More photos » David Duprey - AP

2 days ago: Minnesota Wild's Antti Miettinen (20) of Finland, celebrates a goal by Wild's Andrew Brunette (15) on Buffalo Sabres goalie Patrick Lalime during the second period of the NHL hockey game in Buffalo, N.Y., Friday, March 12, 2010. (AP Photo/ David Duprey)

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Minnesota Wild 3-2 Buffalo Sabres

No, I don't understand this team either. They put up 30 shots and three goals when for the last week they have looked like a pee wee team offensively. Sure, the defensive game left something to be desired, giving up 45 shots, but Josh Harding was fabulous tonight, keeping all but Thomas Vanek at bay, but not many teams in the NHL can do that.

Nice to see the veteran leadership show up in a big way tonight. A goal for Andrew Brunette, in typical Bruno fashion, on a tip-in. And Owen Nolan showed Steve Montador what happens when he messes with the Irish God of War. Not only did Nolan give Montador a healthy beatdown, but he embarrassed the Buffalo d-man, tearing his name plate right off his sweater, showing Montador that he just doesn't belong in the same league.

Ok, so, it doesn't really matter at this point, but it's good to see the Wild look solid and get a nice win against really good team in the Buffalo Sabres. Again, makes you wonder how good the Wild would be if they were in the East.

Please visit Die By The Blade for the enemy perspective.

Hockey Wilderness Three Stars:

1. Josh Harding (43 saves, 1 A)
2. Thomas Vanek (2 G)
3. Guillaume Latendresse (1 G)

Five Questions to Answer:

1. Will anyone else get a little misty watching Thomas Vanek and remember the days when the Gophers were awesome? From our dear friend schleske: "to answer question # 1, I flipped to see the gopher’s score.. and then saw vanek score. Siiigh."
2. Can the Wild get to Patrick Lalime? Would the Wild have won if Ryan Miller were in net? Who cares?
   
3. Will Guillaume Latendresse be able to go full-speed tonight, or will he show signs of the injury last night? Nice goal on only 13:52 TOI. He took advantage of his time. I love, love, love watching this kid play, and it was nice to see him score again. I can't wait to see him locked up for a nice long-term contract (please Fletch?)
   
4. Did the Wild even get tired enough last night to have an effect tonight? I don't know if they were tired or not, but they certainly stemmed the tide of an impressive offensive onslaught by Buffalo.
   
5. Should the Wild just go ahead and put Niklas Backstrom to pasture for the rest of the season? I really think they should. No need to risk anything at all with Nik.

 


Minnesota Wild (31-30-5) @ Buffalo Sabres (36-20-9)

HSBC Arena @ 6:30 CST

Television: FS-N(HD)
Radio: BOB 106.1 FM and KBGY 107.5 FM, or online at Wild.com

For the Buffalo perspective, check out Die By The Blade

Wild.com Game Preview

Questions to Answer

1. Will anyone else get a little misty watching Thomas Vanek and remember the days when the Gophers were awesome?
   
2. Can the Wild get to Patrick Lalime?
   
3. Will Guillaume Latendresse be able to go full-speed tonight, or will he show signs of the injury last night?
   
4. Did the Wild even get tired enough last night to have an effect tonight?
5. Should the Wild just go ahead and put Niklas Backstrom to pasture for the rest of the season?

More photos » Carlos Osorio - AP

3 days ago: Detroit Red Wings left wing Drew Miller (20) scores against Minnesota Wild goalie Josh Harding (37) and center Andrew Ebbett (16) during the second period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, March 11, 2010, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

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Minnesota Wild 1-5 Detroit Red Wings

Ick. That pretty much sums it up. That Calgary crushing feels so long ago. Watching the Red Wings tonight, you have a hard time understanding how they can be looking at the playoffs from the outside right now. That team has so much offensive talent, and can play so well, that they simply take over a game at will. At least against a team who looks to have packed it in.

Once again the Wild found themselves down early, as Johan Franzen got the home team on the board at the 2:25 mark of the first period. After that Tomas Holmstrom scored on the powerplay at 9:19. The Wild seemed to be ready to make a game of it as Andrew Ebbett scored with 11 seconds left in the first period, but that was as close as Minnesota would get. They amassed 12 shots in the first period, but only four in the second and five in the third, showing no signs that they were interested in getting into the game.

Only Darren Helm was a minus on the night for the Red Wings, whereas only John Scott was a plus. That pretty much tells the story. The Wild were outplayed, out hustled, out-shot, out-manned and out-classed tonight. If the rest of the teams above them go .500, the Wild have to finish 14-2. I'd say it's pretty much over.

While the loss was bad, and the way the Wild played was bad, the worst part was the fact that Niklas Backstrom tweaked his groin in the morning skate and Guillaume Latendresse was hit in the head by Brian Rafalski's stick early in the second period and had to be helped off the ice. No word yet as to either players status.

Please visit Winging It In Motown for the enemy perspective.

Hockey Wilderness Three Stars:

1. Johan Franzen ( 2 G)
2. Henrik Zetterberg (1 G, 2 A)
3. Tomas Holmstrom (1 G, 1 A)

Five Questions to Answer:

1. The Red Wings sure like that extra point for losing in OT or the shootout. Any chance they try to get another one in OT tonight? Heh, we wish.
   
2. Will the Wild actually show up tonight? No.
   
3. Better TV viewing, Wild v. Red Wings or Minnetonka v. Lakeville North and Hill-Murray v. Duluth East? The high school games were much more interesting.
   
4. How badly will HW be invaded tonight? Cue the theme from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. It was a ghost town.
   
5. If Brent Burns is injured in the forest and nobody notices, did it really happen? Well, tonight I think the entire team was in the forest.
   

Minnesota Wild (31-29-5) @ Detroit Red Wings (31-23-12)

Joe Louis Arena @ 6:30 CST

Television: NHLN-US(HD), FS-N(HD)
Radio: WCCO 830 AM, or online at Wild.com

For the Detroit perspective, check out Winging It In Motown

Wild.com Game Preview

Questions to Answer

1. The Red Wings sure like that extra point for losing in OT or the shootout. Any chance they try to get another one in OT tonight?
   
2. Will the Wild actually show up tonight?
   
3. Better TV viewing, Wild v. Red Wings or Minnetonka v. Lakeville North and Hill-Murray v. Duluth East?
   
4. How badly will HW be invaded tonight?
5. If Brent Burns is injured in the forest and nobody notices, did it really happen?

And welcome to the big show. After a barrage of one-sided affairs yesterday, we in The State of Hockey are desperate for a more competitive day today for the opening round of the Class AA boys hockey tournament..

Yesterday's results:
Warroad 9 - 0 Rochester Lourdes
Breck School 11 - 1 New Ulm
Hermantown 2 - 1 Virginia/Mt Iron-Buhl
Mahtomedi 7 - 1 Alexandria

Today's Class AA schedule:

11:00 am - #2 Edina (20-6-2) vs. Roseau (22-5-1)
1:00 pm - #3 Blaine (21-4-3) vs. Apple Valley (17-11-0)
6:00 pm - #1 Minnetonka (25-1-2) vs. Lakeville North (11-15-2)
8:00 pm - #4 Hill-Murray (25-2-1) vs. Duluth East (19-5-4)

As always, if you are stuck in the office and are hoping to watch some of the fantastic action (why wouldn't you?), check out the webcast provided by KSTC 45 and GrandStadium.TV.

Back by popular demand, the MN State Boys High School Hockey Tourny open thread. Enjoy the games all.

I'm sure Nathan and I will be around. May not participate in the conversation much, but we are around. Let us know if you need anything. Pop and pizza are available. Just open your phone book to "P" for Pizza. For those of you under the age of 25, a "phone book" is an old version of... oh never mind.

Enjoy the games.

Bracket for Class A is here. 

Bracket for Class AA is here.

Today's schedule:

11:00 am - #2 Mahtomedi H.S. (23-5-0) vs. Alexandria H.S. (21-6-1)
 
1:00 pm -  #3 Hermantown H.S. (25-3-0) vs. Virginia/Mt. Iron-Buhl (18-7-3)

6:00 pm - #1 Breck School (26-2-0) vs. New Ulm H.S. (16-9-1)
 
8:00 pm - #4 Warroad H.S. (24-4-0) vs. Rochester Lourdes H.S. (17-8-3)

Interested in Webcast? Take a look, but I don't think it's free. EDIT: I lied. It looks like it is free. NICE!

More photos » Jim Mone - AP

5 days ago: Florida Panthers' Steve Reinprecht, left attempts to score on Minnesota Wild goalie Niklas Backstrom of Finland before Backstrom blocked the attempt in the first period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, March 9, 2010 in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

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Minnesota Wild 2 -3 Florida Panthers

Please visit Litter Box Cats for enemy perspective.

Words fail me on nights like this. Two NHL teams take the ice and some how Oksana Baiul and Nancy Kerrigan wind up having a rematch.

The Wild jumped out to an early 2-0 lead on nice goals from Mikko Koivu and Robbie Earl. They had two goals on four shots on goal. The Panthers looked lost, and the Wild looked to be on cruise control. Turns out, it wasn't cruise control, they just let off the gas pedal.

The Panthers out played, out hustled, out passed, out skated, out battled, and out shot the Wild. Speaking of out shot, what kind of squad can only manage 11 SOG in 65 minutes? The Panthers out shot the Wild 12-4 in the first, 9-3 in the second, and 10-2 in the third. The Wild did manage to out shoot the Panthers in OT by a truly devastating 2-0.

Cory Stillman and Michael Frolik had as many SOG as the Wild did through three.

In three games, the Wild have made Jeff Deslauriers, Vesa Toskala, and Tomas Vokoun look like Martin Brodeur, Patrick Roy and Terry Sawchuk. Allowing one of the three to make them look silly would be bad, but all three?

Since coming back from the Olympics, the Wild have shown no heart. They have not played the physical, fast paced, hard fore-checking game they played before the break. They have not shown any desire to make a playoff run, and as a result, have completely killed any chance they had to make it.

At the trade deadline, Owen Nolan sat down with Chuck Fletcher. Fletcher offered to trade him to a contender, and Nolan turned down the offer, saying he believed this team had the players and ability to make the playoffs. This entire team owes Cowboy an apology.

Hockey Wilderness Three Stars:

1. Cory Stillman (1G, 5 SOG)
2. Michael Frolik (1G, 4SOG)
3. Niklas Backstrom (29 Saves, Only Wild player to show up tonight)

Five Questions to Answer:

1. So, can the Wild give a beatdown to a team who has given up on the season? Backstrom did. No one else bothered.
2. How will Petr Kalus look in his premiere? 6:41 TOI, no shots, no penalties, no... anything. A non-factor.
3. Can the Irish God of War provide some leadership to the younguns? Hard to bad mouth Nolan, but the kids sure don't seem to care one way or the other.
4. Will Benedict Russo show his true colors tonight? Funny question. He seemed to stay objective, though. Too bad. Could have been the only entertainment this game had.
5. Cal Clutterbuck is out because of a charley horse? Really? Ok. Yeah. I'm not buying this either.

-Buddha

Minnesota Wild (31-28-5) @ Florida Panthers (26-28-10)

Xcel Energy Center @ 7:00 CST

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

For the Florida perspective, check out Litter Box Cats

Wild.com Game Preview

Questions to Answer

1. So, can the Wild give a beatdown to a team who has given up on the season?
   
2. How will Petr Kalus look in his premiere?
   
3. Can the Irish God of War provide some leadership to the younguns?
   
4. Will Benedict Russo show his true colors tonight?
   
5. Cal Clutterbuck is out because of a charley horse? Really? Ok.