Hockey Wilderness: FanPosts

Roman Voloshenko????

2010-03-16T01:34:58Z

Roman Voloshenko

Whatever happend to Roman Voloshenko!?!?!?
I know that he went back to Russia, but the last stats I could find on him were from the '08-'09 season. Nothing for this year.

Do the Wild still own his rights? If yes, they should see if he wants to come back to the AHL for another shot at making the NHL club next year. That kid could score goals... in his first year in Houston he had 33 goals (60 points) in 69 games.

WHERE DID HE GO????!!!!????

So what exactly is the definition of a "charley horse"?

2010-03-09T18:10:11Z

MN Wild official statement on 3/8/2010: "Cal Clutterbuck abstained from doing anything overly exerting today. He suffered a charley horse in yesterday's loss to Calgary and is listed as day-to-day."

I was always under the impression "charley horse" was merely slang for a muscle cramp. And if so... how does that take someone like Clutterbuck out for half a game *and* put on a day-to-day status? Am I missing something here? We were at the X for the Wild/Flames game, we saw that hit, and I've never seen Cal drop his stick and scurry off so quickly. He could barely put any weight on his left leg. We overheard someone mention that he may have caught a blade just above the knee and below the breezer, and gotten cut as a result. If so, and he re-opened the wound when he tried to come back on the ice, I could understand him being taken off the ice for the rest of that game, and even being put on day-to-day until things healed up again.

So I'm wondering, what would be the purpose of glossing over this injury if it *is* more severe? What's the point?

(I'm assuming #22 will not be on the ice tonight against Florida, since they've called Kalus up from Houston and he plays that position.)

Of course, I could be completely off base and making mountains of molehills....

Time is ticking away, but then what?

2010-03-09T17:44:53Z

Okay. So the Wild are several points out of the playoff race. We know that they have a slim chance of making the playoffs. As Buddha pointed out, they need to go 14-4 in order to have a chance.

But suppose they do make that 14-4 run. That's winning 3 games, losing 1, winning 3 games, losing 1, winning 3 more games, losing 1, winning 3 games, losing 1, and then winning 2 games. A bit streaky, but possible nonetheless.

What then? Our Wild might make the playoffs.

Will you be happy to see a team that ~~squandered~~ lost so many road games make the playoffs? Will a 1st round loss make you proud of a team that maybe doesn't deserve to be there? Will a win in the 1st round and loss in the 2nd? What would it take?

My point is that so many Minnesotans are ready to jump in line and condemn the team for its poor performance, in my mind furthering the stereotype that MN fans are all fair-weather fans, dumping their teams the second they don't meet the standards of the ideal.

My perspective is that this is a fun team to watch compared to a style of team that for years played a bit boring hockey and didn't make the playoffs. I mean, would we ever, in the history of the Wild have seen a comeback like we did against Chicago? Talk about riding high!

To summarize my Tolstoy, I believe that we have seen an extraordinary year. Even in the midst of rebuilding, losing a couple of seasoned players, the incredible injury bug that had huge point performers out (Burns, PMB, Ebbett, Kobasew, now Clutter), a flu virus that relentlessly riddled the team (Boo-hoo per Nolan), and a fire that definitely took the wind out of the team's sails. It's been an exciting year, and I am proud of our team's accomplishments.

Your thoughts? Am I misjudging the Minnesota fan base?

How productive is Backstrom? Stats say not very.

2010-03-03T22:49:03Z

Alright, don't shoot the messenger here. Stacey Brooks is a sports economist and blogger (Hawkonomics). He's also a co-author of the book, The Wages of Wins. He and some colleagues have studied the productivity of NHL goalies and they have produced a Wins Above Average stat that rates productivity. I believe they are relating this to how valuable each goalie could be to teams, thereby giving them an idea of how much cap space should be dedicated to them.

The results may surprise Wild fans. Apparently Niklas Backstrom rates as the NHL 5th *WORST* goaltender using this metric. He is given a -1.999 WAA rating. Josh Harding rates higher than Backstrom, but still not very productive with a -.4155 WAA.

What say you, Wild fans? If you don't like his methodology, do you have a better one?

want Boys high school hockey section playoff broadcast info?

2010-02-27T17:34:39Z

Hi Folks,

I do not work for this site below.. this for info purposes only

the site below will carry a bunch of section playoffs today (Sat 27th)starting at NOON!

they will cover the section finals and state tourney

so share this with out of towners and fans of Minnesota high school hockey

or if youre at work and want to know whats going on with the game

enjoy the season

www.mnsportsnetwork.com

Posted some photos from VAN @ MIN.

2010-02-15T06:04:14Z

Photos here

I attended my first Minnesota home hockey game since the North Stars played in Bloomington, and I must admit, I was floored. I picked a great game to attend (my uncle has great seats), and thankfully the Wild put up a better effort than they did against Atlanta. At any rate, I brought along my camera and took a few pictures of today's game.

(I just moved to MN from San Diego where admittedly hockey isn't too popular. I am glad to be back in the State of Hockey....haven't lived here since I was in elementary school.)

I'm happy to see frequently updated info on this blog. It's important to have a non-StarTribune/FSN/etc non-biased source of info. :)

Three point games are squeezing the Wild out

2010-01-29T00:03:09Z

Long story short, the Wild simply don't know how to lose properly. Sitting tenth in the standings behind Dallas is one thing, but the Stars have lost 30 of their 53 games this season. They simply have the good taste to stretch those games into overtime, as evidenced by their 11 OTL's this year. On straight wins and losses, the Wild are actually in the top eight of the Western conference as of today (figuring in a tiebreaker scenario over Calgary). Maybe it's time for Wild fans to join the movement to change the way the points are distributed in terms of wins and losses?

I've acutally worked out what the West would look like today under a couple of different scenarios. Here are the results:

http://www.examiner.com/St_Paul-Sports.html

Poll

Should the NHL change the way it distributes overtime points?

Yes, give three points for a regulation win, two for an overtime win and one for an OTL

12 votes

Yes, get rid of the extra overtime point. Make teams win to get anything

7 votes

No, I like the current system

2 votes

Let's go old school. Bring back ties!

6 votes

27 votes | Poll has closed

Three Points? I say how about 12?

2010-01-28T17:14:11Z

Watching NHL on the Fly kind of curious about potvin calling the Wild a long shot to make up the three points to grab the eighth playoff spot. I say who says we can't make up the twelve to grab the 3 seed? The Wild are improving all the time and doing well against the Div. which makes up the bulk of the remaining schedule. Edmonton is dead and the three teams above the Wild all have pretty big question marks. Calgary is imploding and dropping through the standings like a brick. Vancouver is about to set out on a 13 or 14 game road trip, they will not play as a team at the Garage until mid March, If they get a bad start to this road trip, the whole thing could go south in a hurry. Colorado is playing well, but they have a lot of young players that have never playe3d at this level and this is grueling schedule coming up. I like the way they ar3e playing other than the ever shortening lapses. I am not saying they are gonna do it, I just don't think it is as much of a longshot as some people especially the national media. and hopefully it can get some convo going in here.

How I dealt with my angry Blackhawks fan roommate

2010-01-11T07:02:20Z

My Blackhawks fan roommate lost his mind after Saturday night's game, broke our patio door, and accused the Wild of being a team that "can only win in shootouts". Since he is a jackass and I absolutely had to prove him wrong, here is what I wrote up and sent him. I figured it might be helpful if any of you have any unreasonable friends that may have accused the Wild of the same thing. Enjoy.

---

This is why you're stupid.

I will be analyzing team shootout statistics from the 2005-06 season (the first year the NHL went to the shootout format) forward. For relativity purposes, I will be choosing 3 other teams at random to include in my research. Those teams will be: the Pittsburgh Penguins, the St. Louis Blues, and the Dallas Stars.

Here are the shootout records for each team for this season so far:
Wild: 5-3
Blackhawks: 4-7
Penguins: 6-6
Blues: 6-6
Stars: 6-6

The first thing that jumps out is that the Wild have actually played in the LEAST amount of shootouts among the five teams, and three less than than the Blackhawks. But of course, one half-season is not a large enough sample size to draw significant conclusions from, so here are the cumulative statistics from the previous four seasons:

Wild: (5-3, 3-8, 10-7, 5-3) Total: 23-21 (11.0 SO/yr)
Blackhawks: (4-7, 5-4, 6-7, 2-6) Total: 17-23 (10.0 SO/yr)
Penguins: (6-6, 7-4, 10-6, 1-6): Total : 24-22 (11.5 SO/yr)
Blues: (6-6, 3-5, 6-6, 4-9): Total 19-28 (11.75 SO/yr)
Stars: (6-6, 5-3, 9-4, 12-1) Total: 32-14 (11.5 SO/yr)

From this information we can effectively determine that the difference between shootout appearances per season is small enough to render it useless. The Wild averaged one more shootout per season than the Blackhawks. More? Yes. But one extra appearance during seasons consisting of 82 games is hardly enough to justify your accusations. Still, there is a lot more information to dig out of this before I can make any sort of conclusion.

Adding the '04-'05 to '08-'09 data to this season's current totals, we get this information:
Wild: 28-24 (52 total shootouts, 54% win pct)
Blackhawks: 21-30 (51 total shootouts, 41% win pct)
Penguins: 30-28 (58 total shootouts, 58% win pct)
Blues: 25-34 (59 total shootouts, 42% win pct)
Stars: 38-20 (58 total shootouts, 66% win pct)

To me, the only relevant information we can draw from this is that the Blackhawks and Blues struggle to win shootouts, and that the Stars are historically stellar in them (although the 12-1 mark from '04-'05 does slightly obscure the relevancy of the stat). "BUT THE BLACKHAWKS STILL HAVE THE LEAST AMOUNT OF SHOOTOUTS!!!11", you might say. Yes, they have exactly ONE less than the Wild and only seven less (about 1.5 a season, counting this first half of the current season) than the seemingly overtime-happy Dallas Stars. Again, an amount minuscule enough not to hold weight in any argument.

Still, I must do a bit more bit more digging. Your argument was: "The Wild only win shootouts". Fine. I will calculate the ratio of total wins to shootout wins and ponts. It is only fair to do it this way because, a better team will, naturally, have more opportunities to win games late than one that sucks (I will call this the "Florida Panthers Rule") This will be most effective way of determining if this slight-minded argument has any sort of weight. First we will total up each teams total points from the '05-'06 season forward (including this season):

Wild: 47, 89, 98, 104, 84 (422 total points)
Blackhawks: 66, 104, 88, 71, 65 (394 total points)
Penguins: 57, 99, 102, 105, 58 (421 total points)
Blues: 43, 92, 79, 81, 57 (352 total points)
Stars: 49, 83, 97, 107, 112 (448 total points)

The next section will be deciding factor of how stupid either you are, or I am. There will be two percentages. The first will display how points came from shootout WINS, and the second will display how many points came from TOTAL shootout points (Remember: a team receives two points for winning a shootout and one for losing).

Wild: 13.3%, 18.9%
Blackhawks: 11.0%, 18.3%
Penguins: 14.2%, 20.9%
Blues: 14.2%, 23.9%
Stars: 17.0%, 21.4%

There are a lot of interesting things that pop up with this information. The first being the Dallas Stars' results, which conclusively proves the aforementioned "Florida Panthers Rule". It isn't that Dallas has to rely on shootouts to win, it's just that they have done a whole lot of winning the last 4 and a half years, and a team that wins a lot is inherently going to be playing in a lot of more meaningful third period and/or overtime situations. Not only that, but they have been able to get it freaking done in shootouts, with a completely insane 66% win percentage. Again, this represents four and a half years of information. 66% over four and a half years is ridiculous.

OK, now that the Dallas Stars have been effectively dismissed of any untrue accusation, let's take a look at the information I really want, that of my beloved Minnesota Wild compared to the Chicago Blackhawks.

Over the last four and a half seasons, the Wild have scored 0.6% more of their points via the shootout than the Blackhawks. That's right: three-fifths of one percent. Not even close to being a large enough number to hold any sort of weight in a debate. Basically, that 0.6% translates to 2.5 points. No, not 2.5 points per season, 2.5 points over four and a half years. That means, the Wild gain approximately one-half more point via shootout than the Hawks per season. Last time I checked, the NHL doesn't award half-points. And as a result, the winner (and still undisputed champion!) is me.

Not only that, but the Wild actually ranked dead last in "shootout reliance" when compared to the other three teams (when Barry Melrose starts throwing around this absurd statistic on SportsCenter, I expect to be fully compensated). I don't think this says anything about any certain team. But it does prove that arguing this phantom "shootout reliance" thing is completely stupid and utterly ignorant.

And that, my friend, is why you're stupid.

FSN Exec cancels FSN hockey night broadcasts

2010-01-05T18:16:12Z

An FSN exec spoke to a reporter on Dec 30th, because of poor ratings and slow ad sales they regretfully had to cancel a lot of the remaining Hockey Night schedule..

Well.. they didnt really pick some great games early in the year...

Wheres Roseau vs Warroad?..

Elk River vs Dulth East?

Because of the cancellation..

That was why you didn't see the Schwan Cups games or Elk River vs. Centennial...

The only games to be broadcast on the remaining schedule is a double header Thursday January 7th

Jan. 7 @ 6 p.m. Cloquet vs. Duluth Denfeld

Jan. 7 @ 8:30 p.m. Blaine vs. Duluth East

and the Hockey Day Minnesota games

Jan. 23	Saturday	10 a.m.	Hopkins vs. Duluth Marshall (Hockey Day Minnesota)
Jan. 23	Saturday	1 p.m.	Eden Prairie vs. Hermantown (Hockey Day Minnesota)
Jan. 23	Saturday	11 p.m.*	Girls: Duluth vs. Hermantown (Hockey Day Minnesota)

the Gophers Hockey game is at 5pm and the Wild play at 8 on Hockey Day

Enjoy the High School hockey on TV this year, because there might not be any games on next year..

Well.. at least the High School Hockey Tournament will be on TV, thankfully..

Maybe we can lobby for the games to be put back on the air, next year..

Fans needs to email FSN and support High School Hockey on TV..

I wish you all a great New Year!

and keep your stick on the ice..

Blues fan needs help from the Wilderness

2010-01-04T22:37:36Z

My spring break starts March 13th and lasts a week and change.. During this trip I was hopin to catch a Blues game on the road somewhere and take a little roadtrip.. The only chance I would probably have is the game on the 15th vs the Wild.. and of course that is the tail end of a month at home with no hockey.. which doesnt bother me as much as it did when schedules come out since we suck at home this year

The only problems with this is im only 18 and my parents are pretty likely to laugh at me if i ask them if i can make the drive up there.. they are strict and im a lazy shit so not a good combination.. So my first question is if anybody has any good arguments that i can use to help my case on going up there that would be awesome

And on the off chance that they do allow me to go I dont know the St Paul area very well.. or at all.. so if any knows of any good places to stay i could really use that information to show my parents that ive got everything planned out and everything in the hopes that theyll let me go.. i would like to stay as close to the Xcel Center as possible so i could just walk to the game if possible

Thanks for the help guys and hopefully ill be able to make the trip to St Paul in March and maybe meet some of you guys there

Marco Scandella having a strong showing for IIHF team Canada

2010-01-04T09:36:08Z

Marco Scandella scoring against Team Switzerland, just one of the reasons he was team Canada's player of the game.

If you haven't been watching the IIHF World Juniors coverage on the NHL Network, then you've been missing out on some great hockey. Yes, as a Wild fan there is some disappointment watching Jordan Schroeder on fire for team USA only because I keep thinking back to how we had the chance to draft him. Yes, he's small-ish, but that hasn't stopped him from putting up impressive numbers in the tournament thusfar. No pressure, Leddy, but we could have had Schroeder so you better turn out to be the next Bobby Orr.

It's a new year, so let's have some positivity..

Scandella was drafted in the 2nd round by the Minnesota Wild in 2008 -- while that technically means the previous GM handled the transaction, let's forget about that and move forward.

So far in the tournament he's put up 1 goal and 2 assists and is a +6 heading into the gold medal round, but what the numbers don't show is that he's been one of team Canada's solid shutdown defensemen. He's logging Kim Johnsson type TOI minutes for team Canada because he's been making smart plays with great vision out on the ice.

So, my fellow Wild fans, it appears the future should be bright for defensemen. In the 2008 draft we also picked up Tyler Cuma, and in the 2009 draft we picked up Nick Leddy.

What about what the Wild really needs, you ask? When it comes to highly skilled forwards with a good finishing touch, in the system we have... well... we have the 2010 draft.

See, all kinds of positive things to look forward to in the new year!

Blues game question.

2009-12-30T19:53:59Z

I was at the Blues game on sat. so I did not have any commentators input. In the third period, after Nolan and a Blues player recieved offsetting roughing penalties, Andrew Brunette skated over to penalty box and sat with Nolan for the duration of the penalty. The friend that was at the game with me and I assumed that Nolan had recieved a ten minute misconduct on top of the roughing, but was out at the end of the two minutes. Did they mention this on the broadcasts or did anyone else at the game notice this. Is it legal to voluntarily send a player to the box to sit and stratigize with. a penalized player. I have never seen or heard of this before. Any input would be great.

Kings/Wild Game Photos

2009-12-30T06:46:03Z

I just thought I'd share some photos I took at the Kings/Wild Game last night. Tough loss for my team but nice to see Eric Belanger have a great game for the Wild.

Martin Havlat looks like he's finally starting to get some of that jump back. Backstrom was solid too. I was surprised to not see as many Wild fans there as I've seen in the past. Either way, sold out crowd made for a great environment.

Enjoy!

My Kings/Wild Photos

Sources: Wild-Hurricanes expected to open next season in Finland

2009-12-17T19:22:24Z

According to Russo

Good afternoon from beautiful but frigid Montreal, where the Wild hopes to continue its winning ways against the struggling Canadiens tonight.

Before I get to today's news, according to league sources, it is "highly likely" that the Wild will open the 2010-11 season in Helsinki, Finland. It's not finalized yet, but it's very close, sources say.

The Wild has Finns Mikko Koivu, Antti Miettinen and Niklas Backstrom; the Hurricanes have Koivu's good pal, Tuomo Ruutu, Joni Pitkanen and Jussi Jokinen.

When I gave Koivu the news this morning, he smiled brightly and gave me a fist pump. I'll have Koivu's quotes in tomorrow's paper, as well as more details about how this works.

There's expected to be six teams opening next season in Europe. The other four teams are reportedly Columbus (Stockholm was confirmed by the Columbus Dispatch), Boston, San Jose and Phoenix.

http://www.startribune.com/blogs/79545012.html?elr=KArks47cQiU47cQiU47cQULPQL7PQLanchO7DiU

Minnesota Wild @ Calgary Flames 12/11/09 (Boogaard fight)

2009-12-12T21:25:19Z

Minnesota Wild @ Calgary Flames 12/11/09 video highlights

Derek Boogaard's fourth fight of the season vs. Brian McGrattan of Calgary. He gets in a couple good shots before they stop it.

Wild are victorious in their 10th OT game of the year. At least they keep it exciting.

http://www.youtube.com/user/NHLVideo

Way to go Wild! Record now @ 15 wins 13 loss 3 tie

Next game against the Vancouver Canucks 12/12/09 @ 9.00 p.m.

Jaromir Jagr and Karri Ramo

2009-12-04T15:09:59Z

Sorry for my spam, guys, but if you interested in Jaromir Jagr or Karri Ramo or Eric Perren or just good russian hockey you need to visit english news blog of new Jagr's and Ramo's team — Avangard [Omsk Hawks] (Omsk, Russia).

http://avangardnews.blogspot.com

Be happy, dear hockey fans :)

If you know russian language, you can also visit:

http://videohawk.ru

http://hawk.ru

http://bloodyhawks.ru

http://gtrk-omsk.ru

http://www.antenna7.ru

Any Chance???

2009-11-19T22:12:37Z

Has there been any talk or petitions about changing the name of the Wild? Their colors? Jerseys? They are horrid. I was at the Capitals v. Wild game last week and it certianly did the Caps a body good by completely redesigning that franchise around it's old roots. Not to mention there was just as many North Stars gear as there was Wild. The "Wild" have the worst name and jerseys in sports. What are the Wild "wild" about anyway?

How to spot Counterfeit Wild Jerseys

2009-11-13T18:55:49Z

Just in time for the holidays, here is a "how to" guide, to help you spot a fake Wild sweater.

I have been a hockey jersey purchaser/trader for many years now, and I want to share some information so that you can make an informed decision about purchasing hockey jerseys, specifically, for this area, Minnesota Wild jerseys.

The estimation, which is floating around, is that 85% of all hockey jerseys sold on craigslist/ebay are knockoffs. These counterfeit jerseys are produced in China, and purchased by "distributors" here in Minnesota. Before you get all excited about that amazing jersey for "only $80.00" per se, ask yourself, "is this too good to be true?" More than likely, it is. "But it has a fight strap, it must be genuine!" I ask you, " is elastic white material hard to come by these days?" "But it has a tag, and an NHL logo, and even has the rbk stitched on tag inside the jersey" you say? I counter with, "if an entire jersey can be made, how hard is it to sew a bunch of collar tags, and to print on cardstock a ‘tag’ for the sleeve?" I’m not trying to be mean, just trying to save you from buying something which isn’t real. This is intended to help. Please read carefully after the jump.

Let me focus on the red jerseys of the Wild…here is what to look for.

1- The Front Shield: The front circular shield of official wild jerseys feels like fabric, almost like felt. It is not a sleek, shiny material, as most of the counterfeit jerseys have. This is a good first indicator. Compare the sheen of Photo 1 and Photo 2. Also, if there is brown paper on the inside of the jersey, behind the shield, where you can see it was sewn-in, also a sign of not genuine.

2- Piping along the shoulder line/collar: Look at the wheat/cream colored piping along the shoulder line. As you can tell in photo 1, the piping is quite narrow, basically the width of the front string ties, perhaps a touch larger. Now look at the counterfeit jersey, which is photo 3. Look how large the piping is. That is not right, making this an incorrect jersey. Also, the fabric on the collar should be like corduroy in the way there are peaks and valleys. My best illustration of this is going to http://www.wild.com Look at Havlat and Backstrom on the right and left side of the website. See how the fabric is raised in some places, and lower in others? That is correct. If the jersey you are looking at doesn’t have that, it is not a genuine jersey.

3- NHL logo, and strings: This one is really easy. The real NHL jerseys (both replica level and authentic level) have a raised patch sewn on the neckline of every reebok jersey they sell. This is a very clean, very accurate representation of the NHL shield logo. If this shield doesn’t have very precise points on the top, and if the NHL letters are not incredibly clear, it isn’t genuine. Also, in the same location, the true wild jerseys have round, almost cord-like cream strings which pass through metallic grommets. See how in Photo 1 the cream colored string goes through an almost brass like grommet? That is correct. Most of the counterfeit jerseys I have seen are using flat cream laces, through a cream colored, metal-like grommet. Flat lace + cream grommet = counterfeit.

4- Names and Numbers: Ahhh, my favorite part. Most people are buying counterfeit jerseys because customized jerseys are expensive. Friends…the NHL, nor, REEBOK ship pre-customized jerseys. Sure, they have some players (Ovechkin, Crosby, Zetterberg) that they sell more of than others, so they probably have a few laying around for nhl.com orders, but do you really think there is a huge demand for Antti Miettinen jerseys world-wide? Nothing against #20 here, but come on! First thing to look at is the fabric of the letters/numbers. Tackle twill, what is used for real customization, is a fabric designed to withstand grabbing, pulling, etc. It has an almost gritty texture, and has a very, very dull sheen, if any. Tackle Twill also lays flat to the next layer, so there is no "squishiness" when you push the numbers or letters. On every one of the counterfeit jerseys I have seen in person, they all have a very shiny, almost slippery, fabric being used. (Look at photo 4) This fabric is also quite squishy, and you can feel air between the fabric layers. And the most tell tale sign of counterfeit with the names/numbers are incorrect fonts and cutting. Look at Photo 4 again, see how the "V" in Koivu is un-recognizable as a "V" if you didn’t know his name was koivu? I think you get the point.

Friends, I just don’t want you to get screwed. Nothing worse than thinking that you got something real, and it isn’t. And heck, some of you may not care that they aren’t "up to specs," but I want to share what I know so you can make an informed decision.

Hope this helped!

Wild resort to ice girls to boost low ticket sales?!!

2009-11-06T20:25:58Z

Okay so somebody tell me what the deal is? In previous seasons the Wild organization had kids clearing off the ice during the 2-3 minute breaks in the game, I always thought that was a great idea, after all imagine how amazing that would be as a youngster skating out on the ice with the big guys. Even if just for a moment, if I were a kid I would be thrilled! From the perspective of a fan I also get such a big kick out of seeing the kids out on the ice skatin' around between periods, not to mention it adds to the fun family atmosphere that the Wild want to create for their fans.

Now the Wild organization has resorted to ice girls clearing the ice, in an attempt to?? I don't know I always thought hockey was beyond cheerleaders/ice girls whatever, I guess I am old fashioned though. At least, from what I've seen, they aren't half naked, as most teams Ice Girls are these days. Its pretty insulting to the fans that they think they can appease my libido for the absence of a fast, fun, and exciting hockey game that they've been promising for the last 5 months. Don't get me wrong I love Minnesota Wild hockey whether it's the Lemaire or Fletcher approach!! If I didn't I wouldn't be writing this little blurb. Yes, you say but... SEX sells! Yes it certainly does. But will it help sell more tickets? One could only guess that they are trying to boost low ticket sales & increase revenue; forget that you can see Kopitar play in LA with the family for $21/ticket Upper Deck (oh yeah & each ticket includes 1 hot dog, 1 pop) and free parking too.. If you want to increase ticket sales lower prices/offer truly great deals to the fans, that's how you increase revenue you silly marketing people!

If it's really about making more profit, which it obviously has to be, then be smart about it. Don't kick the kids to the curb.

To all the pundits, my wife & I don't have kids, we do appreciate a womanly figure, just don't want some inept Wild Execs to insult my intelligence. We don't need any other excuse to get excited and cheer on our team. Nor do we need the jumbotron to tell us when to "Make some Noise"!