Wilderness Walk: The Man

Another strong contender is the Lester McClean song written to celebrate the trade made to bring Dubnyk to the Wild.

Wild News

Dubnyk carrying Wild and putting together a Vezina-type season | The Hockey News
Gabby Boudreau coming in with the hot takes. I love it.

Plenty of unsung heroes in Wild's trip-ending victory - StarTribune.com
More like sidekicks, but sure I guess other players helped the Wild win last night.

Wild finishes 'long grind' of a road trip with gritty win in Toronto - StarTribune.com
Recaps.

Wild cap road trip with 3-2 win over Maple Leafs – Twin Cities

Recaps.

Wild move Nino Niederreiter up, Zach Parise down
YAAAASSSSSSS.

Wild notes: Advanced stats reflect well on Niederreiter - StarTribune.com
Just to be clear, Hockey Wilderness had this scoop long before Russo got around to figuring this out.

Dubnyk enjoying winning after nearly losing NHL career - Sportsnet.ca
What a nice young man.

Why Minnesota Struggles in Overtime
It wouldn't be Minnesota sports if we didn't include some bad news.

On Frozen Pond

Notes: No. 1 vs. 2 on Tap at Denver | College Hockey, Inc.
College hockey roundup including an unusual second showdown between the top two ranked schools this season.

Badgers men's hockey: 'Respectable start' gives Big Ten teams reason for optimism | Wisconsin Badgers Hockey | host.madison.com
The Big Ten wasn't ever going to be a legit conference unless Penn State found a way to become nationally competitive... and it might take more than that, but this is a good start.

Off the Trail

Milestone: Karlsson becomes Senators’ top-scoring D-man - Sportsnet.ca
Speaking of good hockey players today...

30 Thoughts: Still at odds over NHL Olympic participation - Sportsnet.ca
I don't care for the owners trying to move the financial burden of participation onto the players via an extension to the CBA, especially as some players get to represent their country and others get a short mid-season vacation so there isn't an even exchange here.