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.”

Cleaning House

Jacques Lemaire…gone. Dougie Risebrough…gone. Martin Skoula…soon. Who next? I think it’s long overdue for the Minnesota Wild to look at new TV guys. Long overdue.

Thanks to the NHL Center Ice Package I’m able to watch many hockey games during the season, and that allows me to listen to a wide array of play-by-play guys and analysts. There are the exceptional like Mike Emmerick and Chico Resch who actually make the broadcast enjoyable. Most teams have good broadcasters; even the lowly Phoenix Coyotes have a decent pair. But for some reason we are saddled with poor broadcasters here in the State of Hockey, Dan Terhaar and Mike Greenlay.

Terhaar and Greenlay bring nothing to the table. Terhaar’s play-by-play skills are awful at best and often lags behind in calling the action. Greenlay adds no insight, anecdotes or astute observations that a good analyst is needed for. Now don’t get me wrong here, I do like FSN’s overall production. Anthony LaPanta and Kevin Gorg are both very good in their roles, but unfortunately that’s as far as it goes.

The team really needs to take a hard look at getting some new TV dudes. After completing a complete overhaul of the management and coaching staff it’d be a crying shame to leave the TV broadcast team unchanged. Surely there’s got to be someone better.

As a side note, I've still got the autographed picture of Dan Terhaar available if anyone wants it. I listed it on ebay with no bidders.

Big Time

Ladies and gentlemen, can I please have your attention. I've just been handed an urgent and horrifying news story. I need all of you, to stop what you're doing and listen. I am now also writing on the Fanball Blog Network. Check it out at:

http://pucksgonewild.com

I will continue to post both here and there, but there's bound to be some overlap. Gotta pay the bills, people, gotta pay the bills.