Wild take control of first place for the All-Star break

The Minnesota Wild beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-2 in Colorado, and it was an impressive victory. The first five minutes of play were completely dominated by the Wild, as they forced the Avalanche into three icing calls. The icing calls were immediately followed by a Todd Fedoruk goal at 5:25 in the first. The Avalanche started to put a little pressure on at the other end, but the Wild went on a power play and Brian Rolston made a terrific slapshot goal over Avalanche goalie Jose Theodore’s right shoulder.

The single mishap for the Wild happened at 19:32 in the first period, when former Wild player Andrew Brunette shot wide of the goal and Niklas Backstrom misplayed the puck and knocked it into his own goal...oops! I hope everyone who voted for Backstrom on my www.inthestateofhockey.com poll will remember that little mishap. The Wild played two more solid periods of hockey, getting another goal from a nifty kick pass to himself by Pavol Demitra. I love those moves.

The Wild now will control first place in the Northwest Division for at least the next five days as the whole NHL breaks for the All-Star game.

Minnesota Wild tickets are getting hotter than ever now that the season is heating up. I would like to go to the Wild Mighty Ducks game on January 30th, but local ticket brokers are charging about $80 a ticket - ouch!I am a die hard fan, but I am not sure I am willing to pay that for a Wednesday night game. We'll see how I feel after the 5 day rest...my guess is I will have the hockey itch and I will just need to scratch it - $80 and all.