The thought
of no hockey was scary with the strike on going leaving fans wondering would we
see hockey this year.
Yes, the
strike was resolved and the schedule was handed out to teams. A 48 game
schedule was announced only to play the Western Conference teams.
It was
earlier this week the first half came to an end and with that left me the
feeling the Wild will be a playoff team.
On July 4th
the Wild signed Zach Parise and Ryan Suter giving fans hope as we watched the
Wild roll out that kind of money to bring these All Stars in.
The team has
been dominating at home with a 9-3-1 record. The Wild in the first half have 6
two game winning streak and 2 three game losing streaks.
The team the
last few games going into the end of the first half is starting to score more
goals. The best so far is 4.
The juggling
of lines to start the season was hard to watch as I wonder how will there be chemistry
of the guys keep getting juggled.
It is
starting to smooth out and the results speak for themselves as lines are
starting to heat up. I love the first line with Zach Parise, Mikko Koivu and
youngster 21 year old, Charlie Coyle.
The team has
implemented youth in there as 19 year old, Jonas Brodin and all he has done is
made it hard to believe he is a teenager and getting so much action and playing
a steady defense.
Jason Zucker,
21 has made himself known also coning up from Houston and scoring 4 goals
already.
Zenon
Konopka is one of my favorite new additions this season. I love his toughness
and his ability to win the face offs.
The 2 big
money free agents have not disappointed. I do not know if I have seen a harder
worker than Parise. He is constantly around the net and does such a god job of
getting the puck out of the boards.
Ryan Suter I
see why he was so coveted. His leadership shows every night and now seems to
get at least an assist a night on a goal.
Goaltender
Niklas Backstrom has really played well but seems to have such bad luck on weird
goals allowed. I do not know if I have seen a goalie that has this kind of
luck. Opponents throwing pucks from behind the net and they seem to bounce of
players for fluke goals.
I look for a
great second half and going to the playoffs for a deep run.
In the end my hope along with all Wild Fans is the Stanley Cup will be coming to Minnesota.
Go WILD
Thanks for
reading
Purplestick
Good Article Todd. Probably the biggest dissapointment for the first half of the season has got to be Mikael Granlund. Everybody had huge expectations for him. I think coach Yeo made the right move to send him back down to the AHL and get his confidence back. Bring him back up next year.
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