Wild mount furious comeback against Oilers

Nearing the end of the second period with the team down 4-1 Saturday night, the fans at the Xcel Energy Center were so quiet that they could have heard a stick drop on the ice. Luckily for the fans, the Wild had other ideas about the remainder of the game. Wild Center Eric Belanger looked down the bench at his teammates and one thought popped into his mind: We can still win this game.

"We just knew, you know?" said Belanger after the game. "We just knew we were going to win this game."

It took the Wild nearly 10 minutes to get themselves back into the game after being down 4-1, but on this night, the Wild knew it was their game to take. With just over 2 minutes left in the second frame, Brian Rolston fired home a wrist shot to cut the Edmonton lead in half. Going into the locker room, the team felt as though it had a great chance to get themselves back into this game. Wild coach Jacques Lemaire was relieved the Wild were able to get a goal to close out the second period.

"Four to one would have been tougher than 4-2," Lemaire said. "The way we were playing, that's what we were hoping for, a goal at the end of the second."

It took the Wild less than 5 minutes into the third period to get them within a goal. Mark Parrish placed a perfect pass right to the stick of Marian Gaborik who shot it home past Edmonton goalie Dwayne Roloson just 4:44 into the third period. From there, the Wild just settled back and waited for their chances. After giving up double-digit shots in each of the first two periods, the Wild gave up only 6 in the third, limiting the Oilers scoring chances with much-improved defense from guys like Sean Hill and Petteri Nummelin. After spending most of the third period in the Edmonton zone, the Wild finally cashed in again to tie the game at 4 exactly 10 minutes after their third goal. Brent Burns took control of a Pierre-Marc Bouchard rebound and poked it home for his career-high 8th goal of the season. From there, the Wild tried to end the game before it got to overtime, but were unsuccessful. The Wild knew that they had the Oilers on the ropes, and they weren't about to let it slip away.

The Wild got started right away in overtime when Gaborik took the puck and split the defense on his way to the goal. Edmonton defensemen Steve Staios, realizing that there is no way they could catch up to Gaborik, did the smart thing and hooked Gaborik to give his team a chance to kill off a penalty. Unfortunately for the Oilers, the Wild were not going to let this game get away. The Wild quickly took control of the puck and moved it around the Edmonton zone. After about a minute of passing, Rolston found the puck and slid it over to Bouchard, who in turn flung the puck out to Nummelin who then took a wicked snap shot to send the Wild out with a bang. It was the first time in franchise history the Wild had come back from a 3 goal deficit in the Xcel Energy Center, and only the second time they had done it in any venue.



OK, so I wrote that trying to be fairly nice to the Wild when re-capping that game. The truth is though, it was a horrible game, aside from the fact that they won. I'll admit it was a hard-fought game and a great comeback, but the way the Wild played in the first two periods, there was no way they deserved to win that game. The Wild should be counting their lucky stars after this game in which they gave up two short-handed goals (which had never been done against the Wild), played absolutely awful defense, and only managed 7 shots on net in the second period. I refer to the Wild's defense as "absolutely awful" simply because I could not find any other words to express how dismal they really are. There is not one defensemen right now that is playing anywhere near where they need to be. Brent Burns is letting guys get behind him, Sean Hill is making terrible mistakes with the puck, and Martin Skoula...is Martin Skoula. I truly and honestly do not know why on earth Lemaire feels the need to put Skoula into the game. He can't hit, he can't block a shot, he can't stick-handle, and he can't skate. It's honestly like watching a guy that's been skating for maybe a couple months, and this guy is playing in the NHL, logging more than 20 minutes a game. Everybody on the defense needs to be more aggressive in order to cut down the opponents scoring chances. Now I'm not going to pretend like I know what is best for the team, I trust Lemaire and I trust the rest of the coaching staff, but after watching the Wild every year since their inception, I can tell what is and what isn't working with this team. When the puck is in the neutral zone and our defensemen is 10 feet away from the puck, and the opponents forward is 15 feet away from the puck, why would we let the other team take the puck and skate it into our zone? The idea just seems ludicrous to me, yet I see it every game. If we don't have our defense go after that puck, the other team is going to get it, do a little dance around our defensemen, and shoot and score. If we go after that puck, at the very least we can disrupt the play they are trying to set up and maybe get possession of the puck again. It seems so easy yet so hard when watching this club struggle. And yes, even with this recent comeback win, I am still calling the Wild a struggling team.

Mark Parrish is finally doing what he was brought in here to do last year: stay in front of the net, and don't move for any reason. We have four other guys that are there to back him up. If we can keep possession of the puck, Parrish has to be the one to stay in front of the net to screen the goalie, as well as be there to pick up any rebounds. And when Parrish isn't out on the ice, somebody else has to step-up and do the same thing. Aaron Voros, the one good constant on this team since he was called up, has been doing that, and it has paid off dearly for him. Voros, playing in only his 23rd game of the season last night, has recorded 7 goals and 6 assists this year. That's more goals than Pierre-Marc Bouchard who has 6 goals in 38 games this year. The Wild have so many things to work on if they want to become a top contender in this league. It is easy to see what makes a team dominant in today's NHL. Look at the Detroit Red Wings: The ultimate passing team that isn't afraid to get pushed around in front of the net. Their finesse style of play may not be able to be matched by the Wild, but there are plenty of aspects of the Red Wings game that the Wild can try to mimic and become a better team with. It's the same thing with the Vancouver Canucks. The Canucks play a brand of hockey that virtually no one else can copy: They have the perfect mix of hard-nosed players to go along with skill players and they have one of the best goaltenders in the league. I'm not in favor of the Wild taking a page out of the Canucks dirty plays book, but there are definitely many parts of Vancouver's play that the Wild need to look at if they want to become a top contender in the West.

Again I bring up the point of the Wild not having their top center, Mikko Koivu. But the way they are struggling right now, offense is not my main worry. Eventually Koivu will make his way back into the lineup, lines will get shifted back to the way they were, and the scoring will come easier. It is the defense that worries me right now, and it is the defense that should be worrying the coaching staff of the Wild. The Wild have plenty of top-tier defenders in Brent Burns, Nick Schultz, and Petteri Nummelin, but none of them are playing up to their potential, or even anywhere near their potential. There are no trade possibilities for the Wild, nor do they have any solid defensive prospects down in Houston. That leaves the only option for the Wild on the guys that are carrying the load now. They need to be more aggressive when dealing with the puck, and they need to start taking more shots and getting the puck at the net. If they don't start doing that soon, they could very well fall out of the top 8 in the conference.

It's Wild on top of the Western Conference

It seems like just yesterday that the Minnesota Wild were playing mediocre hockey, not being able to complete a pass or score a goal. They bottomed out in San Jose, where they fell behind quickly and couldn't catch up. It was frustrating as a fan watching the Wild struggle so mightily when I knew they were capable of so much more. After that dismal showing in San Jose, the Wild had a few days to collect themselves before heading to Anaheim to face the Ducks. The Wild were desperate to get something going, and by the way they played that night, they were ready for it. The Wild swiftly broke out of their scoring slump and dropped 5 goals en route to a 5-2 win. With a new bounce in their step, the Wild finished their swing through California with a game in Los Angeles. Although the Wild couldn't stay hot with the goal scoring in LA, Josh Harding played stellar in goal to lead the Wild to a 2-1 win over the Kings. The Wild were cautious not to get ahead of themselves while on this short two game win streak, but they knew that they had to keep the confidence they had to be able to continue playing well.

The Wild headed home to take on the Nashville Predators on December 18th, three days after their close game in Los Angeles. The Wild, still in a bit of a scoring slump, knew that they needed to score early and often against Nashville to have a chance of winning. Unfortunately, it was the Preds that got going much sooner than the Wild had hoped. Jason Arnott scored for Nashville at the 8:50 mark of the first period to set the tone for the first 2 periods. The rest of the first period came and went quietly, but the Wild didn't play their best, putting them at risk for a defeat. The second period was a little better, yet the Predators again got on the scoreboard with the Wild missing out. The Wild went into the locker room a little disappointed; they had played a good two periods, yet Nashville was being rewarded with tip-in goals. After the way the first 40 minutes of the game went, it was fairly apparent the Wild were ready to break out, and break out they did: three goals in the third, the last one coming with just over a minute left, to propel the Wild to their 3rd win in a row.

Now riding high with a legitimate winning streak, the Wild faced the New York Rangers on Thursday night. The Rangers, although not particularly hot their last ten games (4-5-1), are always a team that can light the lamp on you. Luckily, the Wild had other ideas for this night. The Rangers got on the board first when Michal Rozsival found the back of the net just over 9 minutes into the game. Just 3 minutes after that goal, the Wild responded with one of their own. Gaborik scored the first of his FIVE (yes 5) goals on the night, beating Henrik Lundqvist with a wicked snap-shot after a beautiful pass from Pavol Demitra. Soon after Martin Skoula took an ugly tumble in the Wild zone (and by ugly I mean he looked like a first-time skater), Nigel Dawes scored for the Rangers to get them within striking distance. The Wild were quick to extinguish any hope for a New York comeback when Pierre-Marc Bouchard scored 3 minutes after to put the Wild again up by 2. The Wild finished the game with two more Gaborik goals to win the game 6-3. Although the Wild were again back on the winning track after a 4 game winning streak, that was put on the back-burner for a while. Thursday night belonged to Marian Gaborik and his historical 5 goals.

Gaborik's night was the first time in over 11 years that any NHL player had recorded 5 goals in a game, and the first time anybody had done it in Wild franchise history. Gaborik also assisted on Bouchard's goal, giving him 6 points on the night and making him the toast of Minnesota. So impressed were his teammates with his effort that two of them carried him off of the ice. Gaborik was definitely on all night; he was zipping up and down the ice like there was nothing to it and scoring so effortlessly that he could have easily recorded 6 or 7 goals on the night. After being stuck in a slump for a good six weeks, it was great to have a four game win-streak going and to have such an exciting game during the streak. Now the Wild are not-so-securely in second place in the conference, yet still in control of the standings. The Red Wings have a fairly comfortable lead in the West, but one decent slide by them can open up the door for the Wild to sneak into the number one slot in the conference. Tomorrow will be a good start on their quest to catch Detroit, since they face the Wings at the X. The Wings are obviously the superior team in the West, they have too much fire-power to go along with stellar defense and goal tending, but if the Wild can shut down their top line of Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg, they have a very good chance of winning the game.


Yet another big game coming up for the Vikings on Sunday as they take on the Washington Redskins at the Dome. With a Vikings win and a Saints loss, the Vikings guarantee themselves a playoff birth. It's been an interesting season for Minnesota fans, to say the least. When the Vikings stumbled out of the gate to a 2-5 start, the whole Vikings contingent of fans was hoping for a good draft pick for next year. Now that the team is 8-6 and looking very promising, it's once again exciting to watch this team. Adrian Peterson is still lighting up the field at will, and Tavaris Jackson has looked great the last 5 games or so. Now that they have something to play for, I find myself getting very into the games again. With the way they are playing recently, I can honestly say I believe that the Vikings could give the Cowboys or Packers a run for their money in the playoffs.

Another day, another blow-out

The Minnesota Wild are now officially slipping into the bottom echelon of the worst teams in the Western Conference. After hoping the Wild would be able to answer Jacques Lemaire's call and step-up their game Tuesday night, they instead played yet another terrible game where there was virtually no passing, defense, or scoring from Minnesota.

It didn't take the Sharks long to get the scoring going for them when Joe Pavelski scored a mere 2 minutes and 39 seconds into the game. The Wild played a decent rest of the first period, not surrendering any more goals and out-shooting the Sharks 10-8 in that period. Unfortunately, that was the end of any hope for the Wild. I have no idea what Lemaire said in between the first and second periods, but it looked like the Wild would have nothing of it. The Sharks came out shooting in the second period and ended up scoring a total of three times in 13 minutes to put the Wild completely out of reach, en route to a 4-1 win.

With the Wild's complete lack of hustle and aggressiveness, it's hard to say when the Wild might snap out of this funk. The can't score goals to save their lives, and they can't play defense to make up for the goal shortage. Two days ago, Jacques Lemaire called out his skill players to tell them they had to step up in a big way if the Wild were to be successful. I don't know if the players had Lemaire's words go in one ear and out the other, or if the simply cannot step up their game enough right now. Through 30 games this season, the Wild are sitting at 16-12-2, just barely good enough for 6th in the Western Conference. In those same 30 games, the so-called "skill" players such as Pavol Demitra, Pierre-Marc Bouchard, and Brian Rolston all have 20 points or less, with Demitra sitting at the bottom with a measly 14. Meanwhile our defense has combined for a +/- of -9, with the ever-disappointing Martin Skoula sitting at -8. Comparing that to a mediocre team like Anaheim whose defensemen are a combined +5, I think we can say the Wild's defense is a little less than stellar. Now I'll be the first to admit that the Wild are definitely hurting without Mikko Koivu. With Koivu out, that shuffles the whole lineup around, forcing Demitra to stray from his normal forward position into the center slot, thus pretty much killing any chance he has of scoring with the way Lemaire plays the center position (never stray past the opposing face off circles). But there is no reason that even without Koivu the Wild should be doing this bad. They have scored 2 goals or less in 4 games in a row, and 16 total games this year. I agree that when Koivu comes back they will score more, but unless they can get Niklas Backstrom his confidence back too, the Wild are stuck in the middle of the tight Western Conference.

From here, Minnesota's schedule does not get any easier. They face the Nashville Predators (11th in Western Conference), the New York Rangers (6th in the Eastern Conference), and the Detroit Red Wings (1st in the Western Conference) all in four days in the middle of December. I wish I had some ideas to throw out that I think would help the Wild, but unfortunately, I'm drawing a blank. The simply need to have every player step up like they were at the beginning of the season and play the game of hockey. The season is more than 1/3 gone, and I would hate to see the Wild keep sliding down the standings with the high expectations that they had going into the season.

The Wild's next game is on Friday night, where they will be facing the hated Anaheim Ducks. This would be a very important win, not only because it would put them back in the win column, but because Anaheim is a team that, after last years post-season, I would assume every Wild player would love to beat.

Be sure to check out the big black eye that will hit Major League Baseball tomorrow (Thursday) at 2:00 o'clock when the Mitchell Report comes out highlighting what George Mitchell found in his long investigation into steroids in Baseball.

My how the momentum has shifted...

It was a mere 4 weeks ago that the whole state of Minnesota was ragging on Brad Childress, praising Adrian Peterson, and thinking that the whole Minnesota Vikings season was going down the drain. That was following a 34-0 drubbing at the hands of the Green Bay Packers, and things were looking pretty bad. Since then, not only have the Vikings gone 4-0, they have beaten opponents by an average of more than 20 points per game. Now at this point the Vikings have their fans thinking playoffs, and if they keep playing the way they have been lately, they can definitely go pretty deep in the postseason.

The most recent game that the Vikings dominated was in San Francisco against the 49ers, where they easily handled the Alex Smith-less Niners 27-7. The Vikings defense was spectacular yet again with 2 interceptions and 3 fumble recoveries (unfortunately their defense wasn't enough to get the win for me in fantasy this week). The positive sign for this weeks game was the fact that AP was held in check, carrying 14 times for only 3 yards, but the Vikings used the second head of their two-headed monster to carry the load. Chester Taylor carried the ball 8 times for 101 yards and a touchdown, and Tavaris Jackson looked solid for the fourth consecutive week in a row with short, effective passes that moved the chains down the field.

The Vikings set the tempo of the game early on when big Kevin Williams picked off Trent Dilfer and returned it 18 yards to the house just 14 seconds into the game. From there on, the Vikings were in total control. The Vikings now control their own road to the playoffs. If they can defeat the Chicago Bears next week, the Washington Redskins in two weeks, and the Denver Broncos in the final week of the season, the will secure a playoff spot. Like I mentioned before, when (yes when, not if) the Vikings make the playoffs, if they can keep the motivation they have right now, they will be one dangerous team to face.

While the Vikings are tearing up the field, Minnesota Twins GM Bill Smith is holding strong in his efforts to get the maximum value for his Ace Johan Santana. While a lot of fans are clamoring for Santana to be traded soon so that the drama will go away, I applaud Smith for keeping his cool and not settling for anything less than the best. Now I, as much as the next die-hard Twins fan, would love to have the Twins sign Santana long-term, but I have come to terms with the fact that Carl Pohlad will not shell out the $100+ million that Santana is asking to keep him, so I'm OK with Smith being patient with this whole ordeal. I am still personally getting over the Hot-Stove week with all the different scenarios and trade rumors (that whole week consisted of sitting at the computer and refreshing every baseball-related web page waiting for the trade to happen). The Twins are definitely going be a different team next year, but I really do feel that they are getting better and better with every trade or little roster move. Bill Smith has already proven he knows what he is doing, and as anxious as I am to get this trade over and done with, I am happy that Smith has shown that he is as stubborn with this trade as Jacques Lemaire is when it comes to giving Martin Skoula ice time.

The Minnesota Wild are going back and forth again in the win-loss column, so let's hope they can extend their current winning streak of one (1) with a win tomorrow night against the San Jose Sharks. The Wild are in the middle of a pretty brutal road trip (Detroit, Columbus, San Jose, Anaheim, and Los Angeles), and if they were to get their season back on track, this would be a good trip to do so on. Mikko Koivu is still out with a broken bone in his leg stemming from the ridiculously illegal hit by Mattias Ohlund a few weeks ago. Until Koivu comes back, I fear the Wild may be hovering around mediocrity.

Let's take the C out of the BCS

I'm going to start out by apologizing to anyone that reads this, or may stumble across this, for my absence in recent weeks.

In the wake of the final week of the college football season, the BCS has obviously been a hot topic. After both the number one Missouri Tigers and the number two West Virginia Mountaineers lost, the college football polls were jumbled again. The BCS selection show yesterday pitted the LSU Tigers versus the Ohio State Buckeyes in the National Championship to be played January 7th, 2008. I, like many other people around the country, find the BCS to be something of a nuisance, something that should be eliminated from college football. As much as I personally do not want Ohio State in the National Championship, they are much more deserving than LSU. The Les Miles-led Tigers have two losses at the hands of Kentucky and Arkansas. Last time I checked, the regular season actually counted when it comes to deciding bowl games, but after seeing the matchups, it is easy to tell that the BCS has turned into something of a popularity contest. Hawaii, a team that went undefeated in the regular season, is left out of the National Championship in favor of a team that lost two (yes, two) regular season games.

So let's go over this "Hawaii has a soft schedule" argument. Sure, Hawaii may not have played many quality teams this season, but that is no fault of their own. It's not Hawaii that decides not to play good teams, it's the good teams that don't feel like travelling to Hawaii to give them some competition. Before this football season even started, the University of Michigan Wolverines were on the Warriors schedule, but eventually pulled out and switched that game with Appalachian State. That sure makes Michigan look tough. If people want to complain about the toughness of Hawaii's schedule, then go play them yourselves, otherwise keep quiet.

Sure one can make the argument that LSU is the better team, but since when do we award teams for not living up to their expectations? LSU wasn't supposed to lose to Kentucky, much less Arkansas, yet Hawaii EXCEEDS expectations by running the table and gets the shaft. And as Adam Rank of AOL Fanhouse points out, if this was about putting the best teams in the Championship, USC should be there over LSU. Needless to say, there are many problems with the way that bowl games are decided.

Can you say Playoff system?

Feel free to leave comments on what you think of the B(C)S.

Wrap-up

Things finally were going right for the Vikings yesterday, and even though it was against the Raiders, I decided I'm going to look at it as a pretty big step forward rather than just a normal step. The Vikings came to play ball yesterday, and that was very apparent. They looked good on all ends of the field and came out with a 29-22 victory. Chester Taylor, who was bumped back into the starting slot because of Adrian Peterson's injury, showed why he deserves to be a starter in the NFL when he tore apart the Raider's D with 164 yards rushing and 3 touchdowns. Even Tavaris Jackson showed some poise as he completed 17 of 22 passes for 171 yards and a pick. Receiver Sidney Rice got into the passing game with his first two attempts and completions on two trick plays executed by the Vikings. The Vikings defense looked great in limiting the Raiders offense to only 61 yards rushing. The Vikings D did struggle against the pass again, this time the victim of former Vikings Quarterback Daunte Culpepper. Culpepper completed 23 of 39 passes for 344 yards and a touchdown to go along with two fumbles and an interception. The victory moved the Vikings record to 4-6, good for third in the division ahead of the Chicago Bears.

Although it was a terrible Sunday of Football for my fantasy team, it was a very entertaining day to watch. For the Baltimore Ravens though, it may be a day they want to take back after having the victory taken away from them after 5 minutes of the referees discussing whether or not Phil Dawson's field goal made its way through the uprights. With only a few seconds left on the clock, the Browns lined up for a 51 yard field goal to try to tie the Ravens at 30. When Dawson let the kick fly, it wound up hitting the right upright, bouncing down onto the crossbar, and ricocheting out of the goal-post. The kick was originally ruled to be no good, so the Ravens started celebrating and heading to the locker room. But after a few minutes of review, the call was reversed when the ball was deemed to have hit the bar that connects the goal-post, meaning the ball was inside the post and bounced out. The Browns then received the kick in overtime, drove down the field, and then won with another Phil Dawson field goal, this time from 31 yards.

After watching the Patriots play again last night, I have come up with this conclusion: a team is better off forfeiting their game against the Patriots to avoid an embarrassing loss. This time, the Buffalo Bills were the team that acted as the Patriots punching bag, getting beaten up 56-10. Tom Brady was his usual self completing 31 of 39 passes for a paltry 371 yards and 5 touchdowns. Oh yeah, and four of those five touchdowns went to Randy Moss, who racked up 128 receiving yards to go with those four scores. It's a testament to the Patriots when they go out on the field, score on 7 of their first 8 possessions, and nobody is surprised. After 10 games in which the Patriots average more than 41 points a game, it's not shocking at all that they are doing the things they do. It's fun to have a team like that who you can count on to put on a great offensive show every game. Here are the other scores from Sunday's action:

Tampa Bay over Atlanta 31-7
Arizona over Cincinnati 35-27
NY Giants over Detroit 16-10
Green Bay over Carolina 31-17
Indianapolis over Kansas City 13-10
Philadelphia over Miami 17-7
Jacksonville over San Diego 24-17
Houston over New Orleans 23-10
NY Jets over Pittsburgh 19-16
Dallas over Washington 28-23
St. Louis over San Francisco 13-9
Seattle over Chicago 30-23

Other action going on last night showcased the Minnesota Wild facing the division leading Colorado Avalanche. Unfortunately, the Wild were without their best center Mikko Koivu who suffered a cracked bone in his leg due to a cowardly and selfish act by Canucks Defensemen Mattias Ohlund. Ohlund received a 4 game suspension from league disciplinarian Colin Campbell yesterday, and I must say I am very disappointed to say the least. Four games for a two-handed, intentional stick-swinging act is a joke. Ohlund could have very easily broken Koivu's leg with his vicious attack, yet he only sits out for a few games. People keep bringing up that Koivu looked like he tried to elbow Ohlund right before the slash happened, but if you study the play more closely, you can tell that Koivu was simply trying to get around Ohlund and brought his arm up. Anybody that watches the Wild knows that Koivu is not the type of player that plays dirty. That type of behavior that Ohlund showed is what the NHL has vowed to try to cut out of the game, yet when something like that happens, they give the guy a minor suspension. I personally was calling for a 15-20 game suspension, but obviously I don't work in the NHL's discipline department so I have no say in the matter. Anyway, back to the game. The Wild got offense from the most surprising of players and collected a 4-1 win to leap-frog them over the Avalanche and into first place in the division. Aaron Voros, Stephane Veilleux, and Matt Foy all collected goals to help the Wild break out of their offensive slump. James Sheppard added two assists for his first two-point game in his NHL career. The Wild played a good all around game, skating well and getting back to the Jacques Lemaire-style Hockey that they have been missing. They played tight defense in allowing only 7 shots in the first period and 6 in the third. Josh Harding stopped 27 of 28 shots to earn the victory after a few recent shaky outings. Hopefully the Wild can take this game and use it to propel them forward as they continue to try to right the ship and get back to the type of Hockey they were playing in the first eight games of the season.

That's all for today. I'll try to re-cap the Monday night game between Tennessee and Denver if I can. If I don't write by then, I will definitely have something up next Thursday so I can share my thoughts on the upcoming Wild-Canucks game that is to be played on Wednesday.

The Great Sport of Hockey

So I just got done reading an "article" written by Damien Cox on ESPN that outlines the topic of fighting in Hockey. I just want to start off by saying that Damien Cox needs to get a new job. Reading his take on Hockey makes me kind of ashamed that I actually listen to and follow ESPN. He is so misinformed and all of his articles have been equally terrible. With that being said, this particular article discussing fighting in Hockey is an argument that is brought up way more often than it should be.
Hockey has survived in it's original form since 1875, when the first documented game of Ice Hockey was played in Montreal, Canada. From the time of the first game up until the games taking place now, the one constant in Hockey has been fighting. The purpose of fighting is Hockey is simple to understand: Sticking up for your teammates. When a guy that is 6'2" takes a run at your best player who's 5'10", I'm pretty sure that the 5'10" guy isn't going to try to take on the bigger guy. That is where an enforcer does his job. I'm sure most people have heard the expression "pick on someone your own size," and that applies in Hockey. Most fights aren't one big guy and one little guy going at it. If someone picks on your guy, it is necessary to stick up for your teammate and show the other team that they can't mess with him.
When people try to compare the violence in Hockey to the hitting in other sports, it almost comes across as comical. So you take away fighting in Hockey. What will you do next, make Football two-hand touch? There are certain aspects of the game that cannot be changed. Hockey players have been fighting since before the NFL even came about. People aren't dying on the ice from fights, the purpose of a fight is to teach a guy a lesson like a real man. It's great when people say "Well in Basketball if you even throw a punch, you're out for 5 games, yet in Hockey it's pretty much encouraged that you fight." First of all, that is wrong. By allowing fighting to happen, that in no way is encouraging people to fight. It's simply giving grown men an option to settle their differences in a way that is fair to everyone. There are more brawls in Baseball then there are in Hockey, so why do we think that fighting is such a bad thing? It gives people a reason to not act inappropriately by having to create a brawl in order to get their point across.
When guys are caught up in the heat of the game and all of their emotions are running high, would you rather have a guy attempt to take out someone by hitting them with their stick or by engaging in a civilized fight that leaves a clear winner and loser? Fighting may look dangerous on the surface, and it definitely is dangerous, but without fighting, the only way that guys would be able to stand up for their teammates would be to commit more illegal and dirty hits. Everyone knows the risk of a fight going into it, so it's no surprise to anyone when someone gets their cheekbone shattered (warning: Pretty graphic video) or when both guys come out of a fight unscathed.
Looking at the otherside of the argument, I do see why some people disapprove of the fighting in Hockey. I know that mothers do not want their kids to watch a Hockey game, see Derek Boogaard beat up Todd Fedoruk, and have their kid try to emulate that during their Hockey game. For a person that doesn't know much about Hockey, it is reasonable for them to say that all fighting does is encourage violence and promote harm. But fighting in Hockey is much more than that. Grown men have the right to decide how they police themselves on the ice. Dirty hits are going to happen, cheap shots are going to take place, but without fighting, those will be the only ways to get back at someone. I know that revenge is something that is not taught to most young kids, but it's important that people don't just sit back and take crap from people when they don't have to. Fighting is an intrical part of Hockey and people need to learn to accept that. If you don't like the fighting, then stay out of the rink.

What's a Vikings fan to do?

So after a game of extremely high highs, the Vikings have officially reached the low of the low. The Vikings followed their 35-17 romp of the Chargers last week with a 34-0 drubbing at the hands of the Green Bay Packers. Ryan Grant ran for 119 yards and a touchdown and Brett Favre had 351 yards and 3 touchdowns for the Pack. The Vikings looked inept the entire game and were completely caught off-guard on defense when Grant came out running all over them. Everybody knew the Packers were essentially a one dimensional team, opting to go with Favre because of their lack of a running game, but after today, it seems the Packers have found their running back. Grant took advantage of a Vikings defense who seemed almost too scared to tackle him and had a career day. Here are a few of the records that were set with todays lopsided loss:

1) The Vikings had not been shutout in a span of 260 games dating back to 1991.
2) This was the worst shutout loss in Vikings team history.
3) Worst loss (point-wise) since 1984 when the Vikings lost 51-7 to San Francisco.

And the icing on the cake for this game was that after gaining only 45 yards on the ground, Adrian Peterson was helped off the field after hurting what appears to be his knee. There is no word on the severity of the injury yet, the MRI will take place tomorrow (Monday). I believe, as well as most of Minnesota based on the comments left on blogs on the local newspapers, that Brad Childress deserves most of the blame for today's abysmal showing. It's pretty obvious that Childress is a terrible coach that cannot make correct play calls to save his life. He doesn't seem to have any sort of grasp on his own team, and it doesn't seem like he will anytime soon. I think that it is time to see if Bill Cowher has had enough time off with his family and try to lure him out of retirement to coach our Vikings. Having someone like him, or even Marty Schottenheimer coach the team would definitely bring a lot of the fan base back and could possibly turn this team around. Once the Vikings get a decent quarterback (Derek Anderson maybe?), they should be a pretty good team. So after todays game, the Vikings will examine Petersons injury and hopefully try not to get too down on themselves. I don't think the Vikings can get any lower than they are now, but losing next week the the lowly Raiders would definitely not help.


Off the topic of sports for a minute, I just want to point out that it was reported today that Kanye West, the famous Hip-Hop artist, had his mother pass away today at the age of 58 years young (http://allhiphop.com/blogs/news/archive/2007/11/11/18868133.aspx). It's really unfortunate when something like this happens to such an influential and good person such as Kanye. He was very close to his mother, whom he rapped about in a 2005 song called "Hey Mama." My prayers go out to Kanye and his family.

Top 10 American-born NHL players

After Mike Modano scored two goals in the first 5 minutes of the Dallas Stars November 7th game to break Phil Housley's record of points by an American-born player, it got me thinking: "Is Mike Modano the best ever from America?" Here is a run-down of my Top 10 American bred players to ever lace up the skates:

10) Mike Richter (Retired, Goaltender): Was selected 28th overall in the 1985 entry draft by the New York Rangers. Finished with a career mark of 301-258-73 and a GAA of 2.89. Selected to the 1992, 1994, and 2000 NHL All-Star team (winning MVP in 1994). Won the Gold medal at the 1996 World Cup of Hockey (named MVP). Won the Silver medal at the 2002 winter olympics. Helped Rangers win the Stanley Cup in 1994. Holds 5 Rangers team records including career games played (666) and career wins (301).

9) Keith Tkachuk (Active, Center): Was selected 19th overall in the 1990 entry draft by the Winnipeg Jets. Has 478* goals and 461* assists. Was seleted to Hockey East all-rookie team in 1991. Was an all-star in 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2004. First American-born player to lead the NHL in goals (52 in 1996-1997 season). Holds Phoenix Coyotes records in most game-winning goals (40) and career penalty minutes (1,508). Currently plays for St. Louis Blues.

8) Neil Broten (Retired, Center): Was selected in the 2nd round (42nd overall) of the 1979 entry draft by the Minnesota North Stars. Has 289 goals and 634 assists. Won Hobey Baker award in 1981 while at University of Minnesota. Was on 1979 National champion Minnesota Gophers hockey team. Won a Gold Medal at the 1980 Winter Olympics as part of Team USA. Won Stanley Cup in 1995 with New Jersey Devils. Played in two NHL All-Star games (1983 and 1986). Won the Lester Patrick award in 1998 for his contributions to the NHL off the ice. Had his #7 jersey retired by the Minnesota/Dallas organization in 1998.

7) Jeremy Roenick (Active, Center): Was drafted 8th overall in the 1988 NHL entry draft by the Chicago Blackhawks. Has 499* goals and 679* assists. Won a silver medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics as part of Team USA. Posted over 100 points in three consecutive NHL seasons (1992, 1993, 1994). Made 9* All-Star teams (1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, and 2004). Currently plays for the San Jose Sharks.

6) Chris Chelios (Active, Defense): Was drafted 2nd round (40th overall) in 1981 NHL entry draft by the Montreal Canadiens. Has 183* goals and 756* assists. Was part of the University of Wisconsin-Madison 1983 National Championship team and named to All-Tournament team. Won a Silver medal at the 2002 Olympics with Team USA. Made All-Star team 11* times in career (1985, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, and 2002). Won James Norris trophy for leagues best defensemen three times (1989, 1993, and 1996). Led the league in Plus/Minus in 2002. Won a Stanley Cup with Montreal in 1986 and another Cup with Detroit in 2002. Currently plays for the Detroit Red Wings.

5) Brian Leetch (Retired, Defense): Was selected 9th overall in the 1986 NHL entry draft by the New York Rangers. Has 247 goals and 781 assists. Scored a rookie defensemen record 23 goals in 1987. Won the Calder Trophy (top rookie) in 1987 and was selected to the All-Rookie team the same year. Two-time Norris Trophy winner for the leagues top defensemen (1992 and 1997). Only American-born player to win the Conn Smythe Trophy (Stanley Cup MVP) as part of the Stanley Cup winning 1994 New York Rangers. Played in 9 NHL All-Star games (1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001, and 2002). Won Silver medal at 2002 Olympics with Team USA.

4) Pat LaFontaine (Retired, Center): Was selected 3rd overall in the 1983 NHL entry draft by the New York Islanders. Collected 468 goals and 545 assists in only 865 games due to post-concussion syndrome. Set record for points in a season by an American-born player with 148 in 1993. Was awarded the Bill Masterson trophy (dedication) in 1995. Made NHL All-Star team in 1992-1993 season.

3) Joe Mullen (Retired, Forward): Signed a free agent contract with the St. Louis Blues in 1980. Has 502 goals and 561 assists. Two-time recipient of the Lady Byng Trophy for sportsmanship (1987 and 1989). Played in three NHL All-Star games (1989, 1990, and 1994). Was awarded the Lester Patrick award in 1995. Was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2000.

2) Phil Housley (Retired, Defense): Was selected 6th overall in the 1982 NHL entry draft by the Buffalo Sabres. Has 338 goals and 894 assists. Won a Silver medal at the 2002 winter olympics as part of Team USA. Was selected to the 1983 All-Rookie team. Played in a total 0f 7 All-Star games (1984, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, and 2000). Holds the record for most games played by an American-born player with 1,495. Also holds record for most assists by an American-born player with 894.

1) Mike Modano (Active, Center): Was selected 1st overall in the 1988 NHL entry draft by the Minnesota North Stars. Has 511* goals and 722* assists. Holds the record for most points by an American-born player with 1233. Was named to the 1990 NHL All-Rookie team. Has appeared in 7 NHL All-Star games (1993, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2004, and 2007). Won a Stanley Cup with the Dallas Stars in 1999. Holds several Minnesota/Dallas organization records including career goals (511*), career playoff games (156*), and career playoff points (133*).

*-Number subject to change

Just a filler

There wasn't much going on last night so today's post is going to be short.

The Timberwolves lost again, this time to the Orlando Magic 111-103. The Wolves made it close at one point, going on a 14-0 run to cut a 16 point lead to 2, but they could never get any closer. Al Jefferson finished with 25 points and 10 rebounds and Corey Brewer chipped in 10 points. Dwight Howard led the Magic with 28 points. It's early in the season, but the Wolves need to step it up a notch if they want any respect. Good news though, Randy Foye says all the pain is gone in his bum knee and he should start running soon to see how his knee reacts:
http://www.startribune.com/511/story/1533509.html
Once Foye comes back, he should start picking up some of the slack and hopefully the Wolves can start winning consistenly.

Other than that, I just watched the latest episode of Heroes last night and thought it was one of the best in a season of relative disappointments. I guess disappointment is kind of a harsh word, but when they hype up an episode telling me that they will give me answers to certain questions and then they don't deliver, it's not ideal for me. The latest episode was definitely a step up though, and it reminded me more of the edge of your seat episodes they had in season one. It was good to see Parkman get over the devastating memory of his father by essentially robbing his father of his powers. Nikki also got into some trouble when she accidently injected herself with the Shanti virus after seeing visions of D.L. in her thoughts and freaking out. The original thought was that Suresh could use his antibodies to eliminate the virus from Nikki, but it turns out that the virus mutated and is now uncurable. And all this leads up to the end of the episode, when we find out that the man that was supposed to Takezeo Kensei turns out to be Adam Monroe, a man who Bob has on file but we the audience know nothing about. That last twist is one that will make next weeks episode very interesting.

Oh yeah, the Ottawa Senators posted the best start in NHL history with a 5-1 win over Toronto last night. The Sens are 13-1 after 14 games. Daniel Alfredsson leads the NHL's best team with 20 points and the team looks like it's ready to avenge its 4-1 series loss in the Stanley Cup last season.
The Wild are off until Sunday when they will travel to Colorado to take on the Avalanche.

Let's Play Hockey

So the Wild are officially back on track after a 5-2 victory over the currently hopeless Edmonton Oilers. With Gaborik and Demitra out, and Dominic Moore not quite ready to take the ice, the Wild were forced to shift defensemen Petteri Nummelin up to a forward position. Although the shift wasn't ideal, it couldn't have worked out any better. Moving Nummelin up quickly paid dividends when he shot a perfect pass across Edmontons zone setting up Mark Parrish's first goal of the night just 5 minutes into the game. From there, the Wild powerplay just picked apart the Edmonton penalty kill scoring a total of 3 power play goals in just the first period. Although Niklas Backstrom was not tested very often in net at the beginning, he made the saves needed to give the team confidence going into the locker room.

The Wild came out in the second period even faster than they did in the first, scoring just 3:21 into the period. The Wild and Oilers finished the period switching goals, and at the end of the second period the score was 5-2. With the game already in hand, all the Wild needed to do was prevent any scoring opportunities in the third period, and that is exactly what they did. Shutting down the Oilers in the final frame led to the Wild coming out with a victory. Parrish ended up with two power-play goals, Nummelin ended up with two big assists, and Kurtis Foster chipped in a goal and an assist. All around it was a game the Wild desperately needed.

So now to an article I caught on espn.com this morning. Todd Bertuzzi, who to me is a guy who should never have stepped back onto the ice after his incident with Steve Moore back in 2004, apparently offered to settle the $15 million lawsuit brought on by Moore by paying him $350,000. Seriously, that number isn't a joke. He wanted to give the guy who's career he ruined not even 1% of what he's asking for. I don't know if he was purposely trying to insult Moore, but whatever his intent was, it made him look like even less of a man. What he did back in '04 was totally dirty and should not have happened, and the punishment handed down to him was just a slap on the wrist. Thirteen games and the playoffs for ending a 23 year-olds fairly promising career? You have go to be kidding me. When I read this article today, I just kept thinking that I couldn't wait for the Ducks to come to town so Boogey can beat the crap out of him on the ice. If you want to read the article, here's the link for you:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=3096818

Also going on last night was Monday Night Football. The Steelers and Ravens were supposed to be playing a Football game, but it looked more like the Steelers were playing a team of kids. The Ravens commited 4 turnovers on the night, including 3 fumbles in the first quarter, en route to a 38-7 pounding by the Pittsburgh Steelers. Ben Roethlisberger looked unstoppable in the first half, tying a Steelers record by throwing 5 touchdown passes in the half. Big Ben finished the game with 209 yards and 5 touchdown passes with no interceptions and a perfect quarterback rating of 158.3. The Steelers defense also looked unstoppable, especially James Harrison, an undrafted free agent signed by the Steelers after they released pro-bowl linebacker Joey Porter. Harrison finished the night with 2 1/2 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery, and an interception. Those numbers are wicked for an entire defense, much less one player. Even though it was a blowout, it was a good game to tune into during the breaks of the Wild game.

The only thing really that I can think of that is going on tonight is the Timberwolves host the Orlando Magic. Everybody's been hating on the Wolves this year, thinking they won't be able to recover from the departure of KG and the arrival of a lot of young guys, but I think that we should reserve judgement until we get a good look at these guys. Sure they have started 0-2, but like I said, they're a young team and they need some time to adjust to eachother. Plus, Randy Foye isn't even playing, and he is one of our top guys. I'm not saying the Wolves are gonna win 50+ games this year, but I do think they will exceed most peoples expectations.

Unfortunately with all the games going on last night I had to miss a new episode of Heroes, so I will have to catch that online some time today. I'm hoping it answers more questions than last weeks episode, I really thought they were going to clarify some things and it turned out to just be more questions. Either way, it is still one of the best shows on TV right now and I hope the writers end their strike soon so that the season doesn't have to end prematurely at the beginning of December.

Week 9 Football

Well, the game of the century is over. Super Bowl 41 1/2 as some dubbed it. Whatever it was, it was a hell of a game. In most sports blogs, this game may be the first thing talked about, in others it may be the only thing talked about. But for me, the number one story of the Football day was none other than Adrian "All Day" Peterson. As a tried and true Vikings fan for many years, it is absolutely great to see this guy run through defenses like there's nothing to it. If for some reason you don't know what AD did yesterday, here is his line:

30 carries
296 rushing yards
3 touchdowns

Those 296 rushing yards set a new NFL single-game rushing record, beating Jamal Lewis' record of 295 yards set back in 2003. Oh yeah, AD is also only a rookie playing in his eighth career game. If that doesn't impress you, I don't know if you can call yourself a Football fan. I do have to mention that AD did lose a fumble in Chargers territory, but why focus on the negative when there is so much more positive?
Back to the other game. In the game that was said to be the best in over a decade, the Patriots and Colts did not disappoint. In a game that featured two of the best quarterbacks ever, Tom Brady and the Patriots came out on top 24-20. Here are the stats for both Quarterbacks:

Brady: 21/32 255 yards 3 td 2 int
Peyton Manning: 16/27 225 yards 1 td 1 int 1 fumble lost

Statistically speaking, Brady did have a better game, but both Quarterbacks played well enough for their respective teams to win. The score was close for most of the game, with Brady having to lead a comeback after being down 20-10 with less than ten minutes to play. Brady swiftly led the Patriots on two consecutive touchdown drives, one score on a short pass to Wes Welker and another on a short pass over the middle to Kevin Faulk who took it 13 yards to the the house. The Patriots defense was outstanding at the end of the game, forcing Manning to fumble twice to seal the victory. The win over the Colts kept the Patriots undefeated at 9-0 going into their bye week, and the loss dropped the Colts to 7-1 before their showdown with the San Diego Chargers next week.
Here are all the others scores of the week:

Atlanta over San Francisco 20-16
Buffalo over Cincinnati 33-21
Detroit over Denver 44-7
Green Bay over Kansas City 33-22
Minnesota over San Diego 35-17
New Orleans over Jacksonville 41-24
Washington over NY Jets 23-20 OT
Tampa Bay over Arizona 17-10
Tennessee over Carolina 20-7
Cleveland over Seattle 33-30 OT
Houston over Oakland 24-17
Dallas over Philadelphia 38-17

Minnesota Wild play tonight at home against Edmonton. The Wild will be missing Gaborik and Demitra again, but they played strong Saturday against Calgary so hopefully they can keep the confidence and ride it.