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Boogaard TRADED?!?!?

The Wild season: A look back, a look ahead

By MICHAEL RUSSO, Star Tribune

Last update: April 10, 2010 - 11:34 PM

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THREE OFF-ICE STORIES

The untold: According to multiple NHL sources, the Wild traded enforcer Derek Boogaard (right) to the Tampa Bay Lightning on March 3 for third- and fourth-round draft picks and NHL penalty-minute leader Zenon Konopka. GMs Chuck Fletcher and Brian Lawton were talking trade all day, and just before the 2 p.m. trade deadline, Lawton called to sweeten the deal. It was accepted by Fletcher, but the Wild soon discovered the Lightning no longer owned one of the draft picks. By the time the mistake was resolved, it was past the deadline and the trade couldn't transpire.

The fire: On Dec. 18 in Kanata, Ontario, the back of the Ottawa Senators' equipment truck caught fire and destroyed more than half of the Wild's equipment on the eve of its game at Ottawa. After some hustle by the Wild's equipment staff, fresh gear was flown into Ottawa for the game. The only thing that survived of James Sheppard's was his mouthguard. Both goalies lost everything.

The tweets: In hopes of adding a top-six forward, the Wild signed 300-goal scorer Petr Sykora before the season. Sykora never meshed with coach Todd Richards, who played Sykora on the fourth line, barely used him on the power play and started scratching him. Agent Allan Walsh jumped to his client's defense on Twitter, and the Wild and Sykora finally parted ways in January. Sykora's Wild career lasted 14 games and two goals.

THE SEASON THAT WAS

The good: The Wild rallied for 16 victories, including a three-goal third-period comeback to beat Anaheim in the home opener and a four-goal third-period comeback to beat Chicago. Also, after a 7-12-2 start, the Wild went 13-4-1 from Nov. 20 to Dec. 28. Entering Saturday, Cal Clutterbuck led the NHL in hits for a second consecutive season (312), defenseman Greg Zanon was fourth with 194 blocked shots and center Mikko Koivu was eighth in faceoff percentage (.569).

I would say that it is pretty unlikely that Boogy will be in a wild Uni next year. I have to say that I like the idea... If we could get Konopka who is a much better player with more energy and 30+ fights last year and maybe move Scott up on the Wing on the 4th line to handle the heavyweights, we will be a much better team..

[walleyes12]

hmmmmm. I have always been a boogy fan!!! BUT, I wouldnt mind moving him to build the team. I like Big John Scott, he doesnt take S%$T and protects our players. I am for the move if it can happen during the offseason

[OnAFly]

Yeah, I heard that too. What a great trade that would have been. A guy and two picks, 3rd and 4th rounders, but still all that for Boogey would have been highway robbery!

Scott probably won't stay. We are swimming in defensemen and Scott is not a solid defenseman and he is a useless wing.

In other news, the Oilers got the #1 pick...that will make playing them more fun. I think our domination over 'The Oil' will end/has ended. We were sub par against them this year and next year they'll have arguably the best rookie in the league with Hall or Seguin. This could be the makings of another Iginla type situation...total dominance over the Wild.

[JimBuck]

Darn! I never heard about this. That would have been a steal. It's good to hear coaching and management are making moves, or at least attempting to. I've always enjoyed watching Boogie but would love to see someone more offensive take his position. I think Big John is a decent defensemen and its good to have him around.

So is Bouchard as good as done with Hockey?

[Bear55]

That would have been a great return for Boogie, no wonder Brian Lawton is currently looking for a job.

I agree JimBuck, Boogie is nice to have but I think we need someone who can at least play a little hockey.

[OnAFly]

Boogey has shown streaks of what might ba called "hockey" at some points during the season, but really, for a guy with 2 assists on the season and making 1.5mil...is it worth it?

I think ten years ago, Boogey would be nice to have, now he's a sideshow. Now he's there to sell jerseys and get people interested that otherwise wouldn't be. Not a bad thing for a place like Tampa or any of those southern team to have. Definitely not worth it for a team trying to be competitive which already has serious cap issues.

"That would have been a great return for Boogie, no wonder Brian Lawton is currently looking for a job. " - Ain't that the truth!

[spearchucker]

Boogey will probably be back. If you read later on they pretty much said it was a trade to good to refuse so they tried to take it, but it didn't work out. There are a lot of players that need to play hockey on this team. Scott will not be back, he is a mediocre defenseman and a terrible forward.

We need to find a way to get rid of Sheppard and either get Boochard to play or get rid of him. He is a wasted spot taking up a lot of money. I hope Barker will play better next year and Burns will stay healthy.