Scoring Goals: A Minnesota Wild Comparison

The Wild could not score goals.

Here is how it has played out thus far:

The Wild cannot score goals.

The scoring has actually dropped by a tenth of a goal a game. The Wild have more scoring potential, on paper, than any team in the franchise's history, and their scoring per game has gone down. Down. $196 million dollars committed, and the scoring has gone... down.

The Wild have scored one goal, just the one, in regulation in six straight games, and done so a total of 8 times in 13 games. In 82 games last season, they scored one goal in regulation 26 times. At their current rate (61.5% of games), projected over the full season, the Wild will do so 29 times. Over an 82 game schedule, that would be 50 games.

Those numbers are unlikely to become truth, as no team can possibly be that inept for that long without someone accidentally potting two all by themselves. Still, they should be eye opening for the Wild. Scoring one goal a game in regulation is not how to win games. At least not without Jacques Lemaire behind the bench. Scoring one goal a game is not the way to keep an owner, whose pockets still hurt, happy about his decision to spend ludicrous amounts of money.

Wrong.

The solution, once again, is simple. Shooting the puck creates chances, chances lead to goals. Put bodies in front of the net, and shoot the stupid puck until it goes in. This is something we all learned playing hockey when we were six. It's time to stop offering rum at the altar of Jobu and do it themselves.

If they continue to plod along hoping that the opposing teams are going to let Parise score out of respect for his career, it is going to be a very long short season. If they are "Waiting for Mikko" to do something, as has been the case for the past four years, people are going to end up very fired, very fast.

This is a team that has players that know where the net is, and know how to find it. They need to quit being so timid and just start blasting away. Talk all you want about the system, it works. They have the puck. They just cannot seem to get past the idea that they are not in a long term, committed and loving relationship with the 3" piece of circular vulcanized rubber and send it on its way every chance they get.

Get over yourselves. You aren't Pavel Datsyuk. Quit looking for pretty and just score.

Hit the curve ball, boys.