The Minnesota Wild, who host the Canadiens on Sunday, lost an exciting 5-4 in overtime on Saturday to the Columbus Blue Jackets. The regulation tie gave them their first point in five games. They dropped four straight on a road trip, including back-to-back shutouts, being outscored 15-4 in those games, and that has dumped them behind the pack fighting for the last playoff spots in the wacky Western Conference. They now sit in 11th, six points out of eighth with and not feeling too good about themselves.
Among the Wild’s biggest problem, perhaps their biggest, is they have trouble scoring goals. Their 184 tallies ranks 15th in the West, and 26th in the league. It’s not that they don’t work hard; this team skates well and few, if any, players take nights off. It’s more that they lack finish.
“There are times when you do shake your head a little bit because we’re coming in and just fanning on pucks or it’s going off the end of our sticks or it’s bouncing,” Wild coach Todd Richards said after the 4-0 loss in Dallas on Mar. 11. “That’s the way it’s going right now. The only way we can get out of this is through hard work.”
“Consider this,” writes Tom Powers in The St. Paul Pioneer Press, “All 16 teams that are front-runners for playoff spots have scored more goals than Minnesota. But … the Wild are among the league leaders in shooting percentage. What does that tell us? Well, that they aren’t generating nearly enough scoring chances. Because when they do get them, they score.”
They have some highly talented forwards, Martin Havlat and Mikko Koivu among them. But that’s not enough. After Havlat (60 points) and Koivu (51), there’s a big drop-off in production among the forwards (defenceman Brent Burns has 43 points). Veterans Andrew Burnette and Matt Cullen are next with 39 and 38 points respectively and it goes on down from there. Pierre-Marc Bouchard, who missed the first 23 games of this season and virtually all of last season, has resumed his excellent playmaking, but just who he is passing to is the problem.
Havlat had only one assist on that road trip. Koivu missed the first two games, the end of his 11-game absence due to a broken finger; he got a goal and assist in his first game back, but this club lacks reliable secondary scoring.
They were also missing rugged Cal Clutterbuck for the first two games of that trip. He missed four games altogether after when Islanders call-up Trevor Gillies concussed him earlier this month and earned a 10-game suspension. Clutterbuck had been enjoying his best season in the NHL with 18 goals and 13 assists and some fierce checking, but his play is not what has troubled this team.
The Wild had hoped Guillaume Latendresse, who scored 25 goals for them last season in 55 games after his trade from the Canadiens, would help fill the goal-scoring void. But he started slowly — two goals in his first eight games — then went down with a sports hernia injury. It kept him sidelined from late October until early March, a 58-game span, as he had two surgeries. He then returned for three tentative, pointless games before going down again, this time due to a lower body injury.
On defence, the very talented Burns had a terrific All-Star calibre first half, but not as great a second half and his giveaway in OT on Saturday that led to the game winner by Columbus’ Antoine Vermette (video) prompted Minneapolis Star-Tribune columnist Jim Souhan to wonder if the Wild should bother keeping Burns, who will be a free agent after this season, and perhaps trade him for a sniper this summer. There will be no shortage of takers if Wild GM Chuck Fletcher thinks the way Souhan does.
The Wild’s defence corps is not particularly physical, although they are very mobile. At the moment, they are also banged up. Marek Zidlicky has a hamstring injury that has kept him out for a few games and he usually helps jumpstart the offence. Cam Barker, one of their few physical d-men, has missed 11 of the past 12 games with an upper-body injury. Neither is expected to play Sunday. Nor is Montreal native, rookie Marco Scandella, who broke a finger on Saturday against Columbus. But the Wild still have Nick Schultz (a solid D-first guy), Greg Zanon (an excellent shot blocker) and diminutive rookie Jared Spurgeon.
Jose Theodore is expected to be in goal on Sunday and he’s had a moderately good season for the Wild. He’s had some strong stretches and outstanding games, like his 46-save performance that beat the Ducks on Feb. 25 and his 40-save effort that beat the Rangers on Mar. 3. He’s also had some rough patches, and he’s going through one now along with the rest of the team. He hasn’t been the main guy this season — that’s been Niklas Backstrom — but he’s adjusted to the backup role for the first time in his career.
This is a team that is close to missing the playoffs for the third straight year, which hasn’t happened before in their short franchise history. Center John Madden, the excellent checker and faceoff specialist who played on the Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks last season and won the Cup two other times playing for the Devils, has never missed the playoffs before. “I’m dealing with it the best I can,” Madden told Kent Youngblood of The Star-Tribune. “The expectations are there. We have the team to get in. We just shoot ourselves in the foot here and there. We have to deal with the ups and downs of a hockey game better and we’ll be better off.”
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Just checking to see if I am properly gravatared.
Can’t get any cooperation from the crop features.
Guess not
Too nice weather outside. I think I’ll go out for a walk. Starting to prepare myself for tonight’s game. Gametime is 0:00 in Finland, which is very good for me
Here’s a link to check our beautiful sunny day:
http://media.turku.fi/kamera1.html
Go Hockey, GO!
The disclaimer in tiny print at the bottom of the page still mentions the verboten 4 letter word. How can this be?
….why did i have to give my email address to some site that uploads photos for an avatar???…..that is sketchy….
Iam a die hard HABS fan….but i dont like change…..not a fan of this site already. You guys had a good thing going , the old format was user friendly and felt like home. This already feels like a …i dunno….blue jackets forum or a thrashers forum. ….this is too bland….blah
WTF!!??
My question is why wasn’t a disclaimer stating that the site was not supported or regulated by the Club de Hockey Canadien?
I’m really upset with the Habs for disallowing the use of the Habs name and logo. It’s pathetic of them. They ruined a good thing, which obviously benefited them, for the sake of money and stupid business principles. They don’t like seeing other people have fun unless they are making a buck off of it. Again, pathetic. Like Bell, they are Business Nazis.
I hate to be devil’s advocate, but the Canadiens organization were reaping ZERO benefit from this sites existence. Do ya really think they need the paper in Quebec and us uber-fans chatting away to spread the word about this little thing called hockey they got going on? It sets a precedent that its okay for billion dollar companies such as this one to profit from their likeness. its not about me and you or anyone on here in specific, its the bigger picture.
sorry, but this crap site wont let me go back and edit… why is it wrong for the Canadiens organization to profit while we have fun discussing their team on a site under their likeness but its okay for the Gazette and Postmedia to do so?
I am not against the little guy, but I am for copyright, trademark, patent and intellectual property protection.
This is where we begin to tread upon tricky territory. If this were strictly a fan site clearly marked to be non-profit, I’d say they would leave it alone. I am very surprised the Gazette did not receive permission to use that 4 letter nickname (not wanting to invoke intellectual property laws by naming it) and have been forced to cease and desist.
There is too much blank space compared to Habs Inside Out where you could view more comments per page. Also the edit feature is gone. So is the convenient feature of being able to see “new” comments after the page was refreshed. The Gazette must be getting $ from Gravatar for sending business their way. Also, there is no longer the feature where you could look up someone’s user profile.
The way it was before was simple and fine.
Two thumbs down on this.
Keep posting reasons why you like or dislike the changes and maybe someone will take note.
Bring back Habs Inside Out.
What is with the semi American/satanic/military logo?
It’s North Korean. See my post below.
Hate to be a malcontent, but this site is HIDEOUS. WordPress? Eww.
Aesthetics of pooh.
To sum it up, it kinda just looks like a site lacking any credibility. HockeyBuzz looks more reputable.. LOOKS, isn’t but looks.
Dear Leader Kim Jong Boone
Tear down this site!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_North_Korea.svg
haha, good one. and yes TEAR IT DOWN
Brilliant!
I guess now we have to wait for someone to use it as an avatar. I already downloaded it for later use…
Sorry JJ. Geoff Molson’s lawyer just called. You cannot use it because it is red, white and blue and the Canadiens have exclusive rights to that colour combination now.
I’m planning to take a risk…
JJ you have monstrous balls!
Hmmm… Seems like “reply” is limited too…
Hmmmm… Where’s my new Crapvatar?
Plagiarism is the sincerest form of flattery, I suppose…you should have just copied the link of the flag I put up earlier.
Dear Leader Kim Jong JJ I love it!
And I am too terrified to tell you otherwise!
It is yours My bad.
Can anyone advise why the signature info is not displayed with the post?
I believe it’s temporarily out of order. Like looking to other user’s profiles + other things…
Glitch city. Website is ugly to look at, too.
Really hate having to register elsewhere to display a Habs ( can I still say that?) pic.
I’m also against the idea of giving my e-mail adress to some crapavatar-site for Viagra and Casino advertisements… That site is made for Windows-users, like there was told, you have to have i-exploder 6 or newer to get your security work. So far I haven’t recieve any junkmail and it is quite easy to draw a conclusion if it starts now. I think I’ll draw my tin foil hat a little tighter…
With you all the way, JJ. My cap had to be re-lined when I found out.
got that right. ugly and cheap looking. like any of the millions of half assed blogs out there
That was my first post as a registered member!
I have been a reader for 4 plus years but have limited myself to just reading.
Here’s hoping a team effort shows up and JM lets the kids loose.
Will I be forced to change my name to Captain aHockey?
Go Hockey, GO!
Yes. We’ll have to call you Ishmael.
I am one step ahead of you matey.
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avatar test
Not working.
working?
ack…. this site sucks… so bland. Even reading the articles seem weird with no blue offset background.
This looks like Captain America’s personal blog.
ayae yaye yae i do not like the new HIO look …..Seriously and it will not be something where people will get used to it….it sux boone,stubbs,mio…..it sux.Go back to the original.Why?
Cuz if it aint broke don’t fix it.
Other format was far superior!
gravatar? wtv … site traffic will drop … very confusing
Hockey Inside/Out? Yea whatever. Maybe the guys running yer shop should have grown a pair or two and told Moslon ‘s media gang to just piss off?
It’s a ploy. There never was a request from the Canadiens. The addition of Stu Hackell was the 1st sign that the Gazoo wanted to wade into new territory. HabsInsideOut caters to a very specific demographic. HockeyInsideOut can claim to reach a wider population. Get it? It’s all about upping those advertising dollars.
That’s quite funny. At least you could have spelled my name correctly.