From The Field To The Rink

Back at it

2008-09-11T22:19:00.003-05:00

I know it's been a while since I've taken time to write on here, but I'm back. With football season already underway and hockey coming soon (training camp is only 9 days away), I figured now was as good as any to come back.

Throughout the last couple of weeks, pictures have surfaced of some NHL teams new third jerseys that will be worn this season. The most recent one to come out is the Carolina Hurricanes third jersey. When I first saw it, I honestly didn't know what to think of it. When I look at it, it reminds me of a youth hockey jersey. The black color definitely stands out when you look at it, and Puck Daddy makes a great point when he wonders aloud what Cam Ward will think of his defensemen wearing the same color as the puck. After reading what all the symbolism means, I can at least look at the jersey and understand why they made it the way they did. Speaking of the 'Canes, they recently made Eric Staal one of the highest paid players in the NHL. Staal signed a 7 year, $58 million contract extension that will pay him $8.25 million annually and keep him in a Hurricanes uniform until at least the 2015-2016 season. I believe the money was worth it, as long as the Hurricanes go out and spend more money to get more talent around him. Staal is a great start and I hope he can bounce back to averaging 100 points a season.

Great news coming out of Minnesota recently: Kurtis Foster, who broke his femur late last season, has been up and skating the past few days. This is good news for a guy who really didn't know how long it would take to recover. It was a pretty gruesome injury, and it's good to see Foster back on the ice.

Meanwhile, Assistant GM Tom Lynn and Ron Salcer, Marian Gaborik's agent, are in Los Angeles discussing contract options for the star winger. Gaborik, in the last year of his current contract, will probably demand a contract of at least 6 years at $8.5 million a year. As much money as it is, I believe the Wild need to spend it to keep a guy that has 50 goal potential. Gaborik set a new career best with 42 goals last season, including a 5 goal game against the New York Rangers. With Mikko Koivu, Brent Burns, and Nick Schultz all locked up, the Wild need to get Gaborik to re-sign so that they have a solid core going forward.

In week one of the NFL, injuries were the story. Tom Brady, the reigning MVP and quarterback of the New England Patriots, took a shot to the knee against the Chiefs and is out for the rest of the season with a MCL and ACL tear. Shawne Merriman, the sack machine for the San Diego Chargers, has decided to have season-ending surgery to repair two torn ligaments in his left knee. Both injuries are a major blow to each team, with the Patriots coming off a season where they went to the Super Bowl and the Chargers entering a season where they hoped to reach a Super Bowl.

As much as I hate to talk about it, I suppose I should mention the Vikings/Packers game that went on Monday night. There were ups and downs for the Vikes, but overall they didn't have a good showing in a 24-19 loss. The day after the game, the local papers blasted Tarvaris Jackson for being inconsistent and reiterating that Jackson might only have this season left to prove he can be a reliable quarterback. After watching the entire game, I can only disagree with what the paper said about Tarvaris. Sure, his passing percentage was bad, and yeah, his passer rating was low, but overall I think he did great. He had pressure on him all night, and he did as well as I've seen anyone do with guys in his face. He consistently stayed calm and delivered his throw. His receivers dropped some, and Jackson made some bad throws, but they can't all be perfect. And on the ground, Tarvaris looked fantastic. He scrambled well and showed good poise when deciding whether to throw or run. It is unfortunate the Vikings couldn't pull out a win, but I'm confident that they will recover just fine. It is obvious Tarvaris is getting better, and seeing his progress against Green Bay makes me excited for what he will do this season.

Predictions for Week 2 of the NFL:

Tennessee over Cincinnati
Green Bay over Detroit (Although that is not the way I want it to turn out)
Kansas City over Oakland
New York Giants over St. Louis
Vikings OVER Indianapolis (I will never predict a loss for the Vikings)
New Orleans over Washington
Carolina over Chicago
Jacksonville over Buffalo
Seattle over San Francisco
Atlanta over Tampa Bay (Atlanta looked great week one against Detroit)
New England over New York Jets (Matt Cassel will fill in just fine for Brady)
Arizona over Miami
San Diego over Denver
Houston over Baltimore
Cleveland over Pittsburgh (This is my upset pick, if it is even considered an upset)
Dallas over Philadelphia (And for the sake of my fantasy team, I need Romo to throw at least 4 TDs)

Vikings fill a need, acquire Pro-Bowl DE Allen

2008-04-23T06:28:00.003-05:00

After much deliberation as to what the Vikings may do with this draft, the decision has been made. The Vikings have agreed to trade their first round pick (17 overall) and both of their third round picks in this years draft to the Kansas City Chiefs in exchange for Jared Allen, a pro-bowl Defensive End who led the league in sacks last year with 15 1/2 in only 14 games.

For me, this trade was a no-brainer. The Vikings knew their weakest position was DE, and since they didn't land anyone in free agency, what other route was there to take? They were debating taking a DE in the draft, but the thought was that the only viable candidate (Derrick Harvey) would be gone by the Vikings pick, so they pulled a deal that fills their need and makes the team better. This move definitely makes the Vikings a major contender in the NFC. The only glaring hole the team had was at DE, and now that they filled that with the best in the business, they are looking good going into this season.

The only gripe I have about this trade is that one little mistake by Allen could cost the Vikings dearly. Allen has already been arrested for two DUI's, and one more is a year-long suspension by the league. But if Allen is asking the Vikings for a 6-year, $74 million contract, he better be sure he's not going to screw up. The contract that the Vikings are putting out there for Allen includes $31,000,069 guaranteed (his jersey number is 69). With this move out of the way, the Vikings can now concentrate on getting Tarvaris Jackson, our next biggest project, ready to guide this talented team through the playoffs and on to the Super Bowl.

Let the blaming begin: Why did the Wild fail?

2008-04-21T15:18:00.003-05:00

It's been a tough couple of days for the Minnesota Wild and its fans alike, and it's not going to get any better as the summer wears on. After a season filled with so much expectation and promises, it was over just like that after a 2-1 defeat at the hands of the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday. So many questions remain, and the one that everybody is asking is: Who's the blame for the Wild's failure? I'm going to spread the blame out through the team, from the players to the front office, but I will admit that some are more to blame than others.

1) Jacques Lemaire: Jacques has more Stanley Cup rings in his possession than fingers on his hands, but that hasn't translated into championships here in Minnesota. It's hard to fault a guy that has shown he knows how to win, but he deserves some of the blame. The Wild make one trade at the deadline, Chris Simon, and that was originally to build up our toughness come playoff time. It turns out we didn't need the toughness against the Avalanche, therefore Lemaire decided to sit Simon. Big mistake in my opinion. Watching Simon play these last couple months of the season led me to breathe a sigh of relief; we finally had a guy that went to the front of the net and stayed there in the offensive zone (Todd Fedoruk does that too, but I'm not focusing on him right now). Simon has played in a total of three Stanley Cups, and he has a Cup to his credit, yet Lemaire decides to sit him in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. I agree he may not score as often as he used to, or that we don't really need the tough side of him, but he does what no one else on the Wild does, and that is be physical while also doing your job. How are most goals scored in the NHL? By a player setting a screen and having another play take advantage of that. Chris Simon was the one who set up the screen whenever he got a chance, but Lemaire decides to sit him. And we wonder why the Wild struggled to score this series. Lemaire switched up lines so much and sat guys that could have helped the team that he definitely has to be blamed a little bit.

2) Marian Gaborik: Just to appease most Wild fans, I would have to say that Gabby should be blamed for some of the failure, but I'm in the minority when I say he doesn't deserve too much blame. Gabby is a pure scorer and has proven that in the regular season as well as the Wilds previous playoff appearances. It sucks that Gabby didn't show up in the series against the Avalanche, but is it totally his fault? Gabby played with 4 different centers this year and scored 42 goals, yet he did the same thing in the playoffs, and scored zip. I think that with a consistent center that always played along side him, Gabby could have scored even more in the regular season and definitely gotten going in the playoffs. Either way, a team should never have to count on one player scoring to win in the playoffs.

3) Doug Risebrough: Risebrough has usually had a knack for making good decisions, but this year when it counted, he screwed up big time. Just a month into the season, the Wild lost one of their most reliable centers in Wes Walz. That opened up a huge hole at the center position that was never closed, even as the trade deadline approached. There were rumblings that the Wild might go after a center like Bobby Holik out of Atlanta, and that would have been a fantastic idea. The Wild were a good team most of the season, but acquiring a quality center to play with Gabby and win faceoffs in the offensive zone would have made them a great team. So when we need a center, what does Risebrough go out and get? A forward in Chris Simon (this is not a knock on Simon, I like him and want him to stay with the team). As soon as the trade deadline passed, I immediately questioned Risebroughs commitment to winning. We could have used another solid defensemen as well, but we got nothing. All this while our first-round opponent is out getting Peter Forsberg, Adam Foote, and Ruslan Salei. This made the difference in the series and I believe that most of the blame lies right here on Risebrough.

4) The Team: Usually I don't like to blame anybody other than the players, but this time I think it is split. I always believe most of the blame belongs to the team, since they're the ones playing the game, but again, I split the blame. The Wild actually played a pretty good series, but the better team won. Part of the reason the Wild lost was the defense: not because they were bad, but because they were tired. Once we lost Kurtis Foster to a broken leg, our defense was tremendously weaker. Then just a week before the playoffs start, Nick Schultz, arguably our most consistent defensemen, goes down with an appendectomy that sidelined him until game 6. That left guys like Brent Burns, Kim Johnsson, and Martin Skoula to play upwards of 30 minutes a game with back-to-back games thrown into the series. All that together is a recipe for disaster.

The Wild will undergo a major makeover this offseason, so who knows if they will make it back into the postseason next year. Hopefully with Craig Leipold now taking over as owner of the team, the Wild will be spending some money to bring in some major talent to compliment the talent they already have. Re-signing Gabby would be a good place to start, and then they should go after either Marian Hossa or Brian Campbell. A high-profile player that has proven himself will be the key to bring in, and if it doesn't get done, it will be a disappointment. Now that the Wild season is over, it is time to shift gears to the Twins and the Vikings.

Minnesota Vikings: A possible 13 win team?

2008-04-15T16:39:00.004-05:00

The NFL schedule was released this morning, much to the delight of fans everywhere. I always love the beginning of the season because it enables fans of all teams to believe their team can win it all (except Lions fans, I can't honestly believe they think they have a chance). The Minnesota Vikings, coming off an off-season that was full of moves, look to have a very favorable schedule. Here is the schedule in its entirety:

Sept. 8: Vikings at Green Bay (6 p.m. Monday, ESPN)
Sept. 14: Indianapolis at Vikings (noon, CBS)
Sept. 21: Carolina at Vikings (noon, FOX)
Sept. 28: Vikings at Tennessee (noon, FOX)
Oct. 6: Vikings at New Orleans (7:30 p.m., ESPN)
Oct. 12: Detroit at Vikings (noon, FOX)
Oct. 19: Vikings at Bears (noon, FOX)
Oct. 26: BYE
Nov. 2: Houston at Vikings (noon, CBS)
Nov. 9: Green Bay at Vikings (noon, FOX)
Nov. 16: Vikings at Tampa Bay (noon, FOX)
Nov. 23: Vikings at Jacksonville (noon, FOX)
Nov. 30: Chicago at Vikings (7:15 p.m., NBC)
Dec. 7: Vikings at Detroit (noon, FOX)
Dec. 14: Vikings at Arizona (3:05 p.m., FOX)
Dec. 21: Atlanta at Vikings (noon, FOX)
Dec. 28: N.Y. Giants at Vikings (noon, FOX)

Looks good, right? Ok, so maybe I'm reaching for some stars when I think the Vikings could win up to 13 games this season, but it might be a legit prediction. Starting at the top of the schedule, the Vikings should be able to get off to a good start with a pounding at the hands of the Packers. The Vikings, after their upgrades and the Packers loss of Favre, are definitely the better of the two teams when they meet. Then the Vikings run into the Peyton Manning-led Colts, a tough game even though it's at home. I did have the Vikings losing this game, but you never know. I believe this game will come down to the Vikings secondary and whether or not they can keep Manning in check. Next on the block is the Carolina Panthers, a team that doesn't match up with the Vikings at all. Steve Smith is far and away their best player, and without a solid quarterback, he can't even be utilized (as evident by my terrible Fantasy season last year in which I leaned on him way too much). Then the Tennessee Titans host the Vikings in a game that shouldn't be too difficult for the Vikes. I love the Titans and the direction their going with Vince Young at QB, and I do think they are a good team, but I still think the Vikings are better all around. Then the Vikings travel to New Orleans to take on the Saints. The Saints, with plenty of good players but coming off a very disappointing season, will play the Vikings close, but in the end, I again have to believe my Vikings would beat a team like that. Of course I believe this game is contingent on how Drew Brees and Reggie Bush perform, but I don't see both of them lighting it up, at least in the same game. The Vikings then have the privilege of hosting the Detroit Lions, the perennial cellar-dweller in the NFC North. I hate to pick on the Lions, but even when they do well (like last year), they still screw up at the end of the year. As I'm sure you picked up by now, I am taking the Vikings in this matchup. Minnesota then travels to the windy city to take on the Bears. I don't know what to think of the Bears this year, but right now, my thought is that they won't be very good. They still have Rex taking the snaps and they don't have a running game. I wouldn't be surprised if the Vikings shut the Bears out in this game. With my predictions, that puts the Vikings at an impressive 6-1 going into the BYE week. Although that may be very lofty, I like to think big for my hometown teams.

The Vikings first matchup after their week off is the Houston Texans at home. The Texans, another team I like to see succeed, are not a team I see keeping up with the Vikes. As has been the theme with this post, you'll find that I say that teams "cannot keep up with the Vikings" quite often. That is because of four reasons:

1) Adrian Peterson
2) Our outstanding defensive line
3) Our outstanding offensive line
4) And Adrian Peterson

If those reasons don't impress you, then...well you're not on the same page as me. But still, the Vikings have a great team that should be able to keep up with most teams this year. Anyway, back to the schedule. After the Texans, the Vikings have their second game against the Packers, but this time the game is at the Metrodome. Again I do not see the Pack putting any real pressure on our defense, so I see another semi-blowout in the Vikings favor. The Purple then travel to sunny Tampa Bay to take on the Buccaneers. Although the Bucs don't strike me as a team with a lot of firepower, I just don't see the Vikings winning 8 games in a row, even if I wanted it to happen. This is a game that I will concede and give to the Bucs. Next up is a very very talented Jacksonville team. I have a ton of faith in the Vikings, but the Jaguars are too good. As much as it pains me to say, I believe the Vikings will go on a losing streak at this point in the season. The Vikings will rebound from their losing streak though when they take on the Bears again. I am really glad that the Vikings are in the NFC North because we play the Bears twice. It won't be a difficult task to take down the Bears again, and that will get the Vikes back on the right track. Next the Vikings take on another divisional foe in the Lions. The Lions are not a good team, so again I see the Vikings having no trouble. The next couple games are against the Cardinals and Falcons, respectively. I kind of see these two teams as evenly matched, although I think the Cards are a bit better. I can see the Vikings blowing both of these teams out, although the Cardinals could pull a fast one on the Vikes. The Vikings wrap up the regular season against the defending world champion New York Giants. This will be a tough game, simply because after last year the Giants proved they are a good team, but also last year the Vikings dismantled the Giants with a team that isn't as good as they will be this year. I can see the Giants winning this game, but I still choose the Vikings because I like them better.

I know that these predictions are kind of far-fetched, but I have a lot of confidence in the Purple this year. They upgraded all around and got guys that will add to the team right away (Bernard Berrian, Madieu Williams, and Thomas Tapeh). If the Vikes do well in the draft and are able to grab a guy like Derrick Harvey, they will be in good shape. If Tarvaris Jackson can really become a big time quarterback this year after a decent season last year, the Vikings offense will be as potent as any.

Wild deliver crushing blow to Avalanche

2008-04-15T00:44:00.002-05:00

In a must-win game for the Minnesota Wild, it was a couple of the usual suspects that showed up and got the W for the visiting team. Niklas Backstrom was unbelievable in making 44 saves en route to a 3-2 overtime victory for the Minnesota Wild.

It was a game that featured lead changes throughout and plenty of action up and down the ice. The Wild, for the third game this series and third game in a row, let in the first goal of the game, a rebound shot by Andrew Brunette that put the Avalanche up 1-0 at the 15:19 mark of the first. There are so many amazing story lines already in this series, but the most telling is the Wild's tendency to break out in the third period and overtime. The game stayed at 1-0 through the second period as the Avalanche fired 17 shots at Backstrom. Both teams were getting there chances, yet neither team was breaking through. This was a game that Colorado had a ton of chances to get ahead, due to the horrible officiating that was displayed. Every call, no matter how little or how blatant, was a penalty on the Wild. It literally seemed like the Wild would kill a penalty, and then immediately get called for another one. The Wild had their chances on the powerplay too, just not as many as there should have been. When the third period rolled around, it was the Wild taking control again. The Wild in this series have a total of 8 goals: 6 of those have come in the third period, while the other two came in overtime. Needless to say, the Wild are quite lucky that they can keep the game within reach in the first couple periods. True to their form this series, the Wild quickly tied the game at 1-1 when at the 7:13 mark of the third Todd Fedoruk hustled down the Avalanche end, scooped up the puck and swiftly threw it in front of the net where Mikko Koivu was waiting to tie the game. It was a beautiful goal that involved two of the Wild's most important players right now in Fedoruk and Koivu.

Tying the game up was a boost to the Wild, who were looking for something to give them the momentum. After Koivu was called for a tripping penalty at the 10:26 mark of the period, the Wild continued to dump the puck for about a minute before Pavol Demitra was able to slip by the Colorado defenders. Demo carried the puck up the left side with Brian Rolston on his right and Colorado defensemen Jean-Michael Liles in between them. Demo stick-handled the puck through the left faceoff circle where he got Liles and goalie Jose Theodore to commit. Demitra then threw the puck across the ice to a streaking Rolston, who shot the puck into the empty net to give the Wild the lead with less than 10 minutes to play. Although they had the momentum in their favor, you can never count out the Avalanche when they put Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg out there. It took just over 3 minutes for Colorado to tie the game again, this time on a bouncing puck in front of the Minnesota net that Sakic was able to corral and put pass Backstrom. The teams continued to play evenly for the rest of the game until time was winding down in regulation and David Jones took a slashing penalty to give the Wild a powerplay with 8 seconds remaining in the game.

The Wild came out firing on the powerplay in overtime, but of course it was to no avail. Theodore was a stone wall out there, as he has been the entire series. The overtime featured even more scoring chances for each team, but both goaltenders were committed to keeping their team in the game. Finally at the 11:58 mark of overtime, the Wild was rewarded for its hard work when Rolston hustled down the ice to avoid an icing call and threw the puck into the middle of the ice to a waiting Pierre-Marc Bouchard, who buried the puck behind Theodore and sent the Wild into a frenzy.

This was a wicked important game for the Wild to win, not simply because it puts them up 2-1 in the series, but also because it helps reclaim their home ice advantage they had taken away when Colorado won game one in St. Paul. The real test for both teams will be tomorrow night when they play their second game in two days. With the Wild shorthanded due to injuries and the Avalanche having no shortage of older veterans, it will be interesting to see which team will come out firing first in a game that should ultimately decide how the rest of this series goes.

Mikko Koivu quietly becomes one of the most reliable centers in the NHL

2008-04-14T10:18:00.005-05:00

Mikko Koivu, one of the few mainstays in the Minnesota Wild lineup, has proven now more than ever why he is one of the best centers in the National Hockey League. Coming off the best year of his short NHL career, Koivu is the epitome of what a center needs to be, even if he doesn't get the recognition he deserves. After a regular season in which he tallied 11 goals and 31 assists, he has already collected two goals and one assist in the Wild's current playoff series against the Colorado Avalanche. In recent years in the NHL, it has become increasingly important to have a good core of centers due to the rule changes that came about after the lockout, especially on a team like the Wild, where coach Jacques Lemaire preaches two-way hockey from his centers. Although currently a little shaky at that position, the Wild are in great shape for the future with Mikko Koivu leading the way.

Koivu has never been one to garner attention; heck, he didn't even start out as a scoring center in the early stages of his career. When the Wild drafted him with their first pick in the 2001 draft, they drafted based on what they saw in the future, not the stats he had accumulated so far. From 1999 to 2004, Koivu collected just 32 goals while playing in Finland, and 11 of those goals came in the 2000-2001 campaign. It wasn't until the Wild finally signed Koivu and assigned him to the Houston Aeros that he blossomed into a real scoring threat. In his first season with the Aeros in 2004-2005, Koivu scored 20 goals to go along with 28 assists, the first time he showed that he had any real scoring threat. That next season, Koivu made it out of camp and on to the Minnesota Wild roster. That year, Koivu played in 64 games and had 6 goals and 15 assists to go along with a +/- rating of -9. Although he showed good signs of progress, the Wild were counting on him to be their number one center, and with numbers like those, that wasn't what he was showing. When the 2006-2007 season rolled around, Koivu looked like he was ready to shed his scoring demons and get on the right track. Koivu had 20 goals and 34 assists that year to go along with a very important +6 rating. Koivu also had his first career NHL playoff goal that season, and proved that he can be a scoring threat as well as a shut-down center. Although Koivu had made good strides during the 06-07 season, it was his most recent season, 07-08, that had the rest of the NHL buzzing.

This season, Koivu totaled 11 goals and 31 assists with a career high +13 rating, but those numbers came in only 57 games. On November 17th in a game against the Vancouver Canucks, Koivu tried to skate past Vancouver's Mattias Ohlund in the neutral zone. Koivu brought his arm up in a bid to get around Ohlund, but Ohlund thought it was a blatant elbow to the head. Ohlund quickly reacted and took a brutal two-handed swing at Koivu's leg, breaking a bone in it and sidelining him for 24 games. With Koivu primed for a breakout season, this injury was a huge blow to the Wild. Luckily, the Wild recovered and Koivu came back and continued his scoring to propel the Wild to their first Northwest Division title. Although it is easy to look at stats and put all your eggs in that basket in terms of importance, it is the intangibles that Koivu brings to the table that make him among the great centers in the game right now.

Jacques Lemaire is all about defense. Although most teams and coaches around the league believe it slows the game down, Lemaire's style led the Wild to a division championship. His system is one that focuses on shutting down opposing offenses before worrying about scoring your own goals. The defense is taught to clamp back and cut off the forecheck, while the forwards are taught to find space and take a shot if they have one (unfortunately the Wild could still use some help in that department). This leaves the center to take on both roles, yet all within the top of both ends faceoff circles. While the centers in Lemaire's system are told to focus more on defense, when they get into the offensive zone, they are supposed to stay behind the top of the faceoff circles in order to be able to transition more fluently. That is exactly what makes Koivu so good at what he does. Although largely unnoticed, Koivu has become one of the best two-way centers in the game, creating a myriad of scoring chances as well as playing a brilliant neutral zone game and having a great backcheck. Koivu is usually playing on the Wild's checking line beside forwards Stephane Veilleux and Branko Radivojevic, and there is no question as to what his job is: shut down the other teams top line. The beauty of Koivu's game is that he can do that all while being able to rush up the ice and score on his own, or get the puck in the opposing zone so that the next line can create chances. It can't be an easy thing to do as a center, having your main job be defense. But Koivu knows his role and has shown vast improvement the last couple of seasons, a big relief to a team that is a little weak at center. This season, with the way Koivu has been playing, Lemaire has been inserting him into both the checking line and the top line, sometimes playing him alongside Marian Gaborik. When playing alongside a playmaker like Gaborik or playing on the checking line that doesn't get a whole lot of recognition, it's unfortunate that Koivu doesn't get the attention he deserves.

Most people that know of Mikko Koivu most likely know of him because of his brother: Saku Koivu, the captain of the Montreal Canadiens. But there is no doubt that soon enough Mikko will gain the spotlight from his older brother. Although largely unnoticed by the rest of the league, you would think that such an important player would be more known throughout Minnesota, a state that lives and breathes hockey, but unfortunately that isn't the case. Even in his home arena, Koivu is rarely recognized as one of the three stars of the game unless he had a couple goals or a couple of assists, but what Koivu brings to this team is so much more to that. Watching Koivu all year, I have seen two main points that stand out in his game: He doesn't make mistakes (ever); and he has some of the best moves you will ever see. Most goaltenders in the Western Conference can attest to the fact that Koivu has one of the sickest penalty shots around. His moves during games may not be the ones that end up as top plays like Alex Ovechkin's or Sidney Crosby's, but his are just as effective as anybody elses. Koivu has never been one to seek out attention. He seems content to be playing on a team that has more recognizable players such as Gaborik, Brian Rolston, and Pavol Demitra. But as his game continues to get better and better, there is no doubt that one day he will garner the attention that he deserves in the form of All-Star selections and Hart trophys.

All stats courtesy of TSN

Wild continue to fight through injuries

2008-04-13T18:46:00.004-05:00

The Wild has officially been bitten by the injury bug at the absolute worst possible time of the season. With Nick Schultz (appendectomy) and Kurtis Foster (broken femur) already out for the rest of the series with Colorado (Schultz is slated to appear sometime during the second round, assuming the Wild get that far), the Wild are lucky to be tied at one game a piece heading into the games in Denver.

The injury list seems to be growing day by day, although the most recent injuries are not preventing players from sitting...yet. Martin Skoula has been playing on a bum leg for the last couple games, making our defensive corps even weaker, and Branko Radivojevic is said to be nursing a leg injury of his own. Radio's injury, although kept under wraps pretty good, seems to be the most serious. He is actually in jeopardy of sitting for game 3. Wild coach Jacques Lemaire seems adamant that Radio will be sitting on Monday, but General Manager Doug Risebrough is in disagreement stating he is "day-to-day." It wouldn't be beneficial to lose a forward like Radivojevic, but at least the Wild could adjust accordingly. If Radio were to sit, it would open up a spot for Chris Simon, who I think should have been in the first two games anyway (3 Stanley Cup appearances and 1 ring? That experience should be out there). On defense, it's a whole different story. Already being two defensemen down, it is imperative that our defense stays intact from now on.

Since Schultz went down with his appendectomy, many beat writers around hockey have been writing the Wild off (including Minnesota's own Michael Russo) and saying that the series is now Colorado's to win. Obviously being a huge fan of the Wild, I disagree. My prediction of course has something to do with how much I root for Minnesota, but I also approach the series realistically. Losing Schultz is huge, no doubt, but the Wild have enough adversity to get through it. Since he went down, guys like Brent Burns, Kim Johnsson, and Keith Carney have all stepped up and filled their roles just like they should. The Wild have plenty of experience on the blueline, and although guys will have to log more than 30 minutes of ice time, defensemen Petteri Nummelin put it best: "It's the playoffs, you never get tired." If the Wild can get off to a good start in Denver, there chances of advancing are greatly improved, and if they advance and get Schultz back healthy, there's no limit as to just how far they can go.

Wild drop a tough one, down 1-0 in series

2008-04-09T23:07:00.003-05:00

With a crowd in excess of 19,000 screaming fans, the Wild put forth a brilliant effort, but in the end it was the experience and poise of the Colorado veterans that sunk them. Joe Sakic scored just over eight and a half minutes into overtime to send the Wild faithful home without the expected victory.

The Wild played outstanding hockey for the first two periods, and it is definitely something to build on. They were getting their shots, connecting on hits, and making great passes, but it took a long time before bounces started coming their way. The Wild dominated the first period where they out-shot the Avalanche 11-2, most of those shots coming on the powerplay. Although they didn't connect on either PP opportunity, the Wild had a ton of momentum to build on going into the second. The first period was played with intense physicality, and it was definitely fun to watch. The Wild came out swinging, and it was apparent right from the get-go. Todd Fedoruk, Derek Boogaard, and even Martin Skoula were throwing guys into the boards from the opening whistle. Going into the second frame, the fans had every reason to believe the Wild would be the first to strike, but it didn't go that way.

Although it was fairly obvious from their first period powerplays that the Wild weren't having much luck, the second period brought about even more unfortunate bounces. It didn't take long for the Avalanche to capitalize on a Wild mistake after the drop of the puck. Just 1:29 into the second, Sakic carried the puck through the neutral zone and sped up the left side. Following close behind him was Minnesota-native Kurt Sauer, who took a beautiful drop-pass from Sakic and shot top-shelf to give the Avalanche a 1-0 lead in the game. The Wild continued to dominate the game for the next ten minutes, but again nothing was falling for them. After coming close multiple times, the Wild got another unlucky break when Ryan Smyth took a pass from Jeff Finger and fired one past Niklas Backstrom to put Colorado up 2-0 with the second starting to wind down. The Wild continued to pepper Colorado goalie Jose Theodore, but Theodore was holding strong, turning away all 9 shots the Wild had in the second. Down by 2 going into the locker room after two strong periods, the Wild may have been down, but they were far from out.

Again the Wild came out swinging in the third, and it didn't take long for it to finally pay off. The Wild took advantage of a good bounce when Mikko Koivu threw the puck in front of the Colorado net and the puck bounced off of an Avalanche defender and past Theodore to cut the Colorado lead to 2-1 just over 3 minutes into the period. With the momentum back in hand, the Wild went at it again. Knowing they could get one past Theodore seemed like it gave them confidence, and that confidence paid off again just 3 minutes later when Todd Fedoruk camped in front of the net and took a pass from Petteri Nummelin and then backhanded it past Theodore to bring the Wild into a tie with the Avalanche. After the game-tying goal, the Wild seemed to go into their "shutdown" mode, where they try more to prevent a goal then to score one. It ended up working for most of the period, but towards the end it almost cost them. With the Avalanche deep in the Wild zone and pressuring Backstrom, a big pile gathered in front of the net and Wild defensemen Keith Carney was caught covering the puck inside his own crease, therefore giving the Avs a penalty shot. Taking the shot for Colorado was Ryan Smyth, who was 3 for 4 in his career in penalty shots, and in net for the Wild was Backstrom. Smyth carried the puck in and made a move to Backstroms right. Backstrom followed him and threw his leg down to block Smyth's "shot," which wasn't a shot at all, just a little bit of a push of the puck which Backs threw aside to keep the game in a 2-2 tie. The remaining 3 minutes or so of the game remained deadlocked, but the Avs definitely had more chances. Going into overtime, it was obvious the game could go either way.

Once OT started, both teams seemed to have new life. Everybody had their legs back, and the game was moving fast once again. Each team had their chances, but neither cashed in, at least not right away. At the 11:11 mark of the 4th frame, Sakic parked himself in front the Wild net and waited for a shot. That shot came from Ruslan Salei, who fired one that bounced off of Martin Skoula's skate and right to Sakic's backhand. Sakic fired the puck home and sent the Avalanche back to their hotel with a 3-2 victory and a 1-0 series lead to work with.

This was a very entertaining game to watch, but unfortunately it didn't turn out the way I was hoping. I damn near had an aneurysm multiple times during the game, including Fedoruk's game-tying goal and Smyth's penalty-shot miss. Although I would like the Wild to win games by a comfortable margin the rest of the series, if the games keep going like this it will definitely be one of the more interesting series of this years playoffs.

NHL Playoff predictions

2008-04-09T10:54:00.004-05:00

Sorry for the long hiatus, I've been busy with work recently and am just now getting time to write anything.

With the NHL playoffs starting tonight, I figured I'd post my predictions on who I think will advance and who I think will be bounced. I'm not going to get into too much explanation with the series, just a couple of reasons why I think each team will move on.

Western Conference:

(1) Detroit Red Wings vs. (8) Nashville Predators-This really isn't a true playoff series in my opinion. I do enjoy watching the Preds every so often when the Wild face them, but against the Wings, they have zero chance of moving on. Detroit is powerful on all sides of the puck and they have the experience needed to zip past Nashville and move on without a hitch.

Prediction: Detroit in 5 games

(2) San Jose Sharks vs. (7) Calgary Flames-This is a very interesting matchup to start the playoffs. The Sharks are an absolute beast of a team and after watching them manhandle the Wild all season long, I like the way they're built. But Calgary is not a team that will succumb under the Sharks enormous firepower. With a guy like Jarome Iginla scoring goals and Miikka Kiprusoff preventing goals, this will be more of a challenge for San Jose than I believe they think it will be.

Prediction: San Jose in 7 games

(3) Minnesota Wild vs. (6) Colorado Avalanche-The Wild are coming into the postseason on a hot streak, and I don't see it ending anytime soon. Even with the loss of our most consistent defensemen in Nick Schultz, the team will be able to rally together and run through Colorado without much of a problem.

Prediction: Minnesota in 6 games

(4) Anaheim Ducks vs. (5) Dallas Stars-This is another series that will be entertaining to watch. The Ducks are a very physical team and are the defending Stanley Cup champions, but the Stars have plenty of talent on their team too. If guys like Matt Niskanen and Marty Turco can come up big, I can see the Stars easily handling the Ducks. Although I would love to see the Ducks advance so that the Wild could get a chance to play them, I just don't see them doing much.

Prediction: Dallas in 6 games

Eastern Conference:

(1) Montreal Canadiens vs. (8) Boston Bruins-This is truly a 1 vs. 8 matchup. The Canadiens have dominated the Bruins all season and are the best team in the East right now. The Bruins are just not experienced enough to get past a tough Montreal team that consists of guys like Alexei Kovalev and Saku Koivu.

Prediction: Montreal in 4 games

(2) Pittsburgh Penguins vs. (7) Ottawa Senators-Just like the Bruins/Canadiens matchup, this won't be much of a series at all. The Senators started the season 15-2, one of the best starts in NHL history, and barely held on to a playoff berth. The Penguins on the other hand have many young guys looking to make a huge impression on the league by guiding this team to the Cup. With the right mix of young guns and experienced veterans, the Penguins are one of the teams to beat in the East.

Prediction: Pittsburgh in 5 games

(3) Washington Capitals vs. (6) Philadelphia Flyers-This is a really hard series to predict. The Capitals captured the division crown on the last day of the season pitting them against a tough, gritty Flyers team. Although I love what Alex Ovechkin has done this season, I do think that the physical play of Philly can shut him down enough to do what they need to. I'm not a fan of the Flyers by any means, but I have to go with my gut.

Prediction: Philadelphia in 7 games

(4) New Jersey Devils vs. (5) New York Rangers-Both of these teams are solid, but I like the scoring punch of the Devils more. Zach Parise will come up huge in the playoffs, and Martin Brodeur will shine like always as the Devils take this series fairly easily.

Prediction: New Jersey in 6 games

Western Conference Semifinals:

(1) Detroit Red Wings vs. (5) Dallas Stars

Prediction: Detroit in 6 games

(2) San Jose Sharks vs. (3) Minnesota Wild

Prediction: Minnesota in 7 games

Eastern Conference Semifinals:

(1) Montreal Canadiens vs. (6) Philadelphia Flyers

Prediction: Montreal in 6 games

(2) Pittsburgh Penguins vs. (4) New Jersey Devils

Prediction: Pittsburgh in 6 games

Western Conference Finals:

(1) Detroit Red Wings vs. (3) Minnesota Wild

Prediction: Minnesota Wild in 6 games

Eastern Conference Finals:

(1) Montreal Canadiens vs. (2) Pittsburgh Penguins

Prediction: Montreal Candiens in 6 games

STANLEY CUP FINALS:

(3) Minnesota Wild vs. (1) Montreal Canadiens

Prediction: Minnesota Wild in 6 games

I'm sure it was quite predictable that I would choose the Wild to win it all, but I can't go against my hometown team. I honestly believe they have the stuff this year to make a huge run, as long as they can band together and beat the teams like San Jose and Detroit.

Who should the Vikings take in the 2008 draft?

2008-03-29T00:54:00.003-05:00

With the 2008 NFL draft approaching in less than a month, I figured it was time to sort out the different scenarios that could come about for the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings have some massive holes to fill on defense, and there are many different players in this years draft that could help the team tremendously right away in their rookie year. After reading many mock drafts, I have compiled a list of possible draft choices (that seem logical) that the Vikings could go with for next months draft. All of these choices obviously depend on how the teams ahead of the Vikings choose, but I'm just pretending that every player I go over will be available for Minnesota's 17th pick.

Possible players:

Derrick Harvey (DE University of Florida)-Harvey is a guy that would fit right in with Minnesota. With good size (6-5 271 pounds) and decent speed (4.84 40), he is the type of tackling player we need on the line. He is listed as the 3rd overall DE at nfldraftscout.com. Harvey registered 49 tackles and 8.5 sacks for the Gators last season while starting all 13 games. He has shown enough agility and strength that teams that run both the 3-4 and the 4-3 defense have lined up to watch him. Harvey is definitely a guy that Minnesota should look at if he isn't snatched up earlier in the draft.

Philip Merling (DE Clemson)-Merling is another guy that would seem to be a great fit with the Vikings. About the same size as Harvey (6-4 276 pounds), Merling is listed as the 4th overall DE at nfldraftscout.com. He collected a career-high 78 tackles with 7 sacks last season while starting in all 13 games. He was given the Rock Solid award at Clemson last season for his consistency on the field. His 40 yard dash time is just slightly better than Harvey (4.73), but Harvey seems to have a little more agility than Merling. Although he is intriguing because of his numbers, there is a bit of a worry with him. Merling hasn't been able to work out for scouts since the season ended due to a sports hernia. He wasn't able to compete in the NFL Combine, citing a groin pull as the reason. Based strictly on numbers, Merling seems to be a guy that could help the Vikings, but the injury is sure to catch the teams attention.

Calais Campbell (DE Miami)-Campbell is a huge guy that would plug the hole the Vikings are trying to fill. Campbell is listed at 6-8, 290 pounds, making him much bigger than the other two prospective defensive ends. Campbell isn't the fastest guy (5.04 40), but his size is a big advantage. He registered 50 tackles for the Hurricanes last year to go along with 6 sacks. Campbell may be big, but his strength is an issue to some NFL scouts. Campbell was only able to do 16 reps at 225 pounds when tested in strength. His lack of strength coupled with his not-so-good speed has been causing him to slip down the draft board, making him the most likely to be available for the Vikings. Although there are concerns about him, Campbell is another DE that has a tremendous upside if he can work out a few kinks in his game.

Antoine Cason (CB Arizona)-Even with the upgrade of the secondary by adding Madieu Williams, the Vikings still lack the depth that makes teams afraid to throw against them. By drafting Cason, the Vikings could become a legitimate pass defense. Cason is listed at 6-0 and 190 pounds, making him the ideal size for a speedy corner. Cason has the speed (4.45 40) and has shown that he has the talent to be a great cover guy. He recorded 71 tackles last year and intercepted 5 passes, returning two of those 5 for touchdowns. Many teams would like a guy like Cason on their team, but if he were to slip to 17, I would hope the Vikings take a serious look at him.

Of course these are all hypothetical draft picks we're looking at, but it is obvious that the Vikings should upgrade the DE position, and if Cason becomes available, they should look at upgrading their secondary, too. It's hard to really think about which player would work best for Minnesota, but if I had a choice, I think I would want Harvey on the Vikings, followed by Cason, Merling, and then Campbell. I also read today that it is a possibility the Vikings may explore the chance to trade oft-injured Bryant McKinnie to the Miami Dolphins for Jason Taylor. That would definitely be a trade I would be in favor of, since losing McKinnie wouldn't be that big of a deal. I also wish that the Vikings would either draft or trade for a reliable quarterback to take over for Tavaris Jackson. Until they get a QB that can throw the ball more than 40 yards downfield, they will not go very far. The Vikings have taken huge steps to becoming a team that could make it to the Super Bowl, and it shows. I'm definitely counting down the days to the draft so I can see just how good the Vikings may be this year.

All stats courtesy of nfldraftscout.com

Wild kick it into gear, send Canucks to fourth straight loss

2008-03-28T23:04:00.004-05:00

With just 4 games remaining in the regular season, the Minnesota Wild are getting hot at the right time. Mikko Koivu had a goal and an assist and Niklas Backstrom had 28 saves en route to a 4-0 win over the Vancouver Canucks. The game featured everything a Wild fan could want: a dominating win by a team that had been struggling to score, a brawl in the middle of the third period, and a wicked performance by Backstrom that propelled the Wild to victory.

The Wild jumped out to a 1-0 lead quickly in the first period when Pierre-Marc Bouchard took a beautiful pass from Benoit Pouliot and blasted a slapshot past Roberto Luongo from the top of the circle at the 11:37 mark of the period. That was just the beginning of a scoring barrage that lasted for a period and a half. It took only 6 more minutes for the Wild to score again, and this time it was Mikko Koivu who cashed in for the Wild. With Koivu in possession of the puck deep in the Canucks zone, he threw it across the left circle to Brian Rolston, who passed it back to Koivu who in one fluid motion deked Willie Mitchell out of his breezers and lifted the puck past Luongo at the 17:21 mark of the first. That was it for scoring in the first period as the Wild wound down one of their best periods of play in a long time.

The second period started off with the Wild dominating again, but it took until the 8:28 mark for them to sneak one past Luongo again. Pavol Demitra carried the puck behind Luongo, looking to dump it off to Marian Gaborik. Gabby came streaking behind the net and took the puck to the sidewall where he passed it across the middle to a streaking Brent Burns who shot it home to give the Wild a 3-0 lead. Exactly 5 minutes later, the Wild put the dagger in the hearts of the Canucks. After a broken play in the Wild zone, Gaborik gathered the puck and used his speed to skate down the rink on the right side with just one man in front of him. Gabby looked to his left and saw Todd Fedoruk streaking with him, giving the Wild a 2 on 1. As Gabby crossed the blueline, he slowed down to allow Fedoruk to catch up, and threw the puck across the ice to Fridge as he held on long enough for Luongo to make the first move. Fridge hit the top shelf to give the Wild the 4-0 lead, and all the insurance they would need. After that fourth goal, Curtis Sanford came in for the depleted Luongo, who had given up all 4 goals in less than two full periods.

After 4 goals for the home team, you'd think the fans would be happy at that, but what happened at the 9:43 mark of the third really made the fans excited. Up to this point, there hadn't been many penalties in the game, not like the usual Vancouver/Minnesota matchups. But about halfway through the third, that all changed. After an attempted spear by Alex Burrows, Bouchard reacted with a retaliatory slash that could be heard around the arena. As soon as Bouchard hit Burrows, all hell broke loose. All 10 players on the ice reacted in a split second, and soon, 10 pairs of gloves and 10 sticks were on the ice. Players were being held back by one another, and Burns soon got tangled with Nathan McIver. After Burns pounded McIver, Bouchard squared off with Burrows. Neither got any real punches off, and they were split before anything else got started. It took a good 10 minutes for the penalties to be handed out, and this is how they went:

Alex Burrows: Fighting Major (5 minutes) and a 10 minute match penalty for intent to injure

Nathan McIver: Fighting Major (5 minutes)

Brent Burns: Fighting Major (5 minutes), instigator (2 minutes), unsportsmanlike conduct (2 minutes), and a 10 minute game misconduct

Pierre-Marc Bouchard: Fighting Major (5 minutes) and a slashing major (5 minutes)

With all that settled, the Canucks ended up with a 4 minute powerplay, but that was soon shortened to just over a minute after Henrik Sedin took a penalty for interference just after the melee ended. The Wild continued their dominance for the rest of the game, and ended up with the much-needed big win they had been looking for for a month. If the Wild continue to play the way they did tonight for the rest of the season, there is no doubt they will make it deep into the playoffs.

Father knows best

2008-03-23T16:34:00.004-05:00

Jonathan Roy, the son of legendary NHL goalie Patrick Roy, is facing discipline for beating the tar out of another goalie in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. The trouble started when at 19:32 of the second period, Quebec forward Christophe Poirer and Chicoutimi centre Joel Champagne collided in Quebec's end of the rink. All 10 players immediately threw their gloves off and started a brawl. Roy, who plays for Quebec, didn't want to be left out of the action so he skated across the ice, looking for Chicoutimi goalie Bobby Nadeau. The refs restrained Roy for a little bit before letting him go to break up the other fights. Bad idea by the refs. Roy continued to go for Nadeau, and when he met up with him, he went crazy. Roy slammed Nadeau back into his own goal and started to pummel him. Even when Nadeau crawled to the ice, Roy continued to pound him while the refs were on the other side of the rink. As Roy skated away after the fight (I guess it wasn't much of a fight, it was more like target practice for Roy), he put both of his middle fingers in the air and pointed them to the crowd.

Now this is definitely not the classiest thing I've ever seen, but I'm not going to say I didn't enjoy watching it. I hope Nadeau wasn't injured, and I know that Roy will get suspended, but it was hilarious to see how much he flipped out. I guess we should have known that Roy had that in him though, his dad was the same way.

Story from TSN Canada

My Bracket for March Madness

2008-03-19T23:01:00.005-05:00

Since tomorrow is the opening of the Big Dance (not including the play-in game), I figured I'd post my picks to see what everyone thinks. After last years tourney, I'm really hesitant with a lot of my picks, but I feel fairly confident in many of my upsets. I guess we'll see how it goes:

Teams advancing to the second round:

East Bracket (seed in parentheses):

(1) North Carolina

(9) Arkansas

(5) Notre Dame

(4) Washington State

(6) Oklahoma

(3) Louisville

(7) Butler

(2) Tennessee

Midwest Bracket:

(1) Kansas

(8) UNLV

(12) Villanova

(4) Vanderbilt

(11) Kansas State

(3) Wisconsin

(7) Gonzaga

(2) Georgetown

Upsets: Villanova over Clemson, Kansas State over USC

South Bracket:

(1) Memphis

(8) Mississippi State

(5) Michigan State

(4) Pittsburgh

(6) Marquette

(3) Stanford

(7) Miami

(2) Texas

West Bracket:

(1) UCLA

(9) Texas A&M

(5) Drake

(4) Connecticut

(6) Purdue

(3) Xavier

(10) Arizona

(2) Duke

Upsets: Arizona over West Virginia

Teams advancing to the Sweet 16:

East:

(1) North Carolina

(4) Washington State

(6) Oklahoma

(2) Tennessee

Upsets: Oklahoma over Louisville

Midwest:

(1) Kansas

(4) Vanderbilt

(3) Wisconsin

(2) Georgetown

South:

(1) Memphis

(5) Michigan State

(6) Marquette

(2) Texas

Upsets: Marquette over Stanford

West:

(1) UCLA

(5) Drake

(3) Xavier

(10) Arizona

Major upset: Arizona over Duke

Teams advancing to the Elite 8:

East:

(1) North Carolina

(2) Tennessee

Midwest:

(1) Kansas

(2) Georgetown

South:

(1) Memphis

(2) Texas

West:

(1) UCLA

(3) Xavier

My Final Four:

(1) North Carolina vs. (2) Georgetown

(1) Memphis vs. (3) Xavier

Championship:

(1) North Carolina vs. (1) Memphis

Final Score: 74-68 North Carolina Tar Heels

I know a lot of these are kind of far-fetched, but most of the upsets, especially the Arizona over Duke, are straight gut guesses. I like Arizona a lot with Budinger and Bayless, and if their defense can hold, they will make some noise. I also like Kansas a lot, I always do, but they always seem to choke when it counts, and I can't stand to be disappointed anymore. Feel free to criticize or agree with any of my picks, we'll see how they go.

Gone

2008-03-17T12:56:00.002-05:00

For anyone who may read my blog often, or to anyone who happens to be roaming the Internet and stumbled across my blog, it is with sad news that I tell you I will not be blogging for the next 8 days or so. From Tuesday the 18th until Wednesday the 26th I will be down in Fort Myers, Florida helping out with the Minnesota Twins spring training season. I won't have time to blog about much, but I will do my best to post some pictures if I get the chance. Thanks to the people who may read this, it is greatly appreciated and I will get back to blogging as soon as possible.

Tiger Woods is....Tiger Woods

2008-03-17T12:23:00.005-05:00

After yet another victory at Bay Hill this last weekend, Tiger Woods takes a step closer to gaining the momentum needed to pull off the biggest accomplishment in sports, winning the Grand Slam. Tiger is now 6 for 6 in tournaments this year, keeping my prediction of him winning every tournament he enters this season still intact. This win was Tigers 64th of his career on the tour, tying him with the great Ben Hogan on the PGA's career tour list. When Woods sank his 25-foot birdie putt for the victory, Tiger slammed his hat against the course and did his famous fist-pump. He was so in the zone on that putt that when his caddie Steve Williams handed his hat back to him, Tiger had no idea how he lost it.

"I was like, 'how the hell did he get my hat?' " Woods quipped after getting his hat back. "Evidently, it came off. I need to see the highlights. I was so into the moment of the putt going in and winning the golf tournament."

Quotes like these are what make Tiger the best and most respected golfer around. While staying focused on the course, he is able to become personable off of it. Second place finisher Bart Bryant stood in amazement of what Tiger accomplished.

"What he's doing right now, you can't even fathom," Bryant said just moments after he heard the eruption of the crowd celebrating Tigers miraculous putt.

This victory for Tiger was his fifth overall at Bay Hill, making him the first golfer ever to win 4 different tournaments at least 5 times...and he's still only 32 years old. While Tiger was still out on the course putting for his life, Bryant was sitting in the trailer, praying for a Woods mishap to allow him to climb back in the tournament. When Bryant heard the crowd erupt, he knew it was over.

"I was pretty hopeless sitting there in the trailer, but I did what I thought I was supposed to do, which was put the pressure back on Tiger to make the play," Bryant said after the putt.

Bryant did his best to put said pressure back on to Tiger, but Tiger has a knack for coming out on top. Bryant was the only golfer to break par all four rounds in this tournament, but unfortunately, all it got him was second. Tiger also had to battle the heat during the final round, with the temperature reaching 85 degrees on Sunday. But as is the case most times, Tiger prevailed, proving yet again that he is the greatest athlete in any individual sport ever.

Should the Vikings go for Julius Peppers?

2008-03-14T21:37:00.003-05:00

If Julius Peppers, the star defensive end from Carolina, becomes available, should the Vikings do everything in their power to land him? The answer is without a doubt yes. It's glaringly obvious that the Vikings are in dire need of a versatile guy on the line. Last season, not one person on defense had more than 5 sacks. If contract talks continue to stall with Carolina and Peppers, there is no reason the Vikings shouldn't use all of their resources to get him.

Of course there is no guarantee that Peppers will become available; right now it's just speculation. But after seeing the contract that Indianapolis gave to defensive end Dwight Freeney (7 years $72 million), it is going to at least $20 million in guaranteed money to wrap up Peppers. Carolina has three options when it comes to Peppers: They could sign him and hope that his 2007 season (where he had just 3 sacks) was just an anomaly. They could let him play out the final year of his contract to determine if he is worth close to $30 million in guaranteed money. Or they could trade him, much to the dismay of Carolina fans everywhere.

Peppers is definitely a guy that could help the Vikings tremendously. The Vikings had three guys last year with 5 sacks, the most by any one player. Peppers, with the exception of last year, has averaged 10.7 sacks a year for his first 5 seasons in the league. Kenechi Udeze, arguably the Vikings best defensive end last season, is out indefinitely with Leukemia (I wish you the best Kenechi). That leaves the Vikings with a big hole at a position where nothing was certain anyway. There are many very good DE's in the draft this year, and there is no doubt that with the 17th overall pick the Vikings could haul a guy that could turn out to be a stud, but if you have the resources and the chance to land a proven star at the position, why wouldn't you? With the Vikings still over $18 million under the cap this season, they have the money to make it happen. As a big Vikings fan myself, I can only say that I hope the Panthers decide to trade him or let him walk, because I know what a help he could be to the Vikings.

And the Guinness Record for Guitar Hero III goes to...

2008-03-13T16:22:00.007-05:00

Chris Chike of Rochester, Minnesota. This really doesn't have much to do with sports, I suppose it's a matter of opinion, but I thought it was awesome nonetheless. This kid, a 16 year old who goes to Century High School in Rochester, scored a 97% completion rate on expert level for the song "Through The Fire And The Flames" by DragonForce. His total score was 870,647 points, which is unbelievable. When I play Guitar Hero, I'm happy when I'm able to complete a song all the way through on the hard level, and this kid is pretty much cruising through expert with his eyes closed. He claims that he has gotten a higher score when he did the song at home, and I'll just give him the benefit of the doubt and believe him. For Chris' accomplishments he will be recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the best ever at Guitar Hero.

Around The Sports World

2008-03-12T10:15:00.004-05:00

Mitch Williams does not tolerate bad officiating (Bugs & Cranks)

Jeff Mackey repeats as Iditarod Champion (East Coast Bias)

How could a hockey game damage the memory of Yankee Stadium? (Going Five Hole)

Way to go Red Sox, you're very own hatchback (Hugging Harold Reynolds)

Even at 80, Lasorda still runs the 4.4 40 (Larry Brown Sports)

Brent Wisnewski faces a disciplinary hearing (TSN)

John Daly Has A Good Time

2008-03-12T09:39:00.006-05:00

When John Daly parties, he parties hard. Butch Harmon, a reknowned swing coach who has worked with the likes of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, has decided to call it quits with Daly after becoming fed-up with Daly's "shenanigans." First off, I have to give Harmon credit for using the term shenanigans, I haven't heard that in years. The word from Harmon is that Daly spends more time getting drunk than he spends on his golf game. While that is not hard to fathom considering Daly's past, it's still a little disappointing. Besides watching Tiger, seeing Daly crush the ball is one of the most exciting actions of the sport. He waddles up to the tee, sets up the ball and just unloads. He doesn't spend much time checking his shot, he does a few wrist-flicks and then off he goes.

"I've let him know that after his actions of last weekend, we are no longer together," Harmon said. "In all honesty, I'm a very busy person."

The actions Harmon is referring to is where Daly hung out during a rain delay during the PODS Championship recently. While the golfers had to wait for two and a half hours while the rain fell, Daly headed over to the Hooters tent behind the 17th green at Innisbruck. Now I know if I were a professional golfer, I would probably spend that time working on my game, but seeing as I'm not, I can't blame Daly. So he went to have some fun, what's the big deal? He's a friendly guy that likes to mingle with people, I don't see anything wrong with that. Sure it's probably not the best idea to be drinking beer during the rain delay, but who am I to judge. I'm not going to say it was a bad idea for Harmon to dump Daly, in all honesty I don't know why he would be working with him in the first place. But the best part of this whole story is what happened after the rain delay.

John Gruden, who happen to run into Daly during the delay, came out when play resumed and was the caddy for Daly for the remaining few holes. Gruden, the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, had a good time with Daly, and Daly with Gruden. But Harmon was apparently not having fun, which really is too bad because hanging out with Daly and Gruden has to be a good time.

"Jon Gruden caddying, I thought it was ridiculous. I thought he made a circus out of the whole event."

That was Harmons response to a little fun. Lighten up Butch, I know you need to be focused to win and all that, but it's O.K. to have a good time. At that point in the tournament, Daly was already shooting a terrible round, so he decided to shake things up. I'm totally fine with Daly's decision to have Gruden carry his clubs. In fact I'm in total support of it, I'm sure it was quite the adventure for both of them.

NHL Awards (Predictions) 2007-2008 season

2008-03-11T00:10:00.005-05:00

As the NHL regular season starts to come to a close, I'm going to take a look back on this season and predict (hopefully fairly accurately) who will win what award for this year. Some will be fairly obvious, some will be a toss-up, and some will be complete guesses, but here are my predictions (with the occasional commentary):

1) The Stanley Cup: Dallas Stars-I hate to vote against my hometown team from Minnesota, but I have to be realistic. The Wild are playing terribly right now, so there is no way in hell I can confidently say I think they have a shot at winning it all. The Stars on the other hand are up there at the top of the conference. Although they are only 6-4 in their last 10 games, the Stars definitely have the firepower to go far in the playoffs. At 89 points they are in first place in their division (although San Jose is creeping up really fast) and second only to Detroit in the conference. With the acquisition of Brad Richards at the trade deadline, look for the Stars to go deep into the postseason.

2) Presidents Trophy (Best overall record): Detroit Red Wings-This one is pretty obvious because, hey, they're the almighty Red Wings. Even though they have stumbled recently (4-5-1 in their last 10), they have the players that will be able to right the ship and take home the trophy for the best overall record.

3) Prince of Wales Trophy (Eastern Conference Champion): Pittsburgh Penguins-This is a very tough choice, I like the Devils and the Canadiens as possibilities for this too, but the Penguins became the front runner as soon as they got Marian Hossa from the Thrashers. With Sid the Kid back on the ice and Evgeni Malkin collecting points like they're pennies, this team is going to be unstoppable, at least until they meet the mighty Western Conference in the Stanley Cup.

4) Clarence S. Campbell Bowl (Western Conference Champion): Dallas Stars-I already chose them to win the Cup, so by default they win this too.

5) Art Ross Trophy (Most Individual Points Scored): Alexander Ovechkin-I love how Malkin has come onto the scene in his sophomore year and lit the lamp, but there is no way I'm going to vote against a guy that will most likely hit 60 goals and has a shot as 70.

6) Calder Memorial Trophy (Rookie of the Year): Niklas Backstrom-Patrick Kane is probably the most talented rookie this year, but I think that Backstrom will overtake Kane in the points department and take home the trophy. Peter Mueller is also a very talented rookie, and Kane skates along side Jonathan Toews, but Backstrom will end up with this one.

7) Hart Memorial Trophy (Most Valuable Player): Alexander Ovechkin-No question about this one. If he hits 60 goals, it's already a lock, and since he's on pace for 70, this is the only clear-cut choice.

8) Jack Adams Award (Coach of the Year): John Stevens (Philadelphia Flyers)-I'm going to be honest and say I really can't stand the Flyers as a team. After a rash of suspensions for the team at the beginning of the season, the only thing I saw them as was a team of thugs. But being realistic, this team has made a dramatic turnaround from last season. At this point this season, the Flyers are already 22 points ahead of where they finished last year with 56 points and in dead last in the Eastern Conference. With 13 games left to go, the Flyers should have no problem passing the 90 point mark and making it into the postseason.

9) James Norris Memorial Trophy (Top Defenseman): Nicklas Lidstrom-This is definitely a no-brainer. Lidstrom has shown year in and year out that he is the premier defenseman in this league, and this season is no exception. Lidstrom has 7 goals and 52 assists this year to go along with a 38 +/- rating. Those numbers scream Norris Trophy.

10) Maurice Richard Trophy (Top Goal Scorer): Alexander Ovechkin-I've said quite enough about this guy in this post.

11) Vezina Trophy (Top Goaltender): Martin Brodeur-Evgeni Nabokov has shown that he is one of the best goalies in the league, but I believe the voters will give this trophy to Marty. The Devils are leading the Eastern Conference and Brodeur's 2.12 goals against average shows where much of the credit goes to. Although Nabokov has his team near the top of the West, I think Brodeur will get the benefit of the doubt due to reputation.

It's always hard to predict trophies and awards with 13 or so games remaining in a season, but based on how the season has gone so far, this is what I see happening. I'm still holding out hope that the Wild can bust out of their major slump and start scoring goals, but until that happens, I'm just going to hope that Mike Modano can bring the trophy home for the Stars.

Benoit Pouliot gets close and personal with the ice

2008-03-10T23:40:00.006-05:00

On Friday March 7th, the Houston Aeros took on the Hartford Wolfpack in an AHL game in Houston. The Aero's scored about 9 minutes into the game, but beside that goal, it was a fairly uneventful game, at least until the end. Time was winding down in the third period with Houston up 1-0 when with under a minute left (12 seconds to be exact), a big scrum started in front of the Aero's net. It seemed like any other dustup that happens in a hockey game, except for the fact that after a few seconds, Benoit Pouliot got caught up in a battle with Rangers draft pick Dane Byers. Pouliot, as evident in the video, wanted absolutely nothing to do with this fight (and why would he, he's a goal-scorer, not a fighter). But Byers insisted on making sure Pouliot took him on like a man, so while Pouliot is in the "turtle" position on the ice trying to avoid getting hit, Byers starts punching him and soon throws Pouliot's helmet off. Then Byers promptly takes a hold of the back of Pouliots jersey and slams his head into the ice completely unprovoked.

Benoit Pouliot gets attacked

It's really amazing things like this happen in hockey. I understand the violent nature of hockey, I've followed it ever since I can remember, but cheap shots like that are just crazy. Pouliot went as far as to crouch down on the ice to avoid getting hit, but somehow Byers finds a way to "fight" him anyway. In the postgame interview, Byers says that it was an emotional game and that he got caught up in it. Good job trying to justify your actions Byers, but is there really no way you could have just let him go? The worst part of the situation is that in the game, they only had one linesman as opposed to two in a normal game. So on the ice was one referee and one linesman to break up 9 guys going at it. And then the one linesman that is on the ice watches over Byers as he pummels Pouliot into the ice, apparently afraid to step in and break it up. The end result is a broken jaw and a few missing teeth for Pouliot and no suspension for Byers (at least currently, I've heard the Aero's are filing for petition to have it reviewed). Luckily Pouliot came back and played the next night with a jaw protector and visor and actually netted the OT winner for the Aeros that game. I really hope the AHL takes another look at this game and deems Byers actions suspension-worthy, because although I love seeing the hard checks, seeing one guy get beaten while he is crouched down is not something that is appealing to me.

The Pioneers come out on top

2008-03-08T23:29:00.003-06:00

In front of a crowd of more than 19,000 people, the Hill-Murray Pioneers rose to the challenge and knocked off powerhouse Edina to win the 2008 Minnesota High School League Boys State Hockey Tournament. I'm going to be honest and say that I was rooting for Hornets, but in the end, the best team won. The Pioneers (27-3-1) completely dominated all three games of the tournament they played in and deserved to come out victorious. Although many people were hoping to see an Edina/Roseau match up in the finals, the game between the Hornets and the Pioneers was one that many enjoyed. After dispatching Lakeville South in the quarterfinals and taking care of previously undefeated Roseau in the semis, Hill-Murray came into the championship ready to take down Edina (28-3). Here is a recap of Hill-Murray's remarkable title run:

State Quarterfinals-Hill-Murray Pioneers vs. Lakeville South Cougars (14-14-3): The game started off nicely for the underdog Cougars. Lakeville was quick to counter Hill's speed with spectacular passing and a great back-check. The game remained tied until the Pioneer's Ryan Furne scored with exactly 3 minutes remaining in the period. Once the second period started, the game had a whole different tempo. Hill-Murray came out firing from all angles, but Cougars goalie Hakan Yumusaklar stood tall and made save after save. At the 12:24 mark of the period, Hill struck again, and this time it was Dan Cecka with the goal (with me cheering against Hill, it's a good thing Cecka's dad moved in between periods so he wasn't sitting directly behind me like he was in the first period). Lakeville kept it close again until time was running out in the second and Furne struck again. The third period showcased Hill just keeping the puck neutral in order to preserve the shutout for goalie Joe Phillippi. The game ended without any additional scoring with the final tally 3-0.

State Semifinals-Hill-Murray Pioneers vs. Roseau Rams (29-2): This is a game virtually nobody outside of the Hill faithful saw coming. The Roseau Rams, defending State AA champions and undefeated this season up to this point, had been the front-runners for the entire year. With Mr. Hockey finalist Aaron Ness back on their blueline, Roseau was supposed to be able to sedate the Pioneers fast, aggressive attack. Roseau did anything but what was expected. The game was fairly close at the beginning, but Hill was the team that was creating most of the pressure. Soon that pressure got to the Rams and Hill-Murray broke a scoreless tie when Nick Widing scored to put the Pioneers up by 1. It took only 1:40 for Hill to shoot one past Roseau goalie Mike Lee yet again, this time it was Furne who scored for the third time in this tournament. The game was manageable for Roseau at that point, and going into the locker room, a two goal lead by the Pioneers seemed like nothing after just one period. It took Hill only 2:40 into the second period for them to put the dagger in the heart of fans everywhere. Dave Cascalenda was the lucky recipient of the third goal scored by the Pioneers, and after Roseau struggled to score on 5 combined powerplays in the first two periods, the wind was really knocked out of them. The Rams never recovered and eventually the game ended with a huge upset with Hill beating Roseau 6-2.

State Finals-Hill-Murray Pioneers vs. Edina Hornets (28-3): Even with the mystique of an Edina/Roseau match up out of the question, there was still a record crowd on hand to watch the Pioneers take on the Hornets. As had been the theme throughout the tournament, Hill got the game started quickly when they took the lead just two and a half minutes into the first period (you guessed it, Ryan Furne yet again). After the majority of the first had been played fairly evenly, Edina goalie Derrick Caschetta had a minor letdown after a solid period. With seconds ticking off of the clock in the first, Ryan Furne carried the puck through the neutral zone and shot of a wrister with just one second left on the clock. Caschetta got handcuffed by the shot and Furne had his 5th goal of the tournament with time expiring in the first. Although disappointing, that fluke goal didn't seem to get to Edina. The second period was played pretty evenly although Edina outshot Hill-Murray 15-4. The score remained the same at 2-0 until the 4:36 mark of the third when the Pioneers shut the door on Edina and Lou Metcalf put one behind Caschetta to diminish any hope for the Hornets. In front of nearly 20,000 people, the Hill-Murray Pioneers had captured their first state title since 1991.

It was truly a great tournament to be part of. The Minnesota State Hockey tournament is something that gets more and more exciting every year. It really is one of the premier high school tournaments in the country, and it showcases numerous players who are destined for professional hockey. I have to mention that my Alma-mater, the Woodbury Royals, played a great tournament and ended up with a fifth place finish in the state. Here are the results from the rest of the tournament including the Class A bracket:

AA:

1st-Hill-Murray Pioneers

2nd-Edina Hornets

3rd-Benilde St. Margaret's Red Knights

4th-Roseau Rams

5th-Woodbury Royals

6th-Blaine Bengals

7th-Lakeville Cougars/Cloquet-Esko-Carlton Lumberjacks

1st-St. Thomas Academy Cadets

2nd-Duluth-Marshall Hilltoppers

3rd-Warroad Warriors

4th-St. Cloud Cathedral Crusaders

5th-Little Falls Flyers

6th-Mankato West Scarlets

7th-The Blake School Bears/Litchfield-Dassel-Cokato Dragons

Vikings best in NFC North after Favre retirement?

2008-03-04T12:04:00.005-06:00

After Brett Favre announced his retirement this morning, it got me thinking what the state of the Packers would be for this upcoming season. After a stunning 13-3 season in which Favre threw for 4,155 yards and 28 TD's, Green Bay will be thrusting career backup Aaron Rodgers into the spotlight. Rodgers, who has played in a grand total of 7 NFL games, was drafted out of Cal in the first round of the 2005 draft to serve as the eventual replacement for Favre. After sitting on the bench for 3 full seasons, Rodgers is going to have to show he has the stuff to succeed one of the best there ever was. Although Green Bay has many intrical parts returning from a season in which they won 13 games and lost in the playoffs to the eventual Super Bowl champion New York Giants, I still believe that with the Packers losing their most important piece, the NFC North title is now the Minnesota Vikings for the taking.

Now I'll be the first to admit, the NFC North is definitely not a strong division. We have the up-and-down Packers, the underachieving Vikings, the "one more shot for Rex Grossman" Bears, and the Matt Millen-run Lions. Realistically any of these four teams could easily get lucky and take this division. But after the upgrades the Vikings made and the subsequent loss of Favre to the Packers, the Vikings look to be able to capture their first division title since 2000. The Packers are definitely still a solid team with receivers like Greg Jennings and Donald Driver, Defensive Ends like Aaron Kampman and Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila, and a decent kicker in Mason Crosby. Looking at it realistically though, the Packers will have growing pains this season. With a big shakeup in the NFC North, here is how I think the division will turn out this year:

1st Place: Minnesota Vikings (12-4)-After a rash of seasons in which the Vikings were second in the division, this is the year they finally break out of that funk. With recent upgrades in the secondary (Madieu Williams) and receiving units (Bernard Berrian), the Vikings are already a step-up from last year when they finished 8-8. The Vikings Defensive End position is a little shaky right now with Kenechi Udeze out of the picture, but they will either find someone to fill that gap through free agency or use their 17th overall pick to take one of the many good DE's out there. If Tarvaris Jackson can improve from last year and learn to handle pressure, the Vikings will be a team with some force come end of the season.

2nd Place: Green Bay Packers (7-9)-Not many people saw last season coming for the Packers. With a revitalized Brett Favre and a young receiving corps ready to go, the Pack came out shooting and finished with a 13-3 record and a first round playoff win. After a 2006 season in which Favre threw for only 18 TD's and 18 interceptions, 2007 was a nice surprise for Packers fans. It is tough to tell how the Packers really will be this year with Rodgers stepping in, but I don't think it will be pretty. Although still an all-around solid team, I don't believe that with an inexperienced QB the Packers can keep riding the wave from last season.

3rd Place: Chicago Bears (6-10)-The Bears definitely have a tough schedule coming up in 2008, and with Rex Grossman taking snaps, I don't see this team making any difference in the division. Now that the Bears have traded their backup in Brian Griese, if Rex struggles (and of course he will), what are the Bears going to do? It's a good sign that Chicago was able to re-up Lance Briggs to a 6 year contract, but the defense will not be much improved over last season. And with the loss of Muhsin Muhammad to the Panthers and Bernard Berrian, their top receiver, to the Vikings, even when Grossman throws the ball, there will be no one there to catch it. Good luck this season Bears, you're definitely going to need it.

4th Place: Detroit Lions (4-12)-I don't even really know what to say about these guys. It's admirable they try, and last season was fun to watch, but let's be honest, this is not a team that is going to compete. Sure Jon Kitna is a solid quarterback, and eventually Calvin Johnson will turn into something special, but outside of that the only really good player they have is their kicker, Jason Hanson. The Lions fell off the radar even more when they traded Shaun Rogers, a defensive tackle who had 7 sacks last year, to the Cleveland Browns. Leigh Bodden, a defensive back they got from the trade, is a good player, but in the grand scheme of things, they have so much more to correct it won't help them too much. I do hope the Lions can pull off some upsets this year, but if they start off slow next season, they will fall quickly.

Let's keep in mind that this is early in the offseason, players will still be traded and picked up, but this is my early impression of how things will go. Good luck in retirement Brett, I'll miss watching you throw the ball like you're still in your 20's.

AP Top 25

2008-03-03T23:29:00.003-06:00

1. North Carolina

2. Memphis

3. UCLA

4. Tennessee

5. Kansas

6. Duke

7. Stanford

8. Xavier

9. Texas

10. Wisconsin

11. Georgetown

12. Louisville

13. Connecticut

14. Butler

15. Purdue

16. Vanderbilt

17. Michigan State

18. Indiana

19. Notre Dame

20. Drake

21. Marquette

22. Gonzaga

23. Washington State

24. Clemson

25. Davidson

Overall, I like the look of the new standings. After then number one Tennessee lost to Vanderbilt last week, Memphis had a shot to regain the top spot, but the voters went with North Carolina. If the season were to end today, I would assume the Tar Heels would take the overall number one seed in the tournament, but Tennessee and Memphis would both have a shot too. As long as North Carolina avoids a collapse in the coming week (particularly against a tough Florida State team), they should pull that number one seed. As this week rolls on though, the main story line will be which bubble teams will make it in. Teams to watch for: Clemson, Oklahoma, Kansas State and USC.

Around the sports world

2008-03-02T15:47:00.003-06:00

Red Sox owner John Henry is a good sport (Deadspin)

Moss and Culpepper together again? (ESPN)

Andy Staples offers his opinion on the fate of Friday Night Lights (Sports Illustrated)

The Suns really screwed up on this one (Larry Brown Sports)

The Woodbury Royals are going to State (Follow The Puck)

Recapping the week that was in the NHL (Going Five Hole)

Jay-Z may try to lure LeBron to the Nets (Yahoo)

Sometimes those promotions actually work (Ballhype)

Hopefully this is the beginning of a good offseason

2008-02-29T14:18:00.004-06:00

Not long after the clock struck midnight and the free agent period began, the Minnesota Vikings, true to their word, went out and wrapped up a player well worth the 6 year, $33 million contract they gave him. 26 year-old safety Madieu Williams agreed in principle this morning to sign with the Vikings after jetting from the Cincinnati Bengals following a year where he had 2 interceptions and 2 sacks. Williams, known more for his exceptional coverage skills, immediately upgrades the Vikings secondary, a major concern for the last couple of seasons.

It was refreshing to see the Vikings spend some of their money on a position that needed help desperately. After releasing Dwight Smith earlier in the offseason and thinning out the secondary even more, it became critical for them to find a guy that can compliment Antoine Winfield. Williams has 4 years service in the National Football League all with the Cincinnati Bengals. Drafted in the second round (24th pick) in 2004, Williams started all 16 games for the Bengals in his rookie season. Williams played only 4 games his sophomore year in the league after being put on Injured Reserve due to a bum shoulder. He recovered for the 2006 campaign and again played all 16 games, compiling 90 tackles and 3 interceptions. Last season Williams started the first 13 games of the season before being put back onto IR with a bad quad. I assume that Williams is all set to go and has fully recovered from his quad injury.

The Vikings, who are $35 million under the salary cap, have vowed to be aggressive in this years free agent pool in order to better a team who has many good parts, but fell just short of the postseason last year. With a scheduled visit from Bernard Berrian this afternoon, it seems as though the Vikings are really committed to making this team a playoff team.

Wild run out of gas, fall to the Red Wings

2008-02-05T22:14:00.001-06:00

The curse of the Red Wings hits the Wild again.

After flying out of the gate Tuesday versus Detroit, the Wild looked like they were on their way to a rare victory over the conference leading Red Wings, but it seems fate was working against them yet again. After jumping out to a 2-1 lead, the Wild gave up the tying goal with less than 2 minutes to play, and eventually fell in overtime. After getting blown out by the Red Wings in their two meetings earlier this season, the Wild finally stole a shootout victory over them back on January 10th, and they were hoping to shift some of that momentum to this game. The Wild played what turned out to be their best two periods of the season until ultimately running out of gas in the third. Niklas Backstrom played a strong game between the pipes, and Brent Burns handled the puck well at the blueline, but at the end of the night, it wasn't enough to take down the goliath that is Detroit.

The first period started out very promising as the Wild promptly took control of the game and fired shot after shot on Dominik Hasek, but Hasek held strong until his team caught the Wild offguard when Johan Franzen fired home a wristshot at the 9:58 mark of the first to put the Red Wings ahead 1-0. The Wild were playing strong, though, and it didn't take long for them to respond with a goal of their own. Brian Rolston took the puck behind Hasek and, without anybody challenging him, walked up in front of the net and danced around Hasek and banked a shot behind the goalie to tie the game. The Wild continued to play a strong period and ended up out-shooting the Red Wings 13-6.

After the break, the Wild remained the dominant team and once again was outplaying Detroit in every aspect of the game. The normal finesse game of the Red Wings was being broken up by good defensive plays and hard hits. The Wild finally pulled ahead when Pavol Demitra got behind the Detroit blue-liners and fired a slapshot from just outside the left faceoff circle 5:30 into the period. Things got a little testy in the second when at the 9:48 mark Aaron Voros got clocked into the Detroit bench and quickly retaliated with a punch that resulted in two roughing calls. The Wild promptly went to work with a brilliant penalty kill that gave them all the confidence they needed heading into the locker room after the second.

All season the Wild had been lights-out heading into the third with a lead, but when it's a one goal lead versus the best team in the NHL, nothing is a gurantee. The third started out completely different from the first two periods; the Wild were on the defense most of the period right from the get-go. After getting lucky on numerous occasions, the Wild finally let their lead slip with just 1:20 left in the game. Daniel Cleary crashed the Wild net and threw the puck at Backstrom, who blocked the puck easily but then made the mistake of pushing the puck into the corner. Cleary again took control of the puck and took a bad-angle shot that just slipped through the outstretched Backstrom. That quickly took the energy out of the Xcel as well as out of the Wild. The home team limped through the remaining minute and took the game into overtime where they were guranteed at least one point. It didn't take long for the Red Wings to take advantage of the depleted Wild, and Brent Lebda connected on a beautiful pass from Henrik Zetterberg just 1:37 into the fourth frame to give the extra point to Detroit.

This loss was especially hard to swallow considering how well the Wild played the first 40 minutes. This was easily the best I've seen the Wild play Detroit for many years, and I hope they can look at this game and take a little bit of confidence out of it. They played well, and this loss was nobody's fault in particular, the team just collectively ran out of gas. The Wild have a tough stretch coming up next, so let's hope they can continue to build on their success they've had the last handful of games. The Wild will be taking on the Dallas Stars and the New York Islanders at home and then going on the road for the St. Louis Blues, Edmonton Oilers, and Vancouver Canucks. Hopefully the Wild can take some positive out of this game against Detroit and continue on their road to the playoffs.

It had to happen at some point....

2008-02-04T14:22:00.001-06:00

As I sit here writing this blog, I still can't believe what transpired last night. I watched it with my own eyes, yet for the first time in my life, I doubt what I saw. New York Giants-17 New England Patriots-14. The New York Giants, who had lost 6 games this season, beat the New England Patriots, who, coming into this game, hadn't lost. Period. But this was the Superbowl, the epitome of championships, so there is never a gurantee. I had the Patriots winning 35-17, because I didn't foresee Tom Brady's offensive line absolutely fall apart, nor did I see Eli Manning having the game of his life. I guess I was wrong. I will dole out credit where credit is due, no matter how hard it is. Congratulations Giants, you played a heck of a game, and you deserve the Lombardi trophy. With that being said, I'm going to go over a few points of the game that either a) baffled me or b) amazed me.

1) The Patriots O-Line: What surprises me here is that the guys up front (Matt Light, Logan Mankins, and Dan Koppen) had been absolutely lights out all season, giving Brady plenty of time to drop back, step forward, and get the pass off. Yet we get to the Superbowl, and they couldn't block anything. Brady got sacked 5 times and didn't have time to look downfield very often. With that being said....

2) Tom Brady: I don't even know what to say about him. Brady, who's statistics ( 29/48 266 yards 1 TD) show he played a decent game, actually had an absolute atrocity of a game. The aspect of his game that got to me the most was his inability to get the ball to Randy Moss. Moss was in position the whole game, running his routes and waiting for Brady to throw. Yet when Brady threw the ball in Randy's direction downfield, it was nowhere near Moss. Overthrown, underthrown, too far right, too far left; it was crazy how Brady couldn't find Moss for a big play. Moss was constantly open, blowing by the Giants secondary, but Randy could never capitalize because of Brady.

3) Wes Welker: Welker is a class act and without a doubt deserves everything he got this year. It's too bad he couldn't come away with a ring, but he had a great year nonetheless. Welker got open all night in Arizona, and he put on a show. It seems like every catch Welker makes is for a first down. Welker caught 11 passes for 103 yards, and all of those yards were important. If the Patriots had come away with a victory, Welker would have been my choice for MVP.

4) Eli Manning: I can personally say I will no longer refer to Eli as "Peytons little brother." Eli lit up the field last night and deserved to walk away with that MVP trophy. Manning (19/34 255 yards and 2 TD) looked brilliant on his way to winning his first world championship. With his brother Peyton there to watch him, he definitely showed why someday there could be a Manning v. Manning Superbowl.

5) The Giants Defense: Keeping my dignity intact, I will now admit that the Giants defense is for real. Don't get me wrong, after riding them my whole fantasy season I knew there was something right with them, but I really thought the Patriots would find a way to get around them. That wasn't the case. The front seven of the Giants pressured Brady all night and rattled him around until he couldn't even concentrate. For this Giant defense to come to Arizona, on the biggest stage they will ever be on, and hold the best offense to ever play football to 14 points is pretty amazing in my book.

6) Tiki Barber: The fact that the Giants won this game the year after Tiki retired is one of the few bright spots I found in this victory.

Going into this game, I had no doubt in my mind that the Giants could pull this victory from the Patriots. But just because I knew they could does not mean I saw this coming. Even when the Patriots got the ball back with 30 seconds left, I thought they were going to march downfield and kick a field goal to tie the game. As much as I would have loved to see history being made with the Patriots going undefeated, I guess it's not the end of the world. Playing a whole season without losing a single game is definitely a hard thing to do, and I give credit to the 1972 Miami Dolphins for remaining the only undefeated team in NFL history. And I give credit to the Giants for pulling out this improbable win when not many thought it would happen. I just still can't believe that the team that just won the Superbowl was beaten by my Vikings 41-17 just a mere 10 weeks ago....

Give it time

2008-01-30T11:05:00.001-06:00

In the aftermath of the Johan Santana trade, it seems as though the comment boards on articles and blogs have become a "bash Bill Smith" wall. Who are we to be so critical right off the bat? I know Johan is worth a lot, maybe and probably more than we got for him, but the Minnesota fans that are trying to analyze this trade and find the negatives need to lay off. As a Twins fan for life, I've seen them through the good and the (very) bad. But as a real Twins fan, I have as much faith in our scouting system as I do in anything. If you go back and look at previous trades, it just shows that Minnesota generally knows what they're doing. If you look at this trade realistically, Bill Smith would not just give away Johan for nothing. I've heard people say he was backed into a corner, or he waited too long or whatever, but I strongly believe Smith did the right thing. I follow Minor League Baseball, but I'm not going to pretend to know about these guys we got from the Mets. All I know about them is what I've read from reputable sources. Nobody really know whether these guys will pan out or not. What gives us the right to jump on Smiths back just because we don't know what will happen? If you are a true Twins fan, give it some time. Nobody thought the AJ Pierzynski for Joe Nathan, Francisco Liriano and Boof Bonser trade would work out, and now look at us. Have faith in our scouts and our General Manager. This upcoming season very well might not turn out the way we were hoping as Twins fans, but if we finish third or fourth in the division, that's not disappointing, it's just frustrating. Every team eventually has to start fresh at new positions with young players. I've heard the term "rebuilding" thrown around when referring to the Twins, but I don't see how anybody could tag the Twins as rebuilding next year when we just signed Justin Morneau and Michael Cuddyer and recently acquired Delmon Young to complement Joe Mauer in the lineup. The season might not be the best; We may finish below .500, we may miss the playoffs, we may make the playoffs and win the World Series, but until that time comes when these prospects that we got from the Mets either flop or help us win, everybody should back off of Bill Smith and just give him a chance for him to show us what he's made of.

Prospects acquired for Johan Santana:

1. Carlos Gomez (Outfield): Height-6'4"

Weight-195

Throws/Bats-R/R

Upside-Great defensively, very fast with decent power.

2. Deolis Guerra (Pitcher): Height-6'5"

Weight-200

Throws-R

Upside-Young (18 years old), above-average changeup.

3. Philip Humber (Pitcher): Height-6'4"

Weight-210

Throws-R

Upside-Good control

4. Kevin Mulvey (Pitcher): Height-6'1"

Weight-170

Throws-R

Upside-Good command, mixes pitches well

Too little, too late?

2008-01-28T20:38:00.001-06:00

Teemu Selanne, after taking 53 games off to "ponder retirement," has decided to return to the Anaheim Ducks to play the remaining 29 games in the regular season. But should he be allowed back this season after such a long break? Of course, all Ducks fans will say yes, and I would expect nothing less. Selanne, who is 37 years of age, recorded 48 goals and 46 assists last year while on the Stanley Cup winning Ducks. The fact that I hail from Minnesota and have had a chronic feeling of hatred for the Ducks since last years playoffs has no bearing on the stance I am taking here. I griped about the fact that Wes Walz took an enormous amount of time off from the Wild barely into the season to figure out that he wanted to retire, and if players are going to take forever to figure out if they want to return or not, they should have it figured out before the season starts (of course if some sort of emergency comes up with a player, that's a different story). The Ducks have now had two guys, Selanne and defensemen Scott Neidermayer, that have taken a ton of time off to think about whether they wanted to retire or not. Selanne says that he was on the brink of retiring until he got back to going to games and being with the team.

"If Brian Burke had told me he needed a deadline in training camp or November, I wouldn't be here today," Selanne says.

That deadline that Teemu speaks of is exactly what needs to be implemented to prevent guys from coming in halfway through the season. I know there is already some sort of date that is set for players to return, but that date needs to be moved way up for it to have any effect. Allowing Selanne to join the team now robs a player who has been working hard all season to either get sent down, waived, or traded, all because a veteran decided 53 games into the season he can't step away from the game. I understand how hard it is for these older guys to have to even think about retiring, but seriously, these guys are grown men and they ultimately know what they want to do. Even teams that make it to the Stanley Cup have a couple months to ponder what they want to do regarding playing. Why was it so hard for Selanne and Neidermayer to figure that out in the offseason? The fact that Selanne is deciding to rejoin the team now just looks like he is taking the easy way out. I can just imagine him thinking "Wow, I'm not even playing half of the season yet I can rejoin the team, make millions, and have a shot at another Cup." I believe that if a guy wants to win the Stanley Cup, he should have to go through training camp like the rest of the players on the team and not take the easy way out just because he can. Yes, Selanne's wife just had a baby seven weeks ago, and yes I understand that changes his entire life, but what needs to happen then is for him to sit out the entire season and then think about coming back next year. Now I've never been a big fan of Commissioner Gary Bettman, and I know he won't think anything of this whole situation, but the fact of the matter is there needs to be an earlier deadline set for players to return to action. I would say they have up until the first game of the season to sign a contract. If you haven't signed a contract with a team by the drop of the first puck, then you should have to miss out on the season. Both Selanne and Neidermayer need to show some respect to their organization. I know that GM Brian Burke welcomed both of them back with open arms, but somewhere in the crazy mind of his he's got to be thinking that it's a hell of an inconvienence for these guys to show up when they did. It will be interesting to see if Selanne's return to the Ducks, who are currently in 5th place in the conference, will be positive or negative. I'm sure players and teammates are glad to see him back. Who wouldn't want a 40 goal scorer to rejoin their team? But I also have to believe there are those few players on the team that resent the fact that Selanne was given all that time and now he gets a free pass based on his resume.

Wild win, move back into first

2008-01-24T23:01:00.001-06:00

After a disappointing loss to the Flames just two nights ago, the Wild were looking for a game to show them they still belonged at the top of the Conference. In their last game before the All-Star break, the Wild outlasted the Colorado Avalanche 3-2 in a win that put them back into first place in the Northwest Division. Pavol Demitra scored his 10th goal of the season and Niklas Backstrom made 28 saves to pace the Wild against a depleted Avalanche lineup. Without stars Joe Sakic, Ryan Smyth, and Paul Statsny, Colorado kept the game close, but in the end it was the healthy team that took home the W.

Todd Fedoruk got the Wild on the board first as he scored on a nice tip-in from a pass right down the middle from Demitra just five and a half minutes into the contest. After escaping defenders in the neutral zone, Demitra skated down the left boards and shot a pass across the ice to Fedoruk, who was streaking down the middle waiting for the tip. Just 8 minutes later, the Wild doubled their lead when Marian Gaborik found Brian Rolston sneaking up the middle of Colorado's zone. Rolston held the puck for a second, and then blasted a patented Rolston slapper past Jose Theodore, who was just hoping to get a piece of the puck. The Wild thought that they would be able to close out the first with a two-goal lead, but former Wild forward Andrew Brunette connected on a wrist shot to get the Avalanche back within one with 28 seconds remaining in the period.

The second period opened quickly when Marek Svatos found Wojtek Wolski with a wide-open net to put Colorado back even with the Wild just two and a half minutes into the frame. Both teams had their chances after that goal, but Theodore and Backstrom held strong for their teams. The Wild finally cashed in at the 13:41 mark of the second when Demitra caught a pass from defensemen Kurtis Foster and scored the eventual game-winner on a wrist-shot from just inside the slot. The rest of the game featured shots back and forth, but nothing to show for it, leaving the Wild with the edge 3-2.

This was a huge win for the Wild, going into the All-Star break beating Vancouver and Colorado within 4 days is big at any point in the season, especially now. It is imperative the Wild figure out what they need to work on and fix it going into the home stretch of the season. Every game from here on out can decide whether the Wild end up with the 3rd seed in the playoffs or if they miss the post-season completely. Hopefully the Wild can use the momentum they picked up with this recent road trip and use it to their advantage. Most of the Wild now get a few days off to recuperate and be with their family. Gaborik will be traveling to Atlanta to partake in the All-Star Game festivities (he is slated to be part of the inaugural Breakaway Challenge). After the break, the Wild get right back to work taking on the Anaheim Ducks at home before traveling to Columbus and then coming right back home to take on the Red Wings, Stars, and Islanders.

My Three Stars for game #50 in Colorado:

1) Pavol Demitra

2) Wojtek Wolski

3) Todd Fedoruk

I'm speechless (Hence why I blog)

2008-01-17T15:21:00.001-06:00

Before I say anything, I urge you to take a look at this link:

The Ringmaster Rolls On

That is today's (January 17th) E-Ticket on espn.com. E-Ticket is pretty much an article that is written for print for ESPN The Magazine, but they end up featuring on their website. They only do it every so often, but it usually is an article that evokes some sort of strong feeling, whether it be controversy, hate, love, or anything in between. I want people to read this article because when I read it for the first time today, it reminded me why I wanted to get into sports writing as part of my future career (hopefully). Discard the fact that the article is about Victor Conte, the mastermind of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Op (or BALCO as it's known in the sporting community), who almost single-handedly killed the game of Baseball. I want you to look at the article not only for the content, but also for the writing. The way that Patrick Hruby has captured the range of emotions from this man, the man who made Marion Jones the toast of her country at the Sydney Olympics and then ultimately lead her running into prison, is absolutely amazing. As previously mentioned, I desperately want to be involved in sports journalism once I get out of college and get on with life, and although Hruby may not be as recognized as other writers in the sports world, I can only hope that one day I can crank out an article that captivates someone as Hruby's did to me.

What made this article jump out at me was the way it was conveyed: It had the reporting aspect, the personal aspect, and the short quips that make a story worth reading. He did a great job of making it non-partial too; whether you love Conte or hate him, this article appealed to all. I've always had a split opinion on Conte. From a Baseball fans stand point, he is someone that I loathe and wish would have never gotten in the way of something that didn't need fixing. From a personal stand point, I think he's a genius. A college dropout who doesn't even have a degree started up a business that eventually gained the trust of athletes such as Barry Bonds, Marion Jones, and Bill Romanowski. He is a quick thinker and knows how to say what he needs to, and that's a very admirable quality for a person. Any journalist could go in, speak with Conte, take down a few quotes from him, and fill in the rest later. But Hruby takes the quotes, organizes them perfectly, and parlays the words into pages of brilliant and entertaining reporting. Conte should be thanking Hruby for this article; I have to admit, when I read the article, it really made me think long and hard about what I think of Conte, and for reasons I can't explain, I'm starting forgive him for what he did to Americas game.

Patrick Hruby's article made me remember why I want to get into the business of sports journalism, and I thank him for that. I read sports stories every day, and some catch my eye, others I'll skim through and I won't think about them a second time. I can't help but think that if this story had come out even as recent as a year ago what my reaction would have been. I feel like I would have taken it the wrong way and been fuming at Hruby for putting Conte in somewhat of a "good light." But after reading and re-reading this article many times, it is obvious to me that this is what I want to do, and I can only hope that one day I can write a story as powerful as Hruby did.

Craig Leipold takes over majority share of Wild

2008-01-10T12:41:00.001-06:00

This is major news for the sporting world in the state of Minnesota. As a tried and true Wild fan since their inaugural season back in 2000, I hate to see Bob Naegele go, but from what I've read about Craig Leipold, it seems as though this decision is for the best. Leipold, the founder of the Nashville Predators and former owner of the team, takes over as the majority owner of one of the most successful hockey teams in the NHL. Leipold sold the Predators in November of 2007 citing rising operating costs and bad fan attendance (yet another argument as to why there should not be teams near or below the sun belt), and claims to have lost upwards of $70 million while owning the team. I can definitely see why this guy decided to get out of Tennessee and come up to the State of Hockey.

Leipold won has won the respect of virtually the entire hockey world while working to bring a salary cap and other restrictions on teams so that small-market teams can compete with the big boys. I'm assuming that Leipold, looking to make a splash in his first season with the Wild, will do his best to lock up future superstars that the Wild have (Pierre-Marc Bouchard and Nick Schultz), and trade guys that are on the down-swing of their careers (Brian Rolston and Pavol Demitra). The Wild are currently a good team, but in the wicked competitive Western Conference, they really need to figure out how to get more defense and one more superstar into this city to really be a team to be reckoned with (maybe Mike Comrie?). Just over halfway through the season, the Wild are sitting at a very uncomfortable 48 points, barely good enough for the 7th spot in the conference. With the second half of the season already upon us, it is imperative the Wild focus on defense to be able to stay afloat for the playoff race. I believe that Leipold will do his best to make the Wild a better team, and I think that he is a guy that is willing to take a chance on a big trade or a big signing to see how it may work out (Peter Forsberg in Nashville). Hopefully Leipold will do what he needs to do to make the Wild a perennial contender within two or three years.

Bob Clarke: Once a Flyer, always a Flyer

2008-01-09T20:37:00.001-06:00

Bob Clarke, a former member of the Broad Street Bullies of the 1970's Philadelphia Flyers teams, has his own opinion on the sucker punch administered by Steve Downie on Jason Blake last Saturday night:

"When he went after Jason Blake, I loved it."

Clarke, who is now the Senior VP of the Flyers, couldn't stray further from the truth in my mind. Now don't get me wrong, I know Clarke is a guy that knows hockey; he scored 358 goals and had 852 assists in his 15 year career with the Flyers. But to say that a guy deserves a sucker punch, he comes across as a moron. As a true hockey fan myself, I like seeing the physical play; guys laying wicked checks on other guys and players standing up for teammates with a good ol' fashioned fight. We see dangerous hits every game that is played, but the majority of people that watch hockey do not want to see intentional cheap-shots happen. I'm O.K. with Downie going after Blake with a fight; challenge the guy and show him you mean business that way. When a guy has him arms being held back by a referee, don't hit him then. Hitting a guy when he is most vulnerable is the sign of a total wuss.

"Blake was a guy who had no problem going out and saying [Downie] should be suspended for life or suspended for the year," Clarke quipped. "When you say something that stupid, why shouldn't this kid go after him for it?"

Because, Mr. Clarke, Blake never threatened you, any of your players, or anyone on the team. If he had hit you with a cheap-shot earlier, feel free to engage the guy in a fight. But to do something fairly unprovoked is not the way to go. We've seen what happens when a guy gets hit when he's not paying attention (Todd Bertuzzi and Steve Moore), and we don't want any more incidents like that to get out of hand.

The second quote by Clarke was in reference to an earlier incident involving Downie. That Saturday night was just young Steve Downie's 4th career game in the NHL. The reason it took him so long to reach the NHL was because just a few months ago, Downie laid a vicious hit on Ottawa's Dean McAmmond. As McAmmond carried the puck around the back of the net, Downie, skating full-speed, raised his elbow and leveled McAmmond. That earned him a 20 game suspension handed out by League Disciplinarian Colin Campbell. Blake had said publicly that Downie deserved more games, and apparently the Flyers organization disagreed with him to the point that they were willing to risk another suspension by Downie to get back at him. It's a sad day in the NHL when guys go back to dishing revenge by taking a cheap-shot at a guy who can't defend himself, and as long as the guys like Bob Clarke remain in office with their state of mind, that's the way hockey will be.

Skoula sits, Wild win...Coincidence? I think not

2008-01-04T00:41:00.001-06:00

After a disappointing loss at the hands of the San Jose Sharks a few nights ago, the Wild were looking for a way to bounce back in to the win column. They found that way in the form of quick scoring and solid defense against a good Dallas Stars team. After failing to keep the momentum against the Sharks, the Wild jumped out to an early 3-0 lead and never looked back, en route to a convincing 6-3 win versus the Stars.

Marian Gaborik had two goals, and Brent Burns added three assists to propel the Wild to a win over a Dallas team that demolished them two weeks ago with an 8-3 defeat. The Wild got into some trouble early when Brent Burns was called for interference just 3:44 into the game. The Wild were able to stifle the Dallas powerplay, which had been connecting on 20.5 percent of their chances this year, before Brian Rolston took a penalty at the 8 minute mark of the first, this one also for interference. Looking at the prospect of giving up the first goal of a game for the sixth time in a row, the Wild responded in a big way when Pavol Demitra flipped the puck out of the neutral zone to a streaking Gaborik who caught Marty Turco committing early. Gaborik backhanded the puck over a sprawled out Turco to put the Wild up 1-0 with only the second short-handed goal for the Wild this year. Less than two minutes after the Wild scored first, Demitra cashed in with a goal of his own when he wristed a shot past Turco and into the back of the net. It took the Wild just another two minutes to score yet again, this time it was Pierre-Marc Bouchard who joined the scoring frenzy to put the Wild up by 3 goals in the first period. That third goal by the Wild was enough for Stars coach Dave Tippet to pull the plug on Turco and replace him with backup Mike Smith. The Stars would answer back with a goal of their own only a minute after the Wild, but Gaborik extended the lead again with another goal with just 1:30 left in the first.

The second period started off fairly even as the Wild and Stars traded shots before the Wild finally scored again with a goal from Eric Belanger. Belanger received a beautiful pass from Gaborik and Belanger, using the perfect screen Aaron Voros was setting up, rifled the puck past Smith to put the Wild at a comfortable 5-1 lead. The Stars would respond with two consecutive goals in the second period to get the game to 5-3, but that's as close as they would get. Mark Parrish nailed the coffin shut with a goal with less than 4 minutes left and the Wild came away with a 6-3 victory.

The most notable aspect of the game was the absence of Martin Skoula at the blue-line. After a series of articles written in the local paper about Skoula the last few days, Jacques Lemaire may have been feeling a little bit of pressure to sit Skoula to see what happens. The Wild fans have been clamoring for Skoula, who has now sat a total of 2 games while in a Wild uniform, to be benched in favor of a better defensemen such as Keith Carney or Kurtis Foster. Tonight, Carney was the lucky recipient of the ice time and he proved that he still has some game (at least more game than Skoula). Lemaire has shown an infinite amount of confidence in his seasoned blue-liner, but what he sees in Skoula is something that pretty much everybody in the State of Hockey is missing. Lemaire says that Skoula uses his big size to his advantage, yet the last time I saw him intimidate a player with his size was...I can't even remember. Guys skate right around Skoula and usually that leads to a goal. I do not believe it is coincidence that the defense was good tonight with the absence of Skoula; I feel the blue-line is much safer without him there. I don't know what stat Lemaire is looking at, but what I look for in a defensemen is his +/- ratio. A player gets a + if he is on the ice when his own team scores; a player receives a - if he is on the ice when the opposing team scores. Let's take a look at the defensemen on the Wild and compare that stat:

Brent Burns: +2
Kim Johnsson: -6
Kurtis Foster:-4
Petteri Nummelin:+2
Nick Schultz:-3
Keith Carney:+7
Sean Hill:-4
Martin Skoula:-13

That stat is pretty telling. Generally when a coach plays a guy that is terrible on either side of the puck, it means he adds some sort of threat on the other side. When Skoula plays, he is at the very least a liability on defense and he adds absolutely no scoring threat whatsoever. What Lemaire sees in him, I have no idea. Carney on the other hand, a seasoned veteran who is a career +163, sits pretty much every game. And even though Foster is a -4, he adds a scoring threat that is pretty much unmatched by any of our other defensemen (minus Brent Burns), yet he's been a constant healthy scratch. I am glad to see that Lemaire, whether he took the articles and the fans reaction to heart or not, finally did what every Minnesota Wild fan was looking for: giving Skoula the heave-ho. Now the only thing that would make it better would be for Doug Risebrough, the Wild General Manager, to let Skoula go for good.

A little of this, a little of that

2008-01-01T23:14:00.001-06:00

I'm just sitting here watching the Kings/Blawkhawks game on NHL Network and felt like writing. All in all it was a great New Year. Fun night with a couple of different stops without any hitches. The day after went smooth too. A lot of Bowl games today and none of them disappointed...well, almost none. Hawaii, the perrenial WAC Conference underdog, met most peoples expectations and completely fell flat on their faces. Colt Brennan didn't have any time to unload the football, causing turnover after turnover, and the defense could not stop the Bulldogs offense to save their lives. I am disappointed that the Rainbow Warriors could not pull out a victory, but I believe that they accomplished what they needed to this season to show that the WAC Conference is for real.

The other big bowl game of my day was the Outback Bowl which pitted Michigan against an overpowering Florida team. Tim Tebow, 2007's recipient of the Heisman Trophy, was on his game all day. Luckily for me, a huge Wolverines fan, the Michigan offense led by Chad Henne and Mike Hart was even better. Henne passed for nearly 400 yards and Hart ran for over 100 as Michigan prevailed 41-35. That game was Lloyd Carr's last game as coach of the Michigan Wolverines, and he will be missed. Carr finished his tenure at Michigan with a record of 122-40, damn good for a guy who inherited a team with a wicked history that he needed to continue. Now Rich Rodriguez, who led West Virginia to a BCS Bowl berth in 2005 and 2007, will take over the reins for the Maize and Blue. I'm sure he will do just fine coaching the team. I don't believe that his record will be the problem, the only thing the coach of Michigan really needs to do is beat Ohio State, and I believe that with Rodriguez, Michigan will bring in the right recruits to do that.

That's all for now, I just wanted to write for the sake of writing. We'll see how the Wild rebound after that crazy loss to the Sharks just last night. Skoula better be a scratch tomorrow, if he's not...I guess he's not. But we all know he deserves to be. The Blackhawks look like crap without the tandem of Kane and Toews. They are still a talented team, but drastically different without the two young studs together.

Wild mount furious comeback against Oilers

2007-12-30T12:07:00.001-06:00

Nearing the end of the second period with the team down 4-1 Saturday night, the fans at the Xcel Energy Center were so quiet that they could have heard a stick drop on the ice. Luckily for the fans, the Wild had other ideas about the remainder of the game. Wild Center Eric Belanger looked down the bench at his teammates and one thought popped into his mind: We can still win this game.

"We just knew, you know?" said Belanger after the game. "We just knew we were going to win this game."

It took the Wild nearly 10 minutes to get themselves back into the game after being down 4-1, but on this night, the Wild knew it was their game to take. With just over 2 minutes left in the second frame, Brian Rolston fired home a wrist shot to cut the Edmonton lead in half. Going into the locker room, the team felt as though it had a great chance to get themselves back into this game. Wild coach Jacques Lemaire was relieved the Wild were able to get a goal to close out the second period.

"Four to one would have been tougher than 4-2," Lemaire said. "The way we were playing, that's what we were hoping for, a goal at the end of the second."

It took the Wild less than 5 minutes into the third period to get them within a goal. Mark Parrish placed a perfect pass right to the stick of Marian Gaborik who shot it home past Edmonton goalie Dwayne Roloson just 4:44 into the third period. From there, the Wild just settled back and waited for their chances. After giving up double-digit shots in each of the first two periods, the Wild gave up only 6 in the third, limiting the Oilers scoring chances with much-improved defense from guys like Sean Hill and Petteri Nummelin. After spending most of the third period in the Edmonton zone, the Wild finally cashed in again to tie the game at 4 exactly 10 minutes after their third goal. Brent Burns took control of a Pierre-Marc Bouchard rebound and poked it home for his career-high 8th goal of the season. From there, the Wild tried to end the game before it got to overtime, but were unsuccessful. The Wild knew that they had the Oilers on the ropes, and they weren't about to let it slip away.

The Wild got started right away in overtime when Gaborik took the puck and split the defense on his way to the goal. Edmonton defensemen Steve Staios, realizing that there is no way they could catch up to Gaborik, did the smart thing and hooked Gaborik to give his team a chance to kill off a penalty. Unfortunately for the Oilers, the Wild were not going to let this game get away. The Wild quickly took control of the puck and moved it around the Edmonton zone. After about a minute of passing, Rolston found the puck and slid it over to Bouchard, who in turn flung the puck out to Nummelin who then took a wicked snap shot to send the Wild out with a bang. It was the first time in franchise history the Wild had come back from a 3 goal deficit in the Xcel Energy Center, and only the second time they had done it in any venue.

OK, so I wrote that trying to be fairly nice to the Wild when re-capping that game. The truth is though, it was a horrible game, aside from the fact that they won. I'll admit it was a hard-fought game and a great comeback, but the way the Wild played in the first two periods, there was no way they deserved to win that game. The Wild should be counting their lucky stars after this game in which they gave up two short-handed goals (which had never been done against the Wild), played absolutely awful defense, and only managed 7 shots on net in the second period. I refer to the Wild's defense as "absolutely awful" simply because I could not find any other words to express how dismal they really are. There is not one defensemen right now that is playing anywhere near where they need to be. Brent Burns is letting guys get behind him, Sean Hill is making terrible mistakes with the puck, and Martin Skoula...is Martin Skoula. I truly and honestly do not know why on earth Lemaire feels the need to put Skoula into the game. He can't hit, he can't block a shot, he can't stick-handle, and he can't skate. It's honestly like watching a guy that's been skating for maybe a couple months, and this guy is playing in the NHL, logging more than 20 minutes a game. Everybody on the defense needs to be more aggressive in order to cut down the opponents scoring chances. Now I'm not going to pretend like I know what is best for the team, I trust Lemaire and I trust the rest of the coaching staff, but after watching the Wild every year since their inception, I can tell what is and what isn't working with this team. When the puck is in the neutral zone and our defensemen is 10 feet away from the puck, and the opponents forward is 15 feet away from the puck, why would we let the other team take the puck and skate it into our zone? The idea just seems ludicrous to me, yet I see it every game. If we don't have our defense go after that puck, the other team is going to get it, do a little dance around our defensemen, and shoot and score. If we go after that puck, at the very least we can disrupt the play they are trying to set up and maybe get possession of the puck again. It seems so easy yet so hard when watching this club struggle. And yes, even with this recent comeback win, I am still calling the Wild a struggling team.

Mark Parrish is finally doing what he was brought in here to do last year: stay in front of the net, and don't move for any reason. We have four other guys that are there to back him up. If we can keep possession of the puck, Parrish has to be the one to stay in front of the net to screen the goalie, as well as be there to pick up any rebounds. And when Parrish isn't out on the ice, somebody else has to step-up and do the same thing. Aaron Voros, the one good constant on this team since he was called up, has been doing that, and it has paid off dearly for him. Voros, playing in only his 23rd game of the season last night, has recorded 7 goals and 6 assists this year. That's more goals than Pierre-Marc Bouchard who has 6 goals in 38 games this year. The Wild have so many things to work on if they want to become a top contender in this league. It is easy to see what makes a team dominant in today's NHL. Look at the Detroit Red Wings: The ultimate passing team that isn't afraid to get pushed around in front of the net. Their finesse style of play may not be able to be matched by the Wild, but there are plenty of aspects of the Red Wings game that the Wild can try to mimic and become a better team with. It's the same thing with the Vancouver Canucks. The Canucks play a brand of hockey that virtually no one else can copy: They have the perfect mix of hard-nosed players to go along with skill players and they have one of the best goaltenders in the league. I'm not in favor of the Wild taking a page out of the Canucks dirty plays book, but there are definitely many parts of Vancouver's play that the Wild need to look at if they want to become a top contender in the West.

Again I bring up the point of the Wild not having their top center, Mikko Koivu. But the way they are struggling right now, offense is not my main worry. Eventually Koivu will make his way back into the lineup, lines will get shifted back to the way they were, and the scoring will come easier. It is the defense that worries me right now, and it is the defense that should be worrying the coaching staff of the Wild. The Wild have plenty of top-tier defenders in Brent Burns, Nick Schultz, and Petteri Nummelin, but none of them are playing up to their potential, or even anywhere near their potential. There are no trade possibilities for the Wild, nor do they have any solid defensive prospects down in Houston. That leaves the only option for the Wild on the guys that are carrying the load now. They need to be more aggressive when dealing with the puck, and they need to start taking more shots and getting the puck at the net. If they don't start doing that soon, they could very well fall out of the top 8 in the conference.

It's Wild on top of the Western Conference

2007-12-21T21:33:00.001-06:00

It seems like just yesterday that the Minnesota Wild were playing mediocre hockey, not being able to complete a pass or score a goal. They bottomed out in San Jose, where they fell behind quickly and couldn't catch up. It was frustrating as a fan watching the Wild struggle so mightily when I knew they were capable of so much more. After that dismal showing in San Jose, the Wild had a few days to collect themselves before heading to Anaheim to face the Ducks. The Wild were desperate to get something going, and by the way they played that night, they were ready for it. The Wild swiftly broke out of their scoring slump and dropped 5 goals en route to a 5-2 win. With a new bounce in their step, the Wild finished their swing through California with a game in Los Angeles. Although the Wild couldn't stay hot with the goal scoring in LA, Josh Harding played stellar in goal to lead the Wild to a 2-1 win over the Kings. The Wild were cautious not to get ahead of themselves while on this short two game win streak, but they knew that they had to keep the confidence they had to be able to continue playing well.

The Wild headed home to take on the Nashville Predators on December 18th, three days after their close game in Los Angeles. The Wild, still in a bit of a scoring slump, knew that they needed to score early and often against Nashville to have a chance of winning. Unfortunately, it was the Preds that got going much sooner than the Wild had hoped. Jason Arnott scored for Nashville at the 8:50 mark of the first period to set the tone for the first 2 periods. The rest of the first period came and went quietly, but the Wild didn't play their best, putting them at risk for a defeat. The second period was a little better, yet the Predators again got on the scoreboard with the Wild missing out. The Wild went into the locker room a little disappointed; they had played a good two periods, yet Nashville was being rewarded with tip-in goals. After the way the first 40 minutes of the game went, it was fairly apparent the Wild were ready to break out, and break out they did: three goals in the third, the last one coming with just over a minute left, to propel the Wild to their 3rd win in a row.

Now riding high with a legitimate winning streak, the Wild faced the New York Rangers on Thursday night. The Rangers, although not particularly hot their last ten games (4-5-1), are always a team that can light the lamp on you. Luckily, the Wild had other ideas for this night. The Rangers got on the board first when Michal Rozsival found the back of the net just over 9 minutes into the game. Just 3 minutes after that goal, the Wild responded with one of their own. Gaborik scored the first of his FIVE (yes 5) goals on the night, beating Henrik Lundqvist with a wicked snap-shot after a beautiful pass from Pavol Demitra. Soon after Martin Skoula took an ugly tumble in the Wild zone (and by ugly I mean he looked like a first-time skater), Nigel Dawes scored for the Rangers to get them within striking distance. The Wild were quick to extinguish any hope for a New York comeback when Pierre-Marc Bouchard scored 3 minutes after to put the Wild again up by 2. The Wild finished the game with two more Gaborik goals to win the game 6-3. Although the Wild were again back on the winning track after a 4 game winning streak, that was put on the back-burner for a while. Thursday night belonged to Marian Gaborik and his historical 5 goals.

Gaborik's night was the first time in over 11 years that any NHL player had recorded 5 goals in a game, and the first time anybody had done it in Wild franchise history. Gaborik also assisted on Bouchard's goal, giving him 6 points on the night and making him the toast of Minnesota. So impressed were his teammates with his effort that two of them carried him off of the ice. Gaborik was definitely on all night; he was zipping up and down the ice like there was nothing to it and scoring so effortlessly that he could have easily recorded 6 or 7 goals on the night. After being stuck in a slump for a good six weeks, it was great to have a four game win-streak going and to have such an exciting game during the streak. Now the Wild are not-so-securely in second place in the conference, yet still in control of the standings. The Red Wings have a fairly comfortable lead in the West, but one decent slide by them can open up the door for the Wild to sneak into the number one slot in the conference. Tomorrow will be a good start on their quest to catch Detroit, since they face the Wings at the X. The Wings are obviously the superior team in the West, they have too much fire-power to go along with stellar defense and goal tending, but if the Wild can shut down their top line of Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg, they have a very good chance of winning the game.

Yet another big game coming up for the Vikings on Sunday as they take on the Washington Redskins at the Dome. With a Vikings win and a Saints loss, the Vikings guarantee themselves a playoff birth. It's been an interesting season for Minnesota fans, to say the least. When the Vikings stumbled out of the gate to a 2-5 start, the whole Vikings contingent of fans was hoping for a good draft pick for next year. Now that the team is 8-6 and looking very promising, it's once again exciting to watch this team. Adrian Peterson is still lighting up the field at will, and Tavaris Jackson has looked great the last 5 games or so. Now that they have something to play for, I find myself getting very into the games again. With the way they are playing recently, I can honestly say I believe that the Vikings could give the Cowboys or Packers a run for their money in the playoffs.

Another day, another blow-out

2007-12-12T10:30:00.001-06:00

The Minnesota Wild are now officially slipping into the bottom echelon of the worst teams in the Western Conference. After hoping the Wild would be able to answer Jacques Lemaire's call and step-up their game Tuesday night, they instead played yet another terrible game where there was virtually no passing, defense, or scoring from Minnesota.

It didn't take the Sharks long to get the scoring going for them when Joe Pavelski scored a mere 2 minutes and 39 seconds into the game. The Wild played a decent rest of the first period, not surrendering any more goals and out-shooting the Sharks 10-8 in that period. Unfortunately, that was the end of any hope for the Wild. I have no idea what Lemaire said in between the first and second periods, but it looked like the Wild would have nothing of it. The Sharks came out shooting in the second period and ended up scoring a total of three times in 13 minutes to put the Wild completely out of reach, en route to a 4-1 win.

With the Wild's complete lack of hustle and aggressiveness, it's hard to say when the Wild might snap out of this funk. The can't score goals to save their lives, and they can't play defense to make up for the goal shortage. Two days ago, Jacques Lemaire called out his skill players to tell them they had to step up in a big way if the Wild were to be successful. I don't know if the players had Lemaire's words go in one ear and out the other, or if the simply cannot step up their game enough right now. Through 30 games this season, the Wild are sitting at 16-12-2, just barely good enough for 6th in the Western Conference. In those same 30 games, the so-called "skill" players such as Pavol Demitra, Pierre-Marc Bouchard, and Brian Rolston all have 20 points or less, with Demitra sitting at the bottom with a measly 14. Meanwhile our defense has combined for a +/- of -9, with the ever-disappointing Martin Skoula sitting at -8. Comparing that to a mediocre team like Anaheim whose defensemen are a combined +5, I think we can say the Wild's defense is a little less than stellar. Now I'll be the first to admit that the Wild are definitely hurting without Mikko Koivu. With Koivu out, that shuffles the whole lineup around, forcing Demitra to stray from his normal forward position into the center slot, thus pretty much killing any chance he has of scoring with the way Lemaire plays the center position (never stray past the opposing face off circles). But there is no reason that even without Koivu the Wild should be doing this bad. They have scored 2 goals or less in 4 games in a row, and 16 total games this year. I agree that when Koivu comes back they will score more, but unless they can get Niklas Backstrom his confidence back too, the Wild are stuck in the middle of the tight Western Conference.

From here, Minnesota's schedule does not get any easier. They face the Nashville Predators (11th in Western Conference), the New York Rangers (6th in the Eastern Conference), and the Detroit Red Wings (1st in the Western Conference) all in four days in the middle of December. I wish I had some ideas to throw out that I think would help the Wild, but unfortunately, I'm drawing a blank. The simply need to have every player step up like they were at the beginning of the season and play the game of hockey. The season is more than 1/3 gone, and I would hate to see the Wild keep sliding down the standings with the high expectations that they had going into the season.

The Wild's next game is on Friday night, where they will be facing the hated Anaheim Ducks. This would be a very important win, not only because it would put them back in the win column, but because Anaheim is a team that, after last years post-season, I would assume every Wild player would love to beat.

Be sure to check out the big black eye that will hit Major League Baseball tomorrow (Thursday) at 2:00 o'clock when the Mitchell Report comes out highlighting what George Mitchell found in his long investigation into steroids in Baseball.

My how the momentum has shifted...

2007-12-10T22:17:00.001-06:00

It was a mere 4 weeks ago that the whole state of Minnesota was ragging on Brad Childress, praising Adrian Peterson, and thinking that the whole Minnesota Vikings season was going down the drain. That was following a 34-0 drubbing at the hands of the Green Bay Packers, and things were looking pretty bad. Since then, not only have the Vikings gone 4-0, they have beaten opponents by an average of more than 20 points per game. Now at this point the Vikings have their fans thinking playoffs, and if they keep playing the way they have been lately, they can definitely go pretty deep in the postseason.

The most recent game that the Vikings dominated was in San Francisco against the 49ers, where they easily handled the Alex Smith-less Niners 27-7. The Vikings defense was spectacular yet again with 2 interceptions and 3 fumble recoveries (unfortunately their defense wasn't enough to get the win for me in fantasy this week). The positive sign for this weeks game was the fact that AP was held in check, carrying 14 times for only 3 yards, but the Vikings used the second head of their two-headed monster to carry the load. Chester Taylor carried the ball 8 times for 101 yards and a touchdown, and Tavaris Jackson looked solid for the fourth consecutive week in a row with short, effective passes that moved the chains down the field.

The Vikings set the tempo of the game early on when big Kevin Williams picked off Trent Dilfer and returned it 18 yards to the house just 14 seconds into the game. From there on, the Vikings were in total control. The Vikings now control their own road to the playoffs. If they can defeat the Chicago Bears next week, the Washington Redskins in two weeks, and the Denver Broncos in the final week of the season, the will secure a playoff spot. Like I mentioned before, when (yes when, not if) the Vikings make the playoffs, if they can keep the motivation they have right now, they will be one dangerous team to face.

While the Vikings are tearing up the field, Minnesota Twins GM Bill Smith is holding strong in his efforts to get the maximum value for his Ace Johan Santana. While a lot of fans are clamoring for Santana to be traded soon so that the drama will go away, I applaud Smith for keeping his cool and not settling for anything less than the best. Now I, as much as the next die-hard Twins fan, would love to have the Twins sign Santana long-term, but I have come to terms with the fact that Carl Pohlad will not shell out the $100+ million that Santana is asking to keep him, so I'm OK with Smith being patient with this whole ordeal. I am still personally getting over the Hot-Stove week with all the different scenarios and trade rumors (that whole week consisted of sitting at the computer and refreshing every baseball-related web page waiting for the trade to happen). The Twins are definitely going be a different team next year, but I really do feel that they are getting better and better with every trade or little roster move. Bill Smith has already proven he knows what he is doing, and as anxious as I am to get this trade over and done with, I am happy that Smith has shown that he is as stubborn with this trade as Jacques Lemaire is when it comes to giving Martin Skoula ice time.

The Minnesota Wild are going back and forth again in the win-loss column, so let's hope they can extend their current winning streak of one (1) with a win tomorrow night against the San Jose Sharks. The Wild are in the middle of a pretty brutal road trip (Detroit, Columbus, San Jose, Anaheim, and Los Angeles), and if they were to get their season back on track, this would be a good trip to do so on. Mikko Koivu is still out with a broken bone in his leg stemming from the ridiculously illegal hit by Mattias Ohlund a few weeks ago. Until Koivu comes back, I fear the Wild may be hovering around mediocrity.

Let's take the C out of the BCS

2007-12-03T17:41:00.001-06:00

I'm going to start out by apologizing to anyone that reads this, or may stumble across this, for my absence in recent weeks.

In the wake of the final week of the college football season, the BCS has obviously been a hot topic. After both the number one Missouri Tigers and the number two West Virginia Mountaineers lost, the college football polls were jumbled again. The BCS selection show yesterday pitted the LSU Tigers versus the Ohio State Buckeyes in the National Championship to be played January 7th, 2008. I, like many other people around the country, find the BCS to be something of a nuisance, something that should be eliminated from college football. As much as I personally do not want Ohio State in the National Championship, they are much more deserving than LSU. The Les Miles-led Tigers have two losses at the hands of Kentucky and Arkansas. Last time I checked, the regular season actually counted when it comes to deciding bowl games, but after seeing the matchups, it is easy to tell that the BCS has turned into something of a popularity contest. Hawaii, a team that went undefeated in the regular season, is left out of the National Championship in favor of a team that lost two (yes, two) regular season games.

So let's go over this "Hawaii has a soft schedule" argument. Sure, Hawaii may not have played many quality teams this season, but that is no fault of their own. It's not Hawaii that decides not to play good teams, it's the good teams that don't feel like travelling to Hawaii to give them some competition. Before this football season even started, the University of Michigan Wolverines were on the Warriors schedule, but eventually pulled out and switched that game with Appalachian State. That sure makes Michigan look tough. If people want to complain about the toughness of Hawaii's schedule, then go play them yourselves, otherwise keep quiet.

Sure one can make the argument that LSU is the better team, but since when do we award teams for not living up to their expectations? LSU wasn't supposed to lose to Kentucky, much less Arkansas, yet Hawaii EXCEEDS expectations by running the table and gets the shaft. And as Adam Rank of AOL Fanhouse points out, if this was about putting the best teams in the Championship, USC should be there over LSU. Needless to say, there are many problems with the way that bowl games are decided.

Can you say Playoff system?

Feel free to leave comments on what you think of the B(C)S.

Wrap-up

2007-11-19T10:02:00.001-06:00

Things finally were going right for the Vikings yesterday, and even though it was against the Raiders, I decided I'm going to look at it as a pretty big step forward rather than just a normal step. The Vikings came to play ball yesterday, and that was very apparent. They looked good on all ends of the field and came out with a 29-22 victory. Chester Taylor, who was bumped back into the starting slot because of Adrian Peterson's injury, showed why he deserves to be a starter in the NFL when he tore apart the Raider's D with 164 yards rushing and 3 touchdowns. Even Tavaris Jackson showed some poise as he completed 17 of 22 passes for 171 yards and a pick. Receiver Sidney Rice got into the passing game with his first two attempts and completions on two trick plays executed by the Vikings. The Vikings defense looked great in limiting the Raiders offense to only 61 yards rushing. The Vikings D did struggle against the pass again, this time the victim of former Vikings Quarterback Daunte Culpepper. Culpepper completed 23 of 39 passes for 344 yards and a touchdown to go along with two fumbles and an interception. The victory moved the Vikings record to 4-6, good for third in the division ahead of the Chicago Bears.

Although it was a terrible Sunday of Football for my fantasy team, it was a very entertaining day to watch. For the Baltimore Ravens though, it may be a day they want to take back after having the victory taken away from them after 5 minutes of the referees discussing whether or not Phil Dawson's field goal made its way through the uprights. With only a few seconds left on the clock, the Browns lined up for a 51 yard field goal to try to tie the Ravens at 30. When Dawson let the kick fly, it wound up hitting the right upright, bouncing down onto the crossbar, and ricocheting out of the goal-post. The kick was originally ruled to be no good, so the Ravens started celebrating and heading to the locker room. But after a few minutes of review, the call was reversed when the ball was deemed to have hit the bar that connects the goal-post, meaning the ball was inside the post and bounced out. The Browns then received the kick in overtime, drove down the field, and then won with another Phil Dawson field goal, this time from 31 yards.

After watching the Patriots play again last night, I have come up with this conclusion: a team is better off forfeiting their game against the Patriots to avoid an embarrassing loss. This time, the Buffalo Bills were the team that acted as the Patriots punching bag, getting beaten up 56-10. Tom Brady was his usual self completing 31 of 39 passes for a paltry 371 yards and 5 touchdowns. Oh yeah, and four of those five touchdowns went to Randy Moss, who racked up 128 receiving yards to go with those four scores. It's a testament to the Patriots when they go out on the field, score on 7 of their first 8 possessions, and nobody is surprised. After 10 games in which the Patriots average more than 41 points a game, it's not shocking at all that they are doing the things they do. It's fun to have a team like that who you can count on to put on a great offensive show every game. Here are the other scores from Sunday's action:

Tampa Bay over Atlanta 31-7
Arizona over Cincinnati 35-27
NY Giants over Detroit 16-10
Green Bay over Carolina 31-17
Indianapolis over Kansas City 13-10
Philadelphia over Miami 17-7
Jacksonville over San Diego 24-17
Houston over New Orleans 23-10
NY Jets over Pittsburgh 19-16
Dallas over Washington 28-23
St. Louis over San Francisco 13-9
Seattle over Chicago 30-23

Other action going on last night showcased the Minnesota Wild facing the division leading Colorado Avalanche. Unfortunately, the Wild were without their best center Mikko Koivu who suffered a cracked bone in his leg due to a cowardly and selfish act by Canucks Defensemen Mattias Ohlund. Ohlund received a 4 game suspension from league disciplinarian Colin Campbell yesterday, and I must say I am very disappointed to say the least. Four games for a two-handed, intentional stick-swinging act is a joke. Ohlund could have very easily broken Koivu's leg with his vicious attack, yet he only sits out for a few games. People keep bringing up that Koivu looked like he tried to elbow Ohlund right before the slash happened, but if you study the play more closely, you can tell that Koivu was simply trying to get around Ohlund and brought his arm up. Anybody that watches the Wild knows that Koivu is not the type of player that plays dirty. That type of behavior that Ohlund showed is what the NHL has vowed to try to cut out of the game, yet when something like that happens, they give the guy a minor suspension. I personally was calling for a 15-20 game suspension, but obviously I don't work in the NHL's discipline department so I have no say in the matter. Anyway, back to the game. The Wild got offense from the most surprising of players and collected a 4-1 win to leap-frog them over the Avalanche and into first place in the division. Aaron Voros, Stephane Veilleux, and Matt Foy all collected goals to help the Wild break out of their offensive slump. James Sheppard added two assists for his first two-point game in his NHL career. The Wild played a good all around game, skating well and getting back to the Jacques Lemaire-style Hockey that they have been missing. They played tight defense in allowing only 7 shots in the first period and 6 in the third. Josh Harding stopped 27 of 28 shots to earn the victory after a few recent shaky outings. Hopefully the Wild can take this game and use it to propel them forward as they continue to try to right the ship and get back to the type of Hockey they were playing in the first eight games of the season.

That's all for today. I'll try to re-cap the Monday night game between Tennessee and Denver if I can. If I don't write by then, I will definitely have something up next Thursday so I can share my thoughts on the upcoming Wild-Canucks game that is to be played on Wednesday.

The Great Sport of Hockey

2007-11-15T10:47:00.001-06:00

So I just got done reading an "article" written by Damien Cox on ESPN that outlines the topic of fighting in Hockey. I just want to start off by saying that Damien Cox needs to get a new job. Reading his take on Hockey makes me kind of ashamed that I actually listen to and follow ESPN. He is so misinformed and all of his articles have been equally terrible. With that being said, this particular article discussing fighting in Hockey is an argument that is brought up way more often than it should be.
Hockey has survived in it's original form since 1875, when the first documented game of Ice Hockey was played in Montreal, Canada. From the time of the first game up until the games taking place now, the one constant in Hockey has been fighting. The purpose of fighting is Hockey is simple to understand: Sticking up for your teammates. When a guy that is 6'2" takes a run at your best player who's 5'10", I'm pretty sure that the 5'10" guy isn't going to try to take on the bigger guy. That is where an enforcer does his job. I'm sure most people have heard the expression "pick on someone your own size," and that applies in Hockey. Most fights aren't one big guy and one little guy going at it. If someone picks on your guy, it is necessary to stick up for your teammate and show the other team that they can't mess with him.
When people try to compare the violence in Hockey to the hitting in other sports, it almost comes across as comical. So you take away fighting in Hockey. What will you do next, make Football two-hand touch? There are certain aspects of the game that cannot be changed. Hockey players have been fighting since before the NFL even came about. People aren't dying on the ice from fights, the purpose of a fight is to teach a guy a lesson like a real man. It's great when people say "Well in Basketball if you even throw a punch, you're out for 5 games, yet in Hockey it's pretty much encouraged that you fight." First of all, that is wrong. By allowing fighting to happen, that in no way is encouraging people to fight. It's simply giving grown men an option to settle their differences in a way that is fair to everyone. There are more brawls in Baseball then there are in Hockey, so why do we think that fighting is such a bad thing? It gives people a reason to not act inappropriately by having to create a brawl in order to get their point across.
When guys are caught up in the heat of the game and all of their emotions are running high, would you rather have a guy attempt to take out someone by hitting them with their stick or by engaging in a civilized fight that leaves a clear winner and loser? Fighting may look dangerous on the surface, and it definitely is dangerous, but without fighting, the only way that guys would be able to stand up for their teammates would be to commit more illegal and dirty hits. Everyone knows the risk of a fight going into it, so it's no surprise to anyone when someone gets their cheekbone shattered (warning: Pretty graphic video) or when both guys come out of a fight unscathed.
Looking at the otherside of the argument, I do see why some people disapprove of the fighting in Hockey. I know that mothers do not want their kids to watch a Hockey game, see Derek Boogaard beat up Todd Fedoruk, and have their kid try to emulate that during their Hockey game. For a person that doesn't know much about Hockey, it is reasonable for them to say that all fighting does is encourage violence and promote harm. But fighting in Hockey is much more than that. Grown men have the right to decide how they police themselves on the ice. Dirty hits are going to happen, cheap shots are going to take place, but without fighting, those will be the only ways to get back at someone. I know that revenge is something that is not taught to most young kids, but it's important that people don't just sit back and take crap from people when they don't have to. Fighting is an intrical part of Hockey and people need to learn to accept that. If you don't like the fighting, then stay out of the rink.

What's a Vikings fan to do?

2007-11-11T21:43:00.001-06:00

So after a game of extremely high highs, the Vikings have officially reached the low of the low. The Vikings followed their 35-17 romp of the Chargers last week with a 34-0 drubbing at the hands of the Green Bay Packers. Ryan Grant ran for 119 yards and a touchdown and Brett Favre had 351 yards and 3 touchdowns for the Pack. The Vikings looked inept the entire game and were completely caught off-guard on defense when Grant came out running all over them. Everybody knew the Packers were essentially a one dimensional team, opting to go with Favre because of their lack of a running game, but after today, it seems the Packers have found their running back. Grant took advantage of a Vikings defense who seemed almost too scared to tackle him and had a career day. Here are a few of the records that were set with todays lopsided loss:

1) The Vikings had not been shutout in a span of 260 games dating back to 1991.
2) This was the worst shutout loss in Vikings team history.
3) Worst loss (point-wise) since 1984 when the Vikings lost 51-7 to San Francisco.

And the icing on the cake for this game was that after gaining only 45 yards on the ground, Adrian Peterson was helped off the field after hurting what appears to be his knee. There is no word on the severity of the injury yet, the MRI will take place tomorrow (Monday). I believe, as well as most of Minnesota based on the comments left on blogs on the local newspapers, that Brad Childress deserves most of the blame for today's abysmal showing. It's pretty obvious that Childress is a terrible coach that cannot make correct play calls to save his life. He doesn't seem to have any sort of grasp on his own team, and it doesn't seem like he will anytime soon. I think that it is time to see if Bill Cowher has had enough time off with his family and try to lure him out of retirement to coach our Vikings. Having someone like him, or even Marty Schottenheimer coach the team would definitely bring a lot of the fan base back and could possibly turn this team around. Once the Vikings get a decent quarterback (Derek Anderson maybe?), they should be a pretty good team. So after todays game, the Vikings will examine Petersons injury and hopefully try not to get too down on themselves. I don't think the Vikings can get any lower than they are now, but losing next week the the lowly Raiders would definitely not help.

Off the topic of sports for a minute, I just want to point out that it was reported today that Kanye West, the famous Hip-Hop artist, had his mother pass away today at the age of 58 years young (http://allhiphop.com/blogs/news/archive/2007/11/11/18868133.aspx). It's really unfortunate when something like this happens to such an influential and good person such as Kanye. He was very close to his mother, whom he rapped about in a 2005 song called "Hey Mama." My prayers go out to Kanye and his family.

Top 10 American-born NHL players

2007-11-07T23:20:00.000-06:00

After Mike Modano scored two goals in the first 5 minutes of the Dallas Stars November 7th game to break Phil Housley's record of points by an American-born player, it got me thinking: "Is Mike Modano the best ever from America?" Here is a run-down of my Top 10 American bred players to ever lace up the skates:

10) Mike Richter (Retired, Goaltender): Was selected 28th overall in the 1985 entry draft by the New York Rangers. Finished with a career mark of 301-258-73 and a GAA of 2.89. Selected to the 1992, 1994, and 2000 NHL All-Star team (winning MVP in 1994). Won the Gold medal at the 1996 World Cup of Hockey (named MVP). Won the Silver medal at the 2002 winter olympics. Helped Rangers win the Stanley Cup in 1994. Holds 5 Rangers team records including career games played (666) and career wins (301).

9) Keith Tkachuk (Active, Center): Was selected 19th overall in the 1990 entry draft by the Winnipeg Jets. Has 478* goals and 461* assists. Was seleted to Hockey East all-rookie team in 1991. Was an all-star in 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2004. First American-born player to lead the NHL in goals (52 in 1996-1997 season). Holds Phoenix Coyotes records in most game-winning goals (40) and career penalty minutes (1,508). Currently plays for St. Louis Blues.

8) Neil Broten (Retired, Center): Was selected in the 2nd round (42nd overall) of the 1979 entry draft by the Minnesota North Stars. Has 289 goals and 634 assists. Won Hobey Baker award in 1981 while at University of Minnesota. Was on 1979 National champion Minnesota Gophers hockey team. Won a Gold Medal at the 1980 Winter Olympics as part of Team USA. Won Stanley Cup in 1995 with New Jersey Devils. Played in two NHL All-Star games (1983 and 1986). Won the Lester Patrick award in 1998 for his contributions to the NHL off the ice. Had his #7 jersey retired by the Minnesota/Dallas organization in 1998.

7) Jeremy Roenick (Active, Center): Was drafted 8th overall in the 1988 NHL entry draft by the Chicago Blackhawks. Has 499* goals and 679* assists. Won a silver medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics as part of Team USA. Posted over 100 points in three consecutive NHL seasons (1992, 1993, 1994). Made 9* All-Star teams (1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, and 2004). Currently plays for the San Jose Sharks.

6) Chris Chelios (Active, Defense): Was drafted 2nd round (40th overall) in 1981 NHL entry draft by the Montreal Canadiens. Has 183* goals and 756* assists. Was part of the University of Wisconsin-Madison 1983 National Championship team and named to All-Tournament team. Won a Silver medal at the 2002 Olympics with Team USA. Made All-Star team 11* times in career (1985, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, and 2002). Won James Norris trophy for leagues best defensemen three times (1989, 1993, and 1996). Led the league in Plus/Minus in 2002. Won a Stanley Cup with Montreal in 1986 and another Cup with Detroit in 2002. Currently plays for the Detroit Red Wings.

5) Brian Leetch (Retired, Defense): Was selected 9th overall in the 1986 NHL entry draft by the New York Rangers. Has 247 goals and 781 assists. Scored a rookie defensemen record 23 goals in 1987. Won the Calder Trophy (top rookie) in 1987 and was selected to the All-Rookie team the same year. Two-time Norris Trophy winner for the leagues top defensemen (1992 and 1997). Only American-born player to win the Conn Smythe Trophy (Stanley Cup MVP) as part of the Stanley Cup winning 1994 New York Rangers. Played in 9 NHL All-Star games (1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001, and 2002). Won Silver medal at 2002 Olympics with Team USA.

4) Pat LaFontaine (Retired, Center): Was selected 3rd overall in the 1983 NHL entry draft by the New York Islanders. Collected 468 goals and 545 assists in only 865 games due to post-concussion syndrome. Set record for points in a season by an American-born player with 148 in 1993. Was awarded the Bill Masterson trophy (dedication) in 1995. Made NHL All-Star team in 1992-1993 season.

3) Joe Mullen (Retired, Forward): Signed a free agent contract with the St. Louis Blues in 1980. Has 502 goals and 561 assists. Two-time recipient of the Lady Byng Trophy for sportsmanship (1987 and 1989). Played in three NHL All-Star games (1989, 1990, and 1994). Was awarded the Lester Patrick award in 1995. Was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2000.

2) Phil Housley (Retired, Defense): Was selected 6th overall in the 1982 NHL entry draft by the Buffalo Sabres. Has 338 goals and 894 assists. Won a Silver medal at the 2002 winter olympics as part of Team USA. Was selected to the 1983 All-Rookie team. Played in a total 0f 7 All-Star games (1984, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, and 2000). Holds the record for most games played by an American-born player with 1,495. Also holds record for most assists by an American-born player with 894.

1) Mike Modano (Active, Center): Was selected 1st overall in the 1988 NHL entry draft by the Minnesota North Stars. Has 511* goals and 722* assists. Holds the record for most points by an American-born player with 1233. Was named to the 1990 NHL All-Rookie team. Has appeared in 7 NHL All-Star games (1993, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2004, and 2007). Won a Stanley Cup with the Dallas Stars in 1999. Holds several Minnesota/Dallas organization records including career goals (511*), career playoff games (156*), and career playoff points (133*).

*-Number subject to change

Just a filler

2007-11-07T15:52:00.002-06:00

There wasn't much going on last night so today's post is going to be short.

The Timberwolves lost again, this time to the Orlando Magic 111-103. The Wolves made it close at one point, going on a 14-0 run to cut a 16 point lead to 2, but they could never get any closer. Al Jefferson finished with 25 points and 10 rebounds and Corey Brewer chipped in 10 points. Dwight Howard led the Magic with 28 points. It's early in the season, but the Wolves need to step it up a notch if they want any respect. Good news though, Randy Foye says all the pain is gone in his bum knee and he should start running soon to see how his knee reacts:
http://www.startribune.com/511/story/1533509.html
Once Foye comes back, he should start picking up some of the slack and hopefully the Wolves can start winning consistenly.

Other than that, I just watched the latest episode of Heroes last night and thought it was one of the best in a season of relative disappointments. I guess disappointment is kind of a harsh word, but when they hype up an episode telling me that they will give me answers to certain questions and then they don't deliver, it's not ideal for me. The latest episode was definitely a step up though, and it reminded me more of the edge of your seat episodes they had in season one. It was good to see Parkman get over the devastating memory of his father by essentially robbing his father of his powers. Nikki also got into some trouble when she accidently injected herself with the Shanti virus after seeing visions of D.L. in her thoughts and freaking out. The original thought was that Suresh could use his antibodies to eliminate the virus from Nikki, but it turns out that the virus mutated and is now uncurable. And all this leads up to the end of the episode, when we find out that the man that was supposed to Takezeo Kensei turns out to be Adam Monroe, a man who Bob has on file but we the audience know nothing about. That last twist is one that will make next weeks episode very interesting.

Oh yeah, the Ottawa Senators posted the best start in NHL history with a 5-1 win over Toronto last night. The Sens are 13-1 after 14 games. Daniel Alfredsson leads the NHL's best team with 20 points and the team looks like it's ready to avenge its 4-1 series loss in the Stanley Cup last season.
The Wild are off until Sunday when they will travel to Colorado to take on the Avalanche.

Let's Play Hockey

2007-11-06T10:39:00.001-06:00

So the Wild are officially back on track after a 5-2 victory over the currently hopeless Edmonton Oilers. With Gaborik and Demitra out, and Dominic Moore not quite ready to take the ice, the Wild were forced to shift defensemen Petteri Nummelin up to a forward position. Although the shift wasn't ideal, it couldn't have worked out any better. Moving Nummelin up quickly paid dividends when he shot a perfect pass across Edmontons zone setting up Mark Parrish's first goal of the night just 5 minutes into the game. From there, the Wild powerplay just picked apart the Edmonton penalty kill scoring a total of 3 power play goals in just the first period. Although Niklas Backstrom was not tested very often in net at the beginning, he made the saves needed to give the team confidence going into the locker room.

The Wild came out in the second period even faster than they did in the first, scoring just 3:21 into the period. The Wild and Oilers finished the period switching goals, and at the end of the second period the score was 5-2. With the game already in hand, all the Wild needed to do was prevent any scoring opportunities in the third period, and that is exactly what they did. Shutting down the Oilers in the final frame led to the Wild coming out with a victory. Parrish ended up with two power-play goals, Nummelin ended up with two big assists, and Kurtis Foster chipped in a goal and an assist. All around it was a game the Wild desperately needed.

So now to an article I caught on espn.com this morning. Todd Bertuzzi, who to me is a guy who should never have stepped back onto the ice after his incident with Steve Moore back in 2004, apparently offered to settle the $15 million lawsuit brought on by Moore by paying him $350,000. Seriously, that number isn't a joke. He wanted to give the guy who's career he ruined not even 1% of what he's asking for. I don't know if he was purposely trying to insult Moore, but whatever his intent was, it made him look like even less of a man. What he did back in '04 was totally dirty and should not have happened, and the punishment handed down to him was just a slap on the wrist. Thirteen games and the playoffs for ending a 23 year-olds fairly promising career? You have go to be kidding me. When I read this article today, I just kept thinking that I couldn't wait for the Ducks to come to town so Boogey can beat the crap out of him on the ice. If you want to read the article, here's the link for you:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=3096818

Also going on last night was Monday Night Football. The Steelers and Ravens were supposed to be playing a Football game, but it looked more like the Steelers were playing a team of kids. The Ravens commited 4 turnovers on the night, including 3 fumbles in the first quarter, en route to a 38-7 pounding by the Pittsburgh Steelers. Ben Roethlisberger looked unstoppable in the first half, tying a Steelers record by throwing 5 touchdown passes in the half. Big Ben finished the game with 209 yards and 5 touchdown passes with no interceptions and a perfect quarterback rating of 158.3. The Steelers defense also looked unstoppable, especially James Harrison, an undrafted free agent signed by the Steelers after they released pro-bowl linebacker Joey Porter. Harrison finished the night with 2 1/2 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery, and an interception. Those numbers are wicked for an entire defense, much less one player. Even though it was a blowout, it was a good game to tune into during the breaks of the Wild game.

The only thing really that I can think of that is going on tonight is the Timberwolves host the Orlando Magic. Everybody's been hating on the Wolves this year, thinking they won't be able to recover from the departure of KG and the arrival of a lot of young guys, but I think that we should reserve judgement until we get a good look at these guys. Sure they have started 0-2, but like I said, they're a young team and they need some time to adjust to eachother. Plus, Randy Foye isn't even playing, and he is one of our top guys. I'm not saying the Wolves are gonna win 50+ games this year, but I do think they will exceed most peoples expectations.

Unfortunately with all the games going on last night I had to miss a new episode of Heroes, so I will have to catch that online some time today. I'm hoping it answers more questions than last weeks episode, I really thought they were going to clarify some things and it turned out to just be more questions. Either way, it is still one of the best shows on TV right now and I hope the writers end their strike soon so that the season doesn't have to end prematurely at the beginning of December.

Week 9 Football

2007-11-05T14:53:00.001-06:00

Well, the game of the century is over. Super Bowl 41 1/2 as some dubbed it. Whatever it was, it was a hell of a game. In most sports blogs, this game may be the first thing talked about, in others it may be the only thing talked about. But for me, the number one story of the Football day was none other than Adrian "All Day" Peterson. As a tried and true Vikings fan for many years, it is absolutely great to see this guy run through defenses like there's nothing to it. If for some reason you don't know what AD did yesterday, here is his line:

30 carries
296 rushing yards
3 touchdowns

Those 296 rushing yards set a new NFL single-game rushing record, beating Jamal Lewis' record of 295 yards set back in 2003. Oh yeah, AD is also only a rookie playing in his eighth career game. If that doesn't impress you, I don't know if you can call yourself a Football fan. I do have to mention that AD did lose a fumble in Chargers territory, but why focus on the negative when there is so much more positive?
Back to the other game. In the game that was said to be the best in over a decade, the Patriots and Colts did not disappoint. In a game that featured two of the best quarterbacks ever, Tom Brady and the Patriots came out on top 24-20. Here are the stats for both Quarterbacks:

Brady: 21/32 255 yards 3 td 2 int
Peyton Manning: 16/27 225 yards 1 td 1 int 1 fumble lost

Statistically speaking, Brady did have a better game, but both Quarterbacks played well enough for their respective teams to win. The score was close for most of the game, with Brady having to lead a comeback after being down 20-10 with less than ten minutes to play. Brady swiftly led the Patriots on two consecutive touchdown drives, one score on a short pass to Wes Welker and another on a short pass over the middle to Kevin Faulk who took it 13 yards to the the house. The Patriots defense was outstanding at the end of the game, forcing Manning to fumble twice to seal the victory. The win over the Colts kept the Patriots undefeated at 9-0 going into their bye week, and the loss dropped the Colts to 7-1 before their showdown with the San Diego Chargers next week.
Here are all the others scores of the week:

Atlanta over San Francisco 20-16
Buffalo over Cincinnati 33-21
Detroit over Denver 44-7
Green Bay over Kansas City 33-22
Minnesota over San Diego 35-17
New Orleans over Jacksonville 41-24
Washington over NY Jets 23-20 OT
Tampa Bay over Arizona 17-10
Tennessee over Carolina 20-7
Cleveland over Seattle 33-30 OT
Houston over Oakland 24-17
Dallas over Philadelphia 38-17

Minnesota Wild play tonight at home against Edmonton. The Wild will be missing Gaborik and Demitra again, but they played strong Saturday against Calgary so hopefully they can keep the confidence and ride it.