Let's be honest. The NHL awards are boring, and there isn't typically a lot of controversy or interest going into them. Besides, everyone votes on the same awards over and over again. Blah, blah, Crosby v. Ovechkin v. Bryzgalov, etc. etc. etc. Yawn.

At Hockey Wilderness, we look at things from a different perspective and try to think outside the box. In that vein, here are the 2010 Hockey Wilderness Awards:

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Minnesota Wild 3-4 (so) Dallas Stars

Well folks, that's 82 games in the bag. A long season has come to an end with the Wild again at home watching the playoffs. I can't say I'm surprised at the final result, but this team has come a long way from the horrible start. They took to Todd Richards' new style by December, and actually played very good hockey in stretches, but simply lacked the offensive talent (and defensive tactics) to get over the hump. The season seemed to go exactly as many predicted. We will have much more season recap and analysis over the next few weeks, so stay tuned.

As far as the final game went, the Wild got out early thanks to Mikko Koivu's two first period goals, but again didn't have the talent (thanks to a huge number of injuries) to keep the Stars at bay, and Brendan Morrow's power play goal plus Steve Ott's 2nd period marker got Dallas back into the game.

The third period started quickly with Casey Wellman crashing to the net and banging home a rebound, just 12 seconds in for his first NHL goal. Unfortunately, Steve Ott notched his second of the game less than 3:00 into the period to tie it at 3. The Wild wouldn't get another great chance again, and the teams headed into overtime then the shootout where Jamie Benn scored the only goal to give Dallas the extra point.

Mikko's two goals gave him a career high in goals (22), assists (49) and points (71). Great season for the captain.

After the game, the Wild team members were tossing pucks into the stands as they announced the three star award for the season to Niklas Backstrom. After that, the game's three stars were announced, and the first star was ...

Read our friends over at Defending Big D

Hockey Wilderness Three Stars:

1. Mike Modano (1,458 games - 557 goals - 802 assists - 1,359 points - One franchise)
   
2. Mikko Koivu (2 G)
3. Steve Ott (2 G)

Five Questions to Answer:

1. Have we seen the last of Owen Nolan in a Wild sweater? I really hope not, but I fear that is the case.
   
2. Have we seen the last of Mike Modano in the NHL? I hope so. Tonight was a fantastic way for Modano to end his career, back where it started.
   
3. Will anyone forgive me for getting this out after the first period? I = suck.
   
4. Can the Wild maintain their season-ending winning streak? Unfortunately not.
   
5. Has this season been a failure? Well, they didn't make the playoffs, but they showed improvement from the beginning of the season.
   

  
Minnesota Wild (38-36-7) @ Dallas Stars (36-31-14)

Xcel Energy Center @ 7:00 CDT

Television: FSN(HD)
Radio: 830 AM WCCO, or online at Wild.com

For the Dallas perspective, check out Defending Big D

Wild.com Game Preview

Questions to Answer

1. Have we seen the last of Owen Nolan in a Wild sweater?
2. Have we seen the last of Mike Modano in the NHL?
   
3. Will anyone forgive me for getting this out after the first period?
   
4. Can the Wild maintain their season-ending winning streak?
5. Has this season been a failure?
   

 


Minnesota Wild (37-36-7) @ Calgary Flames (40-31-9)

Pengrowth Saddledome @ 8:30 CDT

Television: FSN
Radio: 830 AM WCCO, or online at Wild.com

For the Calgary perspective, check out Matchsticks and Gasoline

Wild.com Game Preview

Questions to Answer

1. No Owen Nolan. Sad Panda. Will he come back for the finale?
   
2. Can the Wild play spoiler?
   
3. Will Nate Prosser continue to log a lot of ice time?
   
4. Can the Wild mount any offense at all?
   
5. Does someone want to add their own questions?
   

Minnesota Wild 1-4 Edmonton Oilers (OT)

The key in any game between two teams with absolutely nothing to play for is to keep guys healthy. The Wild failed at that. Martin Havlat, Guillaume Latendresse and Greg Zanon all took blows during the game, but the Zuperman stuck it out. Nick Schultz, Marek Zidlicky and Owen Nolan were all questionable leading up to the game, and thankfully Todd Richards held them out.

Basically this was a disaster game, but it was nice to see the kids get some real playing time. Nate Prosser made his NHL debut, crapped his pants for the first few shifts, but put in a solid 19:31, including some power play time and his first NHL assist. Not bad for a kid who hasn't played in three weeks.

Best part of the game was John Scott sticking up for James Sheppard. No, I don't usually like when a guy goes after another for a clean hit, but this was a typical 2010 NHL head-shot after the puck is gone. And after nobody tried to stop Vancouver from running Niklas Backstrom, I'll take any backbone the Wild display.

So, what to look forward to the rest of the season?

• Andrew Brunette's race to beat out Guillaume Latendresse for the goal title
• MIkko Koivu setting a new assist record
• Owen Nolan passing Peter Forsberg in the all-time scoring list
• Getting a glimpse of Nate Prosser, Casey Wellman and Cody Almond and setting the tone for next season
• What are you hoping to get from the rest of the season?

Read our friends over at The Copper & Blue

Hockey Wilderness Three Stars:

1. Dustin Penner (2 G)
2. Ethan Moreau (2 G)
3. Ryan Potulny (2 A)

Five Questions to Answer:

1. Two more games. Anyone paying attention? A shocking number of comments last night for a game between two not very good, non-playoff teams.
   
2. Is this Edmonton team the worst team in the NHL? How about the worst Oiler team of all time? Well, they keep giving the Wild fits, so I can't talk crap about them, but yeah, this is the worst Oiler team ever.
   
3. Will Owen Nolan finally break the tie with Forsberg? Let's hope he gets his shot before the end of the season.
   
4. Battling the NCAA basketball championship and Twins opener, will anyone watch? Not sure, but the NCAA game was at least competitive.
   
5. Someone else want to ask the 5 questions? If you asked questions, answer them in comments!
   

   



Minnesota Wild (37-35-7) @ Edmonton Oilers (24-46-8)

Rexall Place @ 8:30 CDT

Television: KSTC
Radio: 830 AM WCCO, or online at Wild.com

For the Edmonton perspective, check out The Copper & Blue

Wild.com Game Preview

Questions to Answer

1. Two more games. Anyone paying attention?
   
2. Is this Edmonton team the worst team in the NHL? How about the worst Oiler team of all time?
3. Will Owen Nolan finally break the tie with Forsberg?
   
4. Battling the NCAA basketball championship and Twins opener, will anyone watch?
5. Someone else want to ask the 5 questions?
   

  


Minnesota Wild (37-34-6) @ San Jose Sharks (47-20-10)

Xcel Energy Center @ 7:00 CDT

Television: KSTC (HD)
Radio: 830 AM WCCO, or online at Wild.com

For the San Jose perspective, check out Fear The Fin

Wild.com Game Preview

Questions to Answer

1. Is tonight the night when Owen Nolan overtakes Foppa, against his former team?
   
2. Can the Wild avoid the season sweep at the hands of the Sharks?
   
3. Did Richards wear out the Wild with his session of Herbies?
   
4. Does the home crowd turn on the Wild if they get down early again?
5. Anyone else think it's funny that the first Twins game at Target Field will face crappy weather?

Minnesota Wild 0-4 Chicago Blackhawks

Well, tonight's performance by the Wild looked like a team packing it in at the end of a long, frustrating season. There wasn't a lot of spark in the guys tonight. Niklas Backstrom wasn't given a huge amount of support, the offense was non-existent (six shots on goal in the first two periods until the 1:30 2-man advantage), Andrew Brunette was a -3, the power play was anemic, even with a 1:30 5 on 3. I could go on, but I don't feel like beating a dead horse.

In fact, as Buddha told me over Twitter while I was complaining about having the energy to write this recap, considering the amount of energy the Wild displayed:

That should be the game recap. "In honor of the solid effort the Wild gave tonight, I offer this recap: "A hockey game was played in Saint Paul."

While I am not going overboard by saying it was a disappointing evening, I'm not ready to shortchange you wonderful readers, so ...

The bright spots tonight:

• Brent Burns had 26:04 TOI, 4 SOG and was even on the +/- (though he should've been running the 5 on 3)
• Guillaume Latendresse and Kyle Brodziak were also even on the night in 17:10 and 18:51 TOI respectively
• The Wild did get four shots on goal during their 90 second two-man advantage
• They broke Patrick Sharp's five game scoring streak
• Nobody got hurt
• I got a haircut

Aside from that, I really don't know what else positive can be taken away from tonight, so I leave you with Todd Richards:

"It is a refusal to shoot the puck, we talk about that every meeting. We talk about it in between periods. You have to give some credit to the defending team. Some teams do a great job of denying certain shots but there are opportunities where we're just refusing to shoot."

At least he sees it. This team just passes and passes and passes. They aren't good enough to make the pretty play. They don't have the snipers for it. They need to play ugly, put the puck on net and crash for the rebounds. Unfortunately it's way too late for this season, but lets hope Fletcher and Richards get the guys they need to either make the pretty play or crash the net. Right now they're still mired in-between.

Hockey Wilderness Three Stars of the Game:

1. Tomas Kopecky (2 G)
2. Antti Niemi (21 saves)
3. Ben Eager (1 G, 2 A)

Five Questions to Answer:

1. Will the Wild look to play spoiler, or just stay healthy? Umm, frankly, I'm not sure what tonight was.
   
2. Can Owen Nolan keep his scoring streak alive and overtake Peter Forsberg in all-time scoring tonight? Afraid not. Maybe against his old team when the Wild play the Sharks on Friday.
   
3. Will the slumping Blackhawks get hot against the Wild? Yes they did.
   
4. He's been a killer against Minnesota all season. Can the Wild stop Marian Hossa tonight? Another game against the Wild, another point for Hossa.
   
5. Will the crowd be into the game tonight, considering the season is all but done? Well, it was announced at 18,933 and the Blackhawks fans certainly were vocal.