Minnesota Wild and the Stanley Cup Playoffs2013: Rise of the Super Rookies

Scandella is the most surprising addition to the Super Rookies team. In Houston this season he was remarkably hot and cold. He would have a couple of great games, and then a large string of bad games. He also battled injuries for the last half of the season. Scandella was expected to make the team straight out of training camp and shocked a lot of fans when he was sent back to Houston after only a few games.

Technically, Scandella's rookie season was last year. But due to his age, and the fact that he only played a few games with the Wild this season, he was included in the list.

The playoffs have been a shining moment for Zucker. I have had the pleasure of watching him play since October, and yesterday's game was the best I have seen him play.

Scoring the GWG in OT isn't anything new to Zucker (this is his 5^th OT goal in the last year, 3 in Houston and 1 with DU). But he has taken the advice given to him by the coaches in Houston and in Minnesota to heart, and stepped up his game to another level.

The late breaking news this morning was that Brodin was snubbed as a Calder finalist. We'll have an article discussing this more in-depth later today.

That being said, Brodin hands down wins the title of most surprising this season. He played relatively few games in Houston due to his broken clavicle in November, so most people were unsure of what to expect from him. Very few people had the foresight to expect this much skill, this quickly from him.

Charlie Coyle has also surprised many people this season. I will admit, I was concerned when he was called up and placed on the top line. It was never about lack of skills however. Coyle has shown that he knows how to use his body to get at pucks, protect them, and make smart plays. Opposing players have learned that knocking him off the puck is pretty difficult.

Plus, you can't talk about Coyle without mention THE SHIFT.

Charlie Coyle's monster shift (via