Big Ten Hockey Conference—poor attendance at Tournament in Detroit and hurting the Gophers in the Pairwise?

Here we are on the eve of the NCAA Men’s hockey tournament selection show, the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers Men’s hockey team beat the University of Michigan Wolverines for the Big Ten Hockey tournament title (ending Michigan’s season) and earned an automatic berth in the NCAA tournament. Minnesota will be the only team from the Big Ten Conference in the NCAA tournament this year. 

This year’s Big Ten hockey conference tournament was held at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. With what I have seen on TV for the Ohio State/Penn State quarterfinal game and the Minnesota/Michigan championship game (with pictures that were posted on Twitter), the attendance was horrible.

I don't think the "Road to the Joe" worked out very well this year.

One would think that with both the University of Michigan and Michigan State both within a 90 minute drive from Detroit's Joe Louis Arena that Michigan and Michigan State fans might have had more fans in attendance. Judging from the arena shots on television and the pictures from twitter, there were a LOT of empty seats for this tournament. From what I saw of the championship game (the third period), there were a "few" more fans in attendance. However, there were still a LOT of empty seats.  For a hockey conference that is only in its second year of existence, that has to be embarrassing.  I was at the WCHA Final Five tournament at the Xcel Energy Center and there were more people in attendance for the first semi-final game between Michigan Tech and Bowling green than for the semi-final games for the Big Ten Tournament. 

Picture from the Michigan-Wisconsin Big Ten Semi-final game
(courtesy of Twitter)

I found this surprising statistic on Twitter on Friday night. The following picture shows the attendance for the Big Ten Hockey Tournament between last year at the Xcel Energy Center and this year at Joe Louis Arena (the attendance for the entire Big Ten Hockey Tournament at Joe Louis Arena was 16,120). 

That is a significant drop in attendance between last year and this year. Does one think that anybody from the Big Ten Conference will look at the attendance and see how bad the attendance was this year? One sure hopes so. This doesn't bode well for a hockey conference only in its second year of existence. 

I wrote an article on My thoughts going into the second season of the Big Ten Hockey Conference. and why I am not a big fan of Big Ten Hockey. I stated previously that there are real no rivalries with the Gophers and the other teams. Yes, the Minnesota-Wisconsin rivalry/border battle is still there. Minnesota does have some history with Michigan (especially with having met the Wolverines in the semi-finals in both the 2002 and 2003 Men's Frozen Four). There are no rivalries with Michigan State and Ohio State. Penn State is only in its third year as a Division I hockey program. Those rivalries are not going to develop overnight. They are going to take years to develop, if they develop at all. 

Another interesting point was brought up about the Big Ten and that this whole Big Ten Hockey Conference is about money. It could very well be. It could also be because of the Big Ten Network and the Big Ten getting those games aired on that network (which to me, is a joke--but I'm not going to go there).  I was involved in a conversation on my personal twitter account about the Big Ten and that how the Big Ten was potentially hurting Minnesota's Men's hockey. One thing that was pointed out is how Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan State and Wisconsin are all big football schools in the Big Ten and their support for hockey is not really there. (Michigan State and Wisconsin also have teams in the NCAA Men's basketball tournament, which started on March 18). 

One way the move to the Big Ten Hockey Conference has hurt Minnesota is in the PairWise rankings. Out of the six teams in the conference (in the latest PairWise rankings), Minnesota is the only team from the conference in the top ten in the PairWise. (Michigan was ranked #19, Michigan State was tied for 31st, Penn State was 33rd, Ohio State was tied for 36th, and Wisconsin was 55th). The entire PairWise rankings from uscho.com are here. Because of where the other five teams are ranked, the Gophers' conference schedule can considered weak, which could affect recruiting. A twitter user (@timtjack44) stated that because of the lesser conference competition, this could have an effect on high level recruits who could decide to pass on playing for Minnesota and decide to go to another Division I school because of better competition. 

As of right now, I do think the Big Ten Hockey conference was not a great idea. I really don't care what the conference charter says about any six member schools having a team in a particular sport. They should have allowed Minnesota, Wisconsin, Ohio State, Michigan, and Michigan State remain in their old conferences and allowed Penn State to join a conference like the Hockey East, instead of destroying two well-established hockey conferences, along with established and well-known college hockey rivalries. 

Saint Patrick's Day/March Madness Edition of Hockey memes

Well, it's that time of year known as March Madness. For us hockey fans, it's that time of the hockey season where it's the push for the playoffs. So, here we are at another edition of the favorite hockey memes.

Obviously, a hockey fan filled out this bracket...LOL! 

I hate to pick on Niklas Backstrom, but I had to include this one...

Another good one about Devan Dubnyk after Saturday night's game in St. Louis...

And this one....

Now, I have to share this one because it involves P.K Subban from Montreal...and I'm NOT a fan of his...

Ottawa Senators Goalie Andrew Hammond has this nickname "The Hamburglar," well someone did throw a McDonald's burger on to the ice the other night...(he has the Hamburglar character on his goalie mask)

Last, but not least....

Until next time...

NHL GM Meetings taking place in Boca Raton, FL, no agreeable consensus on goalie interference

The General Managers of the NHL have begun their annual three days of meetings today (March 16) in Boca Raton, FL.

One of the issues that is on the docket is goaltender interference. I find this really interesting that this is being brought up, considering I wrote about this in a previous article (link to it is here). The question is should goalie interference be subject to video review. Given what I stated in my previous article, it should be up to a video review. 

NHL.com senior writer Dan Rosen wrote this:

"The main question being discussed in regard to the goaltenders is should video review be expanded to include goals scored as a potential result of goalie interference. The NHL does not allow for video review of goals scored where there is the potential of goaltender interference having occured. Those calls are left to the discretion of the on-ice officials." 

If you ask me, there needs to be a clear consensus on what goaltender interference is and I don't think there really is one. The 2014-15 NHL Rule book states:

(NHL rule book can be found on NHL.com and downloaded)

Rosen went on to state that "The managers have watched video clips of goals which likely would be covered by an expanded review and discussed those plays, formally and informally, but rarely have reached a consensus. Often on GM thought a play should be ruled a goal only to have another argue passionately for a clear-cut case of goalie interference." 

If there isn't clear consensus among NHL GM's on what goaltender intereference is? What about the refs? Is there clear consensus among the NHL refs on what it is? That is a topic that needs to be discussed.  Rosen stated " There has been some hesitancy by the managers to allow video review on goals scored where goaltender interference could be an issue because of the lack of role interpretation plays in such cases, as well as the time added to the game with the potential for additional reviews."

That statement in Rosen's article is a clear argument for needing an agreeable consensus of what goaltender interference is and what has been reported from the first day of these GM meetings shows that consensus isn't there at all.

In reading Rosen's article and other articles on the first day of the GM meetings, there are a wide range of opinions on this subject alone. Ottawa Senators GM Bryan Murray stated "I don't think we're going to video replay, for example, with goaltender interference...I think that has to be left to the officials to make a judgment call on the ice. Some nights we're not happy, but the majority of the calls that I've seen anyway so far have been the right call." 

A judgment call by the officials? If that is going to be the consensus, then what is the point of having a rule on goaltender interference? 

It is going to be real interesting to see what, if anything, comes out of this year's GM meetings about goaltender interference. There are other topics being discussed--such as the diving and embellishment penalties and possible changes to the overtime format. 

This is just the first post on the NHL GM Meetings and there will be another blog post on this subject sometime next week after these meetings wrap up. 

Dan Rosen's entire article can be read here.

Avalanche Head Coach Patrick Roy takes cheap shot at Twin Cities media before season series finale on Sunday….

Before Sunday’s series finale between the Avalanche and the Wild at the Xcel Energy Center, Patrick Roy opened his pre-game press conference by taking a cheap shot at the Twin Cities media—specifically the Star Tribune’s Michael Russo.

Below is Patrick Roy's statement:

According to Chad Graff (from the Saint Paul Pioneer Press) via Twitter, Roy was "unhappy with the way Minnesota media portrayed events of last (February 28) game, called an article in today's (Sunday) Star Tribune 'garbage.'"  (Going into Sunday's game, the Wild have a 4-0 record against the Avalanche this season). 

Graff goes on to state (via Twitter) that according to Roy, "Nothing major happened. I'm looking at their line up and (Wild forward Mikael) Granlund seems to be there tonight, isn't he?" 

So, Roy is implying that Granlund is a "goon?" What was Roy paying attention to during the last 8 seconds of the game on February 28 at the Pepsi Center?  Nothing major happened? Well, if memory serves me correctly, Cody McLeod was called for a 2 minute unsportsmanlike minor, a 5 minute fighting major, and a 10 minute misconduct penalty (along with being tossed from the game). McLeod was fined by the league $3,098.40 for "purposely entering the game with less than 10 seconds for purposely starting an altercation." (stated in my last blog post, here).  Roy should be very thankful that McLeod wasn't called for an instigating penalty because Roy would have been fined $10K for it and McLeod would have faced a suspension. 

Roy also made a similar statement about forward Charlie Coyle by stating that "if he (Yeo) puts Coyle out, I have to put somebody out on the ice." After McLeod's hit on Granlund, Coyle stood up for his teammate and fought with McLeod. 

Michael Russo (who was out of town on Sunday) did make this statement via twitter:

I read the article that Patrick Roy is calling "garbage." I also quoted Russo in my previous blog post. I didn't see where Russo was advocating for McLeod or any other Avs player to be injured. As I recall, Roy made a statement to Mike Kiszla from the Denver Post either at the end of the playoffs last season or the beginning of the season "...One of our players will hurt one of their guys." (Roy's statement can be found in this Russo article, here). That was in regards to the Matt Cooke hit on Tyson Barrie during the playoffs last year. 

Roy did make himself a hypocrite when he said "If we were about revenge, it would have been done long ago because of what happened to Tyson Barrie."  

Colorado Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson did chime in on this whole thing by making this statement on twitter (and basically making himself hated in the state where he was born and raised):

Sorry, Erik. When your head coach makes idiotic statements like the ones he did, people have a right to call him out on it. What he accomplished as a player doesn't have to be taken into any consideration when he spews garbage like he did. 

Patrick Roy should be worried more about winning games and where his team is currently in the standings than what somebody in the media says. He also needs to start having better control of his players on the ice and on the bench. With the thug/goon mentality Roy has, he could very well end up in a similar situation like former Canucks head coach Marc Crawford did when he, the Vancouver Canucks, and Todd Bertuzzi were sued by former Avalanche player Steve Moore as a result of a career-ending injury caused by a vicious hit by Todd Bertuzzi win which Moore suffered a concussion and three fractured vertebrae (more about that incident here).

Roy could have also made his garbage statements to rile his team up (which obviously worked because the Avs beat the Wild 3-2 on Sunday for their only win against the Wild this season). 

As far as Patrick Roy stating "I don't think hockey needs this today," I don't think hockey needs a coach and a team with a thug mentality taking liberties at other players like McLeod's hit on Granlund and the following Gabriel Landeskog punch on Mikko Koivu when both players were on their respective benches. 

Whatever respect people and hockey fans might have had for Patrick Roy as a player, Roy could very well be losing that respect as a coach. Any respect I might have had for Roy as a player (and he was a goalie I enjoyed watching when I was growing up), is definitely gone now with his statements and actions as a coach. I know he's standing up for his players, but to take a cheap shot at the media without backing those statements up with proof is showing how classless Patrick Roy is. 

What is up with the refs not calling goaltender interference in Saturday night’s game against Colorado and allowing that goal to count?

What is goaltender interference?  Goaltender interference is a penalty that is called where a player is found in the goal crease when the opposing goaltender is establishing his position in the same area.

According to the NHL rulebook, rule #69 states “this will result in a minor penalty to the offending player. If a goal is scored as a result of a player obstructing the goaltender, the goal will be disallowed and a minor penalty assessed at the referee's discretion. In leagues where goaltender interference isn't an official penalty, a charging penalty is called instead.”

I’m bringing this up because at the 1:32 mark of the second period of Saturday night’s game, there was a very questionable play which lead to a goal for the Colorado Avalanche (and stopping the Wild’s shutout streak against them this season).

The following is from the Star Tribune’s Michael Russo (link to article here):

“Twelve periods and 240 minutes of hockey now this season, and the only goal the Avalanche has scored against the Wild in four losses (outscored 12-1) arguably should have been wiped out by referees Chris Rooney and Dean Morton tonight.

Just 1:32 into the second period, a Maxime Talbot dump-in ricocheted awkwardly off the glass, into the crease and pinned under Devan Dubnyk’s right pad. Cody McLeod came charging in trying to jam at the puck and pushed Dubnyk over the goal line.

The ref blew the play down signaling no goal. But they went to review, and the NHL Situation Room correctly determined the puck lodged under Dubnyk’s pad when it went over the line. Tying goal.

However, Dubnyk’s pad only went over the line because McLeod pushed him over the line. Before it got to video review, Rooney and Morton probably should have disallowed the goal. That part of this was not reviewable.”

I did watch the game on Saturday night and from the replay video that was shown on TV (on FSN North), Cody McLeod CLEARLY pushed Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk back into the net with the puck lodged under his right pad (the puck couldn't be seen in the video replay that was shown). Goaltender interference SHOULD have been called on McLeod according to the rule I have stated at the beginning of this article and the goal should NOT have been allowed and should not have been reviewed by Toronto to allow for that bogus call to stand. 

Devan Dubnyk gave this statement in a post-game interview:

“The ruling, I guess, was that McLeod had nothing to do with me going into the net, which is somewhat mindboggling…It didn’t seem to matter in the end. For us to respond like that after a goal that probably shouldn’t have counted, that’s a sign of a great hockey team.”

This is one example of plenty regarding crappy and shoddy officiating on the part of the NHL refs. There were plenty of examples from just this game that could be used, but this could end up being one lengthy article. 

In addition to the mess that was the one "allowed" goal by the Avalanche, the NHL announced McLeod and Avalanche Captain Gabriel Landeskog were both fined by the league for their antics in the last seconds of the game. McLeod was fined $3,091.40 for entering the game with less than 10 seconds for purposely starting an altercation. Right after the face-off (with about 8 seconds left on the clock), McLeod body-checked Wild forward Mikael Granlund, then engaged in a fight with Wild forward Charlie Coyle. McLeod received a 2 minute minor (for unsportsmanlike conduct), a 5 minute major for fighting, and a 10-minute game misconduct penalty. McLeod should have also been given an instigator penalty (which would have resulted in Avalanche head coach Patrick Roy a significant fine and a possible suspension). 

Gabriel Landeskog was fined $5,000 for reaching around a partition separating both the visitors' bench and the Avalanche's bench and punching Minnesota Wild captain Mikko Koivu (while both players were on their respective benches) with about three seconds left in the game. Landeskog was issued a misconduct penalty. 

Both fines are the max fines allowed under the current collective bargaining agreement. However, these fines now put McLeod and Landeskog on the NHL's radar because of their conduct. It is unknown if Patrick Roy was fined at all as a result of this. If he wasn't, he should have been since he basically allowed the McLeod incident to happen in the first place. (According to Michael Russo in another article, Roy was expected to be fined by the league).

The season series finale between these two teams is this Sunday night (March 8) at the Xcel Energy Center. 

Devan Dubnyk was named the NHL's First Star of the Month on Sunday (March 1). He is the first Minnesota Wild player to be named First Star of the Month (the only other Wild player to have been named to the NHL's Three Stars of the Month was Josh Harding back in November 2013). Dubnyk also made is 21st consecutive start for the Minnesota Wild last night against Ottawa in their 3-2 shootout win, which is a franchise record. 

The NHL Stadium Series in California--why I was not a big fan of it.

For the second season in a row, the Los Angeles Kings were part of the NHL Stadium Series. Last season, the Kings hosted the Anaheim Ducks at Dodgers Stadium.

On February 21, the San Jose Sharks hosted the Los Angeles Kings at the new Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, CA.

I was not impressed with either game. I barely watched both of those games. 

First of all, California isn’t exactly a hockey “hotbed.” Yes, the Los Angeles Kings have been around since 1967 and was the only hockey team in California until the Sharks came along in 1991. (The Ducks were founded in 1993.)

The Stadium Series set up at Dodger Stadium on January 25, 2014

So, why was I not a fan of the NHL Stadium Series being in California for two years in a row? Well, there are a number of reasons why. Having grown up in Minnesota all of my life and have grown up playing and watching hockey, I’m used to seeing outdoor rinks with snow around and skating outside when it's like 15 degrees out. The idea of green grass around an ice rink in February just doesn't sit right with me. There was even a sand volleyball court set up at Dodgers Stadium for last year's Stadium Series game between the Kings and the Ducks (I believe the air temperature during that game had to have been in the 80's). With temps in the 70's-80's, the quality of the ice had to be impacted because of those temps (even with all of the refrigeration piping underneath).  I don't understand why the NHL would want to take that risk of injuries with their players to have these games in California. 

"Many NHL players have expressed concerns about ice conditions in very warm-weather cities during the Stanley Cup playoffs. They fear the outdoor temperature may be hot enough to soften the ice inside the building.” (http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/ice-rink4.htm) The same could be said for the air temps affecting the ice for these two outdoor games. 

The Stadium Series set up in Santa Clara, CA at Levi's Stadium

When the league announced that there was only going to be one Stadium Series game this season, I was shocked that the location was chosen as Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, CA (the new 49'ers stadium). A Stadium Series game for the second year in a row in California? To me, that was just wrong. The San Jose Sharks haven't exactly been selling out their home games as of late (and currently sit three points out of the last wild card spot). I suppose the NHL wanted to capitalize on the rivalry between these two teams after San Jose's epic play-off collapse last year in the Conference Semi-Finals. Both the Kings and the Sharks aren't necessarily locks to make the play-offs this year (the Kings are currently sitting in 3rd place in the Pacific Division with 70 points, and I previously mentioned where the Sharks are currently sitting). 

When I was at the WIld Wednesday edition of the Jeff Dubay show that was being recorded from Bennett's this past Wednesday night, Tony Dean (from hockeybuzz.com) asked how many of those 70,000 in attendance at that game really knew anything about the game of hockey or where they there just to say that they were able to attend an outdoor hockey game in California. Yes, there were probably die-hard Sharks fans in attendance. But really, how many people in the San Jose area really pay attention to hockey? That question probably would have some interesting answers. 

The Sharks ended up losing this game on "home" ice by a score of 2-1. 

I would seriously like to know who is/was responsible for choosing the uniforms the Kings wore during this game? White breezers? Those uniforms were ridiculous. I don't know which uniforms were worse--these Kings ones or the uniforms worn during the All-Star game. 

Next season, I will be very happy to see a Stadium Series game played outside in places where there is actual winter weather...at TCF Stadium on February 21, 2016, when the Minnesota Wild take on the Chicago Blackhawks. 

I cannot wait.

Is Devan Dubnyk the answer to the Minnesota Wild’s goaltending situation?

**Update**

Devan Dubnyk was named first star of the week by the NHL after shutting out both Chicago 3-0 last Tuesday night and Colorado 1-0 on Saturday night. Last week, he was named the third star of the week by the league for going 3-0-0 with a 1.00 GAA and .967 save percentage when the Wild had a 3-0 successful road trip through western Canada right after the all-star break (nhl.com).



On January 14, Wild General Manager Chuck Fletcher pulled the trigger and traded the Wild’s 2015 third round draft pick to Arizona for goaltender Devan Dubnyk in order to attempt to do address the Wild’s goaltending situation. Dubnyk, who will be a free agent at the end of this season, had been the back up to Mike Smith.  

Minnesota Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk

Since then, Dubnyk “now as four shutouts in nine starts with the Wild and has allowed three goals in five games since the All-Star break. In nine starts, he is 7-1 (one no-decision in Detroit) with a 1.31 GAA and .948 save percentage. Per Elias, Dubnyk is the fasted to post four shutouts with a team among goalies…” (Josh Cooper, sports.yahoo.com 2/8/2015). He has also started all nine of those games.

Not bad for a goalie who has been with four different teams in the past two seasons (Edmonton, Nashville, Montreal/Hamilton (AHL), and Arizona) before coming to Minnesota.

Ever since Dubnyk has joined the team, the Wild have been playing with a renewed confidence.

Mikko Koivu made this statement after Saturday night’s win over Colorado, “Everything starts with goaltending…Winning teams have that and he’s been great ever since he came here.” (Chad Graff, twincities.com).

Before Dubnyk’s arrival, the Wild had seemed to find ways to lose games where they had the advantage on the shots on goal, with shaky goaltending to partly to blame. Chad Graff stated in his article today  “On Jan. 8, for example, the Wild lost 4-2 to the Chicago Blackhawks despite outshooting them 44-20.” 

We all know what has happened since. 

The Wild are definitely going to ride this out, with certain that Dubnyk is going to be carrying the starting role. Niklas Backstrom hasn’t played since January 13 at Pittsburgh, were he gave up six goals. Darcy Kuemper is scheduled to rejoin the Wild on Monday from his rehab stint in Iowa (and supposedly is the starter for Tuesday night’s game in Winnipeg).

Kuemper didn’t have that great of a stint in Iowa, where he went 2-3 with a 3.22 GAA and .891 save percentage.

Now, what do the Wild do with Kuemper and Backstrom? That’s going to be an interesting situation with three goaltenders. Does Yeo alternate using Kuemper and Backstrom as the back up? Does Backstrom get continuously scratched? (Backstrom will be 37 this month and has one year left on his contract with the Wild). Backstrom has a record of 5-7-3, 3.04 GAA, and .887 save percentage this season. (He is the Wild's winningest goalie with 194 wins and 28 shutouts in nine seasons with the team). 

Can Backstrom be sent down to Iowa for a conditioning stint? That could possibly happen. Could Fletcher look at possibly moving Backstrom before the trade deadline? That is unknown at this point. Backstrom has a no-move clause (which the Wild would have to get him to waive at this point) and still has one year remaining on his current contract. (There is also the possibility that the Wild could look at buying out his contract after this season). 

Josh Harding is not an option at all at this point due to on going issues with his Multiple Sclerosis (he hasn't played since November 29 and there hasn't been much of any update since then). He is currently in the last season of his current contract with the Wild. 

It's going to be very interesting to see how this plays out. 

In other news, the Minnesota Wild shut out the Colorado Avalanche for the third time this season on Saturday night. This is the first time this season where a team has shut out an opponent in three consecutive meetings (The Wild opened the season with a home-and home against the Avs and won both games 5-0 and 3-0). This is not the first time that this has happened to the Avalanche. In the 2007-08 season, they were shut out in consecutive games against Detroit three times. 

Super Bowl Sunday Edition of Favorite Hockey Memes

Today is Super Bowl Sunday, and with the HOURS of Super Bowl pre-game programming, I thought I would post the Super Bowl edition of hockey memes (as I'm watching the Minnesota Wild play the Vancouver Canucks).

In reference to "Deflategate"

Last time I checked, you can't drink beer out of the Lombardi Trophy

Exactly! Why does a Super Bowl pre-game show have to be HOURS
 long for about 17 minutes worth of action?

Hockey hits are harder! 

 

And in honor of the Wild playing the Canucks today...

Martin Brodeur, NHL’s winningest goalie, announces his retirement.

After 22 years playing in the National Hockey League, Martin Brodeur announced that he was hanging up the skates and the goalie pads. He made the announcement on Thursday in Saint Louis (at that press conference it was announced he was going to become senior advisor to Blues’ GM Doug Armstrong for the rest of the season).

Martin Brodeur at press conference announcing his
retirement on January 29, 2015

Brodeur played 21 seasons with the New Jersey Devils, where he was part of three Stanley Cup championships. He spent part of this season with the Blues, where he signed as a free-agent after goalie Brian Elliot went down with a knee injury. He played his last NHL game on January 2. (Elliot has since returned from his knee injury). Brodeur, the NHL’s winningest goalie (having won 691 games), has won the Vezina trophy four times and won the Calder Memorial Trophy in 1994. Besides being the NHL’s winningest goalie, Brodeur holds a number of records. Some of those records include Most Career Saves (with 28,508), most regular season shutouts with 125, and most games played by an NHL goaltender with 1,259 (as of Dec. 29, 2014). Besides the records, Brodeur has also scored three career goals (including a power play goal during the 2013 season). 

Brodeur was also a member of two gold medal-winning Canadian Olympic hockey teams (2002 and 2010).

Martin Brodeur in the net for the New Jersey Devils

Can the Wild turn things around in the second half?

Here we are beginning of the second half of the season—which generally means the push for the playoffs. The Wild are currently seven points out for the final Wild card spot for the play offs, with a 21-20-6 record (after having beat Edmonton 2-1 on Tuesday night).

Given the current play of goalies Niklas Backstrom and Darcy Kuemper, Wild General Manager Chuck Fletcher traded the Wild’s 2015 third round draft pick to the Arizona Coyotes for goaltender Devan Dubnyk. 

Dubnyk, 28, has been Mike Smith’s back up for the Coyotes and is an unrestricted free-agent at the end of this season. In the 19 games Dubnyk has played for his previous team, he had a 9-5-2 record with a 2.72 GAA and .917 save percentage. (Kuemper has a .902 save % and 2.68 GAA, while Backstrom has a .887 save % and 3.04 GAA, but the Wild’s record has been 18-19-5). 

Devan Dubnyk deflecting the puck over Jonas Brodin's head

Kuemper was sent down to Iowa on Monday for a conditioning assignment (he can be there for up to two weeks). Prior to Kuemper making a relief appearance in the Wild’s game against Detroit, he missed the previous seven games with what the Wild had announced was a “lower body” injury.

We all know how Dubnyk’s debut for the Wild went. He is the first goaltender for the Wild to have a shutout in their debut with the team. Yes, I know, the Wild were playing the Buffalo Sabres. However, Dubnyk did start in the Wild’s last game before the All-Star Break and was pulled for Darcy Kuemper after letting in 4 goals on 10 shots.

Entering the All-Star Break, the Wild were 2-7-2. There are 35 games left in this wild roller-coaster of a season.

Wild Forward Mikael Granlund stated this to Minneapolis Star Tribune Columnist Michael Russo (which appeared in Russo’s column on January 27):

“There’s still 30-something games left…A lot of things can happen and I think every guy in this locker room believes we can make it to the playoffs. We need to go game by game. That’s the only thing we can do now.”

Granlund returned to the Wild line up on Tuesday after having missed the previous four weeks with a broken wrist. So far, Granlund only has 15 points in 32 games this season—so the Wild need him to start producing. (Last season, Granlund had 41 points in the 63 games he played).

As far as where the Wild are currently in the standings, Zach Parise stated this to the Twin Cities media:

“We've got to win…There's no other way to put it. There's not a lot of room for error, and it's going to be hard. We know that. It's going to be very hard. But we're not going to quit. We've got to keep improving and get our game going in the right direction...We can't get caught up (in the standings)…We can't put ourselves in an every-game's-a-win-or-season's-over type scenario. You stress yourself out, and all of a sudden, mentally, you're making the game a lot harder. You try to put it in small things where (Tuesday) night we've got to win the first period and then go from there. We can't win the game right away, but we've got to win the first period. That's got to be our approach as we go on through this road trip and the rest of the season. We know what the standings look like. That's no secret. But we can't make up all those points this week. We've got to start small." (Chad Graff, twincities.com, 1/26/2015)

Going into Tuesday night’s game against Edmonton, the Wild are going to need about 46 points in the remaining 36 games of this season (with a record of 22-10-4). Can the Wild pull it off? It will be interesting. They were able to do it last year (after having been decimated by injuries in the months of December and January heading into the Olympic break). How this season is going to turn out remains to unfold at this point in the season. 

The other lingering question is whether or not the Wild are going to be either sellers or buyers come the March 2nd trade deadline. Could the Wild actually try to get Niklas Backstrom to waive his no trade clause and try to move him? That is something else that remains to be seen. 

I would like to believe the Wild could possibly turn things around and make a push towards getting into the playoffs. However, I think the Wild have dug themselves into quite a hole and I can see them possibly playing spoiler towards the end of the season. 

Pictures from Red Bull's Crashed Ice 2015 in Saint Paul

Since there was no regular NHL hockey on this weekend due to the NHL's All Star break, I went to Red Bull's Crashed Ice Event in Saint Paul Friday afternoon. I thought I would share the pictures I took. I apologize if some of them appear "grainy," the only camera I had was the one on my iPhone. 


The events I saw were the individual practice runs in the afternoon and part of the team qualifying that evening. The field of 64 individual event was scheduled to take place Saturday night (where they are saying approximately 140,000 people attended. 

This year was the first year I actually went. All the pictures in this post are ones I took. I also have a couple of short videos I shot while close to the starting line.

According to redbullcrashedice.com, the Saint Paul Course (which started above the steps of the Cathedral of Saint Paul) was the longest course of this season. This was also the first of five races (the other three races will be held in Helsinki, Belfast, and Edmonton). 

One of two ice sculptures for the event near the Cathedral of St. Paul

Some of the individual practice runs (yes, I was able to get THAT close to the track!):

 

Pictures from around the course:

 

The Cathedral of Saint Paul lit up (where the starting line was located, I think it was 17 feet above the top steps of the Cathedral):

 

The Downtown Saint Paul skyline from the course

Now, for some of the action from the team event (they came by pretty quickly!). I will admit, I don't shoot the greatest videos.

Here are some photos I got of the action:

 

 

For more pictures from the event and to find out race results, click on http://www.redbullcrashedice.com/en_US.

Enjoy and the regular hockey posts will be back this week!