Wild vs. Avalanche - 1/14/11 Official GDT

Wild vs. Avalanche post-game and much more

Minnesota drops 3rd straight in a night of odd bounces and bad puck luck in 4-1 home loss to Colorado

Written by Derek Felska | 14 January 2011

The Chinese symbol for misfortune is also the symbol for opportunity. Right now, former Wild 2nd round draft pick Patrick O'Sullivan it would be leaning on misfortune as he was waived by Minnesota where no one in the league claimed him. Having cleared waivers O'Sullivan chose to join Minnesota's American Hockey League affiliate in Houston. No doubt getting placed on waivers twice in a season has to be a definite shot to the ego, but it also brings into question whether O'Sullivan has much of an NHL career. The once promising prospect who scored 47 goals for the Houston Aeros back in 2005-06, and then had a great first full year in the league scoring 22 goals and 53 points with the Los Angeles Kings after he had been dealt in the Pavol Demitra trade. In fact, it was O'Sullivan's apparent potential that had some Wild fans worried that the trade may have cost Minnesota a future star-level talent. Obviously that did not happen, as O'Sullivan's welcome in Los Angeles turned sour and he was traded to a struggling Edmonton team. The Oilers, who were a team looking for any kind of hope which made for a great chance for O'Sullivan to impress instead was another disappointment. Some of the Oilers fans called him the unflattering nickname of "ghost" for the infrequent times you actually noticed him on the ice. The Oilers shipped O'Sullivan to Phoenix who immediately bought him out and then he ended up with the Carolina Hurricanes where he signed a 2-way contract which was another team in desperate need for some talent and a little experience but he was a consistent healthy scratch so they placed him on waivers and he was picked up by the Wild. I have to agree with Minneapolis Star Tribune's Michael Russo that his days in the NHL may be over. This wasn't a player who couldn't stick on the Detroit Red Wings or the Vancouver Canucks, this is a player who has failed to stick with teams who are looking for skill, scoring and something positive they can work with and while he had a goal and 7 points in 21 games he did not take nearly enough opportunities to shoot the puck and it was his failure to be a finisher that forced the team's hand to place him on waivers. Yet its tough to argue with the Wild's decision as O'Sullivan appears to be the same player I saw play during that outstanding year in Houston where he stayed on the periphery of plays and cherry picked. That unwillingness to get your nose dirty can be forgiven if you're finishing your offensive chances and he wasn't so in the big picture the Wild wasn't getting that much so they felt justified in placing him on waivers. The Wild were desperate for a jolt of offense and with Pierre-Marc Bouchard as well as last year's leading scorer Guillaume Latendresse out of the lineup long-term they felt O'Sullivan just might be able to provide that. The opportunity was there and now its gone.

Tonight's game is a similar situation for the Wild. Minnesota is coming off 2 straight losses after having a 4-game winning streak. It has been the team's modus operendi to take steps back for everyone they take forward and Wild fans are cautiously pessimistic that could happen again as the Colorado Avalanche come to town tonight and the much-hated Vancouver Canucks on Sunday. Minnesota will soon be back on the road after this 2-game homestand so will the Wild be the symbol of misfortune or of opportunity? (click on the link for the rest of the article)

Frustrating, baffling and unlucky, sort of fits with the Wild's season to this point. There is a complete post-game. I tried a different style this time and I'd love to have some feedback on what you think of it. There is an Aeros update as well as a complete run down of the WCHA Men's hockey this week. Enjoy!

frustrating game indeed, however my folks liked the Xcel!

The Wild completely dominated this game for the most part... can't stand it when lucky bounces all seem to go in favor of the other team in that case though.

I was a bit annoyed by the fans not paying attention to the quality of play by the Wild and thus booed the team off the ice after the 2nd period.

werd, the first period the Wild were the better team, but just couldn't get anything by Andersen.

TaLoN wrote:

I was a bit annoyed by the fans not paying attention to the quality of play by the Wild and thus booed the team off the ice after the 2nd period.

That's all that they know how to do now. While the team has had MANY horrible moments on home ice, they didn't truly suck last night. But it doesn't matter. Unless they finish the period ahead or win the game, they'll get booed EVERY time no matter the effort. It's getting pretty old and embarrassing. Minnesota fans have often been complimented by others around the league on how they know the most appropriate times to show their disapproval. Booing was a rare thing, because they use to understand the game. They knew that ugly bounces happened and they also knew that this roster has always lacked a true goal scorer. And they knew that this team was a serious work in progress. They saved their booing for when the team rightfully deserved it.

These days, it's a different story. Let's just boo everything, eh! BOOOOOOO!!!! They suck! BOOOOOOO!!! Richards sucks! BOOOOOO!!!!! We can't score!!!! BOOOOO!!!! My mini-doughnuts are cold!!! BOOOOOO!!!!! We don't have an HD scoreboard!!! BOOOOOOO!!!! We hate 5pm start times!!! BOOOOO!!!!!!!

And speaking of another embarrassing Minnesota fan, here's a gem from post #12 on the HFBoards regarding O'Reilly getting hurt.

Quote :

I don't think this would've happened if the Wild didn't play a trap system. Seems like it causes a lot of problems for other teams.

OldTimeHockey wrote:

And speaking of another embarrassing Minnesota fan, here's a gem from post #12 on the HFBoards regarding O'Reilly getting hurt.

Quote :

I don't think this would've happened if the Wild didn't play a trap system. Seems like it causes a lot of problems for other teams.

To be fair, that post comes is the product of this one. You only get told your team is ruining hockey so many times before you try to turn it on its head.