Minnesota Wild Olympians

by nathaneide on Dec 30, 2009 7:59 AM CST in News

Vancouver-olympics-2010_medium

Ladies and Gentlemen, your Minnesota Wild Olympians!

First off, the Finns:

Niklas Backstrom

#32 / Goalie / Minnesota Wild

Height: 6-1

Weight: 196

Born: Feb 13, 1978

No surprise here. The question will be whether or not he starts over Miikka Kiprusoff.

Mikko Koivu

#9 / Center / Minnesota Wild

Height: 6-2

Weight: 200

Born: Mar 12, 1983

Well, it's hard to have the captain not on the team. Mikko will lead the Finns into Vancouver with his sights on a gold medal, though I'm guessing they'll likely settle for getting into the medal round. They don't have the offensive firepower to hang with the Canadians, Russians and Swedes.

Antti Miettinen

#20 / Right Wing / Minnesota Wild

Height: 6-0

Weight: 190

Born: Jul 03, 1980

And the inclusion of Mittens into the side proves how lacking the Finns are for forwards. Sure, we LOVE Mittens here. He works hard, he's improved his game ten-fold since coming to Minnesota, but he would have no chance of making the team on a medal contender.

Now the Czechs:

Martin Havlat

#14 / Right Wing / Minnesota Wild

Height: 6-2

Weight: 217

Born: Apr 19, 1981

Yes, Martin Havlat should make the Olympic team for the Czech Republic. He's likely on their top line if not the second, and with the way he's been playing lately, he is impossible to leave off.

Marek Zidlicky

#3 / Defenseman / Minnesota Wild

Height: 5-11

Weight: 190

Born: Feb 03, 1977

Great to see Zidlicky included on the Czech squad, but if you look at the other names on the roster, there's no doubt he's in.

The Czechs are old, old, old. They too have absolutely no chance of winning a medal, and making it to the medal round will be a lofty goal.

This should round out the Olympians on the Wild. There's no way anyone gets picked for the Canadian team, and they have no Americans, so here you have it!

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Comments

I just got word that I was selected to American squad, but I had to pass. Turns out I have to work, so, no dice. Dammit, eh?

In all seriousness, the number of players selected off of the Wild is encouraging. I hope Mikko and Backs get some real leadership roles. Kipper is a damn good goalie, but he’s no Backs.

http://www.hockeywilderness.com

by BReynolds on Dec 30, 2009 11:29 AM CST reply actions

After rooting for the Americans first by birthright, I will be pulling very hard for the Fins in Vancouver.

I’ll also be rooting for the Czechs in their matchup with the Slovaks as well ;-)

Let's Go Wild!

by redheadzeb on Dec 30, 2009 12:30 PM CST reply actions

*Assuming that the Czechs and Slovaks are in the same pool—I haven’t checked/don’t know if that info is out, yet.

Let's Go Wild!

by redheadzeb on Dec 30, 2009 12:31 PM CST up reply actions

The fewer the better> would rather have my best players,healthy rested and with a chip on their shoulder over the slighting for the playoff push

by W1ldfan on Dec 30, 2009 1:01 PM CST reply actions

Its probably a good thing that Petr Sykora didn't get picked to the Czech team

with how often he’s injured this year..we can’t risk him getting injured in the olympics and lost him for the playoff run.

by TonyO on Dec 30, 2009 2:50 PM CST reply actions

3 plus 2

Hm to me it means that we have three that to an extremely high possibility played Floorball in School from Finland and two that most likely have tried it too in the Czech republic.
Five players with a relation to Floorball in the Wild..
Just for the record Gaborik has earlier talked very warm about Floorball related to his and the Hossa brothers experience from Floorball.
Interesting – more on Floorball here http://floorballcentral.blogspot.com

by floorball hockey u on Dec 30, 2009 11:12 PM CST reply actions

The Czechs are old???

How can you say that the czechs are old? The Czech olympic team consists of so many young players (Pavelec, Krejci, Michalek, Plekanec, Fleischmann etc.)

by Tom12 on Dec 31, 2009 8:25 PM CST reply actions