Wafer Thin

By NiNY

Ugh.

The Wild didn't lay an egg against Chicago on Monday. Chicago is a good team that has successfully stayed in the race long enough to recover from their Championship run last spring, and is now playing well. They showed how good they are against Minnesota on Monday. Wasn't the best Wild game ever, but I felt like more credit was due to Chicago than finger pointing at the Wild.

Last night, though. Different story. The Wild was just flat. From the opening draw. I'm not saying they should have destroyed the Islanders. Wild fans certainly should remember how a team out of the playoffs can be dangerous at the end of a season. And the Isles have talent. But, as coach Richards has said often, you can control your effort. The Wild showed me no effort last night. And, if you can't conjur up a little effort in the heat of a playoff battle....

To me, if the team was so thin that a couple injuries (granted including one to their best overall player) were going to sink them anyway, then that's all the justification that Fletcher needed for not mortgaging the future on Monday.

So now it's back to basics: get the effort back up, get back to the tenets of the system, get the passion flowing again.

Because the other teams the Wild is fighting with in the West aren't exactly lying down and dying.

Also, Trevor Gillies? Disgusting.