Wild vs. Avalanche - 2/3/2011 Official GDT

Wild vs. Avalanche post-game and much more

Bouchard's late 3rd period goal stands as Wild hold off late Colorado surge in huge 4-3 road win

Written by Derek Felska | 02 February 2011

Its getting cold out there, and in many parts of the United States the weather has been downright freakish. Heavy snows in some cities; especially places like St. Louis and Dallas where in the case of the Blues it meant postponing games, and in the case of the Stars playing before a crowd of no more than a 1,000 at American Airlines Center. As a Midwesterner who is used to snow they're not going to get ANY sympathy from me. Its winter, its what I expect and if they're not used to it that's too bad. A snowflake falls in New York City its national news, a few flurries in Atlanta and you have schools canceling for days. Its remarkable how unadaptable people can be sometimes. Its also remarkable how allegedly "tough" people from the Northeast can complain and whine when they get hit with a foot of snow. Big deal, Buffalo deals with that a few times a year, EVERY year. It amazes me how just a slight change to their paradigm of what the weather should be like forces them to stay indoors or bundle up to a ridiculous degree as if a single flake of snow touching one's body means instant hypothermia. I personally love the cold, I embrace it as a friend. Today when it was -5 outside I walked outside without a jacket and enjoyed every minute of it on my commute to work. In some ways, this inability to cope with changing paradigms is also in place in sports. When a team is seen to be less talented, less skilled if they manage to win games they must be doing so only through trickery, over generosity from league officials and you hear fans from the old paradigm complain the newcomer is ruining the game. The Minnesota Wild heard that a lot when Jacques Lemaire was behind the bench, when more often than not the Wild simply were outworking their opponents. Lately, the Wild have been playing better and slowly climbing the Western Conference ladder and you know its only a matter of time before the complaints will start raining in. If the NHL, and the Eastern Conference-centric media can take their eyes off of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals long enough to notice they too will chime in as well.

The Wild travel to Colorado who will be looking to take back their 2nd place spot in the Northwest Division after Minnesota leapfrogged them on Tuesday with a shootout victory over the Los Angeles Kings. There has been some indications that the rivalry between the two clubs is starting to heat up. More pushing and shoving after whistles, some big hits are being thrown around and lots and lots of talk between benches are starting to turn these match ups into bitter feuds normally reserved for Vancouver. That makes the games that much more unpredictable and exciting to watch, so who will come out on top tonight. Will the Wild earn a big road victory or will the Avalanche drown out the red-hot Wild tonight? (click on the link for the rest of the article)

Great game helped a lot by those two quick goals at the start. There is a complete post-game, plus prospect report featuring Matthew Hackett and Kris Foucault. In addition there is a High School Boys Hockey report focusing on Brainerd and Maple Grove.