A pillar of Minnesota sports traded

Nick Schultz was the longest tenured Minnesota athlete saw his title taken away from him today. He was shipped to the conference rival Oilers for Minnesota native Tom Gilbert. Schultz has been with the team since they came to be in 1999. It's an offensive defenseman for a defensive defenseman.
Now with Schultz gone, the longest tenured member of the Minnesota Sports Scene is former teammate Pierre-Marc Bouchard, then Justin Morneau and Kevin Williams.

The New Jersey Devils are like this dog

Fleeced.

The Wild sent Marek Zidlicky to the Devils for three players (including former Wild players Kurtis Foster and Stephane Veilleux, noted pong pong enthusiast) AND two draft picks, a 2nd rounder and a conditional third rounder. Zidlicky had asked out, and the Wild weren't using him much. They turned a lump of garbage into 3 usable components and two draft picks. I'm stunned. I'm not used to being on this end of a lopsided trade. Not since Pierzynski, really.

My personal top 5 rivalries

Last night, Dick Vitale spent much of the evening saying how there was no argument that Duke-UNC was the greatest rivalry in the world. Well, I think there is an argument. First off, it depends on your definition of what makes a rivalry great. Is it the number of people involved with a rooting interest? Well, then it's probably an international soccer rivalry, like China versus Japan. Lots of people in both countries, and historic animosity. And really, more people hate both teams than pick a side with Duke-UNC. Is it the level of animosity between the two sides and their fan bases? More than 70 people were killed after a match in Egypt this past week. When was the last time there was that kind of an incident at Duke-UNC? (This is a good thing that this hasn't happened, for the record).
No, the greatest rivalries are all personal. I couldn't care less about the Yankees and Red Sox or Duke and North Carolina. These are rivalries I actually care about. Matchups that, when they occur, really get my blood boiling, because of my own personal experience.

5) Purdue vs Wisconsin (college football): This is a matchup that will likely only ever appear on my own personal list, but since I grew up in Minnesota and learned to hate Wisconsin, and then had the team rip out my heart in 2004, thanks to a Kyle Orton fumble and subsequent Wisconsin touchdown return, they have always been a source of anxiety, every time I see them on the field.

4) Purdue vs Indiana (college basketball): Purdue is a basketball school, first and foremost, and their annual games against the Hoosiers are always a highlight. I learned early that the Hoosiers are not to be trusted.

3) Twins vs White Sox (Baseball): The Twins are my favorite team in all sports, and I have a high level of disdain for all American League Central teams (and the Yankees, but that's not really a rivalry, so much as a complete destruction), but having lived near Chicago for a few years, and having a team that more or less is on the same overall success arc as the Twins over the last decade pushes the Sox to the top of my "greatest rivalry" list. Well, in baseball, anyways.

2) Wild vs Canucks (Hockey): Ever since Matt Cooke, I just can't ever take it upon myself to wish anything but harm on the Canucks. I actually hate Vancouver so much, that I am glad the NHL is realigning, so I don't have to see their ugly faces as much.

1) Colts vs Patriots (Football): I am a pretty mellow sports fan, especially when it comes to the NFL. I am what you might call coldly analytical. I am OK with watching games in silence, because I usually do. That would be the reason for surprise when I yell at my TV whenever the Colts and Patriots play. While this Super Bowl proved to me that I don't unconditionally hate the Patriots, it did prove to me that I do feel that way about Indianapolis. Why else would I feel so passionately about the Colts beating New England? There is no greater feeling than the Colts beating the Patriots.

At least, not in my book. Like I said, this is all about your own perspective.

I think Colton Gillies is my favorite Wild player

I went to the Wild game last night, a night in which the team must have been completely gassed after a barn burner in Winnipeg the previous night. Still, The Wild got their legs late in the game, even sending it to overtime. The best player on the ice was Patrick Kane, who was filthy. The puck wouldn't leave his stick, like there was glue on it. It stood out especially in a sloppy game where the Wild *cough*Dany Heatley*cough* couldn't compose a pass or stick handle or anything.
The guy who stood out in the green sweater, though, was Colton Gillies. He was always high energy on a high energy line (with Kyle Brodziak and Nick Johnson), despite the team having such a brutal 48 hour stretch. Every face off, he tried to jump in, he actually chased down pucks. I was impressed with his hustle, even if he didn't get any points, and only has 2 assists on the season.
Also, he looks a little like Brent Burns, and I feel bad I never warmed up to him.

Will someone feed Guillaume Latendresse

Michael Russo was either using clever word play in his headline, or Guillaume Latendresse could use a bite to eat.

Hey, so that Dany Heatley trade was kinda weird

Interesting things happening in St. Paul tonight. And no, I wasn't talking about my verification of a forecast for St. Paul at Victoria-Weather (though that obviously WAS interesting), I was talking about the trade the Wild made for Dany Heatley. That's... wonky.
Let's review: The Wild needed a goal scorer, and they had already added Devin Setoguchi and they decided to make a big splash, acquiring one of the top scorers in the game in Heatley. Of course, they had one of the best playmakers out there in Martin Havlat to feed him the puck... oh. Right. They traded Havlat for Heatley straight up. Now the Wild are getting short on guys that can move the puck, with Brent Burns, Andrew Brunette and Havlat all gone. So that's weird.
Also, what's the deal with all these trades with San Jose?
Also, why does he spell his name with only the one n?
Also, why is the team only improving via trades with the Sharks, and not, say, adding any free agents?
And why do I already have a Dany Heatley tag?
Strange stuff.

Bang up job, Chuck Fletcher

As I stated many a time, today was the big free agency MANIA in the NHL. Free agency was opened up at noon, and every team went on a feeding frenzy, adding as many new faces as possible, getting ready for the Stanley Cup. It's an exciting time to be a hockey fan. Without further ado, here is a screen cap of today's signings (part of them, just so as to include Minnesota)

(Click to aggrandize)

So, the Wild, with all that hullaballoo, re-signed Josh Harding. Crazy. Fletcher must have really taxed that signature signing hand today. With that one contract. With a mediocre player who was already here. Yay, Devin Setoguchi!

Do we really have to cheer for this haircut?

This is Wild first round draft pick Jonas Brodin. He is from Sweden, so tht whole Europe thing might forgive some of the issues with this bizarre head of hair. Some immediate thoughts:
- Given how deep the part on his right side is, you almost have to think there is some comb over action going on
- But then, it's all slicked... over. The amount of product (or sweat, or water) in his hair make it look like the hair should be slicked back. But no. It's swept to his left.
- None of the previous issues would BE issues, of course, were his hair not so long. IT would just look nerdy if it was cropped short and parted severely on one side. But no. He has the hockey mullet thing going on, if the hockey mullet wrapped around his head .

Jonas better hope he is better at hockey than hair cuts, is all I'm saying.

A Minnesota team makes logical trades

Let's review.. in the past year, the Minnesota sports teams have made the following trades (in every case, the listed trade is their most recent notable trade)

Minnesota Vikings - Added Randy Moss for a third round pick. Moss was quickly dumped, the coach fired, the team moved to Los Angeles.

Minnesota Twins - JJ Hardy sent to Baltimore exchange for Jim Hoey and someone other pitcher. JJ Hardy is the best pitcher involved in this deal.

Minnesota Timberwolves - As someone on Twitter put it, the Wolves traded Jonny Flynn and the 20th pick for Brad Miller and nothing. Or as I put it... Here!

Well, fortunately, the state has 4 chances to make good trades. Last night at the NHL draft, the Wild did just that it appears. They had one solidly tradable asset in Brent Burns, the good two way defenseman who was the Wild's all star representative last year. He was in a contract year, and thanks to some large contracts, he may not have fit in the team's plans going forward.
Additionally, the Wild were egregiously overmatched on the offensive end last year. The team simply didn't score any goals, and don't have any young scorers coming any time soon.Taking these factors into account, Brent Burns was traded to San Jose in exchange for the guy pictured above, Devin Setoguchi, a college player from Boston College and another 1st round pick. They also gave up a second rounder in next years draft. That is a solid use of resources, frankly.
Later in the draft (today) they traded up to take Mario Lucia, son of Gophers' Coach Don and the best Minnesotan in the draft. The next pick they had was used on Eden Prarie's Nick Seeler. They have added talent and in the deeper portion of the draft are setting out to ad local players, which is good for PR. The Wild patched a glaring hole and added prospects in the process. It's nice to see a front offense do something that can be universally applauded for a change.

I am somewhat depressed

Right now, this is where my teams stand:
Minnesota Wild - Lost last night to Colorado
Purdue basketball - Lost last night to Richmond (ugh)
Purdue football - Lost yesterday AT HOME to Indiana (double ugh)
Indianapolis Colts - Lost last week to New England
Want me to keep going? How deep do you want? Let's go overseas.
Rosenborg BK, my favorite soccer club, from my grandmothers home town - Lost to Atletico Madrid in the Europa League, but hey! They tied with Aalesund in the Norwegian league finale
Blackburn, my EPL team - Lost yesterday to Manchester United, 7-1
Further? OK
Minnesota Twins - Swept by the Yankees in the postseason
Heck, my high school, Benilde St. Margaret's - Lost to Totino Grace in the Sectional quarters.

Sports suck. I need something to improve my mood.

Ah, I'll always have you, sad Brett Favre

Come on Twins, I need this

The Twins find themselves down 2-0 in their series against the Yankees. Nothing new. I have always been able to take solace in the fact that when their season ends, I will have something to look forward to. Let's break down the Minnesota rooting interests (and my own, for that matter) with the Twins, once again, on the brink of elimination.
Vikings - They started the season 1-2, just reacquired a wide receiver that everyone seems to forget was run out of town half a decade ago, and now their geriatric quarterback is involved in a sexting scandal. At the very least, they could go on a run and annoy the hell out of me before eventually breaking the hearts of Minnesotans.
Gophers - 1-4. Lost to South Dakota. Lost to Northern Illinois. Just an awful team.
Wild - The Wild started their season yesterday, and after today's game will be returning winless. It would be wone thing if they had lost to a good team, bu they lost to the Carolina Hurricanes, who were even worse than the Wild, not winning until February (if memory serves). And it wasn't even fun hockey. It was sloppy, miserable hockey that nobody in their right mind would want to watch.
Timberwolves - They hoped to cash in by putting a billboard up on the Target Center for the Twins postseason run. Oops. The team is entirely new once again. Corey Brewer is the longest tenured Wolf, and frankly the entire team is mostly forgotten.
Gophers basketball - The Gophers hoops team is pernnially frought with controversy. So that's fun. And they also tend to occupy the middle of the Big Ten standings. Only one more season until Nebraska joins! Easy wins!
And now, more personally...
Purdue football - Yes, they are 2-2, but they beat Western Illinois (narrowly) and Ball State (narrowly.. Ball State then lost to Iowa 45-0) but lost to Notre Dame and Toledo, worse than the Gophers have lost any of their games. Toledo also had the worst offense going into the game before scoring 31 points in West Lafayette. So the defense sucks. And the top two choices at QB are hurt, as is the top receiver. They play Northwestern this week, then a clash of the Titans with the Gophers the next. That's going to be a tough ticket.
Colts - Also 2-2. One thing about Indy is that, with their faulty defense, they have always needed the breaks to fall their way. Houston used to throw a late interception or miss a field goal, the Jaguars used to have late personal fouls on the secondary that would give Indy new life. This just hasn't happened this year. Without homefield advantage in the playoffs, I really don't think Indy is a legitimate threat in the postseason.
Purdue basketball - My only hope. The Boilers are returning almost every one of their key players from the past few years, except for Chris Kramer, who is surely hustling his way around the Brownsburg Staples. My entire winter will depend on the Boilers basketball team. No pressure. Unless, of course, the Twins can turn it around, in which case I'm in good shape!
Ugh

Who are the sports friends in Minnesota?

I had about a bajillion ideas for a post today, but this is the one I settled on. I had all these ideas that were so negative, but one of those negative ideas leads back to the one I went with today. I had been noticing a trend among local teams that I will probably get into later, but I recognized that the teams probably aren't working in conjunction with each other But what teams DO get along? How do teams feel about the other home town teams? I'm going to go in descending order of how well the teams coexist.
Let's start with the obvious buddies. I think the Timberwolves and Twins are going to get along famously. Their arenas are right next door, so the success of one will likely call attention to the success of the other. I've already seen Crunch standing outside the Target Center after Twins games are over. Long the outcast of Minnesota sports, the Timberwolves will benefit from the success of the Twins. The Twins would be wise to return the adulation. Just look at Cleveland, where the Cavaliers and Indians play right next door. When the Indians were successful, they didn't do much for the Cavs, and now the Indians are in the tank and haven't been able to get any help from the Lebron James fueled popularity across the street.
The Wild and Twins are also buddies. Twins players and personnel have encouraged the team to drop the puck on multiple occasions at XCel. Heck, the Twins even borrowed the Wild's idea for logo design. These two teams definitely share a good deal of mutual respect, but I'm not sure coexisting is the right word. They enjoy each other, as is often the case with northern baseball teams and their hockey counterparts.
The Wild and Timberwolves are apples and oranges. They play at the same time of year, but they don't really share a similar fan base. The demographic is just completely different. If the Wild are going to help a fledgling Minnesota franchise, it will be lacrosse's Swarm, and if the Wolves will, it will be the WNBA Lynx. I think the Wild and Wolves share a mutual ambivalence.
The Vikings are a different story. They are all business, just like every other team in the NFL. This isn't about the Vikings, this is more about the NFL when I say, the Vikings don't like the Wolves, they don't like the Wild and the Wolves and Wild return the disdain. Oh, sure, you may see Crunch at a Vikings game or something, but truly, the Vikings see the Wolves as competition, just like the Wild. The Wolves need all the help they can get in terms of publicity though so they are more willing to suck up to the Vikes. If it were up to the NFL, however, the NBA and NHL would shrivel and die. Until February, at least.
The Twins and Vikings probably have the most contentious relationship. It all comes back to the stadium issue. The Twins were playing in a football stadium and are owned by Minnesota owners. The Minnesota Gophers were a state run institution that could use their football money to bolster their facilities and reduce the necessary taxpayer contributions to that school. The Vikings are owned by out of state owners and playing a in a stadium designed for football and doesn't cost a thing to the taxpayer. The Vikings have always been the lowest priority for a new stadium, and now we are in a recession. Somehow, this is the Twins' fault, and the Vikings organization openly resents the Twins. Remember last years game 163? The Vikings and Twins have long had an understanding that the Twins post season took precedence at the Dome, but this time, Zygi Wilf refused to move a game against the Pakcers, and forced the Twins into an awful situation that required them to win their game and play in New York early the next day. It's very possible that the Vikings cost the Twins their post season last year. How would things have been different if the Twins were refreshed and ready for game 1?
It's interesting to think about, especially since so many fans don't care about the upper level machinations of the teams. We all just want to pretend every team in our town gets along so well, but it's not always the case.

It's the NHL Offseason too!

The Timberwolves aren't the only bad team in the Twin Cities this offseason. Oh no, the Wild were downright atrocious last year as well. A lot of that had to do with a tough time adjusting to life without Marian Gaborik and life without Jacques Lemaire. A bigger part still was the season long injury troubles of Pierre-Marc Bouchard, who had post-concussion syndrome.
Well, last year, they tried to create a more up tempo attack, which was tough without Gaborik and flew in the face of what they had tried their first 10 years. They didn't have a pivot other than Mikko Koivu with Bouchard on the bench, and their best scorers, like Martin Havlat, were in a lurch without someone in the middle to get them the puck.
There is a lot of work for this team to do, and they don't have the flexibility, really, to do much with it. They have a strong set of blueliners, actually, and with the acquisition of Cam Barker, they have an influx of under contract, young talent, and they may trade from that position of strength to acquire a solid threat up the middle. They also have several talented wingers, though they seem to skew for the rough and tumble enforcer types, like Clutterbuck, Boogaard and now they traded for San Jose's Brad Staubitz. Perhaps that simply means they don't intend to retain Boogaard.
There has been the rumor that the Wild were looking at acquiring Nathan Horton from Florida, but it appears instead he will be traded to Boston. There was also the suggestion the team should look at Tomas Plekanec who excelled for the Canadiens this year, adding him as a free agent. Alas, it now seems the Habs will keep him. What then, for the Wild? Why is it so difficult for this town to add big name free agents, especially when hockey is concerned?
For a city with a fanbase as rabid as the one in Saint Paul, things HAVE to get better. The way things are looking right now, however, it appears that that may take some time.

End of the Year

I have friends debating about whether this ends a decade or not. Since, by definition, a decade is simply a ten-year period, I have no qualms against anyone calling the years 2000-2009 a decade. It’s like calling June “Summer” or September “Fall”, even those their respective seasons don’t start until the ends of the months.

I actually have a couple of things I’d like to write about, but I think I’ll save them for the new year. (Sorry I didn’t write the last two weeks. I was sick, and then it was Christmas. I fully did intend to write Christmas morning, but nature gave those of us here in Minnesota a Christmas gift of six inches of snow, so instead I went out to shovel my driveway.)

Let’s review Minnesota sports.

The Swarm had a mediocre season, not even reaching the playoffs. Not much more can be said about their season, because, frankly, that was a long time ago, and I’ve forgotten it.

This year ended a disappointing season for the Wild, who missed the playoffs. They also lost, at various times, many members of their team were out with injury (which sounds familiar of the current season, actually, except with less concussions then). They got a new owner last year, and rid themselves of their previous general manager and head coach. They started out the year slowly, but in December have tied their franchise record of wins in a month (10, with one left to play), despite facing great adversity. Not only is the schedule tighter this year because of the Olympics, but the Wild had an equipment truck fire wherein half the team lost some to all of their gear.

The Timberwolves apparently played basketball. I say apparently, because their record seems to indicate that they didn’t, really. In their off-season, they unloaded their general manager (to be fair, they did that last December, when they made McHale their head coach), and their head coach. Their season this year started out marginally better than the past, but that’s really not much of a compliment.

The Vikings are playing in typical fashion, and choking as they get close to playoffs. They also traded for a new quarterback in the off-season, but the guy wasn’t that well known, and it didn’t make many headlines at all. In fact, I’m sure if pressed most people couldn’t even name the guy these days. No one really cared about it, and it certainly didn’t interrupt television scheduling to follow his plane as it landed in Minnesota. The guy’s name is Brent or Brett or Britt or something. Write in if you can tell us. We here at Victoria Times headquarters want to know!

The Twins, after everyone expected a mediocre year (again), and a very poor start, managed to have an amazing September. Down 7 games on September 7, and down 3 games with four left to play, they still managed to pull it out in the end, forcing Detroit to Game 163, which is considered quite the classic game—and, as should be expected when two teams play 162 games and come out tied, it was a tense game between two equal teams. For the second year in a row, Adam Everett was on the losing team of Game 163. And Bobby Keppel got his first major league win in that game.

Timberwolves update: They have a 4-7 record since I last reported. For the Timberwolves, that’s a winning record. They’re now at 7-26, or a 21.2% winning percentage—they’ve broke the 20% mark!. The have the worst record in the West, but New Jersey has the worst record, finally getting a couple of wins to compose three win in 32 games!

Wild Update: The Wild have won six games since we last checked in with them (and lost four) and have a 20-17-3 record, for a 50.0% winning percentage. Also, the Wild have three players out with concussions, but Petr Sykora is said to be close to returning; Brent Burns and Pierre-Marc Bouchard are further away from returning.

Talk about turnover

In the baseball season, Beth had noted how few of the players on the roster actually spent the entire season on the roster. Well, I thought I would take it one step further, but look at the Wild. I thought I would look at their last game and see who was there at the end of the season last year.

Kim Johnsson - On the roster
Greg Zanon - Signed in the offseason
Mikko Koivu - On the roster
Owen Nolan - On the roster
Chuck Kobasew - Acquired in October
Andrew Brunette - On the roster
Andrew Ebbett - Acquired this week
Kyle Brodziak - Acquired in the offseason
Cal Clutterbuck - On the roster
Derek Boogaard - On the roster
Eric Belanger - On the roster
Jamie Sifers - Signed in the offseason
Shane Hnidy - Signed in the offseason
John Scott - On the roster
Robbie Earl - Acquired last year, never added to the roster until this season
Guillame Latendresse - Acquired this week
James Sheppard - On the roster
Nick Schultz - On the roster

That would by 9/18 players that were not on the roster at the end of the season last year. That's some serious turnover! Perhaps the Wild will come to gether when they get a little chemistry...

100%

Guess what started when we weren’t paying attention because it’s the World Series (I might have a little crush on Cliff Lee right now…the Phillies took the right pitcher from the Indians), the Minnesota Vikings are having a tremendous start, and NHL hockey has started (alas, Wild Hockey has not started, and you cannot convince me otherwise). The NBA season!

I’ve never been much of a professional basketball fan (high school basketball I liked; I never got into college basketball, but I went to a fairly unathletic college). In fact, my friends, brothers, and I decided that the game of basketball would be infinitely more exciting if all the fans got night vision goggles and the game was played in the dark—except the ball, which would either blink or glow in the dark (there was no final agreement). But I digress. We’re going to talk about winter sports, since baseball is waning. There are people who believe that if your team doesn’t make the playoffs, you should cheer for your division/league. I say this does not apply when it comes to the Yankees/Red Sox (they’re really the same team).

Last year, the Wild had a record of 40-33-9, giving them a 48.8% winning percentage. The Timberwolves, as we all fondly remember, had a record of 24-58, giving them a stellar 29.2% winning percentage. Shockingly, with records under .500, neither team made the playoffs.

That was then. This is now. The Wild now stand with a 3-9 record. This gives them an unimpressive 25% wining percentage. But the surprising news is…the Timberwolves have them beat by 75 percentage points—with a 100% winning percentage. Now, to be fair, the Timberwolves have played exactly one game this year—11 less than the Wild. (Things I learned this morning: NHL and NBA both have 82 games! This is a totally fair comparison of win percentages since neither team has more games.) In pre-season, the Timberwolves marked a 3-5 record (37.5% winning percentage, putting them on par with Kevin Hale’s winning percentage as head coach last year), whereas the Wild posted a 3-4 record (42.9% winning percentage). At least the Vikings are giving us a 6-1 record (85.7% winning percentage) with a 3-1 pre-season (75% winning percentage). So Minnesota fans have something to cheer about.

On the plus side for the Wild, I’ll be attending my first game Friday night. Naturally, I picked the game early in the year realizing that it would be the Marian Gaborik’s return to the Xcel Energy Center—playing against his first NHL team. However, in a very fitting tribute to the way he played for the Wild for the previous eight NHL seasons—injured (I’m being a little harsh; early in his career he played a lot, and in the ’07-’08 season he played in 77 games). As for the Timberwolves, I may actually make a game this year (a friend has season tickets, and said she’d invite me to a game—maybe then I can give an accurate report on the state of the Timberwolves!).

I really have nothing else to say, other than Mikko Koivu is the first permanent Captain of the Minnesota Wild, and I couldn’t be happier—I take that back. I could be happier if the entire Wild team actually learned how to play hockey again.

The wild continue to make good decisions

This offseason, the Wild blew up their front office. They needed to go a new direction, and with the departure of Marian Gaborik, they needed to reload their offense. New GM Chuck Fletcher embraced the change, adding Martin Havlat, a scorer that wants to be here, engineering deals to bring about a youth movement. Now, they have revealed their third jersey, the number you see Derek Boogaard wearing. They have avoided the hideous get ups that involve so much red. Kudos to the Wild for such a successful offseason. To bring it home, they should go after Nikolai Zherdev and add another scorer, or perhaps put together some sort of trade to do so. I'm surprised at how pumped I am about hockey season. Perhaps even more than football season! (Thanks a lot, Vikings)

It's easier to be angry about the Twins

I promised an angry screed last week against the Wild, but as it turns out, I just can't get angry about them. Why? Because the Wild organization was struggling because of problems that have already been flushed out. The Twins could be staring a problem with the front office or management for years and would fail to address it, simply waiting for the problem to retire. Just think. When was the last time a member of the Twins organization was fired? Bill Smith could have a debilitating stroke (God forbid) and still be the GM for another 15 tears. It's easy to sit hear and helplessly gnash my teeth.
The Wild, however, seem to have flushed their system. We are left with nothing but hope. Jacques Lemaire, who was a good coach, but his cloying defensive style drove away offensive players? Gone. Marian Gaborik, who simply didn't want to be here and was a constant resident of the injury report? Gone. The worst offender, GM Doug Risebrough who couldn't pull the trigger a trade to shed the team of Gaborik, instead giving away draft picks and had the audacity to say that Minnesotans simply had high expectations that were to high? Gone.
In their stead, Todd Richards, the new head coach will bring a refreshingly aggressive palying style from San Jose. Martin Havlat, the new star acquisition, lamented the lack of loyalty from his old team, the Blackhawks, and signed on to be with the team for 6 years. Chuck Fletcher, the new GM has aggressively pursued free agents, adding Havlat and bolstering the defense with Greg Zanon and Shane Hnidy. He is still in the market for Saku Koivu, and has made it apparent that he is willing to swing a big deal for another scorer. It's clear that he realizes that Minnesota's expectations are right where they should be.
So, the moral of this story? The angry hockey screed this week is canceled. Instead, I wait with hopeful anticipation for the beginning of the season.

Thoughts on Jacques Lemaire

It was a very busy weekend, as you may have figured out by now, and no news was bigger for Minnesotans than the retirement of Wild coach Jacques Lemaire. He was the face of the Wild franchise since the genesis of the team, more than any player that the has worn the uniform.
Lemaire never really stepped out from behind the bench to create a lot of sound bytes or did anything foolish. He was a composed, brilliant teacher who not only instructed strategically, but also by example. In a sports world, in a sports market where so many do unforgivably dumb things, the most resounding criticism of Lemaire has been that he is too boring. He ignored the calls to add a little life to the team, and instead chose to be successful on his own terms, methodical though they were. On a personal note, not only did he look like my dad, he had the same temperment as well. It will be stranger having Lemaire gone than Marian Gaborik for most of us.
The question now turns to who Lemaire's successor will be. I think the Wild will promote from within. I don't know much about Mario Tremblay, but I do know a little more about Mike Ramsey. He used to have a sporting goods store out by my house, and whenever we would go there, his attention to the kids coming in there to buy equipment was impressive. It's a small sample size, but it seems like Ramsey has the same makeup as Lemaire. Working under him for the past decade probably only furthered that mentality for Ramsey.
Either way, if the head coach position is kept in house, the team will be in good hands. Thanks to Jacques Lemaire for so many years of great service, and giving the team the model for future success.

Buy or sell. Don’t just sit still.

It was the NHL trade deadline yesterday and Ryan already wrote about this in brief last night, but I already had this half-written, so pretend this is new. The Minnesota Wild made no changes to their team.

There is such a thing as doing nothing because it's better than doing the wrong thing (trading good prospects/players for mediocre players is worse than just keeping the bad players), just like there's addition through subtraction (getting rid of a player who is hurting the team and getting nothing in return).

At any trade deadline, I'm usually reasonable when no trades are made by Minnesota teams (because there almost never are). However, this year that didn't apply to the Wild. Their one star player--who's never played a full year healthy, although he came close last year, and isn't ready to return from his surgery this year--is an unrestricted free agent this summer. Unrestricted means that he can do whatever he wants. Restricted free agents have to bargain with their present team (the details are long; it’s similar to baseball’s arbitration). At any rate, Marian Gaborik is unrestricted. He's already implied he will not play for the Wild anymore. And he will probably play a best-case scenario of ten games the rest of this year (and it's always worse-case with him).

The Wild are in the middle of a swan dive--they’ve lost four in a row (one in overtime) and are in the middle of a long stretch of mostly games on the road, an issue nearly every team struggles with. Each game they're playing a little worse than the one before. They're on the outside looking into the playoffs, with little hope of attaining it.

From fan reports, their minor league team/prospects aren’t inspiring. There are a few guys that could be good, some that might be decent, but none that project to be great. The Wild have very few draft picks due to past trades. They've let a lot of players walk in their unrestricted year for nothing. (Baseball offers draft picks to teams whose star players leave via free agency and was offered a contract; this is not true in of unrestricted free agents in hockey.) Also note that hockey has a salary cap, so teams cannot just go out and buy all the best players.*

* People ask for baseball to have a salary cap. I don't think this is necssary, but I think baseball polices itself quite well without a salary cap. That's another topic, though.

At some point, a GM has to realize one of two things has to happen: he has to re-build, or he has to throw all his cards in. As the Wild didn't have any cards to throw in: that is, the only players they had that were tradable were the ones they needed to win. Their role-players weren't worth enough to get better players to support their stars. And none of their stars were good enough to warrant enough better supporting players in a trade. In short, there simply wasn't hope to build a winning team this year with the players they had. Unless they got the exact right GM who was just naïve or ignorant enough.

So they didn’t trade their injured, soon-to-be unrestricted free agent, star player for anything, didn’t trade any of their decent players for prospects or low draft picks, or trade a few of their decent players for a star or two. They stood still, believing somehow this team that can barely manage to score three goals in a game will be okay.

The team needed to be buyers or sellers. They couldn’t afford to stand on its own.

I’m an optimist, but I’m realistic. I just don’t see it happening.

And if you think I’m dramatic, you should hear the season ticket holders.

Timberwolves update: 18-42 (0-3 since last time, 14-27 since McHale).

Marian Gaborik Injury Status: He’s still with the Wild. And will start playing towards the middle/end of March for a few games, and then gleefully wave good-bye. If Niklas Backstrom, who just signed a four-year contract with the Wild, isn’t fuming, he’s probably drunk.

It’s also my half-birthday today! Whee!