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Good afternoon Wilderness. I want to look at what really inspired the current run to the playoffs and the subsequent performances in the playoff from the Wild. Many things can be given a certain valuation - the save percentage, puck possession, Nate Prosser's Time on Glass. What I'm saying is that there is seemingly a stat for everything these days.
But all the Corsi's and Fenwick's in the world could not pinpoint where it got better for the Wild. Let me take you back -way back - to January 23rd. The Wild had traded for Devan Dubnyk and he got the Wild a win in Buffalo and Arizona, but then dropped a pair of games to Columbus and the Red Wings right before they broke for the all-star game. It was then, in the depths of despair and the abyss of the all-star break that I penned this: Open Letter to the Wild. It was then that I pleaded, on behalf of the Wild fanbase, to "go for it."
Ultimately, we just want to be entertained, and even if it's the slimmest of slim chances to make the post-season, it would be hella entertaining if you went for it.
And hasn't it been entertaining since the Wild were basically road kill like a raccoon that was just hit by a pick-up truck? Of course it has!
The Western Conference Quarterfinals against the Blues has been a roller coaster as both teams seemingly take turns wailing on each other like two heavyweights in the squared circle. The other night, I tweeted this out, and went back and forth with St. Louis Game Time's, and Hockey Wilderness Podcast friend, Tim Cron (@crosscheckraise) this:
@CrossCheckRaise The roller coaster of this series may kill me
— Joe Bouley (@JoeBou15) April 23, 2015
@CrossCheckRaise Not many better ways to go
— Joe Bouley (@JoeBou15) April 23, 2015
The living and dying of every goal, every save, and the win or loss of every game is a hell of a drug. It's highly addictive, and for us Minnesota fans, very low in supply.
The series isn't over until its over. So for all of you people that jumped off the bandwagon in tuck & roll fashion after the result of Game 4, sometimes the night is darkest before the dawn. With three games to go, it's anyone's series. And just like on that day during the all-star break, when things were at its lowest surrounding this Wild team, Wild fans want one thing: Just go for it.