1/9 GDT Wild VS Blackhawks

from Wild.com

Quote :

Desperation. When you’re trying to woo the opposite sex, it’s a bad thing. But in hockey, desperation is apparently a good thing. Time and time again, you hear losing coaches and players saying, “They played with more desperation than we did.” The Calgary Flames were repeating that over and over after being dismantled by the Wild on Wednesday, 4-1. Tonight, the Wild will need a full dose of desperation when it faces the best in the West, the Chicago Blackhawks.

In Wednesday’s win, the Wild got big contributions from its checkers as Cal Clutterbuck and Kyle Brodziak each scored, and Eric Belanger potted two. Minnesota scored four unanswered goals after giving up one just 1:37 into the contest. Niklas Backstrom was perfect after that in stopping 25 shots.

As they did against the Wild on Monday, the Blackhawks fell behind on Wednesday to the Boston Bruins. Boston scored the first two goals, but the Hawks pumped in the next five on the way to a fifth straight victory. Duncan Keith scored twice while Tomas Kopecky, Patrick Kane and Andrew Ladd also scored. Antti Niemi earned the win in a 19-save effort.

Ticket Information

Tonight’s game is a sellout. For those without tickets, your best bet is the RUSH ticket option.

Broadcast Information

Wild vs. Blackhawks will be broadcast locally in high definition on Fox Sports North at 7:00 PM. The game can be heard on WCCO 830 AM, or online at Wild.com.

Click here to receive Minnesota Wild broadcast alerts/game day previews each Wild Game day

If you would like to receive broadcast alerts (time and channel) by cell phone, simply text TV to 83281

If You’re Going

You’re going to be impressed. The Blackhawks are the most entertaining opponent the Wild has faced this season. The Wild learned on Monday that a good effort won’t lead to a win against the Hawks. Minnesota will need a great effort, and if they get that, it’s tonight’s fans that will benefit.

Meet The Hawks

Those who saw Monday’s meeting learned quickly why the Hawks are so tough. There isn’t a weakness in the lineup. Every line is dangerous. Their checking line checks, but also scores. The defensemen defend, and also score. The goaltenders aren’t scoring…yet. But they’re giving up barely over two goals a game.

Who’s Hot?

Quietly and consistently, Belanger is becoming an offensive force as the dead of winter is upon us. In his 600th career game on Wednesday, Bella notched two goals to bring his scoring total in the last eight games to eight (5-3=. With 24 points in 43 games, the free-agent-to-be is threatening to top his previous career-high of 37 that he set twice.

Tonight’s Storyline

Tonight will be the fourth consecutive game that the Wild will play a Division leader. After playing the Devils, Hawks, Flames and Hawks again, Minnesota will finally get a break on Monday…against the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins who are wallowing in second place in the Atlantic Division.

Keep An Eye On

One guy that seemed to have the Blackhawks figured out on Monday was Guillaume Latendresse. He scored the game’s first goal, and had two other glorious opportunities that were snuffed out by Cristobal Huet. Latendresse kept up that play against Calgary, throwing seven shots on goal and setting up Brodziak’s marker.

Probable Wild Line Combos

Todd Richards hasn’t done much changing after wins, and after a great performance on Wednesday; he’ll likely go with the same collection:

Brunette-Koivu-Miettinen
Nolan-Belanger-Clutterbuck
Latendresse-Brodziak-Havlat
Earl-Ebbett-Boogaard

Probable Defensive Pairings

Clayton Stoner missed the last game after aggravating his groin injury. John Scott filled in admirably and will likely be in again:

Zanon-Zidlicky
Scott-Johnsson
Hnidy-Schultz

Between The Pipes

Backstrom will face the Blackhawks tonight.

View From The Press Box

James Sheppard and Petr Sykora were the healthy scratches on Wednesday and likely will sit again.

The Infirmary

Stoner is questionable with a groin injury. Brent Burns continues to skate on his own but a timetable still has not been set for his return. Pierre-Marc Bouchard (concussion) and Chuck Kobasew are out indefinitely.

Richards’ Quote of the Day

"They know what their elements are and what they bring. Latendresse has to play physical. Brodziak has to finish his checks. And Marty Havlat has to make plays with the puck on his stick. It’s a great mix. They’ve shown everyone what they can bring and what they can do. (And) they have to maintain it. They’re having success now, but they can’t think they’ll have it just by showing up. They have to think about what they need to do."

-- Todd Richards on the success of the Havlat-Brodziak-Latendresse line

Honorary State of Hockey Residents

RW Dustin Byfuglien was born in Minneapolis, but raised in Roseau.

Worthless Stat

Time to bring back the head scratching first goal stat: the Wild has allowed the first goal in 18 of the last 25 games, yet has gone 14-9-2 in that stretch.

I think our effrots pay off this time around. 3-2 win

Niemmi or Huet tonight?

Minnesota vs. Blackhawks pre-game report


The State of Hockey News
An objective and balanced view of Minnesota Hockey
(Game Preview) Wild vs. Blackhawks, January 9th at Xcel Energy Center 7:00PM CST

Minnesota Wild (21-20-3) 45pts 4th Northwest

4-6-0 in their last 10 games

2.57 Goals For per Game (22nd in the NHL)

2.86 Goals Against per Game (19th in the NHL)

16.6% Power Play (23rd in the NHL)

82.2% Penalty Kill (12th in the NHL)

Top 5 Scorers:

1. #9 Mikko Koivu ~ 11G 30A = 41pts

2. #15 Andrew Brunette ~ 13G 22A = 35pts

3. #3 Marek Zidlicky ~ 3G 24A = 27pts

4. #14 Martin Havlat ~ 7G 19A = 26pts

5. #25 Eric Belanger ~ 11G 13A = 24pts

Top 3 PIM’s:

1. #24 Derek Boogaard ~ 55 PIM’s

2. #34 Shane Hnidy ~ 51 PIM’s

2. #36 John Scott ~ 50 PIM’s

Top Goaltenders:

1. #32 Niklas Backstrom (19-14-3) 2.53GAA .908%SP

2. #37 Josh Harding (2-6-0) 3.47GAA .874%SP

Vs.

Chicago Blackhawks (31-10-3) 65pts 1st Central

8-2-0 in their last 10 games

3.23 Goals For per Game (2nd in the NHL)

2.04 Goals Against per Game (1st in the NHL)

20.6% Power Play (7th in the NHL)

86.8% Penalty Kill (2nd in the NHL)

Top 5 Scorers:

1. #88 Patrick Kane ~ 19G 31A = 50pts

2. #2 Duncan Keith ~ 8G 32A = 40pts

3. #19 Jonathan Toews ~ 13G 22A = 35pts

4. #10 Patrick Sharp ~ 14G 19A = 33pts

5. #51 Brian Campbell ~ 5G 23A = 28pts

Top 3 PIM’s:

1. #55 Ben Eager ~ 79 PIM’s

2. #33 Dustin Byfuglien ~ 59 PIM’s

3. #25 Cam Barker ~ 49 PIM’s

Top Goaltenders:

1. #39 Cristobal Huet (20-8-2) 2.08GAA .912%SP

2. #31 Antti Niemi (11-2-1) 1.82GAA .925%SP

(click on the link for the rest of the article)

It not only includes a pre-game report but also a Houston Aeros report. Enjoy!

^^^ Nice.

Hey KC, you seem to be on top of a lot of the Aero's stuff. what is your take on the system going on down there?

woooooooooo Lats ties it up

HOLY SHIT!!!!!!!!

that has to make a sportscenter highlight for long ass shootout.

Great game to watch. felt like ass for 2 periods and was going to be a slaughtering, but the never say die attitude comes back and pays off.

So i just woke up and i find we're down by 4 was Hading that terrible in the net or was it backs and we win in SO this is awesome, lats with 2 goals Assists machine was on tonight, Nice win

Down 4 in the 3rd?! Crazy shit. Good to see Chicago lose one finally despite the point.

Wild In-Game and post-game article


The State of Hockey News

An objective and balanced view of Minnesota Hockey

Nolan delivers sweet revenge in incredible 6-5 come-from-behind shootout victory over the Blackhawks

As the maniacal Star Trek villain Khan once stated about an old Klingon proverb that “revenge is a dish, best served cold” perhaps that is the mindset the Minnesota Wild have to have as it has its 2nd game against the Chicago Blackhawks in the course of a week. The Blackhawks throttled the Wild 4-1 as it used its superior skill to take over the game after an initial goal by Minnesota. For Minnesota’s Martin Havlat he might feel a want for revenge a bit more personally as the team decided to spend its money on Marian Hossa instead of him despite having his most productive season of his NHL career. His Twitter comments he had on Blackhawks’ President John McDonough surprised many in terms of how direct Havlat’s statements were as he did his best to defend the recently ousted General Manager Dale Tallon.

It has been a tough home stretch of games as seemingly the league’s best has been in town each night. Yet you can’t complain and home victories are crucial as well as maximizing every chance to earn points in the standings. Especially for a team on the fringe like the Wild. Will the Wild get a dose of vengeance or will wither under another Blackhawks onslaught? (click on the link for the rest of the article)

This is probably one of my longest articles in a while, it has a complete in-game and post-game report as well as a prospect update on Matt Hackett and Darcy Kuemper as well as a WCHA Men's Hockey round up. Enjoy!

00Xtremeninja wrote:

HOLY SHIT!!!!!!!!

that has to make a sportscenter highlight for long ass shootout.

Great game to watch. felt like ass for 2 periods and was going to be a slaughtering, but the never say die attitude comes back and pays off.

Avs and Buffalo had to outdo them by going 11 rounds and since NHL hockey is off the ESPN radar, I'm sure it'll not even be mentioned in lieu of college basketball highlights.

It really is a disgrace how little coverage the NHL gets on ESPN...

About the game though...just words cannot describe. awe inspiring.

The Aeros' are a different animal than the Todd Richards' version of the Wild. It more closely resembles Lemaire in terms of its system but the main thing Constantine instills is hard work and hustle and I think that works well with how things are run up here. The Aeros are never going to be confused for scoring juggernauts but you're going to have to work your tail off if you want to beat them, Constantine has that team competing just that hard each night!

Well Canucks fans were even using lasers to try to screw up Kiprusoff as they tried to shine them in his eye...how sad is that?

Fairbault is right, this will likely get no mention at all from ESPN who rather talk about the score of a who cares basketball game out of the Atlantic 10 than show the highlights from this game. There were lots and lots of long shootouts tonight. NHL on the Fly might be an hour and a half show tonight!

I've only left a game early about once or twice in the last 9 years. So, after witnessing such a horrific attempt at hockey from the boys in the 1st and 2nd, I was getting ready to leave during the 2nd intermission. My mother and I were both ready to pull the trigger. She told me she was ready to fall asleep. It was that lopsided and bad. But before suggesting we leave, I recalled the games this year when they've come back in dramatic fashion. Now there was no way in h-e-double hockey sticks that this team could score 4 goals in the 3rd period. It's a tough order even for a great team when they're playing well.....but for a team that sucked so bad during the first 40 minutes and to be playing against the Chicago Freaking Blackhawks? I knew that if...a big IF....they were to come back and make some history for this franchise, I'd never forgive myself for leaving. So I stayed.

Two things greatly bothered me during the 40 minute massacre. First, Backstrom should have been pulled after the 4th goal. I started to greatly question Richards for keeping him in. Did he even try on that 5th goal? Listen, I'm not blaming every goal on him, because some were out of his control. But Chicago scored 3 times on 4 shots. There comes a point in the game when you pull the goalie, and it DOESN'T always have to be because the crease monkey is sucking. Coaches will pull guys all the time just to send a message to the others. It provides a spark. Keeping Backstrom in wasn't helping his confidence. And by the 4th goal, he was done with.

Second, why the @#!$ did we have four guys sitting in the neutral zone acting as if they were trying to protect a lead? THEY WERE DOWN 4 GOALS!!!!! Talk about not being aggressive! Where they so scared of the Hawks' offense that they figured it'd be best to trap them in the middle? Surely that couldn't have been the reason, because once the Hawks got in the neutral zone, our boys just stood around. We had five pylons on the ice for 40 straight minutes! That was one of the loudest set of boos when the left the ice after the second, but they could have even been booed louder. That's how horrible they were. It was criminal. I know the Hawks are a great team, but the Wild simply weren't playing. I figured that Chicago would score more goals than Tiger Woods had mistresses by the time it was all said and done.

I threw every four letter word at those boys tonight quietly, because I had a little boy next to me. He was with his father, and the poor kid was so sad watching the Hawks beating the crap out of his team. He finally gave up cheering after a while. So you can imagine his reaction during that 3rd period.

Richards' said something very interesting during the post-game press conference. He didn't go into the lockerroom during the 2nd intermission. It was the team leaders....the players...who spoke up on their own. They decided where to go from here. Koivu said that they felt embarrassed, and pride was on the line. The 19,000 + fans deserved better. They put everything on the line, and gave that commitment without the coach saying a single word. As a fan, that is something that I greatly appreciate and respect.

Eight rounds for the shootout felt like the perfect way to finish this crazy game. Nolan, you're forgiven for the countless turnovers you were guilty of tonight. Harding, damn proud to see you hold the fort while the guys clawed their way back into the game.

This game reminded me of Gabby's 5 goal game. It was that crazy. And I don't even recall hearing the horn tonight on the tying goal. Where the #@!$ did Lats come from?!!!? How awesome was that 3rd period, OT, and shootout? Well, my mother bruised her hands from clapping, while I applauded so much that a blood vessel on my palm popped. It's not pretty, but it was soooooo #@$!ing worth it!

The Wild are so fucking lucky the Hawks choked. Make no mistake, the wild didnt win this game, the Hawks merely choked it away!

choke or not, there was a certain bit of it that was attitude too. They won't be able to pull this shit with the Pens though.

The Hawks definitely chose to coast the third period. Two minutes and five seconds rocked them hard. It's hard to imagine a team coming back from a four goal deficit in 2:05.

After that, the Hawks were most definitely in "OH SHIT" mode. They panned over to Quenneville at one point shortly after that 2:05 and his jaw was literally open. After that, it was scramble mode and I have to agree with Greenlay about one thing... Having all of those hits in the first and second period (the only thing the Wild did in 40 minutes) really took it's toll on the Hawks. Every single time Clutterbuck, Latendresse, Brodziak, and even a bit of Boogaard hit the ice, the Hawks had their heads up, which is also when you started to see their passing game degrade.

This game (I re-watched the entire thing again today) wasn't about the forwards breaking down in the first two periods. The forwards kept their game up even then. The first 40 minutes was all about two things; The D breaking down and Backstrom over-committing. I really can't remember a time when Bax has over-committed to one side *that* often. Maybe once, but not three times. There were several plays after the 2:05 where the Hawks tried the same moves on Harding, but he wasn't over-committing to one side and made a couple of really nice glove saves.

*shrugs*

I will say that Chicago needs to address their goalie situation. I sort of agree with a lot of the Hawks fans as Huet was rattled after the Johnsson goal. If he rattles that easily, their play-off chances are going to be weak. It's pretty amazing that he's locked in for two and a half more seasons...

Niemi for the hawks is solid and he's their future, this type of game does not happen often, the Hawks are still strong. At this point tho there is little they can do with Huet, and they have no cap so they could mess with trading away players but Niemi is a solid goalie.

it was funny to listen to WGN Radio on the way home. They were throwing Huet under the bus big time. Do the Hawks look to nab a goalie at the trade deadline? Is Niemi ready for a bigger role? Should be an interesting 2nd half for the Hawks. I'll be watching them play the Ducks tonight.

Hawks lost today to the Ducks. We didn't break Chicago, did we?

we did, Kane is going to come in demanding nickels!!

They really can't dump Huet.

If you think Harding is an immovable ass-ette, he's got nothing on Huet. I spent most of the Christmas holiday listening to Hawks fans...

a) brag about their team
b) brag about their AHL team
c) brag more about their team
d) bitch about their goal tending
e) bitch about Campbell

Same guy that texted me about Havlat coming to the Wild the night before free agency opened basically said that "the Hawks are fucked come the play-offs unless Niemmi really steps into it like Varlamov has in Caps land". We agreed that they will not be able to move Huet or Campbell and will therefore have to move Sharp and Byufilen after the play-offs. Which, "is okay because Skille finally gets his chance out of Rockford." Also, if they have to move a D besides Campbell, they really don't have a replacement with the Ice Hogs.

Oh, btw... Have I mentioned that the Ice Hogs fans are CRAZY!?

sqare wrote:

Oh, btw... Have I mentioned that the Ice Hogs fans are CRAZY!?

do elaborate.

These playoffs are going to be interesting, what if Shark do their usual Choke and so do the hawks? could you imagine that?

sqare wrote:

They really can't dump Huet.

If you think Harding is an immovable ass-ette, he's got nothing on Huet. I spent most of the Christmas holiday listening to Hawks fans...

a) brag about their team
b) brag about their AHL team
c) brag more about their team
d) bitch about their goal tending
e) bitch about Campbell

Same guy that texted me about Havlat coming to the Wild the night before free agency opened basically said that "the Hawks are fucked come the play-offs unless Niemmi really steps into it like Varlamov has in Caps land". We agreed that they will not be able to move Huet or Campbell and will therefore have to move Sharp and Byufilen after the play-offs. Which, "is okay because Skille finally gets his chance out of Rockford." Also, if they have to move a D besides Campbell, they really don't have a replacement with the Ice Hogs.

Oh, btw... Have I mentioned that the Ice Hogs fans are CRAZY!?

The Hawks would get interest if Campbell was willing to waive his NTC. He's a top-pairing guy, overpaid or not. Elite PPQB too. As for Huet, I think they could consider waiving him to the minors, 5.625M on top of a fully-committed cap is something IMO Chicago could live with. They can certainly lower the cost on their 3rd pairing of D, as right now its over 5M. Barker would get interest. Sopel only has a year left after this. Ladd won't be back. Madden would have to take a significant salary cut to stay. Hjalmarsson is the only significant player who they need to still re-sign, and he's an RFA.