"The ancient Romans had a tradition: whenever one of their engineers constructed an arch, as the capstone was hoisted into place, the engineer assumed accountability for his work in the most profound way possible: he stood under the arch" was a quote by Michael Armstrong.  I think Minnesota forward Devin Setoguchi found that out Tuesday night when he found himself benched for missing a team meeting.  The Wild were in the midst (and still are) of a 3 game losing streak; having won just once in their last 12 games going into their game against San Jose Tuesday night.  Injuries had helped turn the Wild's fortunes after a torrid start to where Minnesota sat in 8th place in the Western Conference.  The injury woes appeared to continue when it was announced that Pierre-Marc Bouchard was out indefinitely with concussion symptoms; the same condition that kept Bouchard out of the Wild's lineup for nearly a season and half.  So with all of those outside factors in place, the Wild still chose to hold Setoguchi accountable and make him a healthy scratch.  Some would say that was bold and risky.  However, it seems to fit with the strong character of the Wild's coach, Mike Yeo who ultimately made the decision.  Setoguchi was apologetic; going as far as apologizing to the team, coaching staff and management telling Michael Russo of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, "I talked with Mike (Yeo) and Chuck (Fletcher) about what happened, but there's no excuse for that, I have one job and that's to show up to the rink."  So in Armstrong's quote, Setoguchi would've stood under that arch as it fell right on top of him but it was good to hear him own up to it. 


    Can Setoguchi restore Mike Yeo's trust?

After Minnesota's thrilling 5-4 shootout win over San Jose, Mike Yeo insisted that Setoguchi would have a clean slate after having sat out and so far he seems to be living up to his word as he will be returning to play on the team's top line with Mikko Koivu and Dany Heatley.  Ultimately it will be up to Setoguchi as to what he does with this 'clean slate' but to use a classic Yeo-ism we'll see how he responds.  Minnesota travels to Chicago to play a very tough, high scoring Blackhawks squad so any extra offensive boost he can provide would help make the Wild's margin for error a bit more favorable.  So will Setoguchi respond with a strong game tonight or will he play humble and sheepish? 

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	Record	Pts	Div. Rank	G/G	GA/G	PP%	PK%
Minnesota Wild	(22-14-6)	50	2nd Northwest	2.23 (29)	2.35 (5)	14.2% (24)	84.1% (8)
Chicago Blackhawks	(25-13-5)	55	2nd Central	3.14 (6)	2.84 (16)	17.5% (17)	78.8% (26)

 

Minnesota Wild
Top 5 Scorers:	G	A	Pts
1. #9 Mikko Koivu	9	24	33
2. #15 Dany Heatley	13	16	29
3. #7 Matt Cullen	11	13	24
4. #96 Pierre-Marc Bouchard	9	13	22
5. #21 Kyle Brodziak	11	9	20
Top 3 Penalty Minutes:	PIM
1. #16 Brad Staubitz	66
2. #22 Cal Clutterbuck	46
3. #21 Kyle Brodziak	39
Goaltenders:	GAA	SV%
1. #32 Niklas Backstrom (12-11-4)	2.39	.923
2. #37 Josh Harding (8-4-2)	2.15	.932
3. #31 Matt Hackett (2-0-0)	1.01	.974
Chicago Blackhawks
Top 5 Scorers:	G	A	Pts
1. #81 Marian Hossa	17	28	45
2. #19 Jonathan Toews	22	20	42
3. #10 Patrick Sharp	20	20	40
4. #88 Patrick Kane	10	28	38
5. #25 Viktor Stalberg	12	13	25
Top 3 Penalty Minutes:	PIM
1. #13 Daniel Carcillo	82
2. #22 Jamal Mayers	58
3. #5 Steve Montador	36
Goaltenders:	GAA	SV%
1. #31 Corey Crawford (16-10-3)	2.83	.903
2. #1 Ray Emery (9-3-2)	2.72	.906

Due to a last minute change in my work schedule, this is possibly going to be all you're going to get.  I may be able to update it more later today. My apologies.

Injury Report:

Minnesota:     Jarod Palmer (concussion), Guillaume Latendresse (concussion), Pierre-Marc Bouchard (lower body), Colton Gillies (lower body, questionable), and Josh Harding (ill, questionable)

Chicago:  Patrick Sharp (wrist), Daniel Carcillo (suspended), Marcus Kruger (concussion)

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"But the cat came back, the very next day the old cat came back, thought he was a goner, but the cat came back, 'cause he wouldn't stay away" are the lyrics to the classic children's song The Cat Came Back by Fiddlin' John Carson was going through my head as I heard news that former Wild bench boss Todd Richards was now the interim Head Coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets.  I was kind of surprised that Richards was able to get another job when he was appointed to be an assistant coach with Columbus, but now that Blue Jackets General Manager Scott Howson decided to do what I suggested over two months ago and drop the axe on Scott Arniel, Richards gets a rare opportunity to redeem himself.  For Richards, Howson certainly let Arniel and the Blue Jackets dig a helluva hole for him to try to fill as Columbus sits at the bottom of the league standings with 27 points.  Yet Richards was there on the Columbus bench wasn't he?  Forgive me for not being too hopeful he can turn it around for the Blue Jackets.  Howson obviously believed he needed to shake things up for his club; but for some reason I think he pulled the trigger to make such a move when the coaching pool was plentiful with prime candidates to make a bold, permanent change.  In my opinion, Howson's job is about to feel the axe fall next. 

  Did Scott Howson wait too long to axe Arniel?

The Wild made a bold move of its own on Monday, when it sent promising young defenseman Marco Scandella down to Houston.  Scandella really was the heir apparent to Brent Burns in the role of the dynamic offensive defensemen, but after a not bad start to the season his game has regressed and he's been suspect at both ends of the ice.  Short of making a major trade, this is about as much of shake up as the Wild have attempted this season.  So will it actually make a difference and bring this team out of its current rut? 

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	Record	Pts	Div. Rank	G/G	GA/G	PP%	PK%
Minnesota Wild	(21-14-6)	48	2nd Northwest	2.19 (29)	2.31 (6)	14.5% (24)	84.5% (8)
San Jose Sharks	(23-11-4)	50	1st Pacific	2.82 (11)	2.32 (7)	17.6% (16)	75.9% (28)

 

Minnesota Wild
Top 5 Scorers:	G	A	Pts
1. #9 Mikko Koivu	9	24	33
2. #15 Dany Heatley	13	15	28
3. #7 Matt Cullen	10	13	23
4. #96 Pierre-Marc Bouchard	9	13	22
5. #21 Kyle Brodziak	11	9	20
Top 3 Penalty Minutes:	PIM
1. #16 Brad Staubitz	66
2. #22 Cal Clutterbuck	44
3. #21 Kyle Brodziak	37
Goaltenders:	GAA	SV%
1. #32 Niklas Backstrom (12-11-4)	2.39	.923
2. #37 Josh Harding (7-4-2)	2.03	.935
3. #31 Matt Hackett (2-0-0)	1.01	.974
San Jose Sharks
Top 5 Scorers:	G	A	Pts
1. #12 Patrick Marleau	15	18	33
2. #19 Joe Thornton	8	25	33
3. #39 Logan Couture	16	13	29
4. #8 Joe Pavelski	16	13	29
5. #29 Ryane Clowe	8	17	25
Top 3 Penalty Minutes:	PIM
1. #29 Ryane Clowe	54
2. #10 Brad Winchester	47
3. #22 Dan Boyle	38
Goaltenders:	GAA	SV%
1. #31 Antti Niemi (18-7-4)	2.28	.919
2. #1 Thomas Greiss (5-4-0)	2.21	.922

I'll admit, commercials aren't always a good thing.  I know I am eagerly waiting for the federal law to go into effect that would prevent commercials from playing louder than the program they're interrupting.  However, on occasion, the commercial provides a good chuckle.  As a hockey fan, I still love pulling up the old Bud Light "Hockey Falls" commercials.  Lately, I've been enjoying the "Unprepared Man's Guide to ..." ones put out by Gander Mountain.  My favorite of the Gander Mountain ones is where the office hack colors himself with a yellow highlighter in an attempt to get himself rescued. 

On occasion though, a commercial comes out that in a bizarre way can describe the life of a professional sports team, even though it wasn't meant to.  Case in point, the newest by DirectTV:



With the fantastic play of the Minnesota Wild during the first half of the season, we became the man in the commercial.  The team didn't start off so well, but thankfully not as poorly as last season.  However, they seemed to get mad.  That anger turned into the amazing record that put the lowly Wild atop not only the Northwest Division, but atop both the Western Conference and the entire league for that matter.  We became the team with an eye patch.  We became the team with a target on them.  Opponents wanted to see just what we were made of, the team that continued to win even though we had dressed the most players of any team in the league.  Teams without a steady core of players on a nightly basis rarely see the success that the Wild had found.  Our record pretty much said to the rest of the league, "we can dress an AHL roster in NHL sweaters and stand a good chance on winning."  It was like poking a hibernating bear with a stick.

Unfortunately, our recent record has made us the man at the end of the commercial.  Our record egged on the opponents so they simply worked harder to take us down.  Right now I know I feel like the team is waking up in the roadside ditch like in the commercial.  No matter what they do, the team just can't seem to get out of that ditch.  They started out so well in Calgary, but just couldn't climb out enough.  It's time for some new anger and initiative by the team.  Sometimes a team needs a shakeup, and they possibly got that with the reassignment of Marco Scandella to the Houston Aeros.  No one believes this is a long-term assignment for the young defenseman, but perhaps a week or so after being sent down will bring him back to what we know he can be.  I can only hope that his demotion will inspire his teammates, especially fellow defenseman Marek Zidlicky, to get their game back.
 
So yes, it is time to get out of the roadside ditch.  This needs to happen now as opposed to waiting a few weeks.  I don't care to be the team that the "experts" point to as a flash in the pan after the season is over.  I don't want to hear them gloating about how they "knew" we weren't for real.  And I don't want them to be put back on the back burner so that they can continue to gush over the same teams over and over again or spend all their time worrying about a certain injured Pittsburgh Penguin.  It's time to get the Wild back in the spotlight again, and as we all know, they only way to do that is to win.  Tonight is as good of night as any other to start the winning ways again.

Injury Report:

Minnesota:     Jarod Palmer (upper body), Guillaume Latendresse (concussion), and Pierre-Marc Bouchard (lower body)

San Jose:  Alex Stalock (knee), Jim Vandermeer (upper body), Martin Havlat (left hamstring injury), and Colin White (lower body injury). 

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Ever watch Full Metal Jacket, Heartbreak Ridge, or even Stripes, but whether you're talking about Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, Gunnery Sergeant Highway or Sgt. Hulka the Drill Sergeant was a memorable character for their tough as nails, don't take crap from anyone style.  They drill into you discipline and force people to stop thinking as an individual and instead think and act as a collective in a quick and efficient manner.  Maybe its the old school coach in me, but if my team has a poor effort it brings out my drill sergeant side.  No, I never was a drill sergeant, but I've met a few and their straight forward directness and demanding nature is precisely what is needed after the Wild's 3-0 loss to Vancouver.  Goofing off, mediocre effort and failure will not be tolerated.  I wonder if Wild Head Coach Mike Yeo channelled his inner drill sergeant and put the team through its paces in the 2 full days they had before tonight's game against the Calgary Flames.  At the very least, put these players through a few 'Herbies' to instill discipline and authority.  The fact of the matter is the Wild are 1-7-3 in their last 11 games, and they really can't get much worse than that. 

   

If the Wild are angry about being put through some tough drills / practices they only have themselves to blame.  If they want to vent their anger, they can do so against Calgary, a team which is reeling after being destroyed 9-0 by the Boston Bruins.  When Minnesota was successful, they out worked the opposition and they willed themselves to victories.  Now, they seem to coast through periods and have lapses in effort and focus and the result is a dramatic drop in the standings.  As I say to my players all of the time, 'its about us' its not about what our opponent does its about what we do and I think that is completely applicable to the Wild.  I think any drill sergeant would say the same thing to their soldiers.  So will the Wild show they've taken accountability and play better or will they look they're in need of another boot to the ass? 

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	Record	Pts	Div. Rank	G/G	GA/G	PP%	PK%
Minnesota Wild	(21-14-6)	48	2nd NW	2.22 (29)	2.29 (6)	14.8% (21)	84.8% (8)
Calgary Flames	(18-19-5)	41	4th NW	2.36 (25)	2.88 (20)	16.6% (18)	82.1% (19)

 

Minnesota Wild
Top 5 Scorers:	G	A	Pts
1. #9 Mikko Koivu	9	23	32
2. #15 Dany Heatley	12	15	27
3. #7 Matt Cullen	10	13	23
4. #96 Pierre-Marc Bouchard	9	13	22
5. #21 Kyle Brodziak	11	9	20
Top 3 Penalty Minutes:	PIM
1. #16 Brad Staubitz	66
2. #22 Cal Clutterbuck	42
3. #21 Kyle Brodziak	37
Goaltenders:	GAA	SV%
1. #32 Niklas Backstrom (12-10-4)	2.37	.923
2. #37 Josh Harding (7-4-2)	2.03	.935
3. #31 Matt Hackett (2-0-0)	1.01	.974
Calgary Flames
Top 5 Scorers:	G	A	Pts
1. #12 Jarome Iginla	15	17	32
2. #13 Olli Jokinen	12	20	32
3. #20 Curtis Glencross	16	11	27
4. #40 Alex Tanguay	5	17	22
5. #17 Rene Bourque	13	3	16
Top 3 Penalty Minutes:	PIM
1. #15 Tim Jackman	51
2. #6 Cory Sarich	45
3. #17 Rene Bourque	41
Goaltenders:	GAA	SV%
1. #1 Miikka Kiprusoff (17-14-2)	2.52	.914
2. #35 Leland Irving (1-1-2)	3.66	.908
3. #33 Henrik Karlsson (0-4-1)	3.48	.895

Okay NHLPA if you were hoping to get any sort of sympathy heading into the next Collective Bargaining Agreement from the fans and media, your latest stunt isn't going to garner yourselves any favor.  In fact for many fans across the North America, especially those of us currently in the Western Conference, the backlash should be painful and rightfully so.  As players, even a rookie, makes far more money than any of us can ever imagine.  We are the ones buying the tickets, the merchandise, paying for our own travel (even if it is just across town), parking, concessions, NHL Center Ice, etc. to watch them, which in turn pays their salary.  All we ask for is that we don't have to stay up until midnight on what seems like a regular basis for a divisional road game.

If the union reps from any particular team should be upset with their union leaders, it should be those from the Winnipeg Jets.  If the NHLPA manages to somehow put this off until the 2012-13 season, the poor Jets (and their fans) will be stuck playing an Eastern Conference schedule in a Western Conference locale and timezone.  However, having grown up in a union household and married to a union member, you very rarely (if ever) publicly speak against your leadership.  Unfortunately, I believe that the players themselves are getting poor advice and leadership from NHLPA Executive Director, Donald Fehr.  I believe the sole reason the NHLPA has even pulled this, is that they simply want more out of the next CBA, and by more, I mean simply more MONEY when it comes to profit sharing.  Yep, because millionaire simply need more money, right?

Reading the statement from the NHLPA on their reasoning for this move, I have to laugh.  If they actually believe that travel is going to worse they have to be out of their minds.  The truth of the matter, is that the NHLPA is probably catering to the whining coming from current Eastern Conference teams, especially the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens who will find themselves in a conference with the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning.  Yes, there are current Eastern Conference teams who will find themselves traveling more, but to that I say "it's about time."  They will finally feel what it's been like to be the Minnesota Wild or Dallas Stars (not that I care too much about the Stars) with their travel schedule.  Even with the extended travel between eastern Canada and Florida, they're still in one time zone.  They're not going to be continually losing and gaining hours on their travel.  The other whiny complaint is that of "increased border crossings."  To that I say, so what.  Yes, they all have to be screened, but you know as well as I do, that they're not standing in the same lines you and I are when we travel outside of our home countries.  Plus, as long as you follow the rules and keep your immigration paperwork in order (especially for the European players), this should not be a problem.  I would hope that every team has someone on their payroll, where their only task is to deal with immigration concerns for their players.  There is no excuse why a player should find themselves unable to travel because they failed to renew their visa.
 
To the NHLPA and its members, quit your posturing.  The move to realignment will be better for all around, especially for the fans.  I hope you do remember that we exist.  If it wasn't for us, you wouldn't have the job you're doing.  In fact, you would have to get what the rest of us do...get a REAL job, and one that doesn't pay even close to what you earn currently.  Stop your whining and get the proposal for realignment passed.  Post-lockout sentiment may have been with you the players, but now, all bets are off.


Injury Report:

Minnesota:     Jarod Palmer (upper body), Guillaume Latendresse (concussion), Clayton Stoner (groin)

Calgary:  Brett Carson (back), David Moss (ankle), Mark Giordano (ruptured leg tendons), Henrik Karlsson (sprained right MCL), Matt Stajan (sprained ankle), Alex Tanguay (upper body), Derek Smith (high right ankle sprain), Scott Hannan (upper body, questionable), Rene Bourque (suspended) 

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The Winter Classic has steadily become a highly anticipated spectacle for the National Hockey League and a chance to expand the reach of the game to fans that may not normally watch hockey.  There is just something about watching the game played outdoors that takes any of us who played our first hockey on outdoor rinks where we are able to make a connection.  We may not have been Claude Giroux or Brad Richards out there, but the goals felt just as sweet to us.  The sound of skates grinding their way along the snow-encrusted ice, the tapping of sticks as you try to draw your teammates attention for a pass and the dull thud of the puck striking the boards are all sounds that trigger those memories in an instant.  As Wild fans watch the Winter Classic, the inevitable question is asked, when will it be our turn?  I've analyzed this question before, but its hardly an unreasonable thing to consider.    

  When will it be the Wild's turn to host the NHL's Winter Classic?

Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak is an avid sports fan.  When he's not listening to contestants give him their vowels and consonants he's probably following baseball or his other great passion hockey.  While he is admittedly a fan of the Washington Capitals, it is obvious he follows the NHL rather closely.  When recently asked where he where he thought the Winter Classic would be next, he said Minnesota, Detroit or Washington.  Sajak obviously doesn't decide where the Winter Classic goes, but it never hurts to hear an endorsement.  I still believe there are some significant factors holding Minnesota back from the opportunity.  1.  No real marquee talent to add hype to the game which is a key element of promotion, 2.  Minnesota is not a major media market like Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Chicago were.  3.  The Wild do not have a long historic rivalry to play on.  Sure you could try Chicago or Dallas, but then your sort of playing to Minnesota North Stars tradition more so than that of the Minnesota Wild.  However, right now the Wild have far more pressing issues its concerned with as it finished a very ugly December.  Minnesota starts 2012 with a game against Vancouver, their 4th match up of the season.  The Canucks have scorched their way through December to finally surpass the Wild and take their place atop the Northwest Division standings.  The Wild had an ok start, but then went on a horrific 8-game losing streak.  Can the Wild make January a better month for themselves or will it look like December deja vu? 

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