Wild are kicking ass...it's that simple!

The Minnesota Wild have been on a tear since the start of the 2007-2008 season.

A 3-1 win in St. Louis against the Blues last night pushed Minnesota's record to an outstanding and a little surpising 6-0-1, to lead the Western Conference.

Centres Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Eric Belanger and winger Brian Rolston are all tied for their team's lead in points with 7 heading into Sunday night's matchup against the Colorado Avalanche.

What's surprising about the absolutely Wild run?

Their team has only 17 goals scored in 7 games...the lowest among all division leaders in the NHL...but that isn't unexpected, as Jacques Lemaire's squad tends to focus more on the defensive side of things rather than potting goals in the other end despite having a guy like Marion Gaborik on their front (who is not doing so hot to start the year).

Lemaire and the fans can thank veteran 'tender Nicklas Backstrom for their league low 9 goals against to start the year; the 29-year old Finn has posted phenomenal numbers in his first season as the undisputed number one after the Wild parted ways with Manny Fernandez this summer with 4 of the team's 6 wins, a 1.38 average and a 0.945 SPCT% that are amongst the top 3 in each respective category.

And to add insult to injury for opposing teams, the Wild lead the league in home shutouts with 2 (both from Backstrom) to go along with 3 straight home wins and are the only team in the NHL that have yet to lose a game in regulation on home ice.
They tied the Detroit Red Wings for home victories in 2006-2007 with an astonishing 29.

The new guy in Minny, centre Eric Belanger, says the team has the city's fans to thank for their recent success at home:

"You have the Canadian cities that are pretty loud, but after that, this is top-five in the league for sure."

Belanger has clicked well with linemates Pierre-Marc Bouchard and Brian Rolston, all are tied for the team lead in points.

But one can wonder how much longer the Wild can hold back Josh Harding from taking over as the number one goalie for the team after several succesful seasons in Houston and Minnesota.
Things are looking bright for Minnesota in goal, especially with Backstrom holding the fort with his bulletproof numbers and Josh Harding pressing for playing time with a convincing 37-save shutout effort against the defending Stanley Cup Champs Ducks in his season debut one week ago.

Petr Kalus, highly-touted scoring prospect acquired from the Bruins in the Manny Fernandez deal, did not make the club out of training camp and has been melting away with the team's minor-league club Aeros in the AHL.
Kalus has yet to show why the Bruins and then Wild were so hot about his scoring potential, after potting 4 goals in only 9 games with Boston last season.

But don't forget Minnesota's fast start to the previous campaign did not last, and one can only hope that it will for the sake of hockey and its great fans in Midwestern Minnesota.

No matter which way you look at it, the Wild seem poised for great things...now only if Marion Gaborik would wake up and do what we think he could do best for a team that is goal-hungry in a city waiting for the rise from mediocrity too long.

-BBeR

Ducks buring Minnesota alive...

Man, the Ducks are kicking ass!

No offense to Ducks fans, but the team looked a little weaker throughout the second half of the season, in the first half, they were unstoppable...now, they look like that first half team.

After a 2-1 victory in Minnesota yesterday, the Ducks hold nearly an insurmountable lead over the Wild, with a margin of 3 games to none.

Again, it was one of those low-scoring nail-bitting games, Niklas Backstrom did his best to keep Minnesota in it, but it was reason that prevailed in the end.

Backstrom has been phenomenal from the start, his 2.37 GAA and .910 SPCT are the kind of numbers that should propel any team to victory.
But sadly enough, for my hockey pool and for Wild fans, not this time.

I fail to understand why Jacques Lemaire doesn't enforce a more offensive style, just a LITTLE more offensive, especially if he expects his team to go far.
And, I fail to understand why guys like Brian Rolston, Todd White, Kim Johnsson and Mark Parrish haven't amassed a single point.

How do you expect to win if your secondary scoring, and one of your primary (Rolston) don't put up anything.

There is SO much talent on this team, SO much...I would like to see what Minnesota would look like as a team if they played a more offensive-minded style, rather than defensive minded...

The Ducks are the better team, and I failed to see that when I chose Minnesota to beat them in 7 games in my local hockey pool, and because of that, have likely lost that.

Anyway, I'd like to congratulate the Wild too, for managing to stage only one-goal losses, and not 3 or 4 goal crushings like some have predicted.

The Ducks stayed with the Wild's defensive style, and even played along with it, but, in the end, it came down to the solid goaltending of Ilya Bryzgalov, who, after a somewhat questionable season, has rebounded in fine fashion with numbers nearly identical to last year's magical playoff run, with a 1.34 GAA and .948 SPCT, that's 4 goals in 3 games.

It's also kind of sad to see Jean-Sebastien Giguere's awesome season sit on the bench.

Hey, the series isn't over yet, but with a 3-0 Anaheim lead, you can say it is indeed over...

I'll have my eye on the Nashville-San Jose game tonight, it should be great again!

Meanwhile, in more sad news...

-Gaetan Duchesne dead at 44.
According to RDS, Gaetan Duchesne, who played over 1,000 NHL games, has died.
Duchesne reportedly suffered cardiac arrest while working out.
He was 44 years old.
He totalled 179 goals and 254 assists in 1,028 games with 5 different teams.

May he rest in peace.
His son, Jeremy, is actually a goalie for Val D'Or in the QMJHL and was drafted by Philly.