CreaseAndAssist

I am not sure how the revenues split. I think the league probably gets a lion's share of the $$$. But no doubt, the local owners get a big boost and they often use it to leverage people into buying season tickets to get the preferential seating at the Winter Classic. The one thing they've acknowledged is that Target Field is about half the size of the Cotton Bowl, even if they add extra seats as some have speculated. However, I find it funny that they've stated that ticket prices will not be 3x more than what you'll pay for a normal regular season game. They bilked people pretty bad last time at TCF and I can only imagine they'll put a steeper premium on buying tickets to a Winter Classic.

What gives? We know you like Montreal. Great. He's been a Wild fan from the start. Why is that bad or adorable? You like a team that has been around for 103 years. So what? Can you say you've been a Montreal fan from Day 1? We can, and I don't think its wrong to be proud of that. You seemed to talk with pride about being a North Stars fan from Day 1. Should some snobby Montreal fan say, "how adorable' to you? It means you were there with the team from the start, through the highs, through the lows and the long periods of mediocrity in between. IMO, that's a pretty fair testament to a person's fandom. He's not a bandwagoner or is a person that's here just because of his hero worship of (insert current Wild player here).

This is probably true. Although I can say a lot of people were watching the game fairly intensely when I was at the Stadium Series game in 2016. As far as paying attention to the NHL outside of St. Paul, of course...but why would we care about Colorado getting a Stadium Series game this year? Wouldn't that make it LESS likely they'd be our opponent for a Winter Classic? I would think that it would make it MORE likely Chicago gets the bid and @IllaZilla's point about the Blackhawks clearly being a ratings draw is really what matters here. We know that fan base will travel here. They will probably make up nearly half of the fans in attendance and make for a pretty fun game atmosphere. Yea, the rivalry between the Wild and Chicago is nothing like it was between the North Stars and the Blackhawks but its really the closest thing to a historic / regional rivalry that we have. No one said it was going to be Maple Leafs / Canadiens type of a thing. We're going to be a 20-year old franchise who spent the 1st half of its 'life' playing in a predominantly Canadian division. Colorado is the only constant from those days, and Chicago is your only historic rival in the long-term sense...so those are really your two choices. St. Louis or Winnipeg are your dark horses, but I doubt either of them would be the ratings draw Chicago would be. Chicago fans made up half of the fans last time at TCF and luckily the Wild didn't give them much of a chance to be noisy. As far as the Winter Classic getting stale, I'd agree. Its just minor noise on another college football-dominated day. I'm fairly certain I even wrote an article about how I thought it'd be smarter to do this once every 4 years instead of every year, but the NHL couldn't hold themselves back from trying to make it an annual thing which kind of destroys the novelty of it.

No way to Detroit. No real rivalry there. As for Winnipeg, casual fans won't care one bit about the Jets even if they may be fun to watch and we know the Jets fans will probably almost make it a Winnipeg home game.

Its all about the ratings, as has been stated many times. NBC is the one who really decides who we play. With that being said, I think it will be Chicago or Colorado. Chicago is more of a sure bet, since they've proven they'll travel well and there are plenty of ways to mix in both the more recent and more distant rivalry of the match up. I think if there is anything we can agree on, is that the Winter Classic jerseys are likely to be ugly as hell.

Maple Leafs Overpower the Wild in 4-1 Win Not all that surprising. The Maple Leafs were a step or two faster to every puck and by the time the Wild decided to actually move its feet it was too late. Toronto was never really threatened too much in this game. I have a full game recap, tons of Iowa Wild highlights and prospect updates too! Check it out! Stay safe folks, and thanks for reading. I'd like to take this opportunity to welcome our newest writer, @IllaZilla to the Crease And Assist: A Legally Compliant Minnesota Hockey Blog fold! Hopefully 2020 is better than 2019! Take care everyone!

Because we didn't run a post-gamer after the Islanders game, I have an absolute TON of extras in this post-gamer. Lots and lots of updates, highlights...in addition to game recap coming up. A little better period, but you can't keep giving Toronto power plays and expect to beat this team.

Wild vs. Maple Leafs Game Preview Minnesota Wild (19-16-5) 43pts 5th in the Central 3.10 Goals For Per Game (14th in the NHL) 3.30 Goals Against Per Game (27th in the NHL) 17.5% Power Play (21st in the NHL) 78% Penalty Kill (24th in the NHL) Top 5 Scorers: 1. #12 Eric Staal ~ 15G 17A = 32pts 2. #20 Ryan Suter ~ 5G 21A = 26pts 3. #11 Zach Parise ~ 14G 10A = 24pts 4. #36 Mats Zuccarello ~ 10G 13A = 23pts 5. #22 Kevin Fiala ~ 8G 15A = 23pts Top 3 PIM’s: 1. #38 Ryan Hartman ~ 48 PIM’s 2. #24 Matt Dumba ~ 33 PIM’s 3. #19 Luke Kunin ~ 28 PIM’s Top Goaltenders: 1. #40 Devan Dubnyk (7-9-2) 3.24GAA .898%SP 1SO 2. #32 Alex Stalock (9-6-2) 3.02GAA .901%SP 1SO Vs. Toronto Maple Leafs (21-14-5) 47pts 2nd in the Atlantic 3.52 Goals For Per Game (3rd in the NHL) 3.23 Goals Against Per Game (22nd in the NHL) 23.9% Power Play (7th in the NHL) 76% Penalty Kill (26th in the NHL) Top 5 Scorers: 1. #34 Auston Matthews ~ 26G 20A = 46pts 2. #16 Mitch Marner ~ 10G 26A = 36pts 3. #88 William Nylander ~ 16G 17A = 33pts 4. #91 John Tavares ~ 15G 18A = 33pts 5. #44 Morgan Reilly ~ 3G 22A = 25pts Top 3 PIM’s: 1. #3 Justin Holl ~ 23 PIM’s 2. #15 Alexander Kerfoot ~ 22 PIM’s 3. #44 Morgan Reilly ~ 22 PIM’s Top Goaltenders: 1. #31 Frederik Andersen (19-8-4) 2.72GAA .914%SP 1SO 2. #30 Michael Hutchinson (2-5-1) 4.03GAA .883%SP I had started to share this...but I never hit submit. Sorry for its tardiness...

Wild vs. Islanders Game Preview Minnesota Wild (19-15-5) 43pts 5th in the Central 3.15 Goals For Per Game (14th in the NHL) 3.31 Goals Against Per Game (28th in the NHL) 17.8% Power Play (21st in the NHL) 77.6% Penalty Kill (24th in the NHL) Top 5 Scorers: 1. #12 Eric Staal ~ 15G 17A = 32pts 2. #20 Ryan Suter ~ 5G 20A = 25pts 3. #11 Zach Parise ~ 14G 10A = 24pts 4. #36 Mats Zuccarello ~ 10G 13A = 23pts 5. #22 Kevin Fiala ~ 8G 15A = 23pts Top 3 PIM’s: 1. #38 Ryan Hartman ~ 46 PIM’s 2. #24 Matt Dumba ~ 33 PIM’s 3. #19 Luke Kunin ~ 28 PIM’s Top Goaltenders: 1. #40 Devan Dubnyk (7-8-2) 3.24GAA .898%SP 1SO 2. #32 Alex Stalock (9-6-2) 3.02GAA .901%SP 1SO Vs. New York Islanders (23-10-3) 49pts 3rd in the Metropolitan 2.89 Goals For Per Game (19th in the NHL) 2.64 Goals Against Per Game (5th in the NHL) 20.9% Power Play (12th in the NHL) 80% Penalty Kill (17th in the NHL) Top 5 Scorers: 1. #13 Mathew Barzal ~ 16G 16A = 32pts 2. #29 Brock Nelson ~ 13G 15A = 28pts 3. #12 Josh Bailey ~ 8G 15A = 23pts 4. #27 Anders Lee ~ 11G 11A = 22pts 5. #18 Anthony Beauvillier ~ 10G 12A = 22pts Top 3 PIM’s: 1. #32 Ross Johnston ~ 49 PIM’s 2. #24 Scott Mayfield ~ 33 PIM’s 3. #27 Anders Lee ~ 33 PIM’s Top Goaltenders: 1. #40 Semyon Varlamov (12-3-3) 2.47GAA .918%SP 1SO 2. #1 Thomas Greiss (11-7-0) 2.58GAA .919%SP I wrote up the game preview today, there will not be a post-game article from us as I will be traveling this evening. The Islanders may not seem as formidable as Colorado but they play well defensively and rarely get outworked. Outworking teams has been the Wild's M.O. lately and this will be a pretty good test. Enjoy and discuss...

I called into KFAN's Wild fanline last night, and talked about Nico Sturm's solid play and ability to win key faceoffs down the stretch of that game. They more or less said it doesn't matter because Sturm doesn't create more offense. I didn't care about that; as much as having a center that can win draws and play like a bigger player like he has. He had a great screen on Soucy's goal. Even as Soucy took the shot he stood there and didn't move, giving Francouz nothing to look at. Normally when Wild players try to screen goalies, they may stand in front briefly but when the shot is going to happen they turn sideways or move out of the way and give the goalie a pretty clear view of it. But I think we do know he'll be sent back down when Mikko returns. Rask keeps playing well enough. I know we and just about the entire fanbase has given him a lot of crap, but he helps make that 4th line as effective as it has been. Boudreau used the 4th line a lot last night and in big moments and for the most part they performed pretty well.

Wild Resilient in 6-4 Road Victory Over Colorado Big win, good resilient effort and I felt everyone was playing hard and contributing to the cause. From the 1st line to the 4th line, I was really impressed how they battled and took away time and space from Colorado for most of the game. Defensively, the Avalanche's speed gave us some trouble at times, but I still thought overall it was a pretty nice effort. Either way, a big two points for this club! I have a full game recap, Alex Khovanov update too...enjoy!

Wild vs. Avalanche Game Preview Minnesota Wild (18-15-5) 41pts 6th in the Central 3.08 Goals For Per Game (15th in the NHL) 3.29 Goals Against Per Game (28th in the NHL) 17.3% Power Play (21st in the NHL) 77% Penalty Kill (25th in the NHL) Top 5 Scorers: 1. #12 Eric Staal ~ 14G 17A = 31pts 2. #20 Ryan Suter ~ 4G 20A = 24pts 3. #11 Zach Parise ~ 14G 8A = 22pts 4. #36 Mats Zuccarello ~ 9G 13A = 22pts 5. #22 Kevin Fiala ~ 8G 13A = 21pts Top 3 PIM’s: 1. #38 Ryan Hartman ~ 44 PIM’s 2. #24 Matt Dumba ~ 33 PIM’s 3. #19 Luke Kunin ~ 28 PIM’s Top Goaltenders: 1. #40 Devan Dubnyk (6-8-2) 3.19GAA .897%SP 1SO 2. #32 Alex Stalock (9-6-2) 3.02GAA .901%SP 1SO Vs. Colorado Avalanche (23-11-3) 49pts 2nd in the Central 3.62 Goals For Per Game (1st in the NHL) 2.78 Goals Against Per Game (9th in the NHL) 18.9% Power Play (16th in the NHL) 80.3% Penalty Kill (18th in the NHL) Top 5 Scorers: 1. #29 Nathan MacKinnon ~ 21G 34A = 55pts 2. #72 Joonas Donskoi ~ 13G 15A = 28pts 3. #96 Mikko Rantanen ~ 11G 14A = 25pts 4. #95 Andre Burakovsky ~ 13G 11A = 24pts 5. #91 Nazem Kadri ~ 12G 11A = 23pts Top 3 PIM’s: 1. #91 Nazem Kadri ~ 46 PIM’s 2. #16 Nikita Zadorov ~ 43 PIM’s 3. #27 Ryan Graves ~ 31 PIM’s Top Goaltenders: 1. #31 Philipp Grubauer (10-8-2) 2.86GAA .913%SP 2. #39 Pavel Francouz (11-2-1) 2.22GAA .932%SP I wrote up the game preview today and I will be writing the post-gamer as well. MNSOTA has the day off. Both teams went into the holiday break with wins behind them. Colorado may be one of the deepest teams, talent-wise in the league. No Cale Makar, but everyone else is healthy so it will still be an incredible challenge. Enjoy and discuss...

Interesting, I wouldn't know why they wouldn't work by checking it out over your phone.

Well I have been placing videos in my post-gamers for the last month or so. I was just curious if you like those additions thus far.

Dubnyk and the Wild Shut Down Calgary 3-0 Full disclosure, my family went to a brewery during the Wild game. So I watched it later, sorry for not being able to post it until now. I thought the Wild played pretty well and whether the Flames were tired or uninspired good on Minnesota to take full advantage of it. Minnesota was doing many of the right things to win the game and the Sturm, Kunin, Greenway line was their best line of the night. I also thought the last few games Brad Hunt has been better too. Dubnyk may not have had his busiest game, but a lot of that was due to the work that was being done in front of him which is what you want anyways. By the way, do you like that I include video, tweets, etc in my post-gamers? I have a full game recap, Iowa Wild highlights and a complete overview of the prospect pool. Enjoy! And Merry Christmas Eve everyone!

Wild vs. Flames Game Preview Minnesota Wild (17-5-5) 39pts 6th in the Central 3.08 Goals For Per Game (15th in the NHL) 3.38 Goals Against Per Game (28th in the NHL) 17.3% Power Play (20th in the NHL) 76.8% Penalty Kill (24th in the NHL) Top 5 Scorers: 1. #12 Eric Staal ~ 13G 17A = 30pts 2. #20 Ryan Suter ~ 4G 20A = 24pts 3. #11 Zach Parise ~ 14G 8A = 22pts 4. #36 Mats Zuccarello ~ 9G 13A = 22pts 5. #22 Kevin Fiala ~ 8G 12A = 20pts Top 3 PIM’s: 1. #38 Ryan Hartman ~ 44 PIM’s 2. #24 Matt Dumba ~ 33 PIM’s 3. #19 Luke Kunin ~ 26 PIM’s Top Goaltenders: 1. #40 Devan Dubnyk (5-8-2) 3.42GAA .892%SP 2. #32 Alex Stalock (9-6-2) 3.01GAA .901%SP 1SO Vs. Calgary Flames (18-14-5) 41pts 4th in the Pacific 2.59 Goals For Per Game (27th in the NHL) 3.03 Goals Against Per Game (16th in the NHL) 18% Power Play (19th in the NHL) 84.4% Penalty Kill (4th in the NHL) Top 5 Scorers: 1. #19 Matthew Tkachuk ~ 13G 16A = 29pts 2. #13 Johnny Gaudreau ~ 10G 19A = 29pts 3. #23 Sean Monahan ~ 10G 18A = 28pts 4. #26 Elias Lindholm ~ 15G 10A = 25pts 5. #10 Derek Ryan ~ 5G 12A = 17pts Top 3 PIM’s: 1. #17 Milan Lucic ~ 34 PIM’s 2. #19 Matthew Tkachuk ~ 30 PIM’s 3. #5 Mark Giordano ~ 24 PIM’s Top Goaltenders: 1. #33 David Rittich (15-8-5) 2.77GAA .913%SP 2SO 2. #39 Cam Talbot (3-6-0) 2.94GAA .910%SP MNSOTA wrote up the game preview, I'll be on the post gamer and I will have a complete overview of the entire Wild prospect pool in it. This seems like a game the Wild should feel like it has a good opportunity with, but the hard-charging style of play the Flames have always makes me fear the Wild will just kind of wither against it. What do you think, enjoy and discuss?

Hellebuyck and Jets Silence the Wild in 6-0 Rout I agree with you @Hockey-78, the team played pretty uninspired hockey in this one. They were routinely outmuscled / outworked near the opposing crease so they never were able to pounce on rebounds as they had done in previous games. A lot of of those battles come down to want to more than just strength. The Wild didn't really want to work that hard. Stalock wasn't great and Minnesota looked disjointed, tons of terrible passing. I have a full game recap, an extended Iowa Wild report with highlights and prospect news with some highlights there too. Enjoy...

I agree 100% on the Brodin / Soucy combo point. That combination has been amazing at both ends of the ice. Even if Brodin isn't putting up a bunch of points he's been far more assertive in the offensive zone and his defensive play has been as good as anyone's on the team. And Soucy...he's been a treat to watch. Late round pick, steady...non-rushed development.

According to Judd Zulgad...Suter has noticeably been less demanding in the Wild locker room. He's playing more as a team-player than a guy just looking out for himself. At least that was the rumor he heard...but consider the source.

I agree with @4Check, Galchenyuk and Kerfoot would be a terrible return for Dumba. Trocheck fits in well in Florida, they'd be really foolish to let him go. I think the best move is to wait...see if Dumba can re-establish his game. Especially on the power play where I think his impact is probably where you want to take advantage of his big shot and mobility. So far, Dumba sounds like he's owning the fact he's not playing well which is a good sign. He's not blaming the coach...yet.

Wild vs. Jets Game Preview Minnesota Wild (17-14-5) 39pts 5th in the Central 3.17 Goals For Per Game (11th in the NHL) 3.31 Goals Against Per Game (28th in the NHL) 17.7% Power Play (21st in the NHL) 76.9% Penalty Kill (24th in the NHL) Top 5 Scorers: 1. #12 Eric Staal ~ 13G 17A = 30pts 2. #20 Ryan Suter ~ 4G 20A = 24pts 3. #11 Zach Parise ~ 14G 8A = 22pts 4. #36 Mats Zuccarello ~ 9G 13A = 22pts 5. #22 Kevin Fiala ~ 8G 12A = 20pts Top 3 PIM’s: 1. #38 Ryan Hartman ~ 44 PIM’s 2. #24 Matt Dumba ~ 31 PIM’s 3. #18 Jordan Greenway ~ 25 PIM’s Top Goaltenders: 1. #40 Devan Dubnyk (5-8-2) 3.48GAA .891%SP 2. #32 Alex Stalock (9-5-2) 2.81GAA .907%SP 1SO Vs. Winnipeg Jets (20-13-2) 42pts 4th in the Central 2.94 Goals For Per Game (18th in the NHL) 2.86 Goals Against Per Game (11th in the NHL) 17.9% Power Play (19th in the NHL) 72.9% Penalty Kill (31st in the NHL) Top 5 Scorers: 1. #55 Mark Scheifele ~ 16G 20A = 36pts 2. #29 Patrik Laine ~ 11G 21A = 32pts 3. #81 Kyle Connor ~ 14G 17A = 31pts 4. #26 Blake Wheeler ~ 9G 19A = 28pts 5. #27 Nikolaj Ehlers ~ 14G 13A = 27pts Top 3 PIM’s: 1. #55 Mark Scheifele ~ 26 PIM’s 2. #81 Kyle Connor ~ 24 PIM’s 3. #2 Anthony Bitetto ~ 17 PIM’s Top Goaltenders: 1. #37 Conor Hellebuyck (16-10-2) 2.53GAA .924%SP 2SO 2. #30 Laurent Brossoit (4-3-0) 3.23GAA .890%SP MNSOTA wrote up the game preview, I will be on the post gamer. Two more games before the holiday break and another chance for the Wild to climb the ladder with a game against the Jets who one spot ahead of them in the Central Division standings. Zucker being out for at least 4-6 weeks after surgery on his broken leg sucks, but it will just mean more opportunity and ice time for the young players and 4th line which may not be such a bad thing afterall. Enjoy and discuss....

Wild Outlast Coyotes in Crazy 8-5 Victory Just your typical 13-goal game between the Wild and the Coyotes, right?!?! Insane. Neither goalie played well, but Kuemper just fell apart literally and figuratively. Just about any shot on him was a good one as this game could've been 10-5 or worse with all of the puck he let go by him. Ryan Hartman had a great game as did Marcus Foligno who was part wrecking ball and he had some great scoring chances too. Jared Spurgeon looked decent in his return. I liked how well Greenway continues to play, especially when he races back on the backcheck and uses his reach. Soucy and Brodin were again superb! Fun game for us, the coaches will hate it...I have a full game recap, prospect news, an Iowa Wild report and HS hockey rankings too! Enjoy!

Wild vs. Coyotes Game Preview Minnesota Wild (16-14-2) 37pts 6th in the Central 3.03 Goals For Per Game (14th in the NHL) 3.26 Goals Against Per Game (28th in the NHL) 18.1% Power Play (18th in the NHL) 78% Penalty Kill (23rd in the NHL) Top 5 Scorers: 1. #12 Eric Staal ~ 12G 15A = 27pts 2. #20 Ryan Suter ~ 3G 20A = 23pts 3. #11 Zach Parise ~ 14G 6A = 20pts 4. #22 Kevin Fiala ~ 8G 12A = 20pts 5. #36 Mats Zuccarello ~ 8G 11A = 19pts Top 3 PIM’s: 1. #38 Ryan Hartman ~ 44 PIM’s 2. #24 Matt Dumba ~ 31 PIM’s 3. #18 Jordan Greenway ~ 25 PIM’s Top Goaltenders: 1. #32 Alex Stalock (9-5-2) 2.81GAA .907%SP 1SO 2. #40 Devan Dubnyk (4-8-2) 3.35GAA .893%SP Vs. Arizona Coyotes (20-12-4) 44pts 1st in the Pacific 2.64 Goals For Per Game (24th in the NHL) 2.33 Goals Against Per Game (2nd in the NHL) 20.1% Power Play (13th in the NHL) 81.5% Penalty Kill (14th in the NHL) Top 5 Scorers: 1. #91 Taylor Hall ~ 6G 20A = 26pts 2. #9 Clayton Keller ~ 7G 17A = 24pts 3. #8 Nick Schmaltz ~ 6G 18A = 24pts 4. #18 Christian Dvorak ~ 8G 13A = 21pts 5. #34 Carl Soderberg ~ 10G 10A = 20pts Top 3 PIM’s: 1. #6 Jakob Chychrun ~ 28 PIM’s 2. #33 Alex Goligoski ~ 16 PIM’s 3. #67 Lawson Crouse ~ 15 PIM’s Top Goaltenders: 1. #35 Darcy Kuemper (15-7-2) 1.97GAA .935%SP 2SO 2. #32 Antti Raanta (5-5-2) 2.72GAA .919%SP 1SO MNSOTA wrote up the game preview, I will be on the post-gamer. No doubt Darcy Kuemper will be more than a little motivated to settle the score after what happened last time. In fact, I think this game might be more than a little chippy because of it, even with Mikko Koivu not being in the lineup. Enjoy and discuss...

And Mayhew...and they won last night in Stockton for the first time ever.

Walz talks way too much. And I'm tired of stories where he weaves what he would've done to just about every situation. Nanne has been the best, by far and it isn't even close.