Wilderness Walk - Game day edition

Tale as old as time, song as old as rhyme, tonight your Minnesota Wild welcome the Colorado Avalanche to town for the two teams 98th meeting of the minds. This is the teams final scheduled meeting of the season, so unless the Avalanche, who are very much in the wildcard conversation, make playoffs (bonus points for reading in Christian Ponder voice) that century mark for games between these two teams will have a date sometime in the 2018-19 season.

The Wild have been throttled by the Avs lately, being out scored 14-3 in their past two games, both road losses. But do not fret sports fans, this game is on home ice, where the Wild have beat the Avs 3-2 in their only other meeting at the X this season.

Today's music was grown local, perhaps you've come across them in your travels. Please welcome to the Hockey Wilderness stage, Cloud Cult!

Wild news

Wild give Hendrickson a break to watch son win state hockey title - StarTribune.com
The assistant coach got home from Vancouver in time to watch son Mason play for Minnetonka, which defeated Duluth East for the Class 2A boys' hockey title Saturday.

Wild in solid playoff position but feels motivation to finish strong - StarTribune.com
The team's 42 points since 2018 began ranked third in the league and second in the Western Conference, improvement that elevated it from clamoring for a wild-card spot to sitting among the division leaders.

PHT Power Rankings: Making sense of the nonsensical Minnesota Wild
Of course, we all know why they're performing well.

Will the Minnesota Wild ever shake the “boring” label? | Georgia Straight Vancouver's News & Entertainment Weekly
People will never be convinced the Wild aren't a boring team. Mostly because they are a boring team.

Tending the fields

Vay and Jenys called up to Iowa Wild | KEVN Fox Black Hills
Iowa bringing up some reserves

On frozen pond

Sammy Walker Named Mr. Hockey :: University of Minnesota :: Official Athletic Site
Edina's Sammy Walker takes home the State of Hockey's top individual honor in high school hockey.

Off the trail

Recap: The Master and the Protege - Arctic Ice Hockey
Laine vs Ovi. 2 men enter, one leaves with his 600th career NHL goal

The Battle of Alberta | By Grant Fuhr
The rivalry between Edmonton and Calgary is a bloody one.

At the Paralympics, Sled Hockey Is Not Necessarily a Young Man’s Game - The New York Times
Five players over the age of 50 are competing at the Pyeongchang Games, including 61-year-old Shinobu Fukushima of Japan.

Alex Ovechkin becomes 20th player ever to reach 600 career goals
Ovi is showing no signs of slowing down either.

Marc-Andre Fleury records career win No. 400 – ProHockeyTalk
He became the 13th goalie in NHL history to hit that milestone.

Coyotes risk spoiling their draft lottery odds – ProHockeyTalk
Winning, not recommended for a tanking team.