Goon's illegal curve article.

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Minnesota Wild: Courtesy of Goon’s World

The Minnesota Wild were mired in a tough stretch during the month of December going 4-9-1. Early on it became very apparent to the fans that the Wild didn’t have enough firepower up front to win on a regular basis. Then to kick off the New Year, the Wild found out that their top star Marian Gaborik was going to be out 10-14 weeks after surgery on his hip.

This revelation was made after a lot of tension between the Wild management and Marian Gaborik, because no one was able to figure out what was wrong with Gaborik. Then it was announced right during the Christmas break that Gaborik was going to be held out of a few games and practice to rest Marian’s beat up and fragile body. Then January 2nd, it was announced that Marian Gaborik was going to have surgery on his hip at the recommendation of his doctor.

Gabby had successful hip surgery on January 5th. There is a lot of speculation that we may have seen Marian’s last days in a Wild uniform. Most of us believe that Gaborik’s time in Minnesota has come to an end. I, like a lot of fans, have grown tired of Gaborik’s self-centered ungratefulness. I don’t understand where Gaborik gets this selfishness, because he has been treated well in Minnesota. I am also bored with Gaborik’s attitude; he won’t play unless he is 100%. Gaborik is one of the most prolific players when he is healthy, but the guy is made out of glass and is easily injured. The fact that he turned down $80+ million to stay with the Wild makes me upset more as a Wild fan. In my mind, general manager Doug Risebrough couldn’t get rid of Gaborik fast enough to make me happy. It’s time for this prima donna to move on.

Fans in Minnesota not happy

To top all of this off, there is a building tension between the Wild management and the Wild fans. The fans actually started booing the Minnesota Wild during a recent game at the Xcel Energy Center. Michael Russo wrote a nice article on the state of the fan base in the Twin Cities on December 31st in the Star Tribune. Russo’s article took the Wild management to task for their mismanagement of the team and basically became the sounding board of what the fans are feeling. There are lot of us that are unhappy with the way the Wild have been managed. To some of us, the only way to make this situation better is to get rid of the head coach Jacques Lemaire as well as Risebrough. The team has grown stagnant under these two men and it is time for change.

Last year the Wild had a chance to get Ollie Jokinen, but Risebrough didn’t want to give up Pierre Marc Bouchard (7-12-19 in 36 games) or James Sheppard (2-6-8 in 39 games) to get Jokinen. For whatever reason, Risebrough deemed these two underachievers as untouchable and not on the trading block. Who in their right mind would make such a statement? These players have been an utter disappointment this season. How would Jokinen look in a Wild uniform? I bet with him in the lineup, the Wild would have won five more games.

Wild’s winning ways

Since December 31th the Minnesota Wild have gone 3-1, losing in a shootout to the Detroit Redwings and beating San Jose, Boston and Colorado. Two of these teams are the best hockey teams in the NHL. During the last four games the Wild have given up a grand total of four goals and shut out their last two opponents. I think the reason for the turnaround is that the Wild players have accepted the fact that they aren’t going to have the services of Gaborik and the return of Owen Nolan to the lineup. If there has been a bright spot to this season it has been the play of Nolan when he has been healthy. The Wild are going to need more than one bright spot if they are going to qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Seems like everytime I talk/write about the Wild they start losing. Yikes!