A Minnesota Wild Blog that WON'T make you sick and kill you!
For a moment, you could let yourself believe that the Minnesota Wild were going to upset the Colorado Avalanche. They pounded them into submission in Game 3. They had found a blueprint! No series is over until the home team loses. Well, the Wild lost at home on Monday night. John Hynes’ “T...
June 21, 2003. The first day of the 2003 NHL entry draft. Prospects from across the globe are waiting patiently for a team to call their names, which will determine their future destinations. Sitting amongst the wave of young hockey players inside the Gaylord Entertainment Centre in Nashville, Tenn....
That's Wild Minnesota Wild forward Michael McCarron called Avalanche defenseman Josh Manson "a dirty player" after their collision in Game 4 that ended up with Manson butt-ending his stick in McCarron's face. “He’s a dirty player. He’s always been,” McCarron said. “Not very well-respected.”...
In any fair world, Jesper Wallstedt would have left the ice to a serenade of "WAL-LY!" chants. The Great Wall of St. Paul played perhaps the best game of his career in Game 3, and was trending toward repeating the feat in Game 4. The Minnesota Wild put the entire game on the 23-year-old...
It wouldn’t be dramatic to rank the last few weeks among the most consequential in Minnesota Wild franchise history. Minnesota seems to have found a franchise goaltender in Jesper Wallstedt, Matt Boldy is developing into a superstar, and the team celebrated a playoff-round win for the first time sin...
The Minnesota Wild have an opportunity to even the series against the Colorado Avalanche and it would be massive. Going down 2-0, not many people outside of Minnesota were thinking the Wild had a chance to make it a competitive series, but after Saturday's big 5-1 win for Game 3, now they certainly...
Well, well, well, that win against the Colorado Avalanche felt good, didn’t it? The first two games of the series were not exactly what Minnesota Wild fans were looking for, but this third game showed that Minnesota is a true contender. Not only did they hang with the Avalanche, but they absolutely...
The Minnesota Wild needed a response in Game 3 against the Colorado Avalanche, and they got it emphatically. Behind a composed, confident performance from Jesper Wallstedt, the Wild snapped Colorado’s perfect postseason run with a 5-1 win at Grand Casino Arena, cutting the series deficit to 2-1 and...
Well, there you have it. The Minnesota Wild finally put their formula into practice. They have their blueprint! They won Game 3 on special teams, held their own 5-on-5, and Jesper Wallstedt regained his form. Do that three more times, and they can dig out of a 2-0 hole and upset the Colorado Avalanc...
The Minnesota Wild found themselves in a 0-2 hole in the series because they couldn't stick to the script in Denver. Minnesota had to follow an underdog playbook against a juggernaut Colorado Avalanche team. There's a tried-and-true way to pull off an upset in the Stanley Cup Playoffs: Win the game...
The Minnesota Wild left Denver in a tough spot after dropping Game 2 to the Colorado Avalanche. They’ve fallen behind 2-0 in the series and are facing a steep climb back. Colorado’s speed and depth have been a problem through the first two games, but Minnesota’s biggest issues are more specific than...
After the opening two games of their series against the Colorado Avalanche, the Minnesota Wild have their mandate. Above almost everything else – production from their best players, execution on special teams, getting healthy – the Wild have learned that they simply cannot make mistakes. No pre...
The good vibes surrounding the Minnesota Wild’s first-round triumph over the Dallas Stars have largely dissipated after dropping the first two games to the Colorado Avalanche in Round 2. A Minnesota team that seemed to have broken onto the scene as a true contender is now left asking questions about...
The Rally Towel. Fans at Grand Casino Arena are greeted with a gratis prop that they can wave throughout the game. It's a storied tradition in many sports, as recounted on a Wikipedia page I'm not going to summarize. Just know, if you go to a playoff game, you're gonna get a towel, and it's gonna ha...
That's Wild The Avalanche have a distinct advantage over the Wild in one, extremely specific area. Basically, it's their defensive depth. The Wild are hurting with the absence of Jonas Brodin and Jared Spurgeon's age starting to show -- and their need to lean on Zach Bogosian and Jake Middle...
When the Minnesota Wild clinched their first-round series with the Dallas Stars, it was an emotional moment. Fans responded to the 5-2 victory by shedding tears of joy. Stars general manager Jim Nill went into Bill Guerin’s suite and congratulated his counterpart on doing something the Wild hadn’t d...
The Minnesota Wild's Game 1 against the Colorado Avalanche was a reminder of how unforgiving a playoff series can be when a key defenseman is missing. The Wild battled back from an early 3-0 deficit and even took a 5-4 lead. Still, the Avalanche’s pace, depth, and shot generation eventually overwhel...
The Minnesota Wild's penalty kill was their greatest weakness in the 2024-25 season. In the regular season, they successfully defended on only 72.4% of their shorthanded chances, then allowed the Vegas Golden Knights to go 5-for-19 on the power play during the playoffs. The year before that, Minneso...
While it is not great that the Minnesota Wild are down 2-0 in the second round to the Colorado Avalanche and find themselves at the bottom of a big mountain to climb against one of the best teams in the league, we do at least get to share some good news. In multiple places over the last week, i...
Nathan MacKinnon owns a Hart Trophy. Cale Makar has two Norris Trophies. But the reason they're considered among the best in the world at their positions isn't their regular-season chops. Both players also shine brightest in the playoffs. Among active players, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl...
Eleven years ago Thursday, the Chicago Blackhawks swept the Minnesota Wild out of the Western Conference quarterfinals of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Until last Sunday, as many have noted, that 4-3 loss – a thriller in which the Wild would get within one goal, a mere 87 seconds, of drawing even –...
After the Minnesota Wild allowed nine goals (eight with a goalie in net) in their Game 1 loss, the question heard 'round the fanbase was simple. When are defensive stalwarts Joel Eriksson Ek and Jonas Brodin coming back? After the Colorado Avalanche allowed six goals in their Game 1 win, they h...
It’s hard to stay away from the stories that are very much in line with what you yourself are chasing. As a broadcaster and hockey writer, it’s those stories of individuals who have found triumphs in my industry that I often gravitate towards. The career and life of colour commentator John Garrett s...
Last night’s Minnesota Wild game was stressful, to say the least. It felt very much like that friend who pregamed too hard before hitting the town. Then, instead of having a good time and enjoying themselves with a few drinks and dancing, the fans were forced to babysit the “good time friend” throug...
Think of where you were when Artturi Lehkonen scored on the power play to put the Colorado Avalanche up 3-0. Lehkonen scored 13:13 into the first period, meaning there were almost 47 minutes left to play. Still, the Minnesota Wild told you everything you need to know about them in those first 13 min...