Ode to Willie Mitchell

The spendthrift Wild traded Willie Mitchell at the trading deadline last season when it was clear that they weren't going to be able to sign him in the off-season. After the season he signed a contract with the Canucks and now appears ready to anchor their defense. Check out Canuck's Blog for a nice post about Willie.

Anyhow, I still contend the Wid made a huge mistake in not keeping him around. He was the anchor of our PK unit and rarely made a mistake. Sure, he never scored, and sure, he tends to shy away from delivering the big hit, but you could always count on Willie to break up a 2 on 1 or block a shot from the point.

Since the trade, the Wild has opened up the checkbook and spent some cash on some notable defensemen including Kim Johnsson and Keith Carney. Johnsson is expected to anchor the power play and brings them a player who can bring the puck up the ice. Look up "grizzled veteran" in the dictionary and you'll see a picture of Keith Carney. He'll play 23 minutes a game and fit in nicely. Neither are the tough, stay at home defenseman that Willie was, but we'll see how it goes. I only know it'll be a little harder to muster up my usual Canuck hatred. Thank heaven Matt Cooke is still a Canuck, at least for now.

If I Were Jacques Lemaire Part I

...I would stick to my line combinations and not tinker with them period to period. These would be my lines to start off the season:

Demitra-Rolston-Gaborik
White-Bouchard-Parrish
Veilleux-Koivu-Weinhandl
Boogaard-Walz-Radivojevic

I would also go to Chipotle and ask the cashier for some free guacamole just because I'm Jacques Friggin' Lemaire. I've never understood why they charge soooo much for a small scoop.

Pavoltown

Blogs are supposed to be the kinds of places where people can make outrageous claims and have no facts to support said claims. Well, I guess it's my turn. In examining this year's off season acquisitions, team by team, I have come to the unbiased opinion that there was no bigger acquisition than the Wild's trade for Pavol Demitra. My reasons:

1. The punchless Wild needed an offensive talent.
2. His acquisition helped convince Gaborik to sign a long-term contract. No Demitra and Gabby's gone next summer.
3. Demitra's an awesome talent.

My favorite offseason moment came when Bettman announced the trade at the draft in Vancouver. The collective gasp from the crowd was priceless. Then again, they could have just been stunned that the spendthrift Wild had made a significant move.

Bulldog Hockey Links

I've added 2 new links on the right, The DECC is Stacked and Runnin With the Dogs. They're both devoted to Minnesota-Duluth hockey and a good read. UMD hockey has had it's share of great teams, a handful of superstars and some very, very painful losses. The only thing I hate more than Golden Gopher Hockey is, well, I guess there is anything worse than that. Maybe root canal, but that'd be a close race.

Speaking of the Gophers, was anybody surprised when Kessel decided to wear No. 98 as a Bruin? The last highly-touted prospect to do that was No. 1 overall pick Brian Lawton, and all North Star fans know what happened to him.

Flyers TV

After a quick glance at the OLN schedule I took note that there are 24 games to be broadcast in stunning high-definition. After another read I discovered that the Minnesota Wild are playing in a total of zero of these. 24 games, 48 teams and no Wild. Who then, you ask, is featured in these contests? Look no further than the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers. All told, these two hockey powerhouses (pun intended) play in 12 of these 24 games. Now, I realize that OLN's goal is to feature American hockey, but if your goal is to educate the American public about hockey and to draw viewers to the sport why do you put on teams of that caliber? I suppose I should be glad, however, that they don't feature the Blackhawks that much. Watching them in HD would surely drop hockey's viewership dramatically.

Malkin Sighting

I just returned from a week's vacation and I'm pretty beat, but I do have an interesting nugget of information. I spotted Evgeni Malkin working at the Wall Drug in Wall, South Dakota. He was working the ice cream counter and asked me if I wanted any whipped cream on my chocolate shake. I said "no, thanks, Mr. Ice Cream Man," with a wink and then I continued "I know who you really are; your secret is safe with me." He then gave me a distinct nod of the head, said nothing more and walked away.

I've been scouring the internet for any Wild-related activity over the past week and have discovered nothing. Wake me up when August and September end.

Black Hills Hockey

Well, I'm off on vacation to the Black Hills of South Dakota. Rushmore, Sturgis, Deadwood and Bear Country USA. When I return a week from tomorrow there should be some significant hockey news to write about. Until then, adios, and if you happen to see a slightly gray-haired guy wandering around the Black Hills in a Pierre-Marc Bouchard jersey, say hello.

Check out the latest NHL
betting trends and bet on hockey.

Rasta Wings

I apologize for the lack of posts regarding my favorite NHL jerseys. I had anticipated being able to post picures of each jersey along with ench entry, but for some reason blogger isn't letting me do that. And I know everyone's had trouble sleeping, so here's the complete list:

5. Chicago Blackhawks Red Jersey (See previous post)
4. Philadelphia Flyers White Jersey -- although I dislike all sports teams Philadelphia-based, this jersey is a classic. Makes me think of the great Flyer goalies of the 80's...Lindberg and Hextal.
3. St. Louis Blues Blue Jersey -- Shout out to Ingmar on this one. Love the logo.
2. Nashville Predators Mustard 3rd Jersey -- Just seeing if you're paying attention. Brutal jersey.
1. Boston Bruins Black Jersey -- Throw a #4 on the back and you're all set.

There you go.

There's no easy transition from hockey jerseys to chicken wings, so I'll just start fresh. Last night I went to a brew pub in St. Paul, Great Waters Brewing Company, and sampled a few of their beers while watching the Twins get shut out by the Toronto Blue Jays. Around the 5th inning we decided to order some wings, so we ordered the house specialty, Rasta Wings. They came out and smelled tasty, so I quickly plunged one into my mouth. THEY WERE THE HOTTEST THINGS I'VE EVER EATEN. Immediately my mouth was on fire. I quickly doused the flames with an Oatmeal Stout, but that didn't do the trick. A bad case of hiccups then hit me and I started to sweat. After about 15 minutes I tried another and then decided to switch to nachos.

Jersey Countdown

I'm really struggling these days to come up with NHL-related content for this site, so in an effort to kill a few days before I go on vacation, I am proud to present my Top 5 NHL Jersey Countdown. We begin at No. 5:

Chicago Blackhawks Red Jersey -- this sweater is just simply cool looking. Despite the recent year's ineptness, this jersey oozes history. One look at this jersey and I think of Tony Esposito between the pipes. I didn't care much for the black ones they came out with, though.

Note: I had intended to put up a picture of the jersey, but it seems blogger wouldn't let me. I'll try again with tomorrow's entry.

2nd Note: Thanks for Jerseys and Hockey Love for getting me thinking about the sheer beauty of a good hockey jersey.

Where Are You John Buccigross?

There's been a little discussion lately about hockey on ESPN vs. hockey on OLN, and while I don't have a strong opinion on this I will say that I actually enjoyed the playoff coverage on OLN this year. I loved John Davidson on color and the studio guys were also pretty good near the end. Something's missing, though. Add John Buccigross and they're got a great product, but I don't sense that's going to happen anytime soon. Speaking of John, I miss his weekly column...why can't he write during the summer? Just a quick mailbag would suffice.

Enough of that, onto important business. In years past I've played in a number of fantasy football leagues and in one fantasy baseball league. Never have I played a hockey one, however, and I think this could be the year to get my teeth wet in such a league. I'm sure there are a number of leagues out there -- if anyone is looking for an extra player please drop me an e-mail at roymahl@gmail.com. I MAY be up for a random football league also.

Dean Youngblood

We're thinking about going to see a movie tonight and as I looked through the newspaper listings I spotted several films that looked sort of interesting, but nothing that looked great. I'm still waiting for a great hockey film. Sure, "Slap Shot" was pretty good and "Miracle" was a fairly decent Disney-take on the Miracle on Ice team, but those just didn't capture the game for me. All I'm stuck with is watching replays of "Youngblood" on OLN. Friggin' Youngblood. He looks like Mike Modano in drag.

And speaking of "Youngblood"...that'd be an awesome jersey to have: a home Hamilton Mustangs #10 sweater. Then I can start working on my mullet again.

Five Weird Things

Thanks to Tapeleg, here are my 5 weird things:

1. As much as I love the game of hockey, I can't get my two boys to play. They are 10 and 6 and don't like the sport. I've tried to push a little bit and even signed them up for skating lessons, but it wasn't meant to be. That won't stop me from making them sit through Hockey Night in Canada most Saturdays, however. And someday I'll take them on a tour of hockey arenas in Canada.

2. For some odd reason I like watching MTV's "Laguna Beach". It angers me to no end watching these spoiled rich kids drive around in Hummers, but I can't look away.

3. At dinner I'll eat one item at at time before moving onto the next item. Finish the veggies first, then the meat and so on. Not real bizarre, but weird nonetheless.

4. I tried to convince my wife to name our first son after U2's Bono. I would've done it too, but there was no way in hell she would've allowed that.

5. I was born and raised in Duluth, Minnesota, a city which is often called by members of the Duluth Visitor's Bureau as "The San Francisco of the Midwest." Take nothing away from Duluth, it's a nice city on Lake Superior with a lot to offer, but it's clearly nothing like San Francisco. Unless the Golden Gate Bridge were encased in ice for 6 months of the year, of course.

Future Goaltender Watch

Since his selection at 38th overall in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft, Josh Harding has been dubbed by most as the "goaltender of the future" of the Wild. After Dwayne Roloson was traded to the Oilers, Harding was called up from the Wild's AHL affiliate and started a few games. He played very well in those games and was penciled in as Manny's back-up for 2006-07.

But now Harding's status is not so clear. Kristofer Westblom has been getting a fair share of playing time in the ongoing prospects camp and has performed admirably. Westblom played in the WHL last season and posted an impressive 16-6-1 record with a 2.67 GAA. Besides Harding and Westblom, the Wild also have Miroslav Kopriva and Niko Hovinen in the system.

The future is a ways off, however. Barring a sudden onset of sieve-itis, Manny should be the main goaltender and start 60 plus games for the next 3 years.