Have you ever stopped yourself from saying something because you knew later you would regret it? The same thing applies to writing… except there is a delete key that can wipe it out before you hit submit, which is a nice feature on a standard keyboard. I was struggling with my Wild fandom and well into a healthy bout of self-loathing. Nothing positive was coming from my attempts at my weekly edition of “The State of Hockey… In the State of Hockey,” and I lacked any real zest for the written word. In response, I took a week off. I mostly sat in a dark room, cried a bit, and screamed at my television as the Wild struggled on the ice. Then a buddy of mine took me out drinking… and I was forced to sit next to a lady who had a perma-frown on her face and hated everything. After several more beers, I hustled home to see the Wild take down the Blackhawks going into the short Christmas Break. I am now ready to get this thing going again.
Unnecessary news flash… the Wild are 4-6 in their last ten contest. Injuries have hurt the team’s continuity. We are lacking any semblance of a functional power play on either side of the puck. We have turned in poor efforts in three very lopsided contests to good teams that we believe we are on par with. My current favorite Wild player, Jake Middleton, is hurt. Fleury got lit up… Gustavsson got lit up… Wallstedt was thrown to the wolves in Winnipeg… Fun times.
So for the combined week ten/eleven edition of “The State of Hockey… In the State of Hockey,” I have eight short and very pointed thoughts on our beloved Wild. With the short hiatus, the wording of these has been tamed down… good thing… because I don’t know if this website likes it too much if colorful language takes up a lion’s share of the article. See… stepping back and counting to ten thousand can produce positive results in the end.
-I have completely cooled on Jasper Wallstedt. I hoped all off-season that the Wild would find a willing trade partner for Filip Gustavsson and the Wallstedt Era in goal would begin in 2024-25. Seeing him this season makes the reality of him taking up the majority of time in a NHL goal very scary.
-I miss Jake Middleton… but not as much as the Minnesota Wild miss Jake Middleton. In a short amount of time, Mitzy has gone from an also-ran to a vital piece of the Wild’s winning formula.
-I love Joel Eriksson Ek, and perhaps his absence on the ice has led to our power play struggles. His durability during his career has been suspect, and I am beginning to wonder if this will plague him consistently going forward.
-I just read that Marcus Foligno has joined the Wild’s top power play line. This is truly a sign of the coming apocalypse. Not really… but that was not a name I thought I would ever see listed in that role.
-Bill Guerin stated he has no interest in trading Marco Rossi. That makes sense. But Bill, you know what makes more sense? Signing him to a long-term contract.
-The AHL’s Iowa Wild have struggled this season, and watching some of the guys that have been pulled up due to injuries, it is beginning to make sense. Seeing one of them at a time wouldn’t be so glaring, but an entire line of them on the ice… well at least that gives fans at home some time to hit the bathroom without fear of missing something substantial. We have had some bad fourth lines… but wow!
-Jon Merrill may be a good guy… but he struggles as an ice hockey player… and me saying “struggles” is the nicest possible way I can put it and maintain a PG rating. If he is looking for a post-playing career (which he should be), that pass off the boards to Kaprizov for his cheeky score shows he has a future in geometry. America needs public school teachers…. Just saying.
Prediction #1: Even though it bucked me last week… I say that with a four-game week, Fleury gets a win in goal.
Result: Correct… Fleury picked up win 567 in his illustrious career over the Flyers.
Prediction #2: Ryan Hartman begins the week with a -3… it will stay the same or get worse. And I will become more uncomfortable with him making $4,000,000 per year.
Result: Wrong… Hartman is at a -6… which is worse for all you novice hockey fans. I think it would be best if he gave back at least three-fourths of it to the Wild.
Prediction #3: The Wild win another overtime/shootout game before they lose one.
Result: Correct… Our shootout win back on 12/10 against the Utah Hockey Club made this one a reality.
Prediction #4: The Wild will score at least six points in the standings over the week’s four games.
Result: Wrong…. Wrong… Wrong… Wrong…
Prediction #5: Jake Middleton ends the week at a +25 or higher.
Result: An injury to Mitzy sealed my fate on this one pretty quickly.
Another 2-3 week? I wish it could obtain something close to mediocrity in my predictions, but a three-week record of 6-9 had taken my season total to a very unimpressive 25-20 total, costing me my key to the executive washroom at the Predictor Makers Federation National Headquarters. In fact, my credentials barely get me through the front door at this point.
Next Week’s Five Predictions…
-We will lose at Dallas and look lost without Kaprizov on the ice.
-Brock Faber adds at least one point to his season total.
-No NHL franchise will move to a new city this week.
-The Wild will pull out a hard-fought win at home against one of the NHL’s most boring franchises, the Ottawa Senators.
-Mats Zuccarello will break the twenty-point barrier this week.
Non-Hockey Announcement For General Entertainment
It is said that animals experience time differently than human... so it makes sense that my dogs act so excited when I return after a thirty-second trip to take out the trash... or perhaps their excitement is due to me being so awesome... but mostly because they thought I was gone for weeks.