Vikings fill a need, acquire Pro-Bowl DE Allen

After much deliberation as to what the Vikings may do with this draft, the decision has been made. The Vikings have agreed to trade their first round pick (17 overall) and both of their third round picks in this years draft to the Kansas City Chiefs in exchange for Jared Allen, a pro-bowl Defensive End who led the league in sacks last year with 15 1/2 in only 14 games.

For me, this trade was a no-brainer. The Vikings knew their weakest position was DE, and since they didn't land anyone in free agency, what other route was there to take? They were debating taking a DE in the draft, but the thought was that the only viable candidate (Derrick Harvey) would be gone by the Vikings pick, so they pulled a deal that fills their need and makes the team better. This move definitely makes the Vikings a major contender in the NFC. The only glaring hole the team had was at DE, and now that they filled that with the best in the business, they are looking good going into this season.

The only gripe I have about this trade is that one little mistake by Allen could cost the Vikings dearly. Allen has already been arrested for two DUI's, and one more is a year-long suspension by the league. But if Allen is asking the Vikings for a 6-year, $74 million contract, he better be sure he's not going to screw up. The contract that the Vikings are putting out there for Allen includes $31,000,069 guaranteed (his jersey number is 69). With this move out of the way, the Vikings can now concentrate on getting Tarvaris Jackson, our next biggest project, ready to guide this talented team through the playoffs and on to the Super Bowl.

Minnesota Vikings: A possible 13 win team?

The NFL schedule was released this morning, much to the delight of fans everywhere. I always love the beginning of the season because it enables fans of all teams to believe their team can win it all (except Lions fans, I can't honestly believe they think they have a chance). The Minnesota Vikings, coming off an off-season that was full of moves, look to have a very favorable schedule. Here is the schedule in its entirety:

Sept. 8: Vikings at Green Bay (6 p.m. Monday, ESPN)
Sept. 14: Indianapolis at Vikings (noon, CBS)
Sept. 21: Carolina at Vikings (noon, FOX)
Sept. 28: Vikings at Tennessee (noon, FOX)
Oct. 6: Vikings at New Orleans (7:30 p.m., ESPN)
Oct. 12: Detroit at Vikings (noon, FOX)
Oct. 19: Vikings at Bears (noon, FOX)
Oct. 26: BYE
Nov. 2: Houston at Vikings (noon, CBS)
Nov. 9: Green Bay at Vikings (noon, FOX)
Nov. 16: Vikings at Tampa Bay (noon, FOX)
Nov. 23: Vikings at Jacksonville (noon, FOX)
Nov. 30: Chicago at Vikings (7:15 p.m., NBC)
Dec. 7: Vikings at Detroit (noon, FOX)
Dec. 14: Vikings at Arizona (3:05 p.m., FOX)
Dec. 21: Atlanta at Vikings (noon, FOX)
Dec. 28: N.Y. Giants at Vikings (noon, FOX)

Looks good, right? Ok, so maybe I'm reaching for some stars when I think the Vikings could win up to 13 games this season, but it might be a legit prediction. Starting at the top of the schedule, the Vikings should be able to get off to a good start with a pounding at the hands of the Packers. The Vikings, after their upgrades and the Packers loss of Favre, are definitely the better of the two teams when they meet. Then the Vikings run into the Peyton Manning-led Colts, a tough game even though it's at home. I did have the Vikings losing this game, but you never know. I believe this game will come down to the Vikings secondary and whether or not they can keep Manning in check. Next on the block is the Carolina Panthers, a team that doesn't match up with the Vikings at all. Steve Smith is far and away their best player, and without a solid quarterback, he can't even be utilized (as evident by my terrible Fantasy season last year in which I leaned on him way too much). Then the Tennessee Titans host the Vikings in a game that shouldn't be too difficult for the Vikes. I love the Titans and the direction their going with Vince Young at QB, and I do think they are a good team, but I still think the Vikings are better all around. Then the Vikings travel to New Orleans to take on the Saints. The Saints, with plenty of good players but coming off a very disappointing season, will play the Vikings close, but in the end, I again have to believe my Vikings would beat a team like that. Of course I believe this game is contingent on how Drew Brees and Reggie Bush perform, but I don't see both of them lighting it up, at least in the same game. The Vikings then have the privilege of hosting the Detroit Lions, the perennial cellar-dweller in the NFC North. I hate to pick on the Lions, but even when they do well (like last year), they still screw up at the end of the year. As I'm sure you picked up by now, I am taking the Vikings in this matchup. Minnesota then travels to the windy city to take on the Bears. I don't know what to think of the Bears this year, but right now, my thought is that they won't be very good. They still have Rex taking the snaps and they don't have a running game. I wouldn't be surprised if the Vikings shut the Bears out in this game. With my predictions, that puts the Vikings at an impressive 6-1 going into the BYE week. Although that may be very lofty, I like to think big for my hometown teams.

The Vikings first matchup after their week off is the Houston Texans at home. The Texans, another team I like to see succeed, are not a team I see keeping up with the Vikes. As has been the theme with this post, you'll find that I say that teams "cannot keep up with the Vikings" quite often. That is because of four reasons:

1) Adrian Peterson
2) Our outstanding defensive line
3) Our outstanding offensive line
4) And Adrian Peterson

If those reasons don't impress you, then...well you're not on the same page as me. But still, the Vikings have a great team that should be able to keep up with most teams this year. Anyway, back to the schedule. After the Texans, the Vikings have their second game against the Packers, but this time the game is at the Metrodome. Again I do not see the Pack putting any real pressure on our defense, so I see another semi-blowout in the Vikings favor. The Purple then travel to sunny Tampa Bay to take on the Buccaneers. Although the Bucs don't strike me as a team with a lot of firepower, I just don't see the Vikings winning 8 games in a row, even if I wanted it to happen. This is a game that I will concede and give to the Bucs. Next up is a very very talented Jacksonville team. I have a ton of faith in the Vikings, but the Jaguars are too good. As much as it pains me to say, I believe the Vikings will go on a losing streak at this point in the season. The Vikings will rebound from their losing streak though when they take on the Bears again. I am really glad that the Vikings are in the NFC North because we play the Bears twice. It won't be a difficult task to take down the Bears again, and that will get the Vikes back on the right track. Next the Vikings take on another divisional foe in the Lions. The Lions are not a good team, so again I see the Vikings having no trouble. The next couple games are against the Cardinals and Falcons, respectively. I kind of see these two teams as evenly matched, although I think the Cards are a bit better. I can see the Vikings blowing both of these teams out, although the Cardinals could pull a fast one on the Vikes. The Vikings wrap up the regular season against the defending world champion New York Giants. This will be a tough game, simply because after last year the Giants proved they are a good team, but also last year the Vikings dismantled the Giants with a team that isn't as good as they will be this year. I can see the Giants winning this game, but I still choose the Vikings because I like them better.

I know that these predictions are kind of far-fetched, but I have a lot of confidence in the Purple this year. They upgraded all around and got guys that will add to the team right away (Bernard Berrian, Madieu Williams, and Thomas Tapeh). If the Vikes do well in the draft and are able to grab a guy like Derrick Harvey, they will be in good shape. If Tarvaris Jackson can really become a big time quarterback this year after a decent season last year, the Vikings offense will be as potent as any.

Who should the Vikings take in the 2008 draft?

With the 2008 NFL draft approaching in less than a month, I figured it was time to sort out the different scenarios that could come about for the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings have some massive holes to fill on defense, and there are many different players in this years draft that could help the team tremendously right away in their rookie year. After reading many mock drafts, I have compiled a list of possible draft choices (that seem logical) that the Vikings could go with for next months draft. All of these choices obviously depend on how the teams ahead of the Vikings choose, but I'm just pretending that every player I go over will be available for Minnesota's 17th pick.

Possible players:

Derrick Harvey (DE University of Florida)-Harvey is a guy that would fit right in with Minnesota. With good size (6-5 271 pounds) and decent speed (4.84 40), he is the type of tackling player we need on the line. He is listed as the 3rd overall DE at nfldraftscout.com. Harvey registered 49 tackles and 8.5 sacks for the Gators last season while starting all 13 games. He has shown enough agility and strength that teams that run both the 3-4 and the 4-3 defense have lined up to watch him. Harvey is definitely a guy that Minnesota should look at if he isn't snatched up earlier in the draft.

Philip Merling (DE Clemson)-Merling is another guy that would seem to be a great fit with the Vikings. About the same size as Harvey (6-4 276 pounds), Merling is listed as the 4th overall DE at nfldraftscout.com. He collected a career-high 78 tackles with 7 sacks last season while starting in all 13 games. He was given the Rock Solid award at Clemson last season for his consistency on the field. His 40 yard dash time is just slightly better than Harvey (4.73), but Harvey seems to have a little more agility than Merling. Although he is intriguing because of his numbers, there is a bit of a worry with him. Merling hasn't been able to work out for scouts since the season ended due to a sports hernia. He wasn't able to compete in the NFL Combine, citing a groin pull as the reason. Based strictly on numbers, Merling seems to be a guy that could help the Vikings, but the injury is sure to catch the teams attention.

Calais Campbell (DE Miami)-Campbell is a huge guy that would plug the hole the Vikings are trying to fill. Campbell is listed at 6-8, 290 pounds, making him much bigger than the other two prospective defensive ends. Campbell isn't the fastest guy (5.04 40), but his size is a big advantage. He registered 50 tackles for the Hurricanes last year to go along with 6 sacks. Campbell may be big, but his strength is an issue to some NFL scouts. Campbell was only able to do 16 reps at 225 pounds when tested in strength. His lack of strength coupled with his not-so-good speed has been causing him to slip down the draft board, making him the most likely to be available for the Vikings. Although there are concerns about him, Campbell is another DE that has a tremendous upside if he can work out a few kinks in his game.

Antoine Cason (CB Arizona)-Even with the upgrade of the secondary by adding Madieu Williams, the Vikings still lack the depth that makes teams afraid to throw against them. By drafting Cason, the Vikings could become a legitimate pass defense. Cason is listed at 6-0 and 190 pounds, making him the ideal size for a speedy corner. Cason has the speed (4.45 40) and has shown that he has the talent to be a great cover guy. He recorded 71 tackles last year and intercepted 5 passes, returning two of those 5 for touchdowns. Many teams would like a guy like Cason on their team, but if he were to slip to 17, I would hope the Vikings take a serious look at him.

Of course these are all hypothetical draft picks we're looking at, but it is obvious that the Vikings should upgrade the DE position, and if Cason becomes available, they should look at upgrading their secondary, too. It's hard to really think about which player would work best for Minnesota, but if I had a choice, I think I would want Harvey on the Vikings, followed by Cason, Merling, and then Campbell. I also read today that it is a possibility the Vikings may explore the chance to trade oft-injured Bryant McKinnie to the Miami Dolphins for Jason Taylor. That would definitely be a trade I would be in favor of, since losing McKinnie wouldn't be that big of a deal. I also wish that the Vikings would either draft or trade for a reliable quarterback to take over for Tavaris Jackson. Until they get a QB that can throw the ball more than 40 yards downfield, they will not go very far. The Vikings have taken huge steps to becoming a team that could make it to the Super Bowl, and it shows. I'm definitely counting down the days to the draft so I can see just how good the Vikings may be this year.

All stats courtesy of nfldraftscout.com

Should the Vikings go for Julius Peppers?

If Julius Peppers, the star defensive end from Carolina, becomes available, should the Vikings do everything in their power to land him? The answer is without a doubt yes. It's glaringly obvious that the Vikings are in dire need of a versatile guy on the line. Last season, not one person on defense had more than 5 sacks. If contract talks continue to stall with Carolina and Peppers, there is no reason the Vikings shouldn't use all of their resources to get him.

Of course there is no guarantee that Peppers will become available; right now it's just speculation. But after seeing the contract that Indianapolis gave to defensive end Dwight Freeney (7 years $72 million), it is going to at least $20 million in guaranteed money to wrap up Peppers. Carolina has three options when it comes to Peppers: They could sign him and hope that his 2007 season (where he had just 3 sacks) was just an anomaly. They could let him play out the final year of his contract to determine if he is worth close to $30 million in guaranteed money. Or they could trade him, much to the dismay of Carolina fans everywhere.

Peppers is definitely a guy that could help the Vikings tremendously. The Vikings had three guys last year with 5 sacks, the most by any one player. Peppers, with the exception of last year, has averaged 10.7 sacks a year for his first 5 seasons in the league. Kenechi Udeze, arguably the Vikings best defensive end last season, is out indefinitely with Leukemia (I wish you the best Kenechi). That leaves the Vikings with a big hole at a position where nothing was certain anyway. There are many very good DE's in the draft this year, and there is no doubt that with the 17th overall pick the Vikings could haul a guy that could turn out to be a stud, but if you have the resources and the chance to land a proven star at the position, why wouldn't you? With the Vikings still over $18 million under the cap this season, they have the money to make it happen. As a big Vikings fan myself, I can only say that I hope the Panthers decide to trade him or let him walk, because I know what a help he could be to the Vikings.

Vikings best in NFC North after Favre retirement?

After Brett Favre announced his retirement this morning, it got me thinking what the state of the Packers would be for this upcoming season. After a stunning 13-3 season in which Favre threw for 4,155 yards and 28 TD's, Green Bay will be thrusting career backup Aaron Rodgers into the spotlight. Rodgers, who has played in a grand total of 7 NFL games, was drafted out of Cal in the first round of the 2005 draft to serve as the eventual replacement for Favre. After sitting on the bench for 3 full seasons, Rodgers is going to have to show he has the stuff to succeed one of the best there ever was. Although Green Bay has many intrical parts returning from a season in which they won 13 games and lost in the playoffs to the eventual Super Bowl champion New York Giants, I still believe that with the Packers losing their most important piece, the NFC North title is now the Minnesota Vikings for the taking.

Now I'll be the first to admit, the NFC North is definitely not a strong division. We have the up-and-down Packers, the underachieving Vikings, the "one more shot for Rex Grossman" Bears, and the Matt Millen-run Lions. Realistically any of these four teams could easily get lucky and take this division. But after the upgrades the Vikings made and the subsequent loss of Favre to the Packers, the Vikings look to be able to capture their first division title since 2000. The Packers are definitely still a solid team with receivers like Greg Jennings and Donald Driver, Defensive Ends like Aaron Kampman and Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila, and a decent kicker in Mason Crosby. Looking at it realistically though, the Packers will have growing pains this season. With a big shakeup in the NFC North, here is how I think the division will turn out this year:

1st Place: Minnesota Vikings (12-4)-After a rash of seasons in which the Vikings were second in the division, this is the year they finally break out of that funk. With recent upgrades in the secondary (Madieu Williams) and receiving units (Bernard Berrian), the Vikings are already a step-up from last year when they finished 8-8. The Vikings Defensive End position is a little shaky right now with Kenechi Udeze out of the picture, but they will either find someone to fill that gap through free agency or use their 17th overall pick to take one of the many good DE's out there. If Tarvaris Jackson can improve from last year and learn to handle pressure, the Vikings will be a team with some force come end of the season.

2nd Place: Green Bay Packers (7-9)-Not many people saw last season coming for the Packers. With a revitalized Brett Favre and a young receiving corps ready to go, the Pack came out shooting and finished with a 13-3 record and a first round playoff win. After a 2006 season in which Favre threw for only 18 TD's and 18 interceptions, 2007 was a nice surprise for Packers fans. It is tough to tell how the Packers really will be this year with Rodgers stepping in, but I don't think it will be pretty. Although still an all-around solid team, I don't believe that with an inexperienced QB the Packers can keep riding the wave from last season.

3rd Place: Chicago Bears (6-10)-The Bears definitely have a tough schedule coming up in 2008, and with Rex Grossman taking snaps, I don't see this team making any difference in the division. Now that the Bears have traded their backup in Brian Griese, if Rex struggles (and of course he will), what are the Bears going to do? It's a good sign that Chicago was able to re-up Lance Briggs to a 6 year contract, but the defense will not be much improved over last season. And with the loss of Muhsin Muhammad to the Panthers and Bernard Berrian, their top receiver, to the Vikings, even when Grossman throws the ball, there will be no one there to catch it. Good luck this season Bears, you're definitely going to need it.

4th Place: Detroit Lions (4-12)-I don't even really know what to say about these guys. It's admirable they try, and last season was fun to watch, but let's be honest, this is not a team that is going to compete. Sure Jon Kitna is a solid quarterback, and eventually Calvin Johnson will turn into something special, but outside of that the only really good player they have is their kicker, Jason Hanson. The Lions fell off the radar even more when they traded Shaun Rogers, a defensive tackle who had 7 sacks last year, to the Cleveland Browns. Leigh Bodden, a defensive back they got from the trade, is a good player, but in the grand scheme of things, they have so much more to correct it won't help them too much. I do hope the Lions can pull off some upsets this year, but if they start off slow next season, they will fall quickly.

Let's keep in mind that this is early in the offseason, players will still be traded and picked up, but this is my early impression of how things will go. Good luck in retirement Brett, I'll miss watching you throw the ball like you're still in your 20's.

Hopefully this is the beginning of a good offseason

Not long after the clock struck midnight and the free agent period began, the Minnesota Vikings, true to their word, went out and wrapped up a player well worth the 6 year, $33 million contract they gave him. 26 year-old safety Madieu Williams agreed in principle this morning to sign with the Vikings after jetting from the Cincinnati Bengals following a year where he had 2 interceptions and 2 sacks. Williams, known more for his exceptional coverage skills, immediately upgrades the Vikings secondary, a major concern for the last couple of seasons.

It was refreshing to see the Vikings spend some of their money on a position that needed help desperately. After releasing Dwight Smith earlier in the offseason and thinning out the secondary even more, it became critical for them to find a guy that can compliment Antoine Winfield. Williams has 4 years service in the National Football League all with the Cincinnati Bengals. Drafted in the second round (24th pick) in 2004, Williams started all 16 games for the Bengals in his rookie season. Williams played only 4 games his sophomore year in the league after being put on Injured Reserve due to a bum shoulder. He recovered for the 2006 campaign and again played all 16 games, compiling 90 tackles and 3 interceptions. Last season Williams started the first 13 games of the season before being put back onto IR with a bad quad. I assume that Williams is all set to go and has fully recovered from his quad injury.

The Vikings, who are $35 million under the salary cap, have vowed to be aggressive in this years free agent pool in order to better a team who has many good parts, but fell just short of the postseason last year. With a scheduled visit from Bernard Berrian this afternoon, it seems as though the Vikings are really committed to making this team a playoff team.

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.

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.

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.