Wild defense porous in opening game against Blackhawks

I think that's a pretty accurate assessment of last night's game, in general. Last night, the Wild defense left their goaltender high and dry and gave up "way" too many opportunities. This has to change or this could end up being a very short series.

Mark Lazerus, Chicago Sun-Times -- He danced through the Minnesota defense as they picked their poison between him and Patrick Sharp, dusting Ryan Suter and splitting Jonas Brodin and Kyle Brodziak — the Wild’s top two defensemen and one of their top shutdown forwards — before roofing a backhander over Ilya Bryzgalov to break a tie and unleash a deafening roar at the United Center.

As (Patrick) Kane raced to his teammates to celebrate, he twice appeared to yell, “Showtime!” — fitting, given the highlight-reel nature of the goal and his usual penchant for the dramatic.

Kyle Brodziak goal - long review

Minnesota Wild forward Kyle Brodziak goal that made it 2-1 in favor of the Chicago Blackhawks. There was a long review on the goal.

Minnesota Wild: Nino Niederreiter game winning goal.

(Ignore the last 22 seconds of the video.)The Minnesota Wild move on to the second round for the first time in 11 years. The Wild now travel to the the Madhouse on Madison to play the Chicago Blackhawks. The first game is Friday at 7:30 pm. Central. No more midnight hockey. It's Jonathan Toews versus Zach Parise. During his career against the Blackhawks, Parise has played in 15 games and scored (3g-2a-5pts). For those that are wondering, during his career, Toews has scored (6g-13a-19pts) in 22 games against the Minnesota Wild.

During the regular season, the Wild went 3-2 against the Blackhawks. One of Chicago's two wins was a shootout.

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(Video) Nick Holden's controversial goal - Game 7 Wild vs. AV's

This goal by the Colorado Avalanche's Nick Holden shouldn't have counted. Minnesota Wild goalie Darcy Kuemper is clearly interfered with.

Again, incidental contact (inhibiting a goalie from making a save) is not reviewable. It's a ref's judgment
— Michael Russo (@Russostrib) May 1, 2014

Hey it's only the season on the line. No reason at all to have video review on an interference play like that! Makes total sense #brutal
— Strombone (@strombone1) May 1, 2014

Top 20 UFA's according to Cap Geek.

Only seven remaining UFAs recorded 50 or more points in 2013-14. http://t.co/2D5MRaT2CF
— CapGeek (@capgeek) April 30, 2014

Look who is at the top of this UFA list. Future Wild forward Thomas Vanek. Okay, so Vanek may or may not end up with the Wild, but he's at the top of the list.

(Video) Minnesota Wild and Colorado Avalanche end of game scrum

Feisty end to a very good game between the Wild and Avalanche.

20:00 MIN Clayton Stoner Misconduct (10 min) - 10 min against Patrick Bordeleau
20:00 COL Patrick Bordeleau Misconduct (10 min) - 10 min against Clayton Stoner
20:00 COL Cody McLeod Misconduct (10 min) - 10 min against Nate Prosser
20:00 MIN Nate Prosser Misconduct (10 min) - 10 min against Cody McLeod

Wild score their empty net goal to go up 4-2, Yeo with a fist pump http://t.co/T3u8QOBCWK
— Steph (@myregularface) April 29, 2014

(Video) Avalanche forward Paul Stastny cup checks Wild forward Cody McCormick

Another day, another cup check. This time, Colorado Avalanche forward Paul Stastny cup checks Minnesota Wild forward Cody McCormick.

Stastny gets his first slashing penalty of the series; It was his 25th slash, but first to the box. Wild PP
— Michael Russo (@Russostrib) April 29, 2014

(Video) NHL Hockey: Where's the obstruction? Av's game tying goal offsides

This officiating crew for the NHL should be fired. This is absolutely a travesty. The Av's are also offsides on the game tying goal as well. You can see by the video that Paul Stasny was offside as well.

Much better look- RT @johncanref: Why we teach linesmen to work the line! This call needs to be made inside the line. pic.twitter.com/aZA6XQLQgH
— Chris Long (@jclong) April 27, 2014

Irony: tomorrow's #mnwild #avs notebook, I quote Roy saying it's time for coach's challenges b/c of the bogus Parenteau offside in Game 2
— Michael Russo (@Russostrib) April 27, 2014

@jthock @CharlieMpls @adater @jclong incorrect, skate must be in contact prior to puck crossing.
— John Moulton (@johncanref) April 27, 2014

Adrian Dater: Matt Cooke is a gutless puke

#485395217 / gettyimages.com

Here’s a new drinking game, every time Adrian Dater of the Denver Post mentions Matt Cooke’s name, drink.

Yep, Matt Cooke did a bad thing; he blew out an Av’s player’s knee with a dirty leg check. This is fact. This is not up for debate. But I find it funny that a beat writer for a National Hockey League team would make him the focus of every article. Maybe Cooke is in the Av's head, or at least their beat writers.

Adrian Dater, Denver Post -- There are so many other problems hurting the team right now, most having to with injuries. Damn injuries – they always spoil all the fun. Matt Duchene still isn’t ready yet. John Mitchell can’t do much more than just stretches with a long rubber band. He has not attempted to skate since getting hurt at the end of the year.

Of course, no Tyson Barrie anymore. That 6-on-4 at the end sure would have been a good place to use a Barrie, eh? He’s not here anymore, though, because of gutless puke Matt Cooke.

Regardless, the better team won Games 3 and 4. The Avs’ offense was just nowhere to be seen in St. Paul, and the question of whether they can rediscover it in Denver for Game 5 Saturday seems like a very dicey question indeed. We’re still not going to see Duchene and Mitchell, so it’s still a situation of “Gee, sure hope the third and fourth lines can give us something, anything, and we can get those top two lines going again.”

Wild Dominate Avs, Tie Series

In another must win for the Minnesota Wild tonight, they came out of the gates guns a blazing, physically, and skillfully dominating the Colorado Avalanche in every aspect of the game. Not giving Colorado many scoring chances, and keeping the threat of rookie sensation Nathan MacKinnon at a stand still, the record playoff crowd at the Xcel Energy Center would go home loud and proud as the series would be tied up at two games a piece.

As I said already, the Wild came out of the gates on a mission tonight, and would strike first off of a Jared Spurgeon blast from the high slot and the Wild would be up 1-0 early in the first. Also as expected, the Zach Parise, Jason Pominville, Mikael Granlund line was on fire once again tonight as well, and Parise and Granny would both earn themselves apples on this first goal. Minnesota would go into the locker room up 1-0 and out shooting the Avs 14-3 in the period dominated by the home team. If it wasn't for that first Avalanche power play opportunity, they probably would have skated off the ice with just one lousy shot on goal.

The second and third periods were the same story as the first was, Wild domination. With the team playing physical, and strong on the puck, they were seeing a lot of puck possession time in all three zones, which brought them success for much of the season. This is how coach Mike Yeo wanted his team to play all season, and are finding that the method to his madness is granting them their playoff success..

Minnesota would also cash in on their first power play opportunity off of the stick of Charlie Coyle. Jason Pominville would take the initial shot which would deflect off of the glass behind the net and Charlie Coyle would just have to slide it into a wide open net. However, like in almost every other game in this year's Stanley Cup Playoffs, two goal leads were not safe. Just 30 seconds later, Ryan O'Reilly would put one through Darcy Kuemper's five hole in a shot he would likely want back. This would conclude the scoring for the game, even though Minnesota could have had five or six goals if it wasn't for Varlamov.

Another story line for this series so far has to be Matt Moulson for the Minnesota Wild. The guy can't seem to catch a break or a bounce in the first four games in this series. He has been snake bitten by posts, missed shots, robbery saves, and blocked shots. One can only wonder when Moulson will find the back of the net, and when/if he does, the flood gates will open for him.

Darcy Kuemper has been lights out since coming in relief in game two for Bryzgalov. In just over 150 minutes played in these playoffs, he has surrendered just one goal. However, it is easier to do this when the team around you isn't allowing pucks to get to the net, but none the less, Kuemper is the backbone of this team and will take them far if he keeps playing lights out like this.

Going into Colorado on Saturday night, the series is in the hands of the Minnesota Wild. I believe that if Minnesota is able to sneak out a road victory in game five, the series will be over in game six when the Wild return home. However, if the home team winning trend continues, we will see seven games. I'm excited to see how this series will turn out, and I'm sure both fan bases are too.

(Video) End of the Minnesota Wild game against the Colorado Avalanche

What a fantastic finish to an exciting game. Wild forwards Erik Haula and Mikael Granlund were huge in the final seconds of the game. The Minnesota Wild limited the high flying Av's to 12 shots on goal.

One assist, 3 drawn penalties, 3 ginormous blocked shots down 4-on-6 for Granlund
— Michael Russo (@Russostrib) April 25, 2014

NHL Dishes 7 Games for Cooke

After a long day of waiting to hear how the in person meeting went for Matt Cooke today, we now know that he will be out for the next seven games for his knee on knee hit on Avalanche player Tyson Barrie.

Cooke, a player who not many NHL fans like, has had a suspension history that if it were all written down on paper could write a 500 page book. However, he has cut his penalty minutes per game nearly in half over the past couple of seasons, and is attempting to clean up his game.

I think Cooke should have gotten at least 10 games for his knee on knee hit on Barrie. He lead with his knee, I don't care what you say on the speed of the game, still no excuse for leading with the knee, and the defenseless Barrie didn't even see him coming.

Plays like this one have no place in the game of hockey and players who do this deserve to be suspended for their actions. I just hope the NHL fan base doesn't give the Minnesota Wild a bad name now because of this one player. This does not represent the organization, or the rest of the players on the roster.

Denver Post columnist asks Mike Yeo if they're targeting Av's players

In my opinion, this is Unacceptable. I know I wouldn't ask a college head coach this stupid question. Anyone want to bet who this anonymous Denver Post columnist is? I have my suspicions. I would be willing to be, that it’s probably the same guy that’s been chirping and trolling Wild fans all day long on Twitter.

Michael Russo, Star Tribune -- Denver Post columnist: So you wanted Cooke to target specific guys? Yeo: “Don’t get into this, alright? I know where you want to spin this. But listen, I want our players when somebody is in front of them to finish their check. That’s hockey. So if you think that I’m saying, ‘Go take him out.’ No, you’re wrong. There’s a lot more respect in this game than that and we have a lot more respect for the game than that. So what we say to our guys is if you have an opportunity to finish your check, finish your check. And that’s the same thing that I’m sure that they’re saying there, too.

Similarities in Playoff Series for Wild

Last season marked the first time the Minnesota Wild had made the playoffs since winning the Northwest Division in 2008, but would be matched up with the Stanley Cup favorite, Chicago Blackhawks.

This season, just squeaking in again, Minnesota is in a battle with longtime rival, Colorado, after the Avalanche won the division for the first time since 2003. I wonder how that season ended up for them.

Looking back to the first three games of last seasons playoffs for Minnesota and comparing them to this years, I see a lot of things similar in the ways the games have been played.

Starting with both game one's, an overtime post would cost Minnesota that important game one victory to gain momentum in the series. Last year it was Jason Zucker hitting the crossbar, and this year was Jason Pominville ringing one off of the far post. One big difference in each series first games is that Minnesota would dominate the first two periods and much more scoring in the game because of it.

In game two, the Wild looked like they were in awe of the young and speedy Avalanche. Seeming to not get anything together, even after scoring the first goal, Colorado would score three unanswered to skate to a game two victory and take a 2-0 series lead going into game three at Xcel Energy Center, just like the Blackhawks would last year.

Although game three between Chicago and Minnesota was played pretty even and Minnesota would dominate the Avs last night, the result was still the same between the two games, young guns scoring in dramatic fashion in overtime. Last year was Jason Zucker who fired a rocket from near the goal line and would beat Corey Crawford for the victory. This year, it was Granny's turn. In a play that was dominated by him, Granlund would fight off a check, take the puck to the slot, and score laying flat on the ice with the Avalanche goaltender having no chance at making the save, giving the Wild a game three victory once again.

Compared to last season, this Wild team is much stronger, much more skilled, and have much more chemistry then they did at this time last season. I would expect another strong showing for Minnesota Thursday night and for the rest of the series. If they play like they did last night for the rest of the series, Colorado will be going home early this playoff season.

Minnesota Wild: Breaking down Matt Cooke's Suspension History

Matt Cooke of the Pittsburgh Penguins. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I don't think people realize how many games and times that Matt Cooke has been suspended by the NHL. Here's a break down of Cooke's illustrious history and the number of games that he ended up sitting as a result of his bush league play. Like I said in another post, "I also have to wonder if the NHL's Department of Player head Brendan Shanahan already has Chuck Fletcher's cell phone number in is speed dial?"  I think it's just a matter of time before Cooke is suspended again by the NHL. 

2013/07/05        Signed as an unrestricted free agent by the Minnesota Wild to a three-year contract.

2011/04/27        Missed the last 10 games of the regular season and 7 playoff games (suspension). (17)

2011/03/21        Suspended by the NHL for the remainder of the season and the first round of the playoffs.

2011/02/20        Missed 4 games (suspension). (4)

2011/02/09        Suspended by the NHL for four games.

2009/12/04        Missed 2 games (suspension). (2)

2009/11/29        Suspended by the NHL for two games.

2009/01/31        Missed 2 games (suspension). (2)

2009/01/27        Suspended by the NHL for 2 games.

2004/02/21        Suspended by the NHL for 2 games. (2) [TSN.CA]

Bellow, is a typical Matt Cooke play that happened during the Stanley Cup Playoffs. 

Minnesota Wild: Matt Cooke to have a in-person hearing for his hit on Tyson Barrie.

Minnesota Wild forward Matt Cooke has been offered an in-person hearing for kneeing Colorado Avalanche defenseman Tyson Barrie. Details TBD.
— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) April 22, 2014

This is not going to end well for Wild forward Matt Cooke, he's going to get at least a 5-game suspension, and probably more.

Mikael Granlund scores the game winner in game three

Mikael Granlund scores the game winner at the 5.18 mark of the first overtime in game three. Av's still lead the series 2-1.

Where the Wild a victim of interference on game winning goal?

Catching up on my reading, I have been following this story at work, today. I think you could make the argument that there should have been an interference called on the game winning goal. Thoughts?

Michael Russo also says that the head coach of the Wild Mike Yeo was going to talk to the supervisor of officials about the interference on the game winning goal.

Yeo said the Wild also plans to talk to the series supervisor of officials (Don van Massenhoven) Saturday to try to get a ruling on a few things they were upset about, like Brodziak and Cooke being bowled over by Barrie before Stastny’s winner, why Koivu’s net off the moorings wasn’t a penalty vs. Johnson knocking the net off, why that faceoff was outside the zone as opposed to inside when Johnson started the whole thing and the scrum, in the Wild’s eyes, was at the top of the circle.

Here's Stastny's OT winner;Was Tyson Barrie who took out Cooke/Brodziak before goal. Described wrong on #mnwild blog http://t.co/bycs9xtEIL
— Michael Russo (@Russostrib) April 18, 2014

Erik Johnson saves an empty net goal (Video)

Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson saves the game clinching empty net goal. I want to know why this wasn’t a penalty? Delay of game, I would say. Maybe not.

Minnesota vs. Colorado: What We Should Expect

Minnesota and Colorado have been division rivals since Minnesota has come into the league in 2000, so I guess you could say that these two teams are familiar with each other.

Up until the last couple of seasons, Minnesota has never really had any superstars on their roster, unlike the usual star studded Avalanche of the late 90's and early 2000's. However, the Avalanche recently have been struggling to find success and even had finished 29th in the league out of 30 teams last season.

This year looked as if it was going to be a rebuilding season for Colorado after the firing of head coach Joe Sacco. Before the draft last year, the Avalanche would announce that Patrick Roy would be named their head coach, leaving many scratching their heads wondering how the Avs would fare in this situation. Lets just say a worst to first turn around leaves Roy as a front runner for this year's Jack Adams trophy.

As for the Minnesota Wild, Mike Yeo has this team in a position for a possible playoff run. The main question mark will be in goal. Can Ilya Bryzgalov play like the goalie of 2007 with the Anaheim Ducks? Or will the Bryz, who struggled in the playoffs with the Flyers, show up. If the ladder of the two is to happen, Minnesota's playoff life will be ending earlier then the fans, and the team would like.

Colorado would go 4-0-1 against Minnesota this season, and shocked the league on their extreme turn around with the big youth movement in Colorado. However, a big part of this would be the outstanding play of goalie Semyon Varlamov, who would break Patrick Roy's franchise wins record with 41 wins this season. Also another big weapon for the Avs, besides Duchene, Landeskog, and Stastny, you have to watch out for likely Calder winner Nathan MacKinnon. With his speed, he likes to lead the rush to the outside and also has a very potent snap shot, much like UND fans saw in Danny Kristo's four years at UND. Colorado has three solid lines of scoring who can burn you at anytime you make a mistake. It is no fluke that this team won the Central Division.

Looking back at the two teams head to head playoff history, the teams have met twice in the playoffs. the first time was in the 2002-2003 season, also happens to be the last time that Colorado won their division and Minnesota winning a playoff series, and the second was in the 2007-2008 season when Minnesota would win their first and only division crown.

The most recent series in 2007-2008, the two teams would battle hard in a very tough six game series where Colorado would come out on top, but later lose out of the playoffs. This would be the first season that Minnesota would reach the playoffs in consecutive years, having reached the previous season, but losing to the eventual cup champion Anaheim Ducks in five games.

Now the most memorable series in 2003. Minnesota, just in their third season in franchise history, would make their first ever playoffs, and would be slated a huge underdog against the star studded Avalanche lead by the likes of Sakic, Forsberg, and Roy. Minnesota came out in game one on a mission, making a statement by winning game one. The Avs would have none of it and would rattle off three straight wins to put the Wild on the verge of elimination. Going into game five, nobody counted the Wild as a threat to Colorado anymore and was already preparing for the Avs to move on to round number two. However, Minnesota would be victorious in game five and have one more chance at home to keep their playoff series alive.

The next two games will probably be the most historic games in Minnesota Wild history. On the verge of elimination, the two teams would experience overtime in game six. The Xcel Energy Center was loud, and the fans were on the edge of their seats wondering who was going to play hero. Richard Park would gain the puck at the offensive blue line skate up the right wing and fire, what looked to be a harmless snap shot, at Roy and would beat him to send the Wild back to Colorado for game seven. This would be the first home NHL playoff win in Minnesota since the North Stars did in the early 90's.

Now on to game seven. Avalanche goalie Patrick Roy was virtually unbeatable in the Stanley Cup Playoffs when it came to game sevens, and was unbeaten when it game to game sevens that went into overtime. This game would again end up in overtime, making everyone think that this game was in the bag for Colorado because of Roy in net. This, however, was not the case. Andrew Brunette would get a pass from a teammate, take the puck into the offensive zone, have the presence of mind to go to his backhand and bury the puck in the back of the net, ending the career of Patrick Roy, in his first ever game seven overtime loss.

As for this series, will we see a series like this, or will we see one like in 2008? Honestly I think it will be a high flying series where if the games become more about offense, Minnesota has no chance to advance to the second round. However, if we have one goal, low scoring contests, this could very well go seven games.