Wild Blogger Round Table: Part One

With the length of the break, and so you are not stuck sifting through so many questions in one sitting, we will split this into several parts, and give you one part each day, with some fun at the end. Let's meet those participating:

From Hockey Wilderness: Nathan Eide, Monica McAlister, JS Landry, Elise Butler, and myself.

Heather Galindo from her own Ms. Conduct blog, Pro Hockey News, and The Third Intermission. If you don't know who she is by now, I fear for your safety in the big bad, world. She is the foremost expert on all things Aeros and hot goalies.

From First Round Bust:

Nathan Wells (GopherState in the comments here at HW)

Dan Shrader

Jeremy - I started following the Wild in 2003 while living in Minnesota, but became a hockey addict 3 years ago. I currently write for GonePuckWild.

Monica: The fact that they have not totally given up. They lost a goaltender in the preseason, they dropped both  games in Finland, yet with the bad start, they have slowly pushed their way back into the play off bubble. The Western Conference is so tight for points that as long as they don't hit too many bumps in the road (and that the All-Star break doesn't hurt momentum) , they should have a chance.

Heather: On the whole, when I think about the Wild, it's like thinking about a friend who you're kinda "meh" about spending time with because, while sometimes it ends up being pretty fun, most of the time you go home after and just feel drained and sad. Individually, however, I'm head over heels for Burnzie. Not only because he's been great for the Wild and is fun to watch, but because he's so money for my fantasy hockey team. And of course, I still think Clutter is awesome. And Zanon... I tell ya, as a goalie myself, that kind of shot blocking prowess blows my skirt up big time.

Elise: I'm going to ignore that this is a 'what' question and change it into a 'who' question so I can say Brent Burns. He has a bad game every once and awhile but the way he's playing this season is not only All-Star-worthy but just so much fun to watch. I'm just glad the switching between forward/defense and concussion issues stopped and he's become a complete blue line stud.

Nathan W.: Right now it is their ability to win on the road and against top competition. After a season where the Wild struggled to win away from the Xcel Energy Center, it's refreshing to see Minnesota top last year's road win total in January. In addition, Minnesota has shown that they are able to hold their own against the top teams in the league by beating Vancouver (twice), Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay, Boston, Washington and Nashville and holding their own (with few exceptions) every night.

Dan S.: That this team gets it now; there were times last year where it were so many WTF moments. Now you watch this team, and its like everyone is on the same page, knowing where to be, what to do, where to go- especially the defensemen. I cannot emphasize how big an impact Rick Wilson has had coaching up the blueline. Hell I'd donate some of my hard earned duckets to cover some of the cost of poaching him from Tampa Bay.

JS: I'll have to say the goaltending. Save for a few games in which it was pretty wonky, we've had some great goaltending from Backstrom, Theodore and even Khudobin! This was one of our weaknesses last year (of course the defense didn't help at all), and it was one of the big issues that needed to change if we were going to make the playoffs this year. We're not quite in the playoffs yet, but if we do make them, it'll be in large part thanks to the goaltending. I'm also impressed at the big steps up Havlat, Burns and Clutterbuck took this season.

Bryan: The fact that they are in playoff competition. At one point, they were one point from last place in the conference, and now they are one point out of the playoffs. If you had asked me in mid-December if this team had a chance at the playoffs, I would have laughed in your face. I still don't think they are playing at their potential, but they seem to be holding it together just well enough. Impressive that despite the second period nap, they still have a chance at the playoffs.

Monica: The trip to Finland was a bust. Big homecoming for Niklas Backstrom being from Helsinki and Koivu is a superstar over there much like his brother Saku. Maybe taking teams back home is not the best idea. Good for ticket sales but both the Red Wings and the Wild flopped when they went back to Sweden and Finland. 

Heather: I dunno. It's hard to pick one. Even Mikko was disappointing for a while. And I really hate the way Havlat plays. I know he's "really good" and whatnot, but I can't stand to watch him unless it's literally the moment he's putting the puck in the net. I can't explain why he irritates me so. 

Elise: The inconsistency and fluctuation of the team's play drives me crazy. Yes, a lot of teams can be streaky, but whenever I think the players are really coming together, they play uninspired hockey and blow it. Even within games, the second period slump has become infamous in the Wild world and can completely change the outcome of the game. I'm not expecting the team to win every game, but as a fan you hope for some semblance of consistency.

Jeremy: Guillaume Latendresse. This guy was expected to step up big this season and instead he showed up big. He was out of shape and it showed early on. How many penalties did he commit because he couldn't skate? The Wild could really use his scoring touch too.

Bryan: The lack of 60 minutes of play on so many occasions. These are professional hockey players, and should not need extra motivation. They look so strong, and so good when they are going 100%, it is frustrating to have to write about 35 or 40 minute efforts. When they work hard (Sorry Tom), they cannot be beat. The acknowledge the problem, the long lulls in focus, and yet they continue. It likely almost cost the coach his job. The players are to blame, have accepted the blame, and yet still they do nothing about it.