The State of Hockey... In the State of Hockey (Week Seven Edition)

The Wild turned in a fantastic week, scoring five points. Getting out of Calgary with a point was a bonus, but it's starting to get concerning that we keep losing overtime/shootout games. With a 1-4 record in games that go beyond regulation, we need to find a way to reverse this trend. But I digress, as I do not want to turn such a positive week into a negative. Again… it's five points in three games. Who wouldn't take that total all season long?

So, in celebration of another fantastic week of hockey in The State of Hockey, I give you five takeaways and ramblings from my hockey-riddled mind, one for each point we scored in the standings. Please refer all questions and issues with this week's list to Michael Russo (@RussoHockey)… just kidding.

-With Zuccy and Kirill out, our shootout team looked less than intimidating. After sending Gaudreau and Boldy out against Calgary, it was a bit of a challenge to predict the next player the Wild would call on. When we sent Joel Eriksson Ek out, I was confused and wondered what was going on… but it made more sense when looking at the remaining roster. Same thing when Rossi was given the call… When Andersson scored and we countered with Hartman, I wasn't holding out much hope even if we did score. Kaprizov's injury is short-term, and the lineup came up huge to get us to overtime and the shootout. That kind of uptick in performance can happen sporadically, but the extended time without Zuccy is really starting to hurt.

-Drake Caggiula… you are not an impressive human, and you already have three strikes with me… on one play. If you want to lay out a superstar, then deal with the results. Don't skate away from the first guy (which was Middleton) who comes over to engage you. Strike one. I was glad that Boldy came at you too, but essentially falling to the ice and pulling him down was another letdown. You needed to get punched in the face. Strike two. And the fact that you are slightly below a borderline NHL player at this point in your career means you have no business influencing a game (and future games) in this way. Strike three.

-Hopkins native Travis Boyd's journey to his first NHL game for the Wild is priceless. With his flight landing in Calgary just hours before puck drop, the Canadian city was in the midst of dealing with blizzard-like conditions. After travel by cab came to a standstill, Boyd hoofed (with Wild services manager Dominic Hennig) the final part of the journey through a traffic jam made up of Calgary Flames fans on their way to Scotiabank Saddledome for the game. Boyd arrived at the arena with only fourteen minutes to prepare before warmups and checked off a childhood goal of playing for the Wild. Man… you have to love hockey.

-DraftKings currently have the Minnesota Wild with the thirteenth best odds (20/1) of all NHL teams to win the Stanley Cup; the same Wild that sits tied for second in the league in points. Teams with better odds? Tampa Bay Lightning… who we swept. Vancouver Canucks… who are 10-6-3. Dallas… Colorado… Toronto… Carolina… Florida… Give me a break. Now, I have two reasons to despise Vegas… Ill-informed sports books and the Golden Knights.

-Consider this my personal plea to get Marco Rossi signed to an extension. This guy has endured and thrived during his short NHL career, and it has become more than apparent that this is a guy we need to keep… for a long time. He has to be the next guy up… right? No question we will do everything in our power to keep Kaprizov… we took care of Boldy and Faber… same with Joel Eriksson Ek… To take a line from Rounders.. "Pay this man his money!"

Results For Week Six Predictions

Pending Prediction: Jake Middleton becomes the next Wild player to break the ten-point barrier for the season.

Result: Correct… Despite Freddy passing him with his fantastic game against the Oilers, Middleton hit the ten-point barrier first and was joined by Brock Faber. The two-week wait for this result was so worth it!

Prediction #1: Gustavo and The Flower (sounds like a cool name for a folk band) both pick up a win this week.

Result: Correct… And I didn't even need to wait for the Calgary Flames game to put a check in the win column. Fleury started shaky (rough bounce on Draisaitl's opening goal), but this was to be expected since he hasn't played in two weeks. Wes Walz said it best when he said Marc-André has seen it all… and something like that doesn't throw a player of his caliber off his game.

Prediction #2: Matt Boldy remains on the golden side of point-per-game production.

Result: Correct… 20 games… 22 points… four points in the three games this week. This is fantastic for a guy who has never been a point-per-game player. He's still 23 and has so much of an upside.

Prediction #3: Hockey Lord Johnny Stache Merrill gets back to a +/- of even or above this week.

Result: Wrong… Merrill started the week at a -1… was a DNP twice and was even against Calgary. He's our seventh defenseman, so what did I expect? I might need to cool it on predictions involving "The Stache."

Prediction #4: Jacob Middleton breaks the 45-block barrier, while Marcus Foligno breaks the 65-hit barrier.

Result: Correct… Jacob Middleton currently stands at 47 blocks on the season, and Marcus Foligno sits at 68 hits. 

Prediction #5: John Hynes does not choose this week to grow out his hair. 

Result: Correct… Ok… Ok… This was a give-me, but I was reeling the last two weeks and needed a win.

So… a predictor-makers fortunes can change so very quickly. With the pending pick from a couple of minutes ago finally settling, this guy turned in a 5-1 week, running the season record to 19-11, and was one unwise prediction about Johnny McStacheinator from being right two-thirds of the time. Sometimes you just have to pull yourself up by the bootstraps, engage one's rugged individualism, and get your brain in a place where it is free from all of society's issues and just think about hockey… the most magnificent game of them all.

Next Week's Five Predictions…

-We will defeat the Winnipeg Jets.

-Two more Wild players join the ten-point club for the season.

-We get revenge against the Chicago Blackhawks and win at home against them.

-Marco Rossi breaks the twenty-point barrier.

-Jacob Middleton scores at least two points this week.