WILD HOCKEY!

[OnAFly]

Wow, Brodziak has turned it around offensively. He used to be the guy that made me cringe when he had the puck in the offensive zone. This year he's been much better.

We've always seemed to have that grinder that gets awesome chances but never could actually do anything with them (Miettinnen, Veilleux, Radeviovich sp?). Brodziak seem to have figured this part out a little bit this year.

I'm still a little hesitant to say we're going to be playing in late April, but we are definitely in a better position to do so than we have been in the last 3 years.

[solbes]

It would be nice to see this team get 2 or 3 goal leads early on. But another shootout win is still 2 points. Nothing wrong with a winning percentage on the road. Hope they can keep it up.

[Bear55]

Brodziak had a pretty nice season last year too (16G and 37Pts) I was kind of meh when we signed him but he has turned into a very solid player. Its hard not to like what Fletcher and Yeo are doing with this team. Even if we fall flat at the end of the year and don't make the playoffs you get the feeling we are heading in the right direction.

[Jarrid Houston]

I watched my first Wild hockey game this season, last night, and am glad I did. It was awesome!!! I generally think most the game is boring until the end of the games, this game captivated me by the OT and the shoot out, capped off with a nice win for teh WILD Go WILD...... Wish the Vikes could be doing as good.

[LundProAngler]

It was a slow start to the game in the first period, but it was good to see them come from behind and get the big two points again!

Koivu's goal in the shootout was a fantastic shot!

Go Wild!

[schmitty3]

Brodziak fits in to this system very well. He is great on the forecheck and works very hard. Another guy that i've been really impressed with is Nick Johnson. Love the way he plays. Always giving it his all, and is great on the forecheck.

[scsavre]

I agree on needing to get some leads. There is no way they can continue with the good luck they have been getting. They are also going to be the most tired team with all these hard working from the gut, from behind victories. I was very pleased that we didn't impload after the 2 home losses. I really thought it was the begining of a 6 game skid, I think havng some vets and yeos attitude helps here.

That said I am loving all the victoires, and let's keep em coming.

[OnAFly]

Yeo definitely is the difference between this team and other teams we've had. His attitude is, "the skid stops here, and this is why" attitude as opposed to the, "we'll have to try better next time" attitude we've had in the past. His seemingly cliche "winners attitude" seems to be working well.

[spearchucker]

Brodziak fits in to this system very well. He is great on the forecheck and works very hard. Another guy that i've been really impressed with is Nick Johnson. Love the way he plays. Always giving it his all, and is great on the forecheck.

My thoughts exactly! These guys are stealing pucks left and right along with Clutterbuck.

[spearchucker]

]I agree on needing to get some leads. There is no way they can continue with the good luck they have been getting. They are also going to be the most tired team with all these hard working from the gut, from behind victories. I was very pleased that we didn't impload after the 2 home losses. I really thought it was the begining of a 6 game skid, I think havng some vets and yeos attitude helps here.

That said I am loving all the victoires, and let's keep em coming.

Not all luck though. Hard work and sticking with Yeo's system throughout the game is being rewarded.

[hoppe56307]

Heard on the radio this morning that the wild are only 4 points ahead of where they were last year, and we are in first place this year, last year we were in 12th. It did not seem like last year that we had that many points or is the leauge just more balanced this year?

[solbes]

Heard on the radio this morning that the wild are only 4 points ahead of where they were last year, and we are in first place this year, last year we were in 12th. It did not seem like last year that we had that many points or is the leauge just more balanced this year?

True, it seems weird. But it's so hard to compare years because there are a variable number of points given out in games (2 for regulation win, 3 for overtime situation). Maybe there were a lot more games in overtime last year across the Western Conference?

[Bear55]

That is kind of an odd stat, hey we will take it.

[solbes]

Down 0-2 on the road again, this team found a way to win. Cullen had a beauty of a saucer pass to Wellman. Then PMB had a strong backhander on a rolling puck 30 seconds later.

Back to the tops in the NHL. Go WILD!

[Bear55]

They have been simply amazing, I only wonder if we can keep this up all season long.

[OnAFly]

I'm guessing no. We have had a little puck luck lately. Not to say that I haven't been enjoying the run. I just think if our goal tending cools off or we start getting fewer bounces our way, we'll stop winning a few of these games we've been winning lately.

[mr_jman]

My guess is the Wild won't keep this winning percentage up, but I don't think the Wild will have a losing streak longer then about 3 games with the system and winning mentality that Yeo seems to have established with these guys! With all the injuries and successful call-ups maybe the Twins should take note HAHA!

After 2 periods in San Jose the Wild are up 2-1! They simply find ways to win! 20 more minutes to go...

[OnAFly]

I sure hope Seto and Harding aren't out long term. Seto's injury sounded like a bad knee and Hards sounds like it could be a concussion.

How many Wild players will go down with concussions this year? We have to on pace for some kind if record!

[hoppe56307]

Congrats to Matt Hacket on his first NHL win and game.

[RK]

Last night's game more than any other so far makes me thing the Wild can be for real if they keep up the kind of play they've had lately.

They played in a building that's been a house of horrors for them (1 win in the last 13) against a team that just got embarrassed and had a chip on its shoulder. They get buzzed the first few minutes, give up a goal immediately, then lose their goalie and have to go with a pure rookie playing his first game in relief, on the road. Would have been pretty easy for them to just say it wasn't their night and roll over. Last year, they would have, and it would have been a 4-0 or 4-1 loss. These guys just kept at it. That third period was some very entertaining hockey, even without any scoring. I'm paying for staying up late this morning, but it was worth it.

Be interesting to see what Yeo does with his lines with Seto out. Didn't sound good with him. Hopefully Wellman will stick for a while. Totally different player than he was the last time he was up.

I was cautiously optimistic at the start of the season, but never expected this kind of turn-around this early on.

What's cool about it, and what makes me think it can at least somewhat hold up over time, is that it's not one player or one line going on a tear and winning a few games that way. It's a team buy-in on a system, and everyone is on board. That kind of thing works over time, while hot streaks cool off eventually.

Pretty amazing how fast this franchise righted the ship after the DR era... We've come a long ways from the Chris Simon at trade deadline days.

Cheers,

RK

[Bear55]

That Hackett kid has been playing great for a long time, glad he was able to get his first NHL win. Goalie of the future for us. What else can you say other than its been an amazing year. Keep it up Wild!

[solbes]

Yeah what kind of started it was Harding playing out of his mind on that win streak. Back to back wins against the Wings in late October. Then Backstrom elevated his game. And then the intensity of the skaters went up a couple of notches. Winning is contagious with this group.

I realize we may not have great goaltending every night. But if they can be consistent, and Yeo can keep his guys playing with intensity I see no reason why this can't continue. Go Wild!

Hopefully Seto and Harding are not out for long. Injuries could be the one thing to kill this momentum.

[OnAFly]

The nice thing about how we've been doing is that we haven't relied on one or two guys. It's been four or five. So, losing a guy here and there isn't so bad. The no-so-nice thing is that we aren't really controlling games. We're getting a lot of one goal wins. Wins are still wins, but a bad bounce here and there causes a one goal win turn into a one goal loss or OTL.

Have I bought into Yeo being the actual NHL coach we've been looking for for the last couple years? Yes. Do I think we can keep up the pace we've set out on so far? No. We are 25th in the league for shots against and dead last in shots for. Eventually, that is going to catch up with us.

[OnAFly]

Latest report on Seto is not good. He's out with a "lower body injury" has a soft cast on his knee. I'm hoping he didn't tear an ACL.

[OnAFly]

Looks like former Gopher Jeff Taffe got called up.

Speculation on Seto has been that it might not be a torn up knee. Lets hope they're right about that.