Wilderness Walk: 7-24-2013

The Olympics. Such a beautiful time, when all the World's best hockey players come together to play. And not play for money, by the way, but for a big hunk of gold.

I might cry a bit.

Also, remember that the Defending the Blue Line Charity Game will be taking place on August 3rd at Ridder Arena. Please know that you may purchase tickets for yourself, or donate them to military families here. For those of you who don't know, Defending the Blue Line is a great charity that donates to military families so that they can afford for their children to participate in the great sport of hockey. Thank you for your time.

Now on to the Walk

U.S. Olympic GM: Wild's Zach Parise, Ryan Suter 'our best players' - TwinCities.com- This has gotta be at least a bit painful for David Poile, no?

Critiquing Chuck Fletcher's Offseason: Minnesota Wild GM Gambles- An offseason overview of the Wild from Sebastian of The Hockey Writers.

First Round Bust: 7/23 Wild News & Notes: Cullen, Graovac, Rivals & More- Some Wild notes and big news for one of the FRB crew.

Off the Trail

Canada will be star-studded, but Steve Yzerman isn’t building an All-Star team | Puck Daddy - Yahoo! Sports- On why Team Canada is putting defensive defencemen in camp.

Constructing a Team Canada roster from orientation camp snubs | Backhand Shelf | Blogs | theScore.com- In case you needed to know how awesome Canada is at hockey...

Both U.S and Canada have issues to address for Sochi Olympics - NHL - Brian Cazeneuve - SI.com- In case you thought that these teams were bullet-proof...

On the 2013-14 NHL schedule, the value of rest, and how players deal with travel | Backhand Shelf | Blogs | theScore.com- Justin Bourne talks about travel, but I'd like to point out that the Wild don't really have to travel a whole lot less than they did in previous years. Is the benefit for them merely not having to leave the Central time zone as much?

Study: NHL outlawing hits to the head hasn't decreased concussions - NHL - Stu Hackel - SI.com- What I found interesting was how few of these concussions actually came from illegal contact.

Report: Anaheim Ducks to become Mighty once more as part of 20th season | Puck Daddy - Yahoo! Sports- Gross.

The Faker's Guide to Advanced Stats in the NHL - The Triangle Blog - Grantland- On a tip from Ger of Gone Puck Wild, Down Goes Brown gives his Advanced Stats Basics. If you'd like to learn more about advanced stats in hockey (which I am trying to do, with as little effort as possible), this is a good place to start.