Do The Wild Need To Make A Trade?

On Sunday, the Minnesota Wild began life without Mikko Koivu. Wild fans know that he will be back in the lineup at some point soon – likely not before three weeks have elapsed - but the question now is whether the team needs to make a move.

For a while, general manager Chuck Fletcher stood by the motto that the return of Guillaume Latendresse would serve as enough of a boost for the team. But with Koivu out, there will be a far greater sense of urgency.

Koivu is a tough player to replace even via a trade. Not only is he the team captain, NHL betting fans know that he’s the team’s do-it-all. He’s clearly a leader, he’s valuable offensively but he’s also the team’s best special teamer as he contributes greatly both on the power play and on the penalty kill.

There are options available to Minnesota, but nobody is uber-excited about them. Pierre-Marc Bouchard or Eric Nystrom could be moved off the wing to play center and the team recalled Cody Almond.

Dallas Stars forward Brad Richards might be an option but the Wild are not typically a team to make a big splash at the trade deadline. They are in a tough spot as they are right in the thick of a playoff race, tied with those very same Stars for the eighth and final playoff spot. Weakening their roster and helping theirs could give them a great boost.

But the bigger likelihood is that the Wild either make a more subtle trade or just ride things out as is. That likely invites even more of a burden on the shoulder of goaltender Nicklas Backstrom, but he is 5-2-1 in his last eight with a GAA of 1.36. Riding his hot goaltending until Koivu is ready to return might be the route that the Wild choose to take.

Stay tuned. The NHL trade deadline is February 28th.

If Only

I'm getting really sick and tired of these pathetic Eastern Conference teams not competing in games against the West. How can the Minnesota Wild expect to gain any spots in the Western Conference Standings when teams like Montreal go belly-up against the Flames? 4-0 to Calgary? Ridiculous. If the Wild played in the Eastern Conference they'd win a division and probably get a Top 2 seed in the playoffs, but instead they're a #8 in the West. Frustrating.

Switching gears a small bit, where would you have the Minnesota Wild finishing the season in the Eastern Conference? Picking a final resting spot for them is tough to gauge, like with most NHL picks. Soooo many things change on a daily basis and injuries will always play a role.

Armageddon

Move the Semicolon!

It's high time the world realized the underwhelming performance of the semicolon and moved it to a more appropriate place on the keyboard. Why should such a under-utilized and misunderstood punctuation mark occupy an important space on the keyboard?

Take a look at your keyboard right now. Place your fingers where they should be placed as if you were a good typist. All of your fingers are touching popular, often-used letters except for your right pinky; that is placed above the semicolon. Why don't they move another letter over there instead? Maybe slide the "W" over to the semicolon spot and move the semicolon/colon key out of harm's reach. Hell, the semicolon probably wouldn't place in top 5 if the AP had a "Best Punctuation Mark" poll. This is just speculation, but I'd place it 6th behind the period, comma, apostrophe, quote marks and the @.

These keyboards were designed over a hundred years ago when the semicolon was first introduced. Writers and English professors probably had high hopes for it and thought it would catch on like gangbusters. But that didn't happen and now it's high time for a change; revolutions were started with less.

Nick Schultz Doesn't Suck Anymore

When exactly did Wild Defensman Nick Schultz stop sucking so badly on the ice? For years I have winced whenever he went back to handle the puck or try to break up an odd man rush. I remember shaking my head in disgust when he signed his long-term deal with the team, but now I actually think he's priced fairly.

Nick was never going to be the #1 defenseman many thought he would be early in his career. He is what he is...a solid #2 or #3 who doesn't provide a lick of offense (25 goals in 660 games played), but he has developed into a pretty decent player in the defensive zone. He rarely turns the puck over and seems to always be positioned in the correct spot. He's certainly better than old whipping boys Martin Skoula and Filip Kuba and we should be happy about that.

Will he ever be an all-star? Nope, but he fills a need on this team. My only wish is that he'd develop a bit of a mean streak. The dude only averages about 35 PIM a season and I'd like to see him mix it up more when called upon.

I Was Wrong

On December 31, 2010 I wrote on Twitter that "Richards must go." It really summed up months of frustration about the team's poor play and at the time I truly meant it. Fourteen games later, a 10-4 record and with the team currently sitting in 7th position in the Western Conference, I can say that I was wrong.

Wild coach Todd Richards has this team playing at a very high level, especially on the road. He is getting outstanding contributions from young defensemen, coaxing great performances from both goaltenders and even has winger Martin Havlat playing at all All-Star level. This team has come together and seems to be heading in the right direction.

Bloggers (and many other fans for that matter) are often criticized for having knee-jerk reactions to poor team play and unfortunately that was the case for me. Then again, if the team loses tomorrow night in Phoenix I reserve the right to call for GM Chuck Fletcher's head. It's a good thing I can't fire myself.

Glee Over Puck

Last night my parenting skills came into play big time. My son, a freshman at a local area high school, joined his school's show choir last September. Think Glee without the wheelchair kid. Anyways, they've been practicing 2-3 times a week for 4 months and last night was their first performance. Two days before yesterday I get a call from a good friend who's offering me and my wife tickets to the Wild game against Los Angeles. Tickets in the FSN Suite with free beer, hot dogs and brownies. Seems like a no-brainer, right?

Well, after close consultation with my wife we decided to attend the show choir performance instead. School over hockey. Glee over free beer.

Needless to say I had my phone giving me constant updates of the game and it sounds like I didn't miss much at all. A scoreless tie that went to a shootout with the good guys on top. Now I've got a slew of good husband and father points in the bank in addition to not sitting through a relatively boring hockey game. Just missed out on the free food and possible run-ins with FSN heartthrob Anthony LaPanta.

As it turned out my son didn't even know that we were offered the tickets. On the way to school this morning I told him I didn't miss much by attending his show instead of the game. His response: "Dad, you're such a moron for not going to the Wild game." I didn't have the heart to tell him it was in a suite.