Canucks at Wild: Pregame

The Canucks play the Wild in Saint Paul tonight

What worries me:

• The Canucks are rolling - 8-1-1 in their last 10.
• The Wild are not - 4-5-1 in their last 10
• The Wild lack secondary scoring

What gives me hope:

• The Wild are at home  - 13-3-2 at home.
• The Wild are coming off a win.
• Nino finally scored, setting up Saturday's win.

Wild at San Jose: Pregame

The Wild visit the San Jose Sharks tonight

What worries me:

• The Sharks are tough (10-1-2) at home.
• The Wild are on the road.
• Bax is in net.

What gives me hope:

• The Sharks are winless in 4.
• The Wild beat the Sharks on Sunday.
• The Wild's top line is in fine form.

Wild at Anaheim: Pregame

The Wild visit the Anaheim Ducks tonight

What worries me:

• The Ducks are undefeated at home.
• Perry and Getzlaf lead the league with a combined 36 goals
• The Wild are on the road.

What gives me hope

• The Ducks might be ready to cool off?
• The Ducks have a lot of injuries
• Harding is on fire and rested.

30WR: BJs Crush Wild

By NiNY

Wild was terrible.  

*I'm only giving you 10% tonight, which is 9 percentage points more than the Wild gave us.  

Wild at Columbus Pregame

The Wild visit Columbus tonight

What worries me:

• The Wild are coming off a big win. Can't deflate
• The Wild are playing on the second of a back to back, with travel
• Backstrom in net (I hate to say it, but, well, yeah)

What gives me hope:

•  Bobrovski is human (and not playing)
• The Wild are sticking to the game plan
• BJs are plagued by injuries.

30WR: Wild Beats Blackhawks

By NiNY

Big win.  Took a very good punch from Chicago and stayed on their feet.  Great response by defense.  Also noteworthy: got it done in regulation.  Turning into excellent home team.

3 Things: Wild vs Blackhawks

By NiNY

*This is a new concept, a brief, digestible pre-game level-setter.  Enjoy!

1.  Power Play.  The Wild has no momentum with the man-advantage the last handful of games.  Getting a power play is step one.  Then cashing in on it is step two.

2.  Offense from the defense.  Russo highlighted the distinct lack of scoring the Wild blue line has generated so far.  It starts with defenseman getting shots on goal.  I'll be counting those tonight.

3.  Riled up 'Hawks.  When Chicago gets 50 shots on goal, and only gives up 18 SOG, you figure they won, yes?  Not in their last game, a 4-3 regulation loss to Dallas.  How fired up and focused the Hawks are - and how well the Wild handles that - is a huge key, especially early.  If the Hawks get up by a couple early....

Chicago at Wild Pregame

The Hawks visit the Wild tonight.

What worries me:

• The Hawks are 6-1 in their last seven, and coming off a loss. 
• They also have lost twice in a row once this season.
• Mikael Granlund is out.

What gives me hope:

• Josh Harding's invincibility at the Xcel Energy Center
• That second loss in a row for the Hawks? That came against the Wild.
• The Wild have been controlling the play really well lately.

This has got to end

So, it's December. You know what that means right? It's time to shit our pants!

Wait. This isn't the Wild locker room?

I mean, I'm about as glass-half-full as you can get, but this annual ritual has got to end, and right fucking quick. Mike Yeo has to figure out which buttons to push, or I'm going straight to #fireyeo territory. I won't even make a stop in #freezucker land or #freehaula -stan.

The team started the season great, but once again, the wheels are falling off. His first year, I gave him a pass because the Wild suffered an amazing stretch of injury bad luck. Shit happens, you try again.

Last year there was no December letdown, because there was no December hockey, but there was a precipitous drop at the end of the season when everything fell apart and the Wild went from top in the division to fighting for the privilege of being Chicago's playoff tuneup.

But this is the third year in a row where the Wild have gone from controlling the play to not being able to control a fucking cell phone, much less the pace of the game. Once is an event. Twice a coincidence. Three times, incompetence.

Shape up, boys, or you'll get to meet a new boss, I hear a couple are available, and they already have clean big boy pants on.