Wilderness Walk for 2-22-2012

by BReynolds on Feb 22, 2012 9:01 AM CST in Wilderness Walks

Another long stretch of no games to talk about leaves us focused on... the wall, the ceiling, the snow in the driveway... pretty much anything other than hockey. Unfortunately.

Today's Walk remains short, but it does have some substance to it. Some good reads, and some good chances to learn a few things, maybe spur some thought. Of course, that infers you are all capable of rational thought. Yep. I did it. I made a joke at our readers' expense. It's come to that.

Boredom, they name is me.

If you ever have the chance to go without a computer for a week... don't. Just don't do it. Unless you are vacation, it leads to a week of pure hell with no escape except to actually watch the episode of Dora your kid is watching for the 17th time in a row.

I'll be over there... in the fetal position.

Wild News

Wild Back At It Tuesday | - Ah, practice. We're talking about... practice.

Mikko Koivu "50-50" to go on road trip | StarTribune.com - Coincidentally, I am 50-50 to do most everything in life.

Welcome visitors | StarTribune.com - It's just Minnesota nice.

Minnesota Wild wait to learn meaning of Sunday's stunning win - TwinCities.com - What does it mean? It means... you won a game. Go do it again.

Offensively challenged Wild | StarTribune.com- Nice little info.

The Team of 18,001: Can I Get Some Love For Chad Rau? - Indeed, you can.

WILD PUCK BANTER: The Nick Schultz Problem - Good read, but with flaws. Looking at the teams that made the playoffs, Schultz would be paid like a 4 or 5 d-man. Looking at the two D-men used as comparisons, they are four and five years older than Schultz. Schultz is way ahead of them.

Off the Trail

Rick Nash, Jeff Carte, Derek Roy among big names whose fantasy fortunes could change at trade deadline - Fantasy Hockey - ESPN - Devin Setoguchi gets a mention as a target.

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HTML Tag fail...

by ThatGuy22 on Feb 22, 2012 9:10 AM CST reply actions

I think it is Firefox. Sorry about that all. Everything looked good before it was published.

Editor:Hockey Wilderness Swarm Beat Writer:In Lax We Trust Now with more Twitterness: ReynoldsSBN

Master of unsustainable passive regression.

by BReynolds on Feb 22, 2012 2:54 PM CST via Android app up reply actions

Not to nit-pick, but ...

Might want to ease up on the bold formatting there, too, Bryan :)

Son-of-a-bitch is dug in like an Alabama tick!

by Mark It Zero! on Feb 22, 2012 9:13 AM CST reply actions

Woah!

Everything I typed got ’bold’ed as well. Is that a word? Bolded?

Son-of-a-bitch is dug in like an Alabama tick!

by Mark It Zero! on Feb 22, 2012 9:15 AM CST up reply actions

Yep

He left a bold tag unclosed.

by ThatGuy22 on Feb 22, 2012 9:17 AM CST up reply actions

Did that work?

by ThatGuy22 on Feb 22, 2012 9:17 AM CST up reply actions

No. But I do like these ‘bold’ statements that I keep making. Ha ha. Bold! Get it? :)

Son-of-a-bitch is dug in like an Alabama tick!

by Mark It Zero! on Feb 22, 2012 9:45 AM CST up reply actions

Wild recall Matt Hackett

But … both Backstrom & Harding practiced yesterday and were planning on making the trip. More info as it comes from Kent Youngblood or Mike Russo.

Proprietor of Hockey Wilderness - We take Minnesota hockey WAY too seriously.

by nathaneide on Feb 22, 2012 9:23 AM CST reply actions

Speculation...

I am hearing that its a 4 way deal with Nash, Parise and Sutter coming to Minnesota. :)

by Jacks 234 on Feb 22, 2012 9:30 AM CST up reply actions

Thumbs up

Twitterverse: @hobey_baker

by The Nooge on Feb 22, 2012 9:36 AM CST via Android app up reply actions

and Zids, Zanon, and Cullen gone?

Gotta meet the salary demands….lol

by wild32384 on Feb 22, 2012 3:50 PM CST up reply actions

Unless someone came down with a sudden flu...

interesting, very interesting.

by Krotz the Wall on Feb 22, 2012 9:42 AM CST up reply actions

Bob McKenzie is saying that Harding has a tweak, leaving him day to day

That’s all. No trade.

Proprietor of Hockey Wilderness - We take Minnesota hockey WAY too seriously.

by nathaneide on Feb 22, 2012 9:51 AM CST reply actions

Booooo

by ThatGuy22 on Feb 22, 2012 9:57 AM CST up reply actions

Indeeeeeed.

Follow @JayKlinkhammer

PEK > NBA ALL STAR WEEKEND 2012
MATT HACKETT FAN CLUB PRESIDENT
WILLINGHAM&CHEESE.
RGIII = BEST PLAYER AVAILABLE

by y2jayjk on Feb 22, 2012 10:07 AM CST up reply actions

I hear it is Harding's neck

Strained it watching all the goals the Blues scored on him. That was pretty harsh, wasn’t it?

by cgp711 on Feb 22, 2012 1:29 PM CST up reply actions

Harsh, but funny.

Son-of-a-bitch is dug in like an Alabama tick!

by Mark It Zero! on Feb 22, 2012 1:41 PM CST up reply actions

Slept wrong?

They just don’t want us to have any fun.

by WildEast on Feb 22, 2012 12:04 PM CST up reply actions

I fixed the wayward header tag.

Proprietor of Hockey Wilderness - We take Minnesota hockey WAY too seriously.

by nathaneide on Feb 22, 2012 10:56 AM CST reply actions

I'm fully aware

that injuries do happen in practice. I just couldn’t resist, because of the timing.

by WildEast on Feb 22, 2012 12:06 PM CST reply actions

From Youngblood

Neither Harding nor Koivu traveled with the team.

by John_Locke on Feb 22, 2012 12:51 PM CST reply actions

I wonder if Hackett gets a game out of this

back to back. Interesting story line there.

by Krotz the Wall on Feb 22, 2012 1:22 PM CST up reply actions

Trade market heating up

Columbus dealt Antoine Vermette to Phoenix for a 2012 2nd-round pick, a 2013 5th-round pick, and goaltender Curtis McElhinney.
I would say the Coyotes got the better of this deal, as Vermette can still play top-6 minutes, and in exchange they only gave up one pick of importance, a mid-rounder, and a goalie who will probably be a career backup.

You know you're a Wild fan if Spam Whoopie Gerald-buns comes up in conversation
Mikael Granlund = Suomi Savior

by JDesthubert on Feb 22, 2012 1:21 PM CST reply actions

Yeah...

I think Columbus is so desperate to make trades that they pulled the trigger a little early on this one. Vermette is a pretty decent player and certainly can help solidify Phoenix for a playoff push. The Bluejackets didn’t get much in return for him. Obviously, the team is more focused on getting returns for Carter and Nash, but Phoenix got a good deal on this one.

by Krotz the Wall on Feb 22, 2012 1:25 PM CST up reply actions

So the BJs want to trade everyone but keep Prospal, that makes sense.

by cgp711 on Feb 22, 2012 1:30 PM CST up reply actions

They ain't at the bottom for nuthin'

I'm that ''ignorant dumbass'' who writes with the ''whiny idiot homer'' over at Hockey Wilderness.

Twitter: BubbleWild48

by JSLandry on Feb 22, 2012 4:34 PM CST up reply actions

I thought it was goofy too

But it sounds like the Jackets plan on bringing Prospal back to work in the Front Office, so this was a way to let him play one more year.

You know you're a Wild fan if Spam Whoopie Gerald-buns comes up in conversation
Mikael Granlund = Suomi Savior

by JDesthubert on Feb 22, 2012 6:37 PM CST up reply actions

I would imagine

That the return was lower because there is still 3 years left in Vermette’s deal, at $3.75 million per. Still, he’s 29 and still slots in at a top 6 sort of player.

by Krotz the Wall on Feb 22, 2012 1:30 PM CST up reply actions

Very real possibility

I think the Jackets still could have got a better return considering that there are so few top-6 type forwards being rumored to move. The market is pretty dry for teams looking for offensive help.

You know you're a Wild fan if Spam Whoopie Gerald-buns comes up in conversation
Mikael Granlund = Suomi Savior

by JDesthubert on Feb 22, 2012 1:32 PM CST up reply actions

I agree.

But, they didn’t take on any salary, at all, and lopped off almost $12 million in owed salary. I think they could have probably returned an actual goalie prospect or a #1 pick. I think this mostly had to to due with the fact that they are concentrating on moving the big two rather than secondary deals like this one.

by Krotz the Wall on Feb 22, 2012 1:40 PM CST up reply actions

No wonder players want off the BJs, it is going to be another 5 years before they are close to a playoff spot.

by cgp711 on Feb 22, 2012 1:51 PM CST up reply actions

It's going to be interesting.

Rick Nash and Jeff Carter could, and probably should, net some pretty good returns, both in players, prospects and picks. Still, I find it difficult to believe that the Jackets are going to net a package of players that will help them turn this around any time soon. They certainly aren’t going to be a FA destination. They’re going to trade off their biggest veteran assets. This is setting up to be even more drastic a rebuild than what Edmonton has been attempting.

by Krotz the Wall on Feb 22, 2012 1:54 PM CST up reply actions