Hockey Wilderness
A Minnesota Wild Blog that WON'T make you sick and kill you!
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Don't Let Uncertainty Spoil the Quinn Hughes Experience
Quinn Hughes is the story in the State of Hockey until further notice. Hughes' future is still uncertain. The Minnesota Wild haven't enticed him to sign on the dotted line; Hughes has made it clear he's in no rush, leaving the franchise in a precarious position. One thing that isn't remotely pr...
Adam Benák Shined In His First Weekend With Western Michigan
Adam Benák has been an intriguing prospect for the Wild since the team selected him in the fourth round of the 2025 draft. Things are only getting more interesting for Benák this season as he makes the leap from juniors to NCAA hockey. The transition has been difficult for some, but Benák made a str...
The NHL's No-Move Clause Panic Reeks Of Arrogance
NHL holdouts and trade requests are the news of the day. On its face, there’s nothing wrong with that. If a player hits the trade market or delays his re-signing, that’s news. It affects the team on the ice, and every other team should take note and swoop in to acquire that player. Major names...
Kirill Kaprizov Is Taking Off After Cutting the Cord With Mats Zuccarello
Many expect the Minnesota Wild to contend for a Stanley Cup this season, but they entered the season with some roster uncertainty. They have several new pieces in the lineup, and it's taken a while for everyone to get comfortable. However, that hasn’t been the case for Kirill Kaprizov. After se...
The Wild Are Trying To Build Continuity On A Shifting Floor
The Minnesota Wild are only seven games into the season, yet they already look like a team trying to build chemistry while the floor keeps shifting beneath them. At 4-2-1, the record is respectable, and they have already played their fair share of good teams. The problem is that Minnesota has barely...
Wild Desperately Need This Upcoming Homestand
That's Wild While it's not like things are going poorly for the Minnesota Wild with a 4-2-1 record, after their disheartening loss to the Winnipeg Jets, they could use a stretch of games to bounce back in a major way. Re-establish that dominance. Thankfully, the schedule makers have their back....
The Wild's Wallstedt-Gustavsson Situation Could Turn Into A Good Problem
The Minnesota Wild have become one of the NHL's best teams, and a big reason is their two-goalie solution. Jesper Wallstedt and Filip Gustavsson have become one of the best tandems in hockey when healthy. So, the Wild have still been in good hands while Gustavsson recovers from his offseason hip sur...
How Much Of the Wild's Special Teams Improvement Is Sustainable?
The Minnesota Wild are winning early this season because they are winning the special-teams battle almost every night. Through six games, Minnesota owns the NHL’s top power play at 36.8 percent (7-19), and the league’s best penalty kill at 91.7 percent (22-24). That combination has fueled a 4-1-1 st...
Kirill Kaprizov Is Putting On A Show With His Fast Start
Kirill Kaprizov put on a show for us this summer. From training with Russian hockey legend Evgeni Malkin to regular videos of him going through grueling workouts, the Minnesota Wild star wanted us to know he was getting ready for the season. We've seen clips of Kaprizov's offseason r...
Wild Too Injured To Get A Deserving Win
That's Wild The Minnesota Wild visited their cross-border rival Winnipeg Jets during the NHL's Frozen Frenzy extravaganza and proved that they are just too broken down to string together a win that they would normally get easily. Kirill Kaprizov scored twice and they got plenty of scoring ch...
The Wild Should Keep Kaprizov, Eriksson Ek, and Boldy Together
Sometimes the best answer is the familiar one. For the Minnesota Wild, Saturday's 4-1 win over the Florida Panthers made a convincing case for keeping Kirill Kaprizov, Joel Eriksson Ek, and Matt Boldy together. Reunited, they delivered seven combined points, ended a two-game winless stretch an...
Are the Wild Too Reliant On Jesper Wallstedt Right Now?
The Minnesota Wild have found a steady presence in Jesper Wallstedt, but even the hottest goaltender can only put out so many fires. Wallstedt has started the first five games of the season and posted a 1.78 goals-against average and a .936 save percentage through Minnesota’s 3-1-1 start, giving the...
Maybe Wild Fans Don’t Have To Panic After Only Four Games
The Minnesota Wild are only five games into the regular season, and it’s already been a roller coaster ride. We should’ve expected that, of course, because isn’t that just Minnesota sports in a nutshell? But let’s go over why a bad game (or two!) in a row is nothing to panic about. Trust the Pr...
The Longer Quinn Hughes's Decision Lingers, The Nastier the Divorce Could Be
The Minnesota Wild made a seismic move a year ago, acquiring Quinn Hughes in a trade with the Vancouver Canucks. The Wild gave up a haul to acquire the star defenseman, sending an established NHL center (Marco Rossi), two blue-chip prospects (Liam Ohgren, Zeev Buium), and a first-round pick north of...
The Wild Risk Digging An Early Hole If Kaprizov's Line Doesn't Get Going
The Minnesota Wild don’t need to panic after Thursday night's 3-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. But they do need to heed the warning: falling behind early and hoping their talent can rescue them isn't a sustainable formula. Minnesota fell to 2-1-1 after its second straight defeat, in which...
Don't Worry About Matt Boldy's Slump
A lot went into Matt Boldy's career year. His puck skills, offensive instincts, and career-best shooting were all major parts of the formula. But the No. 1 ingredient was consistency. Boldy only had six stretches last year in which he went multiple games without a point. Five of them were two-game r...
Wild Start Too Little, Too Late Against Lightning
That's Wild The Minnesota Wild eventually found their game against the Tampa Bay Lightning in a battle between potential Stanley Cup contenders, but it came way too late to overcome the deficit that was already in front of them. Some takeaways: [The Athletic] Meet Peter Thome, the Wild...
The Wild Must Navigate An Undefined Timeline For Brock Faber's Recovery
The Minnesota Wild don’t have a definitive timeline for Brock Faber’s return, and that uncertainty is the hardest part of losing one of their most important players. Faber remains out indefinitely following surgery to repair a fractured skull. Minnesota’s challenge is clear: Keep competing wit...
The Wild's Power Play May Finally Have Real Depth
Look at last season's leaders in power-play minutes. Three of the top 15 were with the Minnesota Wild. Part of the reason is that Kirill Kaprizov, Quinn Hughes, and Matt Boldy are elite options who can handle long shifts on the man advantage. That's the positive way to look at it. The other side of...
The Wild's Blown Lead Shouldn't Diminish Kaprizov's Milestone
Kirill Kaprizov’s 400th NHL game deserved a better ending. Instead, the Minnesota Wild left Buffalo with a frustrating reminder that even a milestone night for their biggest star cannot overshadow a game that slipped away. Minnesota surrendered a two-goal third-period lead Tuesday before Owen...
Wild Blow Lead Against Sabres, And They Deserve It
That's Wild The Minnesota WIld visited the Buffalo Sabres on an early-season trip out east and while they held a 2-0 lead thanks to two second-period goals from Danila Yurov and Maxim Shabanov, they ended up losing 3-2 in overtime. Tage Thompson and Noah Ostlund scored in the first half of the...
The Wild's Fourth Line Isn't Playing Like A Typical Fourth Line
Michael McCarron, Marcus Foligno, and Nick Foligno are all hammers, and the NHL is a nail. Despite each player averaging under 13 minutes a night, they averaged 2.7 hits each per game. Add that up, and the Minnesota Wild can count on its fourth line for eight impacts a night. Bill Guerin is co...
Olli Määttä Has Been Reliable When the Wild Need Stability
The Minnesota Wild are off to a strong start, winning their first two games. Their suffocating defense headlined both games. The team has allowed two goals and, according to Money Puck, only one high-danger shot attempt to reach Jesper Wallstedt. Several factors have contributed to Minnesota's domin...
Brock Faber's Latest Injury Update Is Terrifying
That's Wild Brock Faber suffered a fractured skull during the Minnesota Wild's final preseason game and is out indefinitely. We haven't been given much more information than that, but on a recent KFAN hit, The Athletic's Michael Russo offered up some more details and they are a little bit terri...
The Wild Created A Winning Blueprint Against Boston
The Minnesota Wild’s 4-1 home-opening win over the Boston Bruins wasn't a perfect 60-minute performance. Still, it was an encouraging blueprint for how this group can win games. Their stars displayed elite skills. They also had timely special teams, resilient goaltending, and a far stronger finish t...
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