Wilderness Walk: Moving on up

After a mini slump of sorts over the past few weeks, the Minnesota Wild have gotten back to back wins at home over the Montreal Canadiens and the Florida Panthers to seemingly get them out of their slump. They can’t let of the gas, however, as they are still not in a playoff position and will likely have to battle all year to get back to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the 7th season in a row. A matinee game against the high flying Calgary Flames on saturday should be a very good test.

Wild News

Olympian Hannah Brandt skates with Minnesota Wild — ‘That was awesome’ – Twin Cities

On Frozen Pond

Olympian Hannah Brandt skates with Minnesota Wild — ‘That was awesome’ – Twin Cities

Hockey Day a month away: Rink site growing ahead of January event | Bemidji Pioneer

Off the Trail

NHL Wysh List: Picking goal songs for NHL stars
Sidney Crosby and Beethoven? Tom Wilson and Britney Spears? Greg Wyshynski picks out personalized goal songs.

NHL 'toughness' is dying out, and that's a good thing
No matter how much some people pine for more "toughness" in the NHL, the league is never going back to how it used to be.

Five NHL veterans who could be on the move
Will one of these players be on the move before next week's roster freeze?

Do Bruins have the best goaltending in the NHL? It certainly looks that way
As the NHL season approaches the mid-way mark, it certainly appears that the Bruins goaltending combination of Jaroslav Halak and Tuukka Rask may be the best in the NHL. The duo has kept a banged up B's squad in the playoff hunt.

An NHL Player With an Unusual Side Gig: Writing Children’s Books - WSJ
The Maple Leafs’ Zach Hyman wrote three children’s books while in the process of scoring 89 points in 210 NHL games.

Stanley Cup Odds: Tampa Bay Lightning atop the NHL futures | SI.com
Tampa Bay is listed at +350 (bet $100 to win $350) to take home the Stanley Cup while Toronto is right behind at +380.