That Dumb Dog…Or How The Wild Lost At Duck Hunt

Remember the video game “Duck Hunt”? Remember when you’d miss, and the dog would pop his head up and snicker at you? Well, he’s not only laughing at the Wild, he officially lifted his leg.

Our beloved one goal wonders dropped their fifth game in a row, this one to the Anaheim Ducks after holding a one goal lead into the third period.

I’ve given up going through the highlights and the lowlights. The only players I have to give a shoutout to are Dany Heatley for scoring the Wild’s lone goal (seems he’s about the only consistent scorer these days) and Marek Zidlicky for a sweet pass to set up Heatley. Yup, you read that correctly, I just praised Zids. It’s 2012, anything can happen.

A post-game argument with some of the folks at the Wild’s Facebook page (I swear, it’s the same people who hang out in Russo’s comments section) proved downright frustrating. Rather than reinvent the wheel, I’ll copy my post word-for-word:

The stall year is rearing its head. 

Folks, this year wasn’t meant to be a stellar one. The previous regime (front office) didn’t do us favors. We haven’t even seen much of Fletcher’s work. That will start next year, along with why Yeo was hired. This year was designed to tread water and get things prepped for our prospects. Yeah, sucks for us this year, and yeah, I have skin in the game (aka tickets). 

Nobody is selling on the market. Both conferences have logjams, and teams aren’t going to let their name players on the market if they think they have a chance. We need to start looking at our UFAs and clearing cap space along with stockpiling picks.

I meant every word when I wrote it, and I still mean it after sleeping on it. There’s going to be a painful house cleaning coming, and I’m sure some fans will scream and cry when their favorite player gets traded or sold.

We can’t mortgage the future to pay for the present. It’s as simple as that. If the Wild are to make a run at the cup, they need to continue to build the pipeline and develop prospects. That means things may look very bleak in the meantime.