Remembering Jean-Paul (J.P) Parise

In my previous blog post (posted 1/7/2015), I stated it had been announced that J.P. Parise had made the decision to stop chemotherapy treatments and had been receiving hospice care.

I knew this sad update was going to have to be made...eventually. 

The Minnesota Hockey community lost a great member when J.P. Parise passed away Wednesday night after a year-long bout with Stage 4 lung cancer at his home in Prior Lake with his wife and kids by his side. Mr. Parise was 73-years-old.

Even though J.P. was born in Canada and was a member of Team Canada when they faced off against the Soviet Union in the Summit Series in 1972 (in which he played in six of eight games), J.P. started to make a name for himself in Minnesota Hockey when he played for his first Minnesota team—the Minneapolis Bruins (of the old Central Professional Hockey League) back in 1964.  

J.P. Parise, #11 for the Minnesota North Stars

After playing with games with both the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs, J.P. returned to the Twin Cities when he was traded from the Leafs to the Minnesota North Stars in December of 1967. J.P. was an NHL All Star during his first stint with the North Stars, having made the All Star teams in 1970 and 1973. His second stint with the North Stars came in 1978, when the Cleveland Barons merged with the North Stars. J.P. retired from the NHL after the 1978-79 season. He played in 890 NHL games during his career and scored 238 goals, along with appearing in 86 play-off games.  After his playing days were over, J.P. still remained with the North Stars as an assistant coach from 1980-84 and 1985-88. He was the head coach of the Salt Lake Golden Eagles (an affiliate minor league team of the North Stars) for the 1984-85 season. 

Tom Reid had this to say about his close friend and former North Stars teammate:

"J.P. was probably one of the best cornermen in the game,” Reid said. “When he went in the corner, he was going to come out with the puck. But he was a very honest hockey player. No cheap shots out there" (startribune.com, 1/9/2015)

Zach and his dad in his dad's office at Shattuck-St. Mary's
Photo Coutesy of Carlos Gonzalez (@CarlosGphoto on twitter)

J.P. later moved on to being the coach and hockey director at Shattuck-St. Mary's in Faribault, MN. His son, (current Minnesota Wild star forward) Zach, played there--along with current NHL players Jack Johnson, Sidney Crosby (who was a frequent dinner guest of the Parises), Jonathan Toews, and Kyle Okposo. 

Sidney Crosby had this to say about J.P., "As a Canadian kid and knowing the history with that series, he (JP) just had so many stories all the time…He played for so long. I always found that to be pretty fun, to listen to him talk and tell stories about that.” Crosby also stated that during his time at Shattuck-St. Mary's that JP and his wife, Donna, were "both really good to me." (Jason Mackey, triblive.com, 11/4/2014).

Later on, J.P. would go on to serve on the Board of Directors and the Board of Legends for Defending the Blue Line (an organization that Zach is a big supporter of). 

J.P Parise being announced to the crowd 

Last January, J.P. was diagnosed with Stage 4 Lung Cancer. It wasn't publicly announced until this past September. Right before the Olympic Break, J.P. did the "Let's Play Hockey" call, (video is here). 

Zach stated this to the Star Tribune's Michael Russo in an article about him and his dad, 

“I can’t wait for the season to start because he loves coming to games so much. Everything about the game, the way I play, he has taught me everything. Every kid’s dad is their role model, but it goes beyond that with him. It’s so much more. The life lessons he taught me have been unbelievable.” (Michael Russo, startribune.com 9/28/2014).

Zach and J.P. last March in Arizona (courtesy of startribune.com)

When Zach signed with the Minnesota Wild back in 2012 (along with good friend and now-current teammate Ryan Suter), he based his decision on "going home" (Zach grew up here in the Twin Cities). 

In Michael Russo's article I had previously mentioned (Parise family embraces life's good moments during tough times, startribune.com 9/28/2014), Zach had mentioned that he told Ryan (Suter) about the news he had recently received. As a result of Ryan talking with (Wild GM) Chuck Fletcher, J.P. joined Zach and the rest of the Minnesota Wild on a road trip to Arizona, Los Angeles, and Chicago ( a raod trip in which they went 2-0-1). It was at the game in Phoenix where J.P. witnessed Zach scoring his career 239th goal, surpassing J.P.'s career total. 

Besides, son Zach, J.P. Parise is survived by his wife (Donna), two other sons (Marc and Jordan), daughter (Colette), and six grandchildren. 

Josh Cooper had this to say in an article on sports.yahoo.com about Zach and Ryan's decision to both sign here back in 2012 (Ryan's dad, 1980 Miracle on Ice Olympic team member Bob Suter, died suddenly in September 2014 in Madison of a heart attack):

“Now it’s clear both made the right choice… And the proximity of both parents to their children to see their kids play before they died made their 2012 decision seem so much clearer, especially with 2015’s 20/20 hindsight. 

“I’m so happy I got to be closer the two years prior,” Suter said to Puck Daddy in early December. “He came to a lot more games and we were able to spend a lot more time together since he was closer. In that regard it worked out great.”” 

For Zach (and for Ryan), the past two years being with the Minnesota Wild has to be absolutely priceless to be able to be close to family. There is no monetary value that can be placed on that at all. 

Yesterday, after it was announced about J.P.'s passing, I was on twitter (my personal twitter account, not the @stickshappen account), and I saw this tweet that sums it up best:

The Minnesota Wild had a tribute for J.P. prior to the start of their game with Chicago on Thursday night. The video that was played can be seen here. 

While I was writing this article, I also was thinking about the recent passing of well-known ESPN SportsCenter anchor Stuart Scott (he passed away on Sunday morning after a seven-year battle with cancer) and what he said at the ESPY awards back in July when he was honored with the Jimmy V Perseverance award:

"You beat cancer by how you live, why you live, and in the manner in which you live."

Even though I never knew or met J.P., from what I have read, Stuart Scott's statement can definitely apply to J.P. 

My condolences go out to Zach and the Parise Family.

Josh Cooper's article can be read here.

Link to the Star Tribune article from 9/29/2014 is here.

Wild Coach Mike Yeo Went Lashes Out At His Players In Practice. Was He Right In Doing So?

JP Parise with former North Stars teammate and good
friend, Tom Reid.

First off, my thoughts and prayers are with Zach Parise and his family during the difficult time they are facing right now with his father’s battle against stage 4 lung cancer. Zach didn’t play last night against San Jose after it was revealed his father, former Minnesota North Star JP Parise, stopped chemotherapy treatments and is now in hospice care. 

Zach's status for the Wild’s next game against Chicago is uncertain. (I am going with the assumption that Zach won’t be playing). He was not in practice on Wednesday, either. 

After the Wild's 7-1 drubbing in Dallas and the overtime loss to the Sharks on Tuesday night, Mike Yeo lashed out at his players Wednesday in practice. The Wild have lost 13 out of their past 20 games. The Wild have a tough stretch in their schedule after having played the Sharks last night, playing the Blackhawks tomorrow night, followed by games with Nashvile on Saturday afternoon and an upcoming road trip that involves Chicago and Pittsburgh. As of right now, the Wild are eight points out of the second Western Conference wild-card spot for the play-offs. 

According to an article posted on nhl.com, "Yeo laced into his team Wednesday with a tirade that, according to the Minneapolis-Star Tribune, demanded more effort and execution, detailed how poorly the Wild have been playing and lambasted the players for having the "audacity to show up and practice like this!" After screaming for about a minute, Yeo skated toward the visiting bench, slammed his stick into the glass, skated toward the Wild bench and left the ice." (nhl.com) (Video is here, courtesy of KSTP.com)

Was he right in lashing out? Yes. In my opinion, he should have lashed out at them earlier--instead of waiting until today. Thomas Vanek stated this to the Star Tribune's Michael Russo:

“I think Yeozie finally lost it here… He’s been pretty good with us, staying upbeat. We played well last night. It’s not good when you lose a hockey game. That was his message. He didn’t like how some of us practiced and came out, so those things happen.” (startribune.com, 1/7/2015)

Mike Yeo made this statement, which was in Michael Russo's column today on startribune.com:

“That’s everything that we’re in right now…We’re in a difficult spot and we’ve got a tough road ahead of ourselves. We might have guys out of the lineup and that’s fine. But the one thing you can always control is your work ethic and your attitude and everything else follows suit after that…We played a crappy game in Dallas and aside from that I’ve been happy for the most part with our games post Christmas. Do we just accept that hey we got a point? We lost the game but we played well? No. We can’t. We have to be better. The way we were practicing today, we weren’t practicing with the purpose of getting better. We could’ve just went through the practice and we might’ve been fine tomorrow, but that’s not the attitude that we need as a team right now. We need the attitude that we can’t just accept—and it’s going to be hard. We might play well again and we might lose. I don’t know. But whatever it is, every day we come back to the rink and we’ve got to find a way to be better.”

The question is how is the team going to respond after Yeo's lashing. I think that question will be answered tomorrow night against the Blackhawks and next three games after. 

Yeo did also mention that the pressure is starting to get to goalie Darcy Kuemper, who left practice early today due to a "minor, unspecified injury." Kuemper didn't speak to the media after last night's game and he didn't speak after leaving today's practice.  Yeo did finally state that he is displeased with Darcy Kuemper's play as of late. (It has also been reported that General Manager Chuck Fletcher is now searching for a goaltender). 

Will the Wild start to turn things around? That remains to be seen right now. I will say that Yeo should have lashed out at the team earlier than today and that he should do it again, if the Wild's play warrants it. 

My Picks for Top Hockey plays of 2014

As 2015 is upon us, I thought I’d share my top hockey plays of 2014. For the top three plays, there are links to the videos of those plays. 

#4 Darcy Kuemper opening the 2014-2015 NHL season with back-to-back shutouts for the Minnesota Wild.

The Wild were one of two teams to start the season with back-to-back shut outs when they won the first two games of the season in a home-and-home series against the Colorado Avalanche. (The San Jose Sharks were the other team, but both their goalies each recorded a shut out). The Wild won at home 5-0 and took the second game in Denver 3-0.

Darcy Kuemper is the youngest goalie in the NHL to open the season with back-to-back shut outs at 24-years-old. 

#3 Minnesota advancing to Frozen Four Championship game with .6 seconds left in the game

One of the biggest (if not the biggest) rivalry in college hockey continued in April when the University of Minnesota met up with the University of North Dakota in the semi-finals of the 2014 Men’s Frozen Four in Philadelphia.

This game was tied up at 1 a piece until senior Justin Holl scored a short-handed goal (and his first of the season) with 0:00.6 left in the game. (Watch the play here). Minnesota went on to face Union in the championship game. 

Gophers' Seth Ambroz reacting to Justin Holl's goal 

#2 T.J Oshie securing Team USA’s win against Russia in the Sochi Olympics in the shootout

“You at some point, we’re going to end up in a shootout and we’re going to want T.J. Oshie” Team USA General Manager David Polle (usatoday.com, February 16, 2014).

Well, that some point came when Team USA’s game against Russia.

T.J. Oshie scored four times in the shootout to give Team USA a 3-2 victory over the Russians. (Watch the entire shootout here)

T.J. Oshie scoring one of his four goals in the shootout. (photo courtesy of usatoday.com) 

#1 Nino’s overtime series winner against Colorado in the first round of the playoffs

Back in 2003, the Minnesota Wild knocked the Colorado Avalanche out of the playoffs with an overtime goal scored by Andrew Brunette. That was the last playoff game Patrick Roy played in, because he announced his retirement as a player shortly after that.

Flash-forward to 2014. The Minnesota Wild and the Colorado Avalanche have a game 7 in their play-off series in Denver...and overtime. 

The Wild were down 4-3 when Jared Spurgeon scored with a sniper shot with 2:27 left in the third to tie the game up at 4 a side. Then Nino struck with 5:02 in overtime with a nasty wrister to eliminate the Colorado Avalanche from the play offs. (Watch it here). 

Patrick Roy lost his first play off series as a coach...to the Minnesota Wild.

Nino scoring his OT series winning goal 

The Wild are the first team in NHL history to win a game 7 in overtime after scoring four game-tying goals. 

These plays were chosen by me. 

Here's to 2015 and more great hockey in the new year! 

The Holiday Edition of Favorite Hockey Memes

Happy Holidays everybody! I am working on a post of best hockey moments of 2014. If you have a suggestion, please feel free to leave free to leave a comment or send it to stickhappensblog@gmail.com. 

 Here's the Holiday edition of favorite hockey memes....

THIS will be my Christmas tree next year! 

Not exactly a meme...but a favorite Simpsons' couch gag!

Found this on Pinterest...enough said...

Yes, I have to include at least one meme about NHL Refs....

So, is that how NHL Ref Brad Meier got his job????

I HAD to include this one in regards to the Wild's goaltending mess...

Of course, I HAD to include this one from Minnesota Hockey Magazine (courtesy of @mnhockeymag on twitter).

Does Josh Harding have a future with the Minnesota Wild?

Before the season started, I wrote in one of my first blog posts on whether or not Niklas Backstrom has any kind of a future with the Minnesota Wild. (See the post here.)

Well, now that same question can be asked about Josh Harding.

During his career with the Minnesota Wild, he has missed significant time. He missed the entire 2010-11 season due to a torn ACL and MCL in one of his knees suffered during a pre-season game against the St. Louis Blues.  In September 2012, he announced that he had been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. (Harding is the first and only known professional athlete to be playing with the autoimmune disorder that attacks the central nervous system). Harding has missed significant time the past two seasons due to issues related to his treatment. Harding hasn’t played a game in a Wild sweater since December 31, 2013. 

In 151 career games with the Wild, he has a 60-59-11 record with a career 2.45 GAA and .918 SV%.

Right before the start of training camp back in September, it was announced that Harding broke his foot in a “non-hockey related incident.” As a result of that injury, Harding ended up being suspended. (Harding is not the first Wild player to be suspended over a non-hockey related injury. James Sheppard was suspended for the 2010-11 season after breaking his knee cap in an ATV accident in Colorado.)

On November 17, Harding was activated off of injured reserve and placed on waivers. He ended up clearing waivers and being sent down to the Iowa Wild. Fans had hoped there would be a possibility that Harding would eventually be called up to the Minnesota Wild—depending on the health/play of goaltenders Backstrom and Darcy Kuemper.

Fast-forward to November 29, Harding made his second start for the Iowa Wild in their game at Charlotte and played the first two periods. He didn’t come out for the third period, leading to speculation to what happened. Last week, Michael Russo of the Star Tribune wrote that Harding ended up in the hospital due to dehydration related to his MS. According to Russo, “Harding is expected to be sidelined indefinitely and won’t play again until this is figured out.” (startribune.com Dec. 9, 2014). How long that might be? Nobody knows at this point. I think the fans would like to see him play with the Wild this season. However, that is looking like a long shot. 

At this point, what is Harding’s future with the Minnesota Wild? He is in the final year of his contract and will be an unrestricted free agent after this season. The big thing going against Harding right now is his Multiple Sclerosis and he has missed a lot of time due to issues with his illness. Time will only tell what will happen with Harding. Is there a team that is willing to take a chance on him? Maybe. Right now, I think Chuck Fletcher may have to make the tough decision and let Harding go via free agency at the end of this season. 

What are your thoughts?? 

News from around the NHL…

Daniel Alfredsson participating in pre-game skate after
 signing 1-day contract to retire as an Ottawa Senatory

Earlier this week, Daniel Alfredsson signed a one-day contract with the Ottawa Senators and announced that he was retiring after an 18 year career. Alfredsson spent 17 years as a member with the Senators before spending his last season playing with the Detroit Red Wings. On Thursday night, he skated in pre-game warm-ups—donning his Senators’ #11 jersey one last time—before taking part in a ceremonial face-off. During the course of Alfredsson’s 18 year career, he scored 444 goals and 713 assists in 1,246 games played. He was also a member of the Swedish Olympic hockey team that won gold back in 2006 in the Olympics in Turin, Italy. 

George Parros (and that mustache)

Also announcing his retirement from the NHL was George Parros. Parros, (who possessed one of the best mustaches in the league) announced his retirement on Friday. Parros played for the Los Angeles Kings (who originally drafted him back in 1999), Colorado Avalanche, Anaheim Ducks, Florida Panthers, and the Montreal Canadiens during the course of his 9-year career in the league. According to Hockeyfights.com, Parros had participated in more than 100 fights and had 15 career goals. 

The Mumps (sorry, I had to include this….)

Well, the Mumps have been going around the league. For the most part, the virus had been going around the Western Conference (mostly Anaheim, Minnesota, and St. Louis). Recently, Tanner Glass (from the New York Rangers) and the Wild’s Ryan Suter are the two most recent players to have been diagnosed with the Mumps. 

Scandella signs a new deal—then gets a fine from the league.

On Nov. 29 shortly before the start of the Wild-Blues game at the Xcel Energy Center (which I attended), it was announced that the Wild came to terms with defenseman Marco Scandella on a new 5-year deal worth $20 million.

Wild on the ice for warm-ups before their game with the Blues

Scandella was fined by the league $2755.38 for an illegal hit to the head on the Blues TJ Oshie, in which Scandella received minor penalty. From what I saw at the game and on replays later, it looked like Oshie was skating with his head down (I also think he embellished a bit). Oshie has had problems with concussions, but he also returned to the game. This is NOT the first time Oshie’s been hit with his head down. I think he should try looking up a bit while carrying the puck (that’s just my opinion).

However, during that SAME game, the Blues’ Kevin Shattenkirk made a dangerous hit from behind on the Wild’s Ryan Carter. Shattenkirk received a 5-minute major, a 10 minute misconduct penalty, and was tossed from the game. In looking at the NHL website on Monday, I saw NOTHING in regards to Shattenkirk getting any kind of a disciplinary hearing from the league. I think the NHL Department of Player Safety is a joke since Scandella was fined for a minor penalty, but did absolutely NOTHING in regards to a dangerous hit from behind by Shattenkirk. 

Another round of favorite NHL Memes....

First of all, I would like to say THANK YOU to everybody who has read this blog! It has been an interesting process for me and I'm learning as I go here. I also apologize for not posting anything within the last week and a half, real life has gotten a tad busy for me. 

I will be attending the Minnesota Wild game on Saturday night (11/29) when they take on the St. Louis Blues, so I will have pictures from that game!

On that note, Happy Thanksgiving everybody (and safe travels to those who are traveling)!

Here we go with the memes that have been sent to me, posted on Facebook, or I have found online (from Twitter, Pinterest, or from google/bing searches).

This isn't exactly a meme, but this is cool what @AK47_Studios did with Maggie Simpson and the Wild logo...

To see what more of the Simpsons meeting the NHL logos, go here.

This was posted on Facebook on Zach Parise's first game back after suffering a concussion.

I love this one!

This isn't a meme, but this was posted on Twitter by the Stars' Jamie Benn.

Hockey games USUALLY don't get weather delays. 

After all these years, yes, Norm Green still SUCKS!!

Courtesy of Erik Rousu. He posted this on Facebook. There have been games where
the officiating has just sucked!!

Appropriate for tonight's game since the Wild's opponent is the Kings.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving everybody! If you have a meme that you would like to see on a future favorite memes post, feel free to send it to me at stickhappensblog@gmail.com.  

Chris Pronger hasn’t officially retired, but is now being considered for the Hockey Hall of Fame???

A month ago, it was announced that Chris Pronger was hired by the National Hockey League to work in the league’s Department of Player Safety. I wrote about his hiring and there potentially being a “conflict of interest” because Chris Pronger has not officially retired as a player, even though he played his last game as a player three years ago. (Pronger is still currently under contract with the Flyers, but they have him on long-term injured reserve to avoid a cap hit). My post about this is here.

This saga now has just taken another weird turn. Chris Pronger is eligible to be considered for the Hockey Hall of Fame. Say what?  This former (dirty) player has NOT officially retired, yet he can be considered for the hall of fame? How is that even possible for someone who hasn’t even retired? I know it’s been three years since Pronger has been able to play, but seriously? It makes absolutely no sense to me.

Chris Pronger

NHL Hall of Fame President and CEO Jack Denomme stated in Pierre LeBrun’s article on ESPN:

“The new by-law imposes a more objective test for the three-year eligibility rule applicable to player candidates, in particular, resolving possible ambiguity as to the nomination of a player who has not played for more than three years due to injury, but who is still under contract and continues to receive compensation that counts for salary cap purposes or otherwise…”

Denomme went on to state that this isn’t just about Pronger. He (Denomme) included “here could be other players moving forward who are in a similar circumstance and the HHOF board doesn’t feel it should be concerned with medical or contractual issues when it comes to determining induction eligibility…”

Currently, the by-law regarding consideration to the hall of fame is stated as "a candidate for election in the player category must have concluded his or her career as an active player for a minimum of three playing seasons before his or her election." As of right now, a player would have had to announce they’re done playing before this consideration. The new by-law would state "a candidate is not eligible for election in the player category if he or she has played in a professional or international hockey game (which terms shall not be considered to include games played only or primarily for charitable or recreational purposes) during any of the three playing seasons immediately prior to his or her election." (The new by-law is subject to ratification, which is expected in March)."

So, what this means is that even though Pronger hasn’t announced his retirement (and hasn’t played a game since November 2011), he’s going to be eligible for consideration under the new by-law, even though he is still under contract with the Flyers (and is until 2017). 

Whatever happened to a player retiring before being considered for any Hall of Fame ballot or being hired by the league office? I guess that according to the league and the Hall of Fame, that isn't going to have any effect--which is unfair to those who are retired and should be considered for voting into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Personally, I don't think he warrants consideration. Yes, he did win the Hart Trophy back in 2000. However, he has a history of dirty play (such as stomping on Ryan Kesler's leg with his skate, in which he received an eight game suspension) and I don't think he should received first ballot consideration.

Link to Pierre LeBrun's article is here.

Update regarding the death of 14-year-old Eastview Bantam player

Update (November 18, 2014):

According to kare11.com, the cause of Patrick Schoonover's death was "pointed to two genetic heart defects that lead to an aortic aneurysm." 


Original Article


Yesterday, I posted about the tragic news out of an Eastview Bantam AA player who collapsed and later died while playing in the Battle of the Blue Ox tournament in Brainerd, MN.  

Here's an update...

The Eastview Youth Hockey Association identified the player as 14-year-old Patrick Schoonover of Eagan, MN. Patrick's family released this statement Saturday afternoon:

""We lost our son Patrick last night. He passed away unexpectedly playing the game he loved so much. We appreciate the outpouring of support from the Eastview and MN hockey communities to our family. We want to thank his coach, first responders and the staff at St. Joseph's for doing everything they could to help Patrick and for providing comfort to our family. We appreciate all of you. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Patrick's coaches and team mates. He loved all of you." (youthhockeyhub.com)

Patrick collapsed while on the ice with his Eastview team while they were playing against Wayzata. As stated previously, he was taken to Essentia Health St. Joseph's Hospital by being air-lifted there, where efforts to revive him failed. 

The Eastview Youth Hockey Association made this statement on twitter last night:

The Minnesota Wild issued a statement upon hearing of Patrick's death:

"The Minnesota Wild joins the state of hockey in mourning the tragic passing of a Bantam hockey player today in Brainerd. Our hearts and prayers go out to the player’s family, friends and teammates."

Other people had posted on twitter a show of support for Patrick, his teammates, and his family: 

This afternoon, a moment of silence was held in honor of Patrick before the start of the Alexandria and Rosemount pee wee game I attended at the Rosemount Community Center. The Eastview AA Bantam team has asked to share the "Play for Patrick" theme in honor of their fallen teammate. 

Along with everybody else from the State of Hockey, I extend my thoughts and prayers to Patrick's family, teammates, and friends. 

(Picture of the patch, twitter posts, and statement from the Minnesota Wild courtesy of kstp.com)

Tragic News out of Brainerd, MN 2014 Battle of Blue Ox tournament

Tragic news out of Brainerd, MN and the Battle of the Blue Ox tournament:

It was announced tonight that a 14-year-old boy playing for the Eastview Bantam AA team collapsed Friday (11/14) afternoon while playing in a game during the Battle of the Blue Ox tournament. He was transported to a hospital in Brainerd, where he died. As a result of the tragic events, the remainder of the tournament was cancelled.

This statement was issued on the Youth Hockey Hub Website:

“Hockey is a wonderful game. As a player, volunteer, parent, coach, and founder of Youth Hockey Hub, I look forward to each weekend where I get to be a part of such a special game.

While we may be competitors, ultimately, we are one community. One family. Tonight, our hearts are heavy. 

We’re still working on learning exactly what happened today ourselves. Soon, we’ll learn together what happened, but we’ll wait for the appropriate people to share that news. 

The Battle of the Blue Ox will be back next year. After consultation with the Brainerd Amateur Hockey Association, we believe the best course of action is to cancel the rest of the 2014 Battle of the Blue Ox so we can reflect on what happened today.

Tonight, we need to rally around each other. We need to take a moment to say a prayer, we need to give those closest to us an extra hug.

-Tony and the Youth Hockey Hub Family” (http://www.youthhockeyhub.com)”

I would like to extend my condolences to the Eastview Bantam AA hockey team, family, and friends of the 14-year-old who passed away. 

At the time this blog post was posted, that is what is known at this time. No further details have been released. 

The Penguins. The Wild. The top two teams in the NHL set to take the ice…

The top two teams in the NHL met for the first of two meetings this season at the Xcel Energy Center last night (these two teams will meet again in Pittsburgh on January 13). Coming into this game, the Wild were the only remaining undefeated team at home (Montreal lost Sunday night to Calgary at home 6-2). These two teams split their two game series last season. 

The Penguins will be without defenseman Olli Maatta for the next four weeks. It was reported yesterday that he underwent successful surgery to remove a tumor from his thyroid. It had been revealed recently Maatta’s tumor was found during his pre-season physical, but he had been cleared to play until he was scheduled to have surgery.

The Family of Slain Mendota Heights Police Officer Scott Patrick
(courtesy of @mnwild on Twitter).

Before the start of the game, the Minnesota Wild honored slain Mendota Heights (MN) Officer Scott Patrick. (Officer Patrick was killed on July 30 while conducting a routine traffic stop). Officer Patrick’s widow, Michelle, was joined by the couple’s two daughters (Erin and Amy). The Wild presented them a team-autographed jersey with his badge number. Michelle, Amy, and Erin were also joined by Officer Patrick’s two closest friends and co-workers Bobby Lambert and John Larrive. Scott Patrick was a 19-year-veteran of the Mendota Heights Police Department. Michelle, Amy, and Erin led the crowd with the “Let’s Play Hockey” call before the opening face-off. Michelle Patrick stated to a local media outlet "... the opportunity was a good chance to show the community the family is doing OK. She says it means a lot for the team and fans to recognize what her family is going through, which she says continues to be a long journey." (KSTP.com)

The Penguins' Thomas Greiss and the Wild's Zach Parise

When I was starting to write this blog post, I had made the assumption that Marc-Andre Fluery was going to be starting last night's game (against the Wild, he's 0-5 with a 3.76 GAA and .853 sv %). Shortly before the game, I found out that Thomas Greiss was getting the start. He was 1-2 against the Wild heading into last night's game with a 2.36 GAA and .917 sv %. Darcy Kuemper made his first career start against the Penguins. 

The Penguins were going into this game with a league leading average of 4.1 goals per game, while the Wild were averaging 1.8 goals against (which was the league's lowest). 

Then the puck was dropped....

The Wild got themselves into trouble early, especially in the neutral zone. The Penguins forced the Wild to ice the puck three times early in the first period, and committed several turnovers. The Wild were not playing the up-tempo and fast-paced hockey we had seen in the first ten games of this season. Despite the sluggish play of the Wild, they still managed to out shoot the Pens 6-5 in the first period. The only scoring came very late in the first period when the Pens' Nick Spaling tallied his second goal of the season with 53.9 seconds left.

The Wild's sluggish play continued into the second period. Brandon Sutter notched the second Pens' goal of the game 2:08 into the second period. Chris Kunitz scored to make the score 3-0 with 4:32 left in the second. That goal was scored five seconds into the Pens' first power play of the evening. Kunitz's goal marked the first time this season the Wild have had a 3-goal deficit in a game. All three of the Pens' goals came as a result of turnovers by the Wild. The Wild still managed to out shoot Pittsburgh 13-12 in the second period. 

The Star Tribune's Michael Russo stated in his blog that the "Wild executed poorly for 40 minutes and for the first time this season couldn’t play 'fast hockey' because of difficulty getting through the neutral zone." (Flat Wild bumbles, tumbles vs. Penguins, 11/5/2014, startribune.com).  

The Wild tried to get back into the game in the third period and had come out of the gate out-shooting the Pens 9-1 for the first 12:16 of the period. Nino Niederreiter put the Wild on the board with his first career short-handed goal at 10:42 of the third period--snapping the Pens' scoreless streak at 205 minutes and 28 seconds. (Marc-Andre Fluery had two shutouts in the Pens' previous two games).

With 3:05 left in the game, a very controversial and blown call was made when Mikko Koivu's goal was called off. The refs claimed the reason why the goal was waived off was because of interference by Mikael Granlund on Pens' goalie Thomas Greiss. In watching the replay of the incident several times, Granlund was pushed into Greiss by defenseman Kris Letang, therefore making it incidental contact. Where the refs made the mistake is that the whistle should have been blown when the "interference" was spotted and not allowing play to continue for several seconds--allowing Koivu to get the puck past Greiss.  The refs stated that the call was "not reviewable" and could "not be overturned," even though the Wild's broadcast did show a shot of the situation room in Toronto and it looked like they were reviewing that play--and spent a couple of minutes doing so. 

Nino Niederreiter stated this after the game, "it’s obviously very frustrating, definitely very big, because I thought it should have been a goal,” 

Patric Hornqvist scored an empty goal to make the score 4-1 in favor of the Pens at the 18:26 mark in the third period. The Wild ended up taking their first home loss of the season, even though they managed 34 SOG, compared to 22 for the Pens. 

This was a very frustrating game for the Minnesota Wild. Jason Pominville was quoted in the Pioneer press, stating, " ...We were in our zone and didn't give up much, but it felt like they controlled most of the play and we weren't able to generate as much as we usually do." (Chad Graff, twincities.com 11/5/2014). Ryan Suter added,  "I think we took for granted just being at home," defenseman Ryan Suter said. "We've had a lot of success here. We came out flat and we thought we just had to show up to get the win, and that's obviously not what happened."

The Wild were without Zach Parise for the third period, for what has been disclosed as an "upper-body injury" and he will not be on the road trip for the next two games at Ottawa and Montreal. It also looks like the Wild will also be without Matt Cooke and Jared Spurgeon for this road trip as well. The Wild's depth in their line up is going to be tested on this up-coming two game road trip. 

I usually would not include some kind of meme in a blog post like this. However, I did find this particular one very appropriate...