Icechipper

I supplement my income doing stagehand and security for events. This is crazy. College basketball and hockey in empty arenas.....Twighlight Zone is apt expression......

Stupidity can be contagious. Wearing ear plugs helps.....

Would think Dubnyk gets the net nod from Evanson......

Audrau's red dress certainly accentuates......her eyes.........

Ek working his tail off. Getting stronger....

Brodin skating fun to watch him change directions in a flash...

As far as centres the Wild have Nico Sturm in Iowa. Big German and we might as well add another country to the Wild United Nations squad. And we have a Swede, Victor Rask sitting so Mayhew can do his best impression of Stephan Vielluex. Next season 1 Staal 2 EEK 3 Sturm 4 Gallchenyuk 5 Rask I like Kunin at right wing but organization may want to develop as a center. For depth they have the Johnson kid from Grand Forks in Iowa.

Eric Staal out for personal reasons related to a death in his family.

The captain chose to stay with his ship and to lead by stepping back to the fourth line.....

So, after watching the Red Wings chase the Wild all over the rink, do you still really, really want to dismantle and start a rebuild? Just sayin......

Pateryn picks up 1st point of season!

Lou Lamoreillo loves college guys. He was a player, captain then coach and athletic director at Providence College and commissioner of Hockey East before becoming president of the New Jersey Devils. A lot of people thought he reached when he took Parise 13th overall out of North Dakota. He fought hard to extend Parise before the free agent formed a pact with Wisconsin buddy Suter and the pair selected Minnesota. Lamoreillo has had a remarkable career. The guy assembled a number of USA hockey and Olympic teams and had a minor league baseball player manager career before returning to his alma mater to coach hockey. Guy is 77 years old.

TSN reporting New York Islanders working on a deal to acquire Wild left wing Zach Parise..................

Guerin in the locker room between periods: "Every scout in the NHL is out there tonight, with contracts in their pockets, and they're looking for talent. For winners. OOOOOOOOOH. All my years of publicity. Of the fashion shows and radiothons, for nothing... They come here tonight... to scout the Chiefs... the toughest team in the Federal League. Not this. Buncha...*******!" (with apologies to Joe McGrath, legendary general manager of the Charleston Chiefs........)

Well, watching replay of Blues domination of Wild, I would say that Dumba did his best to discourage trade offers, while Pateryn made the case for being sent down to a beer league on a conditioning assignment. And if we were "showcasing" Dubnyk, it sure-fire back-fired. I'm thinking at this point Guerin will be hard pressed to get anything in return for any of our roster players. Suppose the captains committee saw all the visiting scouts in attendance and decided to present their own production of "Frozen" on ice.

Koivu right now would slide nicely as a face off/penalty kill 3rd or4th line role on any number of playoff contenders. Thorton as well. Koivu can say he's not interested.... but the chance to join a team like Boston or St. Loius? Don't kid yourself. Could be his retirement payday. Economics says that there's a price point at which everything is possible. Koivu has been hurt but he's a horse when healthy. Family issues, yes, we all have them. Those are his. Not ours.....he's a hockey player, and he like his older brother, Saku, is a competitor.

Is Backes still playing?

Byfuglien anyone? Winnipeg fans I've talked are fed up with him. The Wild could get him this summer, but would have to hire a personal trainer to steer the 260-lb beast away from the buffet and nightclubs and into the gym......OK, there it is. I'll just duck now.....

True the Wild are much a Nordic/Euro United Nations, with a majority of North American-born players, lots of collegiate Amercians and Canadian Junior products supplemented with Finns, Swedes, a Norwegian and a Swiss product. I still remember Gaborik, whose agent began to engineer his departure before he landed in the Twin Cities. He would be a very newsworthy signing for this summer, but I wouldn't hold my breath. The kid could write his own ticket to be in New York or Los Angeles, leaving the Wild with a pocketful of picks for a generational talent......i

I can see Ryan Suter sort of transitioning into that player/coach role, not unlike the career of a legend such as Reg Dunlop.........

Wow! Three players with 80 or better penalty minutes. Mr. Kane with 110...

Would love to see Bruce stay with organization.....or is he just out the door?

Pittsburgh gets: one of fastest forwards in the league, a hard-working, top-six, two-way proven point producer....and a King Clancy-winning genuinely nice guy who loves Minnesota and wants to raise his kids here. Minnesota gets: fourth-line journeyman now with fourth professional organization; rights to undersized teen-aged defenseman; and a late- first-round pick likely to yield another string-bean kid who no one this side of Scandinavia has heard of and who may never set skate on a North American rink.

Zucker gone. (See related thread.) Who is next? Brodin. Please no. He is the team's best skater and diffuses dangerous attacks with poise and savvy. Great model for Soucy. Dumba. Only if you think Belpedio or Mennell could replace him. Neither can or they'd be in theTwinCities and not Iowa. Staal. Like him as a leader and points producer, but would think he might bring at minimum a 2nd plus player and/or prospect. Greenway. Often wonder whether he should have stayed in college two more years. Wonder if there is a higher ceiling for him. Or whether he is what he is and that's all there is. Rangers interested. Dubnyk. Not sure what's going on with his game. Edmonton gave up on him and he turned into a brick wall with defensive-minded Wild squads. Maybe he could bring it again with a contender. Wild once known to make average netminders look great, physically and statistically. No more. Yes, trades are a function of salary, term, NTCs, cap space etc. I could list the entire roster. For the right price, all but Suter, Parise or Capt. Koivu, could be moved.

Galchenyuk was born in Milwaukee, played junior for Team USA and in Canada, so suppose he can help Kiprosov adjust to North American beer.....