Hockey Wilderness
A Minnesota Wild Blog that WON'T make you sick and kill you!
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A Familiar Weakness Continued To Burn the Wild In Game 2
The Minnesota Wild's penalty kill was their greatest weakness in the 2024-25 season. In the regular season, they successfully defended on only 72.4% of their shorthanded chances, then allowed the Vegas Golden Knights to go 5-for-19 on the power play during the playoffs. The year before that, Minneso...
Elliotte Friedman Drops Major Quinn Hughes Extension Hint Involving Wild
While it is not great that the Minnesota Wild are down 2-0 in the second round to the Colorado Avalanche and find themselves at the bottom of a big mountain to climb against one of the best teams in the league, we do at least get to share some good news. In multiple places over the last week, i...
The Wild's Big Three Must Carry Them Through the Second Round
Nathan MacKinnon owns a Hart Trophy. Cale Makar has two Norris Trophies. But the reason they're considered among the best in the world at their positions isn't their regular-season chops. Both players also shine brightest in the playoffs. Among active players, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl...
The World Has Changed Since the Wild Last Made the Second Round
Eleven years ago Thursday, the Chicago Blackhawks swept the Minnesota Wild out of the Western Conference quarterfinals of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Until last Sunday, as many have noted, that 4-3 loss – a thriller in which the Wild would get within one goal, a mere 87 seconds, of drawing even –...
Forget Defense, Give Us A Wild-Avs Series For Sickos
After the Minnesota Wild allowed nine goals (eight with a goalie in net) in their Game 1 loss, the question heard 'round the fanbase was simple. When are defensive stalwarts Joel Eriksson Ek and Jonas Brodin coming back? After the Colorado Avalanche allowed six goals in their Game 1 win, they h...
John Garrett’s Legacy Extends To Minnesota Hockey History
It’s hard to stay away from the stories that are very much in line with what you yourself are chasing. As a broadcaster and hockey writer, it’s those stories of individuals who have found triumphs in my industry that I often gravitate towards. The career and life of colour commentator John Garrett s...
Can We All Survive This Wild-Avalanche Series?
Last night’s Minnesota Wild game was stressful, to say the least. It felt very much like that friend who pregamed too hard before hitting the town. Then, instead of having a good time and enjoying themselves with a few drinks and dancing, the fans were forced to babysit the “good time friend” throug...
The Wild Told Us Who They Are In Game 1
Think of where you were when Artturi Lehkonen scored on the power play to put the Colorado Avalanche up 3-0. Lehkonen scored 13:13 into the first period, meaning there were almost 47 minutes left to play. Still, the Minnesota Wild told you everything you need to know about them in those first 13 min...
Wild Drop Game 1 To Avalanche In Embarrassing Fashion
That's Wild Well, that was certainly a hockey game. The Minnesota Wild come back from multiple multi-goal deficits but it was not enough as the Colorado Avalanche just kept pouring it on to win Game 1 of the second round by a score of 9-6. It is almost inconceivable to think of a team that w...
The Wild Will Miss Brodin More the Longer He's Out Against the Avs
Jonas Brodin’s injury is a real problem for the Minnesota Wild. They will be without one of the league's most reliable shutdown defensemen at exactly the wrong time. He’s reportedly day-to-day, and he could miss the start of the second-round series and could be out for 6 to 8 weeks, depending on how...
The Wild Must Borrow From Dallas' Playbook To Beat the Avs
The best teams in the NHL tend to win games in multiple ways. You can't choose who you match up against in the playoffs. Maybe you're going up against a fast team like the Edmonton Oilers. You might wind up grinding out a series with a physical (or dirty!) team like the Florida Panthers. Withstandin...
Quinn Hughes vs. Cale Makar Is A Title Fight
Quinn Hughes and Cale Makar have been linked since the beginning. Their Calder Trophy race in the 2019-20 season was legendary, with Makar edging out the voters. When Hughes won his Norris Trophy, Makar was the runner-up. When Makar took his second Norris, Hughes was a finalist. The two are first an...
The Wild's Win Over Dallas Became A Uniting Force Across Minnesota
The Minnesota Wild’s Game 6 win over the Dallas Stars was bigger than just another playoff victory. It was a statement win for a franchise that had spent more than a decade looking for a breakthrough. Just as importantly, it became a moment that mattered across the State of Hockey. By closing out th...
The Avalanche's Masterful Tactics Maximize Their Loaded Roster
I won’t lie: The Colorado Avalanche are hockey’s Darth Vader. Pick your favorite unkillable, inevitable movie villain. The Terminator. Anton Chigurh. “Shooter” McGavin. The Avalanche have all the skill and systems in place to maximize a salary cap roster. So, let’s get under the hood. Wh...
The Wild Have the Blueprint To Beat the Avs
It’s only fitting that Quinn Hughes scored the opening goal in the Minnesota Wild’s decisive Game 6 victory, then scored the go-ahead goal in the third. The score will read 5-2 with Matt Boldy scoring the final two goals on empty nets. However, Hughes’ wily tally in the third put the Wild in the lea...
Wild Eliminate Stars, Win Playoff Series For First Time In 11 Years
That's Wild THEY DID IT! The Minnesota Wild have won their first-round playoff series against the Dallas Stars in just six games after a controlling 5-2 win on Thursday night. The series was full of highs and lows and it looked for a brief moment that it was going to be stretched to seven and t...
It's Official: The Wild's Stanley Cup Window Begins Now
The Quinn Hughes trade gave the Minnesota Wild unprecedented optimism heading into the postseason. Finally, the team had the big-name starpower to take on all comers, or at least, in theory. There was still the tricky matter of, you know, getting out of the first round for the first time since 2015,...
Yakov Trenin’s Return Gave The Wild A Needed Edge In Game 5
Yakov Trenin’s return from an upper-body injury gave the Minnesota Wild a much-needed boost in Game 5 against the Dallas Stars, and his presence mattered in ways that went beyond the stat sheet. After missing the previous two games, Trenin returned to the lineup for a crucial swing game in a tied fi...
The Minnesota Wild Go Big As They Go Home For Game 6
The Minnesota Wild are not known for being a beefy team. Their most important players include Kirill Kaprizov (5-foot-10), Quinn Hughes (5-foot-10), Jared Spurgeon (5-foot-9), and Mats Zuccarello (5-foot-8). On the other hand, their first-round opponent, the Dallas Stars, boast the second-tallest an...
Mats Zuccarello's Return Changed Everything For the Wild
Mats Zuccarello’s return gave the Minnesota Wild exactly the spark they needed, and the effects were obvious almost immediately. Only 3 minutes and 51 seconds into the game, the Dallas Stars attempted to clear the puck out of their zone. Ryan Hartman intercepted the clearing attempt, passed th...
Minnesota Sports History Can Be Made This Week
That's Wild It has never been easy to be a Minnesota sports fan, but something might happen for the first time ever and it's actually a good thing. The Minnesota Wild have the opportunity to close out their first-round series against the Dallas Stars Thursday night, as they currently hold a 3-2...
Mats Zuccarello Did The Little Things That Proved To Be The Difference In His Return
The Minnesota Wild threatened to fall apart without Mats Zuccarello to start the season, and they threatened to fall apart in the playoffs without him, falling behind two games to one against the Dallas Stars. On paper, it feels absurd that Zuccarello should be the player to derail Minnesota to...
P.K. Subban Was Right: Matt Boldy Is A Dog On A Bone
P.K. Subban knows what a top-tier forward looks like. The former Norris Trophy winner spent his career going against some of the biggest names in the sport in the postseason. Alex Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby, Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov, Patrick Kane, Nathan MacKinno...
The Wild Can Only Beat Themselves Now
Think of where the Minnesota Wild stood after Game 3 of their series against the Dallas Stars. The Wild had squandered stealing home-ice advantage in Game 1 by giving up a 3-2 lead entering the third quarter. They failed to capitalize on Michael McCarron scoring his first-ever playoff goal aft...
The Wild's Defense Is the Engine Behind Their Playoff Push
The Minnesota Wild didn’t just survive Game 5 against the Dallas Stars; they controlled it with their defensive play. From the opening puck drop, Minnesota made Dallas work for every inch of ice, limiting clean entries, crowding the middle of the rink, and forcing the Stars into lower-quality chance...
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