were as follows: Mikko Koivu, Andrew Brunette, Antti Miettinen, Martin Havlat, Matt Cullen, Chuck Kobasew, Patrick O’Sullivan, Kyle Brodziak, Eric Nystrom, Cal Clutterbuck, John Madden, Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Jared Spurgeon, Clayton Stoner, Marco Scandella, Marek Zidlicky, Greg Zanon and Brent Burns. Jose Theodore backed up Niklas Backstrom. Cam Barker and Brad Staubitz were the healthy scratches in both games. Nick Schultz is still dealing with an upper body injury that some have speculated may be a concussion while Guillaume Latendresse is still recovering from surgery to his lower body.
~ The 3 Stars of the Game on Thursday were: 1st Star Matt Cullen, 2nd Star Niklas Backstrom, 3rd Star David Jones
~ The 3 Stars of the Game as selected by Let’s Play Hockey were for Sunday nights’ tilt were: 1st Star Henrik Zetterberg, 2nd Star Niklas Kronwall, 3rd Star Nicklas Lidstrom
~ Attendance on Thursday’s game at Pepsi Center was 16,323. Attendance for Sunday night’s home game against Detriot was 19,277, the 5th largest crowd in Wild franchise history.
~ The Aeros got a bitter dose of reality Tuesday night when the Hamilton Bulldogs made their way to Houston’s Toyota Center. The Aeros found themselves struggling mightily against the small and speedy Bulldogs squad, as Hamilton jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first on goals from recently sent down Dustin Boyd, former QMJHL scoring stud Olivier Fortier and the super shifty Eric Desharnais who buried a shorthanded chance late in the 1st period. It did not get much better for the Aeros in the 2nd period, as Ryan Russell scored just less than 3 minutes in and Desharnais would score his 2nd shorhanded goal of the night. However it cannot be said the Aeros just rolled over, as Houston piled on the offense, with some assistance of the power play but could not manage to solve Hamliton’s Curtis Sanford despite firing 23 shots at him in the 2nd period alone. After Desharnais’ 2nd shorthanded goal of the game, Aeros bench boss Mike Yeo had seen enough and put in Matthew Hackett to replace Anton Khudobin who was struggling all night. Hackett was perfect, stopping all 12 shots he faced but so was Sanford and Houston fell 5-0. Khudobin gave up the 5 goals on just 17 shots. The Aeros will have the next few days off before playing again on Sunday when in-state rival, the Texas Stars come to Houston for an afternoon game.
~ In Houston’s game on Sunday they battled back to earn a 4-3 shootout victory over in-state rival Texas in its matinee tilt on Sunday. After gaining a 1-0 lead just 30 seconds into the game on Warren Peters‘ goal, the Stars answered back with two quick goals of their own to have a 2-1 lead going into the 2nd period. Houston would tie the game with just 1 minute left in the 2nd period on Jon DiSalvatore‘s power play goal. DiSalvatore would add another power play goal mid-way through the 3rd period to take the lead. The Stars would tie the game with just 19 seconds left in regulation and the game would go to overtime. Neither team seemed all that interested in settling the game in the extra 5 minutes as the Stars registered the only shot of OT. The game would go to a shootout and Houston would prevail after a 7-round barn burner before Cody Almond managed to seal the game by beating former Colorado College standout Richard Bachman. Hackett had 22 saves in the victory.
Wild Prospect Report:
D – Tyler Cuma ~ Houston Aeros (AHL)
2010-11 Stats: 9GP 0G 1A = 1pt 4 PIM’s Even
It has been a slow and inauspicious start for Tyler Cuma’s pro hockey career. After being drafted by the Wild 23rd Overall in 2008 it has been rough going not as much about his play on the ice; its been the injuries he’s sustained since his selection. Durability certainly is an issue as a lower body injury kept Cuma off the roster for all of October and most of November. The injuries have conpsired to rob Cuma of valuable time to his development and at this point appears to be at least another season away before he’s NHL ready. When you consider the team has already had reasonably successful auditions for young blueliners Jared Spurgeon, Nate Prosser and Justin Falk he may need to find a way to set himself a part if he wants to have a chance to earn a roster spot. The Bowmanville, Ontario-native is a lanky, mobile defensive-defenseman that may remind some of Pittsburgh’s Paul Martin, Cuma is a kid who who will never dazzle you with great skills but plays a subtle but solid game in his own zone. He will never be a guy that will jump off the stats sheet, and has played reasonably well in his few starts. Inexplicably he was a healthy scratch in Tuesday’s game against Hamilton, which is a little surprising considering the Aeros were without Marco Scandella. If the Wild are smart they will keep Cuma in Houston and really let him develop.
Minnesota Boys Hockey Report:
Benilde-St. Margaret’s Red Knights (North Suburban Conference) ~ 6-0
Most Recent Game: Benilde-St Margaret’s 4, Maple Grove 3
The Benilde-St. Margaret’s Red Knights are off to a terrific start, and Head Coach Ken Pauly has to feel pretty good about his team’s chances this season. The #4 (Class 2A) ranked Red Knights have a very balanced attack that makes it difficult for their opposition to match lines. The top line of senior Pat Steinhauser (4G 9A = 13pts) , junior Christian Horn (3G 10A = 13pts) and sophomore sniper Grant Besse (9G 3A = 12pts) are one of the most potent trios in the state. While the North Suburban Conference is not all that strong from top to bottom, Benilde’s schedule features the team playing against many of the state’s best from more respected conferences and they have already compiled wins against Hill-Murray, Minnetonka and Class 1A power Duluth Marshall this season. In their most recent game, the Red Knights battled from a 3-1 deficit to score 3 times in the 3rd period to defeat a pretty solid Maple Grove Crimson squad 4-3. Big-bodied (6’2″) junior goaltender Anders Jecha carries the duties between the pipes for the Red Knights and sports a perfect 4-0 record, a stingy 1.00 goals against average and an impressive .949 save percentage. Benilde’s next challenge comes against a very strong Eden Prairie squad that is coming off consecutive losses to Edina and Eagan respectively.
Virginia / Mt. Iron-Buhl Blue Devils (Iron Range Conference) ~ 6-3
Most Recent Game: Virginia / Mt. Iron-Buhl 2, Hermantown 5
I have little doubt that as of right now the Virginia / Mt. Iron-Buhl Blue Devils are feeling a bit down on their luck as of late. Having a late game breakdown against regional rival #3 (Class 1A) ranked Hermantown losing 5-2 on Tuesday. Led by senior superstar Garrett Hendrickson (12 goals, 11 assists = 23 points in 9 games), the Blue Devils thought this would be the year they’d come out victorious against the Hawks but it wasn’t meant to be. In an effort that Blue Devils’ Head Coach Keith Hendrickson (Garrett’s father) described as his team “not showing up to play” it has to be a huge disappointment to have such a paltry effort at home. However all is not lost, Virginia / Mt. Iron-Buhl is the #6 ranked team in class 1A, and they have accumulated wins over some decent schools such as class 2A Hopkins, #10 (class 1A) ranked Little Falls and a much-improved Duluth Central squad. The St. Cloud State recruit, Hendrickson and senior linemate Travis Eddy try to lead a potent Blue Devils Offense while senior defenseman Wes Judnick provides good offensive support from the blueline. The senior dominated team is also true between the pipes, where Andy Milbridge carries the mail for the Blue Devils where he has a 4-2 record, 2.35 goals against average and a .912% save percentage. Virginia / Mt.Iron-Buhl plays class 2A Lakeville North at Virginia next week Tuesday.
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