The High School Boys Hockey Tournament is over, the championship trophies and medals have been handed out. The Minnesota Golden Gophers Men’s team is done with their season after being swept by Alaska-Anchorage. A few other Minnesota-based teams, in Bemidji State and University of Minnesota-Duluth are still alive but its a sign that hockey season is nearing an end. With the NHL playoffs about a month away will the Minnesota Wild find their season over too? With the way the Western Conference standings look right now, the Wild sit in 11th so its quite likely they will be scheduling a tee time mid-way through April. I’d like to be more optimistic but not having scored a goal in their last two games has that sort of an effect on a fan. Could they reverse their direction, perhaps, but now the team sits 4 points out of 8th place and while that may not sound like a lot it looks like the Grand Canyon right now. Minnesota will likely need some help from the rest of the league in order to get back into the Top 8.
The Wild travel to Vancouver to take on the best team in the NHL playing some of its best hockey right now and while there is a good possibility the team could still be without team captain Mikko Koivu and hitting machine Cal Clutterbuck and gritty defenseman Clayton Stoner the team you could say the team is reeling a bit. Vancouver is extremely tough when the team is completely healthy but can a depleted Wild squad pull of a major upset on the Canucks’ home ice? Needless to say it won’t be easy. No one would be surprised if the Wild went 3 games without scoring a goal, but can they overcome the odds and earn a victory over their hated-rival?
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1st Period Thoughts: The Wild had terrific speed to start the game as Martin Havlat took the puck into the slot and he ripped a shot that was stopped by Roberto Luongo. Minnesota kept pouring it on early as it was Mikko Koivu and Andrew Brunette taking the puck to the crease and trying to jam it by Luongo who was able to keep it out long enough for his defenseman to take it out of harm’s way. The Wild was looking focused, but the Canucks would counter attack and their hopes would be dashed rather quickly on a harmless looking wrist shot by Raffi Torres that beat Niklas Backstrom which put Minnesota down 1-0. It was a very soft goal, and the kind that is deflating to a team with a fragile psyche already. Minnesota tried to battle back and to their credit the team was working hard to put any shots they could on Luongo. They were not the most threatening shots but they were forcing Luongo to make saves and that always leads to good things. Clayton Stoner would earn a weak interference penalty as he held up Maxim Lapierre, but the Canucks would take full advantage of it as Vancouver scored just 6 seconds later as Henrik Sedin drew a puck back to Mikael Samuelsson who dished it back to Daniel Sedin who took his time and ripped a wicked wrist shot by a well-screened Backstrom to put the Wild down 2-0. The Wild again tried to regroup, with some more persistence in the Vancouver zone as Kyle Brodziak had a pretty redirection off a point shot by Nick Schultz that was just steered aside by Luongo. Minnesota continued to persist and they nearly scored after an initial batting of the puck out of the air by Pierre-Marc Bouchard which bounced over to Martin Havlat who attempted a sharp angle shot that had the puck bouncing in the crease and the Wild jammed the puck over the goal line by NHL referee Stephen Walkom blew the whistle early bailing the Canucks out. Karma would pay the Wild back, as their missed chance would become another goal for Vancouver. A bad turnover in the Wild zone became a scramble near their crease where Clayton Stoner rushed back to crush Samuelsson before he could pull the trigger but he earned a cross-checking penalty in the process. The Canucks power play worked like a well oiled machine as Minnesota simply could not keep it away from Vancouver as they initially worked the perimeter before passing it down to the half-wall and then cross-ice for the easy goal by Ryan Kesler to lift the home team to a 3-0 lead. It was an unfortunate start for a team that looked to be trying and working hard early in this game. Cal Clutterbuck tried to get involved physically, on an attempted hit to Alexandre Burrows where he glanced off the Canucks’ agitator and went head over tea-kettle into the Vancouver bench. The epic miss was a great personification of the period, a great effort but also a massive failure.
2nd Period Thoughts: The Wild were able to stabilize the game a bit, but it might be a period where they feel disappointed due to their inability to capitalize on their power play opportunities. Minnesota again was working hard to start the period and keeping Vancouver chasing a bit in its own end as they were firing pucks on goal. The Wild’s hard work would draw a penalty early as Raffi Torres was tagged with a hooking call. Minnesota’s power play worked pretty well, setting up a variety of chances in and around the crease, but too often the forwards would crowd the left and right but no one out top to bang in the rebounds Luongo was giving up. The Wild were able to create some good momentum but still ended up being shutout on the power play. The Canucks were not pressing nearly as much and this only invited the Wild to continue to attack. Minnesota would draw another hooking call as Ryan Kesler was given 2 minutes for hooking. The Wild would have a great chance on the power play early on as Mikko Koivu tried to power the puck to the crease but again no one was in position to capitalize on the rebound but as the rebound made its way towards the wall Manny Malhotra would clear the puck into the stands for a delay of game penalty giving Minnesota a long 5-on-3 power play. Wild Head Coach Todd Richards would call a timeout to talk things over and in the 5-on-3, Minnesota had reasonable puck movement but could not seem to really shake Vancouver’s tight triangle around their goaltender. The Wild’s best chances in the 5-on-3 came on a quick pass from down low to Andrew Brunette who shoveled a shot on goal that was steered aside by Luongo. You could get the feeling the 5-on-3 was a practice in futility for Minnesota as the Canucks nearly scored on a 2-on-1 rush. Just to give you an idea of how self-destructive the Wild were on the power play after the failed 2-on-1 for Vancouver should’ve put Minnesota in a 2-on-1 the other way but the slow footed Brunette was so slow moving off the rush the Canucks defense was able to get set up and what should’ve been an easy odd-man rush was completely lost. The Wild would come up short on the 5-on-3, but just as the power play was about to completely expire some great hustle by Matt Cullen drew another penalty as he was tripped up by Jannik Hansen. Minnesota had some more good puck movement but the Wild would again come up empty despite having nearly 5 1/2 minutes in power plays. The Wild would finally break the scoreless streak at 168 minutes when the top line charged the crease before Andrew Brunette tapped it home, 3-1 Vancouver. Minnesota was working very hard, but it was obvious it was going to have to create some ugly goals since the Canucks were not giving up much time and space. Mikko Koivu was really playing like a leader and not like a player who has missed the last 12 games.
3rd Period Thoughts: The Wild kept up its valiant effort in the 3rd period. Minnesota would cut the lead to one and put a little fear into the Canucks about 4:30 into the period as Mikko Koivu had his stick slashed by Ryan Kesler to no penalty and he’d skate to his bench for a new twig then follow up the play where he’d pick up a pass in the slot and roof a backhander by Luongo to make it 3-2. Brent Burns made a great move to start the scoring chance before Brunette fed the pass to Koivu who buried it. The Canucks tried to respond with some pressure of its own, but the Wild were retreating well to keep Vancouver at bey. The Wild had its chances down the stretch on the power play, but Vancouver’s penalty kill was rock solid thwarting Minnesota’s power play with good aggressiveness on the puck carrier. Even in the last minute where Ryan Kesler was given a high sticking call, the Wild swarmed the net but just couldn’t get a stick on the puck when they needed it. Kesler would leave the box and out leg Jared Spurgeon for it and he’d bury the empty netter to seal a 4-2 victory.
Niklas Backstrom was just ok, making 18 saves in the loss. The first goal he gave up was terrible. It was a wrist shot from a bad angle without the benefit of any screen or deflection and the kind of stop that should be automatic. The next few goals its tough to put too much blame on Backstrom, but that dug Minnesota into a hole it simply could not recover from. Defensively the Wild were just ok; at times scrambling as they struggled against the solid cycling game of Vancouver. Clayton Stoner was a bit reckless in his return and his penalties yielded two power play goals for the Canucks. The penalty kill was remarkably ineffective as the bounty of weapons was simply too much for the Wild to stop.
Offensively the Wild’s hard work was rewarded with 35 shots which is the most they’ve had in quite a while. Minnesota had clearly simplified its game and was putting shots on goal with great frequency which is a great way to pull yourself out of an offensive funk. However, it was the power play that doomed this team to failure. The failed 5-on-3 that was 1:28 in length really was a backbreaker momentum-wise. If Minnesota was to come back to tie this game it had to score at that point and it couldn’t make it happen. I really thought Mikko Koivu was outstanding for his first game back after missing 12 games. He was playing like a leader and as a player who understood the urgency of the team’s situation. In my opinion, he should’ve been the 2nd star over Brent Burns. Burns had some great plays at both ends of the ice, but Koivu was a catalyst all game long. Martin Havlat looked good early but disappeared down the stretch. Bouchard had his moments as did Kyle Brodziak, but not enough of the other players got involved consistently enough to really threaten Vancouver tonight.
Todd Richards had this to say, “Very disappointing, we’ve got to get points, but I thought we played well in the 2nd and 3rd period but there just was not enough time on the clock.” He noted the importance of the missed opportunity on the long 5-on-3 saying “it was huge in these types of games.” I’d agree, although give credit to Vancouver for burying its chances early. Good teams know how to win against teams they should beat like the Wild. They got off to a great start and Minnesota was playing catch up for the rest of the game. The Wild play San Jose on Wednesday, another place they’ve traditionally struggled. All one can do is hope they somehow put it together and pull off an improbable victory.
Wild Notes:
~ Wild roster tonight is as follows: Mikko Koivu, Antti Miettinen, Andrew Brunette, John Madden, Matt Cullen, Kyle Brodziak, Warren Peters, Eric Nystrom, Chuck Kobasew, Cal Clutterbuck, Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Martin Havlat, Jared Spurgeon, Clayton Stoner, Greg Zanon, Marek Zidlicky, Nick Schultz and Brent Burns. Jose Theodore backed up Niklas Backstrom. Brad Staubitz, Guillaume Latendresse and Cam Barker were the healthy scratches. Josh Harding (knee) and James Sheppard (knee) are on injured reserve.
~ The 3 Stars of the Game were: 1st Star Roberto Luongo, 2nd Star Brent Burns, 3rd Star Ryan Kesler
~ Attendance tonight at Rogers Arena was 18,860.
~ The Houston Aeros were in a battle of their own against the Vancouver Canucks’ AHL affiliate the Manitoba Moose. The Moose would strike first, with a power play goal by Mario Bliznak to give Manitoba a 1-0 lead. The Aeros had a chance to strike back but came up with nothing on 3 consecutive power plays. After not scoring in the 2nd period it looked as though one goal was simply too much to overcome. Just 20 seconds into the 3rd period, Patrick O’Sullivan took a pass from Casey Wellman and ripped a shot by Tyler Weiman to tie hte game. Houston would take the lead just a few minutes later on a misplayed puck by Weiman behind his net that turned into an easy goal for Jon DiSalvatore. Manitoba would tie the game back up just a minute and a half later, as Shawn Weller rifled a wrist shot that beat Matthew Hackett. Houston would answer back with two goals in quick succession by Jean-Michel Daoust and Robbie Earl to put the Aeros up 4-2. Manitoba would cut the lead back to one on a goal by Sergei Shirokov, but the Aeros would put the game away with two empty net goals from Cody Almond and DiSalvatore to seal a 6-3 victory. Hackett had 25 saves in the win.
~ The State of Hockey News wishes to congratulate St. Thomas Academy as the winner of class 1A boys hockey title after beating Hermantown 5-4 in overtime, as well as congratulating class 2A champion Eden Prairie on a 3-2 overtime victory over Duluth East. Thief River Falls took home 3rd place in class 1A, after defeating Hibbing / Chisholm 3-0 while Eagan took 3rd in class 2A after beating Edina 5-3. In addition the State of Hockey News would like to congratulate Eden Prairie’s Kyle Rau on being 2010-11’s Mr. Hockey award winner. Mr. Hockey always is an honor that gets some major notice from NHL scouts and it will be interesting if his strong tournament performance will move him up in the 2011 Entry Draft in St. Paul. The winner of the Frank Brimsek Award, for the top goaltender in Boys High School hockey in 2010-11 was Alex Lyon for Lake of the Woods.
~ On a very sad note, the State of Hockey News would like to send its most sincere condolences to the family of former Buffalo Sabres’ great Rick Martin, was killed in a single car crash near Buffalo, NY on Sunday. He was a member of their infamous ‘French Connection’ line with Gilbert Perreault and Rene Robert was killed in a single car crash near Buffalo, NY. He was 59 years old.
Wild Prospect Report:
LW – Jason Zucker ~ Denver Pioneers (WCHA)
2010-11 Stats: 36GP 21G 19A = 40pts 53 PIM’s
It has been a banner year for the Las Vegas-native, as he ended up earning Rookie of the Year honors in the WCHA. Zucker’s outstanding speed and finishing ability is a huge reason the Pioneers find themselves near the top of the WCHA and a likely NCAA bearth. The freshman phenom had a goal and an assist this weekend; including the game winning tally in the Pioneers’ sweep of Minnesota State. Now that the Pioneers have advanced to the WCHA Frozen Five, it will be interesting to see if Zucker can keep things rolling for Denver.
F – Mikael Granlund ~ HIFK Helsinki (Sm-Liiga)
2010-11 Stats: 39GP 8G 28A = 36pts 14 PIM’s
The gifted playmaker continues to shine as his HIFK powers its way into the playoffs. The 5’8″ 169lbs forward can turn on a dime, and uses his quickness to avoid checks and to create time and space to set up his linemates. He may seem smallish, but he is built well and when he can’t dodge hits he weathers them fairly well with his low center of gravity and wiry frame. Still producing at a point-per-game pace, the Wild will no doubt give the Oulu, Finland-native a long look at training camp this summer.
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