Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau -- A Tragic Loss Rocking the Hockey World

By the time you read this, it will have been one week since the hockey world woke up to the tragic news that Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau were tragically and senselessly killed last Thursday night by a drunk driver.

As a hockey fan, this just hurts. It’s going to take quite some time for this hurt to go away. I can’t tell you how many times since Monday I’ve had something written out and then completely deleted it. There are no words….

When I first saw a Facebook post with a picture with “In Memory of Johnny Gaudreau, 1993-2004,” I seriously thought it was some kind of cruel joke. Granted, I had only woken up for the day about 20 minutes before I saw that. Once I pulled up the NHL’s website on my phone and saw the headlines of not only was Johnny killed, but also Matthew— it has felt like a never-ending punch to the gut.

As a fan of the Minnesota Wild, I was lucky to have been able to see Johnny play in person at the X (Xcel Energy Center) when he was with the Calgary Flames. I also did get to see him at least once since he joined the Columbus Blue Jackets. However, my absolute favorite memory of Johnny was one I witnessed on TV two years ago when he was with the Flames as he scored the series winning, overtime goal against the Dallas Stars at the Saddledome. I loved it. He had a HUGE smile on his face. Dallas was knocked out of the playoffs. It was beautiful! It was that goal that cemented Johnny’s place in Flames’ history (see Johnny's series winning goal). 

But the best moment came after when Johnny was heading back to the locker room and his buddy Sean Monahan was waiting for him with a big smile on his face and a huge hug for his former linemate. (see Sean and Johnny)

 As Friday went on, reading about what happened to Johnny and Matthew—how they were supposed to be groomsmen in their sister Katie’s wedding that afternoon, seeing pictures of Johnny with his wife and two very young kids celebrating his 31^st birthday back on August 13, to reading about how Matthew and his wife are expecting their first child, a boy, around New Year’s Eve, seeing pictures of Johnny and Matthew together and with their family, etc., reading how Sean Monahan was going to reunite this upcoming season with his good friend in Columbus--all I can think about is how it’s so unfair that this even happened in the first place.

And it could have easily been prevented. 

Now, the Blue Jackets faithful are mourning the loss of Johnny (and Matthew). However, they are joined in their grief with not only the Calgary Flames and their fanbase—but the entire hockey world.  And this is a loss that is going to linger for quite some time.
I watched videos from last night’s candlelight vigils in both Calgary and Columbus and you could see how loved Johnny was in both cities, with both of those fan bases. In seeing videos of current and former teammates speaking at both vigil sites, it brought tears to my eyes because of how loved Johnny was. And they didn’t forget about Matthew, either.

Now, many of these guys will be at a funeral come Monday…

And it’s not fair.

I think about how Johnny and his wife should have been celebrating their third wedding anniversary on Wednesday. I think about how Matthew should have been preparing to join a junior level team as an assistant coach this season after having been the head coach of the Gloucester Catholic boys hockey team—the same high school hockey team he and Johnny played for while their dad was the head coach and hockey director. I think of how Matthew and Johnny should have been celebrating their sister Katie’s wedding that was supposed to take place a week ago—with both of them serving as groomsmen and their wives as bridesmaids—along with the rest of their family. I think about how Matthew should be with his wife as they expect their first child together at the end of this year. I think of how Johnny would be heading into his third season with the Blue Jackets and reuniting with his good friend and former Flames teammate Sean Monahan. I think of how Johnny should be looking forward to seeing his baby boy near the glass during pregame warmups all dressed up in a little Gaudreau jersey, along with his daughter (who I swear looks just like her daddy).

Instead of all of that, Johnny and Matthew’s family and friends are preparing to say goodbye to them.

There are going to be teammates (both past and present) who are going to navigate the start of the 2024-25 NHL season with heavy hearts and still grieving. There are friends who are going to have to navigate life without their good friends. There is a family who is dealing with the unimaginable tragedy of losing two beloved members.  

There are two young widows who now have to navigate life without their husbands. There is a 22-month-old little girl and a 6-month-old baby boy who are too young to understand the loss of their daddy. There’s a baby boy that is expected to be born at the end of this year who will never meet his daddy.

And that is what is extremely unfair and senseless. 

To the Gaudreau family and their friends, the Columbus Blue Jackets organization, the Blue Jackets Fan base (and the 5^th line), words cannot express my sincere condolences on this tragic loss.

In Memory of Johnny (1993-2024) and Matthew (1994-2024) Gaudreau.

Being Wrong About Filip Gustavsson

 

Back in October, right at the start of the 2022-2023 NHL season, I wrote about Filip Gustavsson, his joining the Wild, and whether or not there was going to be a possible back-up goalie controversy here in Minnesota (you can read it here).

 Well, I will admit I was completely wrong about a possible back-up goalie controversy here with the Wild. In my previous post, I did mention the plan was to have Jesper Wallstedt play in Iowa in tandem with Zane McIntyre to get acclimated to the North American rinks and give him at least one full season there.

Filip Gustavsson in net for the Minnesota Wild

Now…back to Gustavsson. Like I stated previously, I didn’t know much about him before this season with him having spent the past two years either with Ottawa or with their farm team and that my first real good look at him in net for the Wild came when he was in net for a preseason game against Chicago. I did get to see him play in person back on January 4 against the Tampa Bay Lightning where he ended up leaving the game during the third period due to an illness (which Wild coach Dean Evason later stated that it was a stomach bug). Gustavsson ended up getting the win, having been the goaltender of record in the Wild’s 5-1 win that night.

Since then, I’ve been able to watch Gus in net for the Wild a lot more and all I can say is “WOW” with the way he has been playing in net as of late. He was just named the NHL’s Third Star of the week having won both of his starts against the Islanders on Feb. 28^th and shutting out Calgary on March 4. He went 2-0-0, with a 0.48 GAA, and .986 SV%. He stopped 70 out of 71 shots he faced and he recorded his second shutout of the season. He’s 16-4-2 since Nov. 19^th, posting a 1.68 GAA, .942 SV% and two shutouts, leading the NHL in GAA and SV% in that span. He has since recorded third shutout of the season on March 7 against Calgary, even though the Wild lost in a shootout.

Filip Gustavsson reaching out to make a save

  Gustavsson has played a huge role in the Wild’s    streak right now that has them in second place in    the Central division and two points behind Dallas    (83 points). Dallas currently leads the division        with a 35-17-13 record. 

   

 

 

In my previous post, I asked if there was a possible back-up goalie controversy and if Jesper Wallstedt might see any time in the NHL season. Well, there’s no back-up goalie controversy. The plan is for Wallstedt to “bake” down in Iowa. Gustavsson has been pretty hot as of late and has been playing “lights out” in the net for Minnesota. 

 As far as the trade goes that brought Gustavsson to Minnesota for Cam Talbot going to Ottawa, Minnesota definitely won that trade.

Sources:

Filip Gustavsson Named NHL's Third Star of the Week (wild.com/nhl.com) 

Ryan Reeves now a member of the Minnesota Wild—that was something I was NOT expecting…

I was in the middle of a meeting on Zoom on Wednesday when I received a notification from the Wild app on my phone that Ryan Reaves was now a member of the Minnesota Wild via a trade with the New York Rangers receiving a fifth round pick in the 2025 NHL draft. I immediately did a double take. I was shocked.

If you’re a Wild fan, you remember the fight between Reaves and now-teammate Marcus Foligno from the Wild’s home opener against Reaves’ now former team, the New York Rangers. A little over a month later, they are now teammates. In Reaves’ debut with the Wild vs Toronto, they were actually linemates---and I liked it! (I watched the game on TV on Friday, so I have yet to see this in person.) 

The infamous pic from the Marcus Foligno-Ryan Reaves
bout from the Wild's home opener on October 13
(photo courtesy of Aaron Lavinsky/AP)

Shortly after the trade, Reaves was asked if there was any awkwardness for him now that he’s teammates with Foligno and Reaves replied:

 “Never…I’ve always had respect for him. He plays hard. He plays the right way. He doesn’t do anything dirty. He sticks up for his teammates. He answers the bell when he has to. That’s a guy I’ve always respected. No hard feelings.”

Reaves went on to say that he did get a        text message from Foligno shortly after the trade was made official stating they’d be meeting on better terms. Reaves replied with “it was never and terms. It was just business.”

Wild Head Coach Dean Evason was asked about Ryan Reaves during his post-game press conference Wednesday night after the Wild beat up on the Winnipeg Jets 6-1. Evason stated that even though he hadn’t spoken with Reaves yet, he knew Reaves was on his way to the Twin Cities so that he could practice with the team the next day. (Reaves made his debut with his new team when the Wild faced Toronto the day after Thanksgiving).

According to nhl.com and Bardown Beauty’s Jessi Pierce, the cheers were loud when Reaves was introduced in the starting lineup for the game against Toronto.

Tweet courtesy of Jessi Pierce (@jessi_pierce) 

The trade worked out for all sides involved. Reaves had been a healthy scratch for seven of the last eight games he was with the Rangers. There are reports Reaves actually requested the trade based off of his lack of playing time. With Reaves joining the Wild line up, that frees up Marcus Foligno from having to play the “enforcer” role and focus more on his game. Wild General Manager Bill Guerin believes he can help the team rediscover their hard-forechecking identity, along with bringing an energy they definitely need. Reaves stated to the The Athletic before flying here to the Twin Cities:

 “…I bring energy, I bring physical play, I bring swagger. I look forward to bringing that in Minny. I’m excited. They had a good run last year. They’re a good team. Just fell short.” 

I don't know about you, but I think the Minnesota Wild are happy to have Ryan Reaves in a Wild uniform.... 

Sources:

Wild add Ryan Reaves, then take a big step toward finding their identity

Rangers trade Ryan Reaves to Wild: Why the forward is a good fit for Minnesota

Jessi Pierce on twitter

Matt Dumba in a contract year—how much longer will he be with the Minnesota Wild?

 

It’s well known Matt Dumba is entering the last year of a 5-year, $30 million contract with the only team he’s been with—the Minnesota Wild. He signed that contract after coming off of a season where he scored 50 points during the 2017-18 season (when Paul Fenton was the Wild’s GM). There were some pretty high hopes for Dumba when he signed that contract—where that 50 point (14 G, 36 A) season was a springboard to him becoming a strong offensive defenseman….

Well, that really hasn’t happened. 

Matt Dumba (photo courtesy of Jess Star/The Hockey Writers)

Since he was injured in a fight with Matthew Tkachuck back in December 2018 and missed more than half of the 2018-19 season recovering from a chest injury and surgery. Ever since, he’s missed time pretty much every season since and he hasn’t put up more than 30 points since.  (He did have 7 goals and 20 assists in 57 games last season).

Ever since he’s been with the Wild (he was drafted by the team as the 7^th overall pick in the 2012 NHL draft), Dumba has always been the subject of potential trade rumors. He was an exposed defenseman in the 2017 expansion draft for the Vegas Golden Knights. He wasn’t chosen by the team when Chuck Fletcher traded Alex Tuch in a side deal that included the Knights picking Erik Haula. Dumba wasn’t exposed as an option for the Kraken during the 2021 expansion draft (the Kraken ended up taking Carson Soucy from the Wild).

(photo courtesy of Icon Sportswire)

I think the Wild may actually try to move on from Dumba. The salary cap issue doesn’t help, either. The Wild already have a projected $66.3 million invested in 13 players for the 2023-24 season and the salary cap for next season is only going to increase by $1 million to $83.5 million. Then Matt Boldy, Sam Steel, and Filip Gustavsson are all restricted free agents at the end of this season. Depending on how all three perform this season, they could be looking at some pay increases. Dumba will be an unrestricted free agent and I don’t see him taking a pay cut to stay here.

I got the chance to ask Michael Russo from The Athletic at a recording of the Worst Seats in the House podcast recently about if the 6'0", 183 lb defenseman will be with the team at the end of the season. Russo did state he believes this is it for Dumba with the Wild. He believes Dumba will either be traded or he’ll walk.

There is a quote from The Athletic about a trade possibly involving Dumba:

 

“And finally, if the Wild fall out of contention this season, pending UFA blueliner Matt Dumba most likely will be trade bait. He has a 10-team no-trade list. He might be part of trade discussions even if the Wild stay in the playoff race, as part of a hockey trade to augment the Minnesota roster.”

 

He’s also hasn’t been playing all that great for someone who is in a contract year. Wild Head Coach Dean Evason recently demoted Dumba to the third defensive pairing with Jon Merrill. That may have provided some sort of a spark for Dumba—along with the rest of the defensive core.

With his being a contract year, Dumba really needs to step up and improve his game if he thinks he may get a pay raise after this season. It’s clear that he hasn’t been the same since that fight with Matthew Tkachuk four years ago. It’s going to be interesting to see how this whole thing plays out. The Wild also have a good pool of defense prospects (like Ben Faber) who could make the jump to the NHL line up, making Dumba expendable. 

The days of Matt Dumba in a Wild sweater are definitely numbered…how he leaves, remains to be seen.

 

Sources:

Worst Seats in the House, Episode "Back at Tuttles" (https://talknorth.com/worst-seats/)

Wild reportedly could trade Dumba, even if team is winning

Who is Filip Gustavsson? Is there going to be a possible back-up goalie controversy in Minnesota?

 

When Cam Talbot was traded to the Ottawa Senators back in July, I wasn’t exactly surprised that happened. However, when it was announced the Wild were getting goalie Filip Gustavsson in return. My first thought was “who is he?”

To be honest with you, I never really heard of Gustavsson until he was traded. So, who is Filip Gustavsson?

Well, he’s a 24-year-old Skelleftea, Sweden native who split time between Ottawa and their AHL affiliate Belleville. Last season with Ottawa in 18 games, Gustavsson posted a 5-12-1 record to go along with a 3.55 GAA and .892 save percentage. He also appeared in 20 games in Belleville, going 11-6-1 with a 2.50 GAA, .915 save percentage, and 2 shutouts. He’s a former second round pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins (2016) and also spent time with the Swedish Junior National team (2016 bronze medal 2016 IIHF World Under-18 and 2018 silver medal 2018 IIHF World Juniors).

Filip Gustavsson during a preseason game

I will admit that I didn’t get to see Gustavsson when he was in net when the Senators came to town last season. In that game, So, my first chance to see him in net was when the Wild faced the Blackhawks on Thursday (October 6).  In my opinion, he looked good in net. He stopped 25 out of 26 shots. The one goal he let in would be considered a softy, otherwise he was solid in the net for the Wild.

When the puck drops for real on October 13, Gustavsson will be the #2 goalie behind Marc-Andre Fleury.

Now, the question is how long do you keep Jesper Wallstedt in Iowa? First, Wild GM Bill Guerin has said he’s not going to rush the teenage goalie’s development. I think that’s a smart move for now as he gets adjusted to the North American rinks. Even Wallstedt knows this is going to be an adjustment as he gets used to the rinks here. He even stated so in a recent quote after a Wild practice:

“The angles are different here from back home, on the smaller ice. But I think I just have to keep improving my speed and my lateral movements on the ice and on my feet and become faster every day. Just try to improve the reading for the game and try to see plays happen before they do.”

It’s a smart move on Guerin’s part to have Wallstedt be down in Iowa, considering that he’s only 19 (he’ll turn 20 in November) and this is going to be his first season here in North America. He’ll split time in Iowa with former University of North Dakota goalie Zane McIntyre, who signed with the Iowa Wild in January.

Jesper Wallstedt during training camp
with the Minnesota Wild

As far as a back-up goalie controversy? I really don’t see one. If Fleury or Gustavsson were to get injured (hopefully that does NOT happen), the next to be called up to the Wild would probably be Zane McIntyre. McIntyre’s last appearance in the NHL came with the Boston Bruins back during the 2016-17 season where he appeared in at least eight games.

I believe the Wild are going to give Wallstedt at least a full year in Iowa and let him develop. He very well could end up being in a Minnesota Wild uniform full time next year—depending how Gustavsson plays this year, with this being a contract year for him.

Filip Gustavsson is the #2 goalie for at least this year.

Sources:

Wild’s Jesper Wallstedt impressing in first camp, but don’t expect a fast track (Michael Russo, The Athletic, Sept. 27, 2002)

Jesper Wallstedt

Updates on Previous Posts

 

Mike Milbury out at NBC Sports…

 Back in August, I posted an article about Mike Milbury and how “he needs to go” after his controversial comments about women (read article here). On January 11, NBC Sports announced Milbury will not be returning for the 2021 NHL season. NBC Sports also announced Mike Babcock will be joining the broadcast team. I don’t think that was a smart move by NBC.

The reason why I say that is that Mike Babcock has been known to be verbally abusive towards players during his tenure with the Detroit Red Wings. Both Chris Chelios and Brendan Shanahan have stated how Babcock had been verbally abusive towards players—with Chelios giving an example of an incident involving Babcock and Johan Franzen during a game and Franzen ended up confirming the incident did take place in a response to CBC (read full article here.) What was NBC thinking when they decided to bring Babcock on? Did they not learn anything after the backlash of Milbury’s derogatory comments about women (among other comments about two NHL players)? Apparently not. I’m not a fan of Babcock as a coach. How long is it going to be before Babcock makes similar remarks to the ones that got Milbury in trouble and what NBC is going to do? Only time will tell on that one…

And no, I’m not impressed with Mike Babcock on NHL on NBC either.  I would rather watch Pierre McGuire than Mike Babcock at this point…

Then, on January 22, NBC Sports announced that its NBCSN cable channel will be shutting down at the end of 2021 and their sports programming is going to be moved to USA Network and to NBC’s Peacock streaming service. That will make things interesting since the NHL’s current TV deal with NBC in the United States ends at the end of the 2021-2022 season…

The Goaltending situation with the Wild…

The Wild’s season opened on January 14^th and as expected, Cam Talbot is the Wild’s starting goalie with Kaapo Kahkonen and the #2 goalie. With Alex Stalock now out indefinitely, we’re going to see Kahkonen get starts for the Wild due to the condensed 56 game schedule. So far, he’s 3-3-0 with a 2.86 GAA and .903 SV%. Are we going to see Stalock at all this season? At this point, who knows. There is no indication on how long he is going to be out for (article on situation with Stalock is here) or even what his injury is.

So, for the time being, the Wild are going with the tandem of Talbot and Kahkonen…and I’m perfectly okay with that.

Marco Rossi may NOT be in a Wild Uniform this season…

 After Austria’s dismal performance in the World Juniors tournament in Edmonton, Marco Rossi looked all set to join the Minnesota Wild, the team that drafted him with the 9^th overall pick. (My post introducing him is here).

Well, Wild fans are going to have to wait longer to see Rossi in a Wild uniform. Wild fans waited for FIVE years before Kirill Kaprizov joined the team, so we’re used to waiting.

Shortly after joining the Wild in Saint Paul, Rossi was put on injured reserve with an “upper body injury.” Granted, we all know Austria had a dismal performance in the World Juniors, and before that, he only appeared in one game with the ZSC Lions in Switzerland before a league-wide outbreak happened. On January 29, it was announced that Rossi was heading home to Austria for six weeks. I certainly was stratching my head, thinking what exactly is going on. Then the Wild announced the next day that his “upper body injury” was actually complications from having COVID-19 back in November.

Say what? Let me get this straight—Rossi had COVID back in November. He was then cleared by Zurich and then Team Austria to play in the World Juniors in December? That doesn’t seem right and a couple of weeks ago it now comes out he’s had complications? So, why the rush to get him to play? I know he was probably the biggest name on Team Austria and that the World Juniors would have given North American hockey fans a good look at him. Seriously, couldn’t this kid get some time off to rest and recover?

Rossi is supposed to return to Saint Paul some time in March. All I have to say is let this kid get some rest and time off to fully recover. There is NO rush to get him in a Wild uniform in this condensed season

Sources:

Hockey Wilderness: https://www.hockeywilderness.com/2021/1/29/22256584/minnesota-wild-marco-rossi-injury-austria-center-covid-19

Mikko Koivu unexpectedly retires…

 

Yesterday brought the news that Mikko Koivu decided to hang up the skates and call it a career after 16 seasons in the NHL. He spent almost all of his career with the Minnesota Wild and had spent part of this current season with Columbus.

 Am I surprised he retired yesterday? I actually thought he would have retired after Wild GM announced he was moving on from the first full-time captain in Wild history (the link to my article about Koivu's time being done here with the Wild is here.) He surprised a lot of people by signing a one year deal to play in Columbus. At the same time, I’m not surprised he retired after giving it the old “college try” to play at least one more season. He’s not getting any younger (he turns 38 in March) and he’s also two years off of a knee injury in which he needed surgery to repair a torn ACL and meniscus--which I think he appeared to be slower on the ice after coming back. 

So, Koivu’s decision to retire yesterday came completely out of the blue and the announcement came on an off day for the Blue Jackets. Andrew Steele-Davis of Fansided stated this about Koivu’s decision to retire:

 “It was a huge shock to many in the National Hockey League and the decision appeared to completely come out of the blue, with Koivu stating that he wasn’t happy with his level of play this season and, as a result, decided that it would be in the best interests of all concerned to hang up the skates…He played the game of hockey the right way, he never took a shift off, he was a fierce competitor in all three zones, he was a model professional, a perfect role model for his younger peers and there is no doubt that, when all is said and done, Mikko Koivu’s famous No. 9 jersey will be the first jersey to be hung from the rafters at the Xcel Energy Center.”

Aaron Portzline (who covers the Blue Jackets for The Athletic) stated that Koivu had spent the last couple of weeks becoming frustrated with his own play and after watching Monday’s Blue Jackets’ win over Carolina as a healthy scratch, he realized it was time to retire.

After 1,035 career games (all but 7 of them in a Minnesota Wild Sweater), Koivu hangs the skates up...and he left it all out on the ice. 

From the NHL on Mikko Koivu's retirement (@nhl on twitter)

Sources:

Andrew Steele-Davis https://puckprose.com/2021/02/09/columbus-blue-jackets-mikko-koivu-walks-off-sunset/?utm_campaign=FanSided+Daily&utm_source=FanSided+Daily&utm_medium=email

Aaron Portzline https://theathletic.com/2378453/2021/02/09/mikko-koivu-blue-jackets-retirement-wild/?source=dailyemail

 

 

 

 

Jared Spurgeon—the new Minnesota Wild Captain

When it was announced that the Wild were moving on and not re-signing Mikko Koivu (who signed a one year deal with the Columbus Blue Jackets in October), the question arose on who was going to replace Koivu as captain. Koivu was the first, full-time captain of the Wild starting in 2010 (for the first nine seasons, the captaincy was rotated on a monthly basis).

That question was answered when the Wild opened training camp on January 4^th. The new (and second full time) captain of the Wild was announced to be Jared Spurgeon. As a Wild fan, I think Spurgeon was a good choice to be named captain.

The "Spurgeon General," Jared Spurgeon

Jake Jenson from minnyice.com stated this perfectly about Spurgeon and I couldn’t agree more:

 “Everybody loves Spurg! No matter where you go, I find it highly unlikely to ever come across a person that doesn’t enjoy being around Spurgeon. He’s just one of those guys that has an aura about him where he sheds light and positivity everywhere he goes. That’s someone you want to be the face of your franchise...Whether it’s coaches, teammates, player personnel… even opposing players, Spurgeon has the respect of absolutely everyone on the ice. Respect is a hugely important trait for a captain to have…You have to be liked to lead. And Spurgeon is absolutely adored in the Wild locker room. By everyone.”

Spurgeon is one of those guys in the locker room who goes out of their way to make new players feel welcome. He reached out to Kirill Kaprizov after he finally signed with the Wild through Instagram (along with Marcus Foligno). He is also one of those guys who plays and "leaves it all out on the ice." He doesn't have to say much, but you know he can be counted on.

Spurgeon’s going into his 11^th season with the Wild. For those who don’t know, Spurgeon was not drafted by the Wild. No, he was originally drafted back in 2008 by the New York Islanders (156^th pick overall). He was never signed by the Islanders and was invited to participate in the Wild’s training camp to start the 2010-11 season. Obviously, from there, the rest is history...and has made an immediate impact on the Wild. 

In his previous ten seasons with the Wild, Spurgeon has scored 82 goals and has 198 assists (280 points) while averaging about 22 minutes a game in 653 career games. 

Some may ask why didn't the captaincy go to Zach Parise--since he's a Minnesota native and has been an alternate captain since he joined the team back in 2012? I'm fine with Parise not being named captain, considering that there was speculation that he didn't want to be a part of any kind of rebuild the Wild may undertake. There was also a possibility that he could have been traded to the Islanders, but that deal never materialized. 

Jared Spurgeon being named captain makes sense because he's been with the team the longest (after Mikko Koivu finished his career with the Wild). He's a fan favorite. He's liked and respected by coaches, teammates, and opposing players.  

The "Spurgeon General" has been promoted...

Sources:

https://minnyice.com/why-jared-spurgeon-will-be-the-next-captain-of-the-wild/

Alex Stalock’s injury. What is going on? What does that mean for the goaltending situation for the Wild?

  

It was announced back on December 16, the Wild were signing goaltender Andrew Hammond to a two-way contract and Wild goalie Alex Stalock was going to be out indefinitely with what is being called an “upper-body” injury.

Alex Stalock

 With Stalock out, what does that mean for the   goaltender situation? For starters, the Wild had   the following goalies on the training camp   roster when training camp started on January   4^th at TRIA rink: Cam Talbot, Andrew   Hammond, Dereck Baribeau, Kaapo Kahkonen,   and Hunter Jones.

 What does that mean for goalies when the Wild   season starts on January 14^th? From what I   saw before the news of Stalock’s injury, Cam Talbot was going to be the starting goalie with Stalock being the back up. The plan was also going to include getting Kahkonen time in as the back up to get him some more games at the NHL level. There is the possibility that Kahkonen will be the #2 goalie behind Talbot. Now, with this 56-game season, the Wild are going to have a LOT of back-to-back games. Whomever the #2 goalie is going to be, they are going to get some NHL starts so that Talbot doesn’t get worn out. There are three other goalies right now vying for that #2 spot...

Kaapo Kahkonen 

If you don’t recall last season for Kahkonen with the Iowa Wild, he won 25 games (with 7 of those being shutouts) and posted a 2.07 GAA and .927 SV %. Those stats were good enough for him to be named the AHL goalie of the year. In the five career NHL games he has played in (all with the Minnesota Wild), he posted a 3-1 record with a 2.96 GAA and .913 SV%.

The big question is how long is Stalock going to be out for with this “upper-body” injury? Not much has been disclosed about the injury or how serious it is. Could he possibly miss the entire season as a result? The answer to that question remains to be seen.

Personally, I would like to see Kahkonen get some more time with the Minnesota Wild. I didn’t see him play at all when he did (partly because I was traveling for work last season). I would like to see what he can do in between the pipes for the Wild. 

HELLO NHL HOCKEY SEASON!!

 It’s official! We’re going to have an NHL Season! (Yes, I know I’m a few days late with this news).

I woke up Sunday (okay, late Sunday morning) to the news that the NHL season is officially going to start on January 13. I was happy and excited knowing that there will be NHL hockey this year!

First of all, the 2020-21 NHL Season is going to be a 56 game season without any preseason games. The goal for the NHL is to get back to a September training camp, October regular season start, April end of season/beginning of Stanley Cup playoffs with the season officially ending with the Stanley Cup being awarded sometime in June. The upcoming schedule should be released today (Dec. 22. They also have a couple of contingency schedules in case the Canadian/provincial governments don't allow the Canadian teams play in their home cities). 

The critical dates for 2020-21 (courtesy of nhl.com)

The other major difference is that the divisions are going to be different just for this season. I believe it’s something about reducing travel. However, if you look at the realignment for this season, the Minnesota Wild got the short end of the stick being stuck out in the Western Division (and stuck with late night games, but that will be determined once the schedule is officially released on December 22). These divisions are only for this season. What will be interesting is all of the Canadian teams being in one division for this season. 

The divisions for the 2020-21 season (courtesy of nhl.com)

As a hockey fan, this is great news! It means I'll have something to watch on TV (or have on in the background when I'm working evenings), along with having topic ideas/material for this blog (as I've stated previously  in this blog post, I'm tired of football already). 

I also mentioned in a previous blog post that I appeared on episode 105 of The Sota Pod podcast, but I didn't post the link. The link to it is here. I come on half way through after Isha and @StateofHoppy (twitter) discuss Malt Madness. 

This season, it should be a national holiday! 

Are we going to see any kind of a season for the NHL this year?

 

Two weeks ago, I wrote my last piece about what should the NHL do about the 2020-21 season. I also discussed this very topic when I made my debut on The Soda Pod podcast on November 29h.. This first week of December is basically going to be “do-or-die” for both sides to get a deal done so that the season could potentially start on January 1, like the NHL has been eyeing.

 Since November 29, I’ve seen everything ranging from another *GASP* lockout to the season possibly starting in mid-February. There had been reports that both sides (NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and NHLPA executive director Don Fehr) had not spoken for over a week. I had been seeing so much out there that I had to rewrite this post twice…

During that time, players were traveling to their team cities. There was the whole thing on social media about new Vancouver Canucks goalie Braden Holtby needing U.S. Federal paperwork to bring his two tortoises across the border into Canada (read about it here)

 

Kirill Kaprizov skating at the
Wild's practice
facility (courtesy of the Minnesota Wild)

Now, I’m rewriting this for a third time with the news that the NHL and the NHLPA are looking at starting on January 13 with a 56 game season. The divisions for this season have been redone apparently to reduce traveling (as usual, the Wild got the short end of that stick with being in a division with Anaheim, Vancouver, Los Angeles, San Jose, Vegas, Dallas, and Colorado).  According to TSN’s Pierre LeBrun, training camps could open as early as January 1. From what I’ve seen from the Minnesota Wild’s social media, players have already been skating at their practice facility in downtown St. Paul (yes, including Kirill Kaprizov!) 

There are still some other items to be worked out and the NHL board of governors are meeting soon (December 9^th I believe via conference call).

 As of right now, it looks like we’re going to have a NHL season for 2020-21!

 And this hockey fan is excited!!