| Douglas Benton. 15th October, 2007 - 8:43 pm
 The Minnesota Wild are one of the fast rising teams in the NHL and just like last year, they are off to a hot start. With their 2-0 win over the defending champion Anaheim Ducks Sunday night, the Wild remained the only undefeated team in the league. Strong goaltending, speed and good coaching have the Wild faithful thinking of a deep playoff run.
Ever since the Wild were created and hired head coach Jacques Lemaire, it has been all about defense in Minnesota. Lemaire, one of the best defensive minds in the league, prided his teams on the famed neutral zone traps. However, new rules have forced Lemaire to back off some, but he has replaced any deficiencies by putting speed all over the ice.
Forward Marian Gaborik was voted the fastest player in the NHL in the October 8 issue of Sporting News. With him, the Wild also have Pavol Demetria, who has four points in five games so far, and Pierre Marc-Bouchard, who has good speed and plays physical despite his lack of size. The key cog though is Brian Rolston, who provides a veteran presence for the younger stars.
Scoring though has been slow this season with just 11 goals thus far. The Wild struggled at times last season, especially in their first round series loss to the Anaheim Ducks last year. They also need to take advantage on the power player, where they rank 29th this season at 5.3%.
While scoring and speed have both improved and raised more question marks over the last few seasons in Minnesota, it is their defense and goaltending that has been the spotlight this season. As a team, the Wild have only given up four goals in five games, thanks to new full-time starter Niklas Backstorm, who leads the league in goals against average (1.00) and save percentage (.959).
Some keys for the Wild to maintain their success, unlike last season, is to keep Gaborik healthy and at full strength, try to find consistent scoring every night and gain comfort in play more physically. These areas will help the Wild win in the regular season and advance come playoff time.
What do you think about the Minnesota Wild? Hockey in general? Email your thoughts to Douglas.Benton@realgm.com |
