Fixing the Wild: The Penalty Kill

Is it hot enough for you Wilderness? As we roll into Steamtember, remember that Wild training camp opens just a mere 12 days away. This week in my quest to make this Wild squad a real legit contender, I am fixing the penalty-kill.

It is curious to point out that the penalty-kill was almost always the strongest point of the team's play under the helm of Jacques Lemaire. In 2008-09, his final season, the Wild PK ranked 2^nd with an 87.6 percent success rate. In early November of that year, the Wild had eclipsed the 93 percentile.

The 2013 season? The Wild ranked a mediocre 18^th with an 80.7 percent success rate. Strangely enough, Minnesota led the league in fewest times short-handed both in '08-'09 and '13.

When a team leads the league in fewest times short-handed, elite penalty killing becomes that much more important. An opposing team knows beforehand that the game will be tough because the scoring will most assuredly have to come 5-on-5 or short-handed. If the Wild can have the success on the kill that the Jacques Lemaire-led Wild did, you will see the team not only be at the top part of the standings, but they will sustain their success. Just look at Chicago. They had an outstanding PK during the regular season, ranking 3^rd with an 87.2 percent and an even better kill in the post season. They rode their PK all the way to the Stanley Cup. Their PK was so stifling that they could endure their power play woes in the Final series against Boston.

An improved penalty kill coupled with an improved power play will make a difference for the Wild this season. In the end that means not only a playoff berth, but a real chance of making the finals. Training camp opens September 11^th, and we can only sit and watch from our humble homes in the Wilderness