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Hockey Wilderness

https://www.hockeywilderness.com/ | 303 entries published

A Minnesota Wild Blog that WON'T make you sick and kill you!

Latest Entries

What Do You Do With Two Hot Goalies? (Podcast)

The Wild and their goalies are on fire, 9-0-2 in their last 11. So that begs the question of what the Wild do with Jesper Wallstedt and Filip Gustavsson. Do the Wild trade Gus? Ride Wallstedt? Give Wally more games? Keep them even? Listen for all of the answers and leave any questions or commen...

3 months ago | 10 reads

The Wild Will Regress If They Can't Improve Their Anemic Offense

Even at the tail-end of a seven-game win streak that probably saved John Hynes’ job, the Minnesota Wild can’t help but lose to one of the worst teams in the league for the past 15 years. In their last four games heading into tonight’s matchup with the Edmonton Oilers, the Wild: Beat th...

3 months ago | 5 reads

Wild's Goaltending Among the NHL's Elite

That's Wild It is somewhat remarkable just how the Minnesota Wild's goaltending has turned a corner and while it has been mainly powered by rookie sensation Jesper Wallstedt coming into his own, Filip Gustavsson is of course no slouch either. This powerful tandem has gotten the Wild out of s...

3 months ago | 6 reads

Charlie Stramel Is Becoming the Center the Wild Hoped For

Charlie Stramel’s progress was one of the Minnesota Wild’s most encouraging prospect stories this year. The former first-round pick had struggled in his first two NCAA seasons with Wisconsin after playing well with the U.S. National Development Team. His transfer to Michigan State and reunion with f...

3 months ago | 6 reads

Kirill Kaprizov Is Cementing His Reputation As An Avalanche Killer

There are superstars, there are Hart Trophy winners, and there are Hall of Famers. But there's nothing more terrifying than the [YOUR TEAM HERE] Killer. The guy who is liable to get a goal against your team every time they line up against your best defensemen. The player who can make you nervous in...

3 months ago | 8 reads

Matt Boldy Is Already Ahead Of Schedule

When Bill Guerin told the media before the start of the 2024-25 season that Matt Boldy had 50-goal, 50-assist potential, those seemed like some massive shoes to fill. For context, even Kirill Kaprizov, with as many goals as he scores, hasn't hit a 50/50 season. But through 20 games, it looked like B...

3 months ago | 7 reads

The Wild Sit On the Razor's Edge A Quarter Of the Way Through the Season

There are those in the hockey media who seek to raise NHL fans' blood pressure at all times. They’re the ones who are constantly moving goalposts or setting and then resetting the stakes of the season. Their refrains include: Tonight’s game is a must-win (a favorite no matter how early it c...

3 months ago | 4 reads

Jared Spurgeon Is Invincible For The Wild

The Minnesota Wild powered past the Chicago Blackhawks in a very solid come-from-behind 4-3 win in overtime. And sure, we could all talk about how Kirill Kaprizov finished off the opposition with an absolute laser in the extra period and making it now six straight wins for Minnesota -- but that's a...

3 months ago | 6 reads

The Wild’s Goaltending Is Covering Other Roster Deficiencies

The Minnesota Wild are 9-2-2 since their 3-5-2 start, a promising sign for a team that appeared to be floundering for the second time in three years. The Wild had an identical 3-5-2 record through ten games in 2023-24, the year Bill Guerin fired Dean Evason and Minnesota missed the playoffs for the...

3 months ago | 3 reads

Wild Making History With New Broadcast

That's Wild To celebrate the Minnesota Wild's Native American Heritage Day this Friday, the team and FanDuel Sports Network are putting on the first-ever Ojibwe-language hockey broadcast of an NHL game. The historic broadcast will be available on the FanDuel Sports Network website and app. M...

3 months ago | 5 reads

The Wild’s Goalie Duo Has Become Their Identity

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to winning in the NHL. While there are lots of ways to win a hockey game, the best teams in the league generally have a well-developed identity. The Florida Panthers are relentless forecheckers with total buy-in from every player; the Colorado Aval...

4 months ago | 6 reads

Them Boys Are Sizzlin' (Podcast)

The Wild have been on fire since the start of November behind the work of rookie Jesper Wallstedt! The guys go over three things that they know about the Wild and three things that they THINK about the team... tune in to hear it all! As always, if you have a question, leave it in the comments b...

4 months ago | 5 reads

Minnesota Wild Are The Hottest Team In Hockey

That's Wild The Minnesota Wild claimed a decisive 3-0 shutout victory over the rival Winnipeg Jets and it wasn't just any normal win. Jesper Wallstedt shut the door for his third shutout in his last four starts as he is quickly climbing the hype charts and potentially staking his claim to th...

NHL

4 months ago | 2 reads

Jesper Wallstedt Is Shutting Out the Doubters

Jesper Wallstedt is the story of the Minnesota Wild and their November turnaround. No shade to Filip Gustavsson (4-1-1 record, .921 save percentage this month), but "The Great Wall of St. Paul" is on an entirely different level right now. After Sunday's 32-save shutout in Winnipeg -- the second in f...

4 months ago | 5 reads

The Minnesota Wild Are A Team Of Russian Nesting Dolls

Every hockey team strives for depth in its lineup. The Minnesota Wild have struggled with lineup depth in the past and are missing most of the centers they started the season with. Somehow, the Wild are still one of the hottest teams in the league right now, and part of that might be the fact that s...

NHL

4 months ago | 3 reads

Filip Gustavsson Deserves To Play For Team Sweden In the 2026 Olympics

The 2026 Winter Olympics start February 6, and for the first time since 2014, NHL players will be allowed to compete. At this point, only 6 players for each team have been announced. Sweden has named Rasmus Dahlin, Victor Hedman, Adrian Kempe, Gabriel Landeskog, William Nylander, and Lucas Raymond t...

4 months ago | 1 read

Matt Boldy's Defense Is Gaining As Much Attention As His Offense

Minnesota Wild fans have known that Matt Boldy arrived in the NHL a long time ago. The only question is how high his ceiling could be. For most of the 24-year-old’s career, the conversation has been centered around his offense. Bill Guerin mentioned before last season that he believed that Bold...

4 months ago | 4 reads

It's Time To Start a Jesper Wallstedt Calder Discussion

Goalies are voodoo. Not a single person who walks God’s green earth knows exactly what makes a goalie good or if a young goalie prospect will reach his full potential. Some guys show promise early, some guys don’t figure it out until they are 30, and others never reach it at all. Some guys just...

NHL

4 months ago | 6 reads

How Long Can the Centers Hold For the Wild?

For most of the Minnesota Wild's existence, they've been what broadcaster Jeff Marek would often call "a donut." Why? "No center." It's not the sweetest way to put it, perhaps, but it's an accurate assessment of why the Wild tend to get burned to a krisp or kreme'd in the playoffs. Once th...

4 months ago | 6 reads

Jesper Wallstedt Withstands Comeback, Wild Beat Hurricanes

That's Wild Jesper Wallstedt led the Minnesota Wild with a strong performance in between the pipes and he prevented the Carolina Hurricanes from fully coming back to earn the shootout win for his team. Two goals in the third period to eventually tie the game and force overtime and then the s...

4 months ago | 7 reads

Danila Yurov Is Passing His First Test

In the age of analytics, player tracking, and data overload, sometimes the good, old-fashioned eye test gets overlooked as fans and media scrutinize players. There’s a reason for that, of course. History has proven that the eye test alone isn’t sufficient for overcoming biased perceptions or imperfe...

4 months ago | 3 reads

Trading Danila Yurov Would Be A Massive Mistake For the Wild

The Minnesota Wild seem to have recovered from their early-season struggles, at least for now, but that isn’t stopping people from discussing how Minnesota could improve its roster. Trade talks are running rampant, with Joe Smith and Michael Russo confirming that Bill Guerin is looking to improve th...

4 months ago | 4 reads

Wild Turning Season Around In Couple of Weeks

That's Wild It was all doom and gloom for the Minnesota Wild early on. They could barely keep the puck out of their net while never even scoring on the other one. At 5-on-5, the team was miserable to watch and the only points they earned in the early days of the season was because of a red-h...

4 months ago | 6 reads

Keeping It Boring Is Key To the Wild Turnaround

Minnesota Wild Hockey is back, baby! It's good again. Awoouu (wild Howl) Don't look now, but the Wild are back to the playoff bubble. After a slow start in which they didn't look like their usual, structured selves, Minnesota has ripped off four wins in their past five games and picked up a los...

4 months ago | 5 reads

When Grief and Hockey Are Connected Forever

When a hockey team is painful to watch, it’s important to find a deeper reason to keep watching. The Minnesota Wild have been struggling, with a current record of 7-7-4 as I write this. While I’m a perpetual “rose colored glasses” sort of fan, not everyone can manage that. They need a deeper reason...

4 months ago | 3 reads