An Open Letter to Martin Havlat

Dear Mr. Havlat:

Let me first start off that we are absolutely thrilled about having you play for the Minnesota Wild. You are an electrifying player who will bring the Wild faithful to their feet several times in the upcoming season. You probably left money on the table from other offers and we salute you for choosing to play here. But having said all that, we really think it’s time you forgot about all that Chicago shenanigans.

Sure, I understand that you feel wronged by certain members of the Blackhawks management and ownership teams. Sure, things there were handled poorly and at times unethically. And yes, I know you have close friends in the organization that you feel were treated unfairly. It’s certainly your right to be heard on this, but from our perspective we think it’s time you moved on.

Focus on the future, Martin. Focus on turning Pierre-Marc Bouchard into a legitimate threat again. On helping the Captain win a Selke. Focus on reviving a dead power-play unit. You are here to help us return to the playoffs. And I’m sure you are capable of all this and more.

But just say your peace and leave it behind. Looking forward to the season.

Sincerely,

The Wild Puck Banter Staff

Guess Who's Next?

With today’s announcement that Jacques Lemaire is going to coach the New Jersey Devils, one only has to wonder how long it’ll be before Lemaire-favorite Martin Skoula signs with Jersey. Martin is solely responsible for (a) causing a record number of odd-man rushes last season and (b) my dramatic increase in beer consumption while watching Wild games. But despite this he remained a favorite of the old man. Maybe he saw something in him 18,602 of us didn’t.

Anyhow, I actually do think Lemaire’s hiring in Jersey is a good move for them. He’ll get the most out of Parise, Elias, Rolston and Paul Martin. He’ll help Marty win another Vezina or two and who knows, maybe he’s got another long playoff run in him. And don’t discount the fact that those Rangers-Devils games are going to be more interesting now that Marian’s in Ranger blue.

I Got Nothing

I’m not even going to pretend I’ve got some Wild news for you. We all know that they just signed Tyler Cuma to a contract, but other than that there’s nothing new. These are the dead news days for NHL franchises; the playoffs are done, draft complete and the free agency contest is almost complete. The roster’s pretty well complete and coaching staff has been filled.

On a personal note, I’m thinking about ordering some chinese food for dinner. Maybe some Kung Pao Chicken and a few potstickers. If you would have asked me a year ago if I’d eat a potsticker, I would have laughed in your face. Those slimy little dumplings had no appeal to me, but I broke down and tried one this last winter. Result: delicious! Now I get them almost every time I get chinese.

One other note about chinese food: no matter what we order it always takes 15 minutes. I can order the simplest dish or have 8 different, uniquely-prepared meals and the lady always says “OK. BE HERE FIFTEEN MINUTES.” Just an observation, and yes, it’s a slow Wild news day.

I Feel Violated

It’s clear the Wild are going to have a much different roster than last season. Gaborik, Skoula, Bergeron, Veilleux, Fritsche and Harding(?) all gone. But the one that hurt me the most? Kurtis Foster.

I feel like I’ve had a hand in Foster’s development as a player. Watched him come into the league a few years back as a big defenseman with a cannon of a shot, saw him earn more and more playing time from Jacques and rooted for him to succeed. Then came that cold, late winter night in San Jose when he shattered his femur. We all suffered with him that night. I cheered when Risebrough signed him to a 1 year contract so he wouldn’t rush his recovery. I followed him during his long and agonizing rehabilitation and stood and appaluded when he returned to the lineup last season. I may have even raised my beer in his direction to salute his return.

Then he played in a handful of games, showed some flashes of the past and the season ended too soon. I knew he was a UFA, but I assumed that he’d be back. After all, he had a cheap pricetag and plenty of upside. But alas, the Wild wasn’t interested and he signed with the Lightning. Good luck, Kurtis, and watch your back on the icings.

Khan!

Slow news day for the team except for the expected departure of #19, Stephane Veilleux via free agency. Steph played many games for the Wild, always as a hard-nosed pest. He’ll be missed.

There’s no real good transition here, so here goes. Within the last week I’ve watched the new Star Trek and Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan. While I enjoyed the new take on the series, ST2 is a much better film. Outside of Youngblood’s Racki and maybe Hannibal Lechter, has there ever been a better screen villian? Ricardo is awesome in this movie, and who can argue with his pects? If you haven’t seen it in a while I wholeheartedly recommend getting the dvd.

Guess that Wild Volume 1

Today we begin a new segment here entitled “Guess that Wild.” Your job: name the current or former member of the Minnesota Wild based up three clues. For this initial contest, I’ll make it a bit easy.

1. Lousy defenseman who turns the puck over at the worst possible times.

2. In the ultimate of all ironies, has his name on the Stanley Cup as a member of the Avalanche.

3. His name rhymes with “Barton Boula”.

Good luck to all!

Farewell Saku

Saku Koivu and the hated Ducks are not a good fit. Anaheim is stocked with players I despise; players like Corey Perry and Ryan Getlaaf. Past hated Ducks include Todd May, Chris Kunitz, Rob Neidermayer, the list goes on and on... Why would one of the "good guys" in the league want to play there? Does he simply want to hang out with BFF Teemu Selanne? Because if that's the case, he's making a mistake. Teemu's done after this upcoming season and Saku will be all alone.

I really hate it when teams I dislike acquire players I admire. But then again, I managed when Pavol signed with the Evil Empire. I'll make do.

Havlat in the Hizzy

In less than 2 months on the job, Wild GM Chuck Fletcher did something Dougie Risebrough couldn’t get himself to do in 10 years: sign a top free agent. After being spruned by Marian Gaborik, the Wild went to the next best available forward and signed Martin Havlat to a 6 year contract. How refreshing is this? Risebrough would’ve lost out on Gaborik and just called it a day, saying “they gave it their best shot.” Instead, Fletch gets agressive and signs Havlat. Nice work indeed.

Next up: hopefully sign a good defenseman along the lines of Rob Scuderi or Ruslan Fedotenko and get the deal with Saku done.

Get a Room

Exciting days are coming up for Daniel and Henrik. They’re due to become unrestricted free agents on Wednesday and rumor has it they’re looking for matching deals in the $6.0 million range. The catch? You’ve got to sign them both. Yes, I’m serious. They won’t play without each other. Amazing. You’d think they could just get Nextel direct-connect and keep in touch that way. Or facebook accounts, that’d work too. It’s incredibly funny that too 28 year old men can’t stand to be apart for more than a few hours. You can't make this up.

I’m hoping and praying that they don’t end up in Minny.

The Right Pick

I’ve never been a homer; you should always pick the best player available, regardless of where he’s from. But there was a small bit of hometown pride that twinged inside me last night when the team took Nick Leddy from Eden Prairie. Leddy is better prospect than Matty Niskanen, Keith Ballard, Ryan McDonough or Jake Gardiner were at this point. He fits a need in our system, an offensive defenseman. Plus, I now have a real reason to watch some Gopher hockey this fall. Good pick, Fletch.

Of course, they’ll be some that say Jordan Schroeder should’ve been the pick. Heck, I even posted a few days ago about my desire to see Schroeder in Iron Range Red, but the more I think about it the more I agree with passing on the forward. Schroeder’s a great talent, but he is not a scorer. He’s a PMB-like winger who passes exceptionally-well, but will not develop into more than that. Still, it will be interesting for years to watch him develop for the Evil Empire of the Northwest.

Wishlist

The title to this post is both my 2nd favorite Pearl Jam song and what I’m hoping for with the Wild’s first pick on Friday. It is crucial that the team leave Friday with a potential superstar or a very good player and a few more picks in the 2nd and/or 3rd rounds.

Assuming Tavares, Hedman and the hyphenated Swede are gone by #12, I hope that Jordan Schroeder will be available. Those who know me know that I’m not the biggest Gopher hockey fan in the world(*), but I still think Schroeder is destined for stardom. Local or not, he’s a great offensive talent that would fit perfectly in an up-tempo scheme. If he’s gone when the Wild pick (which, honestly, is probable), then I say trade down a bit, accumulate some more picks and start to replenish the system. I guess I wouldn’t be too upset either if they took the Ellis kid; he’s small but is supposed to be a good power-play quarterback.

(*) To long to explain here, but let’s just say I’m not a big booster of “The Program.”