Minnesota Wild - NHL10 BEAGM (First time poster)

[sdjbiman]

Wild Prepare for Season...Name Koivu Captain



By: Mick Reikelson (made up name)
--September 30, 2009

The Wild have had a strong training camp this year as they started to hammer out their lines. Newly appointed GM Chuck Fletcher and Head Coach Todd Richards had an extended look at some of their rookies and ultimately decided to let their young guns enjoy some years in the AHL to develop. They hope to have more success than the Wild of the 08-09 season that missed the playoffs.

The Wild also announced today that Mikko Koivu would be the first permanent captain in team history, Koivu was happy to take the honor of being the captain, and can't wait for the season to begin.

These were the lines that were shown to me by what the Wild will be using for the first game in Columbus on October 3rd for the season opener. It will be a tough start with a 5-game road-trip after a stop at home after the Columbus game.

Here are the lines:
Andrew Brunette "A"-Mikko Koivu "C"-Chuck Kobasew
Guillaume Latendresse-Pierre-Marc Bouchard-Martin Havlat "A"
Owen Nolan-James Sheppard-Cal Clutterbuck
Andrew Ebbett-Kyle Brodziak-Antti Miettinen

Brent Burns-Cam Barker
Marek Zidlicky-Nick Schultz
Greg Zanon-Clayton Stoner

Niklas Backstrom
Josh Harding


It looks to be an exciting year, and we'll see if Coach Richards can get the team back to the playoffs this year.

[mikko1995]

Yes! A Wild dynasty! Great start man. I will definetly follow.

[bthomp05]

Welcome to the boards. A wild dynasty would be interesting. Good luck.

Great first write-up by the way.

[sdjbiman]

Wild Notch First Win


Chuck Kobasew notched 2 goals to seal the game away in the 3rd.

By: Mick Reikelson

Game Recap | , | Minnesota Wild at Columbus Blue Jackets

1 2 3 F Minnesota Wild (1-0-0) 1 1 4 6 Columbus Blue Jackets (0-1-0) 0 2 1 3 Three Stars Chuck Kobasew 2 Goals Rick Nash 1 Goal, 1 Assist Guillaume Latendresse 1 Goal, 1 Assist	Head-to-Head Statistics MIN CLB Shots on Goal 31 24 Hits 20 21 Faceoffs Won-Lost 13 20 Penalty Minutes 4 6 Power Plays Converted 1 1 Total Power Plays 3 2 Time on Attack 8:54 5:05
Scoring Summary FIRST PERIOD SCORING MIN Cal Clutterbuck N. Schultz, N. Backstrom EV 8:06 SECOND PERIOD SCORING MIN Guillaume Latendresse M. Havlat EV 5:00 CLB Andrew Murray D. Dorsett, S. Pahlsson EV 5:27 CLB Rick Nash K. Huselius EV 8:50 THIRD PERIOD SCORING MIN Andrew Brunette M. Koivu, N. Schultz PP 8:41 CLB R.J. Umberger R. Nash, K. Huselius PP 11:21 MIN James Sheppard C. Clutterbuck, G. Zanon EV 13:54 MIN Chuck Kobasew B. Burns, A. Ebbett EV 17:29 MIN Chuck Kobasew G. Latendresse, M. Zidlicky EV 19:15
Minnesota Wild - Goaltending PLAYER NAME SHOTS SAVES SV % GAA Niklas Backstrom 24 21 88% 3.02	Columbus Blue Jackets - Goaltending PLAYER NAME SHOTS SAVES SV % GAA Steve Mason 31 25 81% 6.01

Game Recap | October 3, 2010 | Minnesota Wild at Columbus Blue Jackets

The Wild got their first win tonight under new head coach Todd Richards and their first of the 09-10 season. They had a tough, hard fought game that saw Steve Mason make lots of saves even though he let in 6 goals.

Chuck Kobasew had 2 goals in tonight's game to put his team up 6-3 and ice the game away, but the Wild jumped out to a 2-0 lead early. They saw their lead evaporate on goals by Rick Nash and Andrew Murray. The Wild went up by 1 in the 3rd on a goal by Andrew Brunette on the PP. The Jackets responded with a PP goal of their own from R.J. Umberger.

Finally, James Sheppard was on the receiving end of a nice pass by Cal Clutterbuck. This put the Wild up by one. Chuck Kobasew scored his two goals between the circles as he fired his two shots high and beat Mason cleanly.

Most of the guys are happy about how the first game went, and can't wait to play the next. They come to play against the Ducks next.

[bthomp05]

6 to 3, great win.

[sdjbiman]

Wild Dominate in Second Win


Nolan potted a hat trick.

By: Mick Reikelson

Game Recap | October 6, 2009 | Anaheim Ducks at Minnesota Wild

1 2 3 F Anaheim Ducks (1-1-0) 0 1 1 2 Minnesota Wild (2-0-0) 2 3 3 8 Three Stars Owen Nolan Hat Trick Cam Barker 4 Assists Mikko Koivu 1 Goal, 2 Assists	Head-to-Head Statistics ANA MIN Shots on Goal 16 31 Hits 18 12 Faceoffs Won-Lost 17 22 Penalty Minutes 10:00 4:00 Power Plays Converted 0 1 Total Power Plays 2 4 Time on Attack 4:23 11:37
Scoring Summary FIRST PERIOD SCORING MIN Mikko Koivu C. Barker EV 0:28 MIN James Sheppard C. Clutterbuck, N. Schultz EV 5:31 SECOND PERIOD SCORING MIN Martin Havlat P. Bouchard, N. Backstrom EV 5:24 ANA Joffrey Lupul Unassisted EV 6:04 MIN Owen Nolan G. Zanon, C. Clutterbuck EV 10:08 MIN Greg Zanon K. Brodziak EV 10:43 THIRD PERIOD SCORING MIN Owen Nolan K. Brodziak, C. Barker SH 0:24 MIN Owen Nolan M. Koivu, C. Barker PP 4:31 ANA Kyle Chipchura A. Ward, G. Parros EV 8:39 MIN Chuck Kobasew M. Koivu, C. Barker EV 18:54
Anaheim Ducks - Goaltending PLAYER NAME SHOTS SAVES SV % GAA Jonas Hiller 20 14 70% 6.00 Joey Macdonald 11 9 82% 6.32	Minnesota Wild - Goaltending PLAYER NAME SHOTS SAVES SV % GAA Niklas Backstrom 16 14 88% 2.56

The Wild were ready to go from puck drop as Mikko Koivu took the opening faceoff, won it, and got a return pass from Cam Barker. He then dangled into the offensive zone and deked Hiller out and threw in a back-handed shot. The fun just kept continue to come as we saw James Sheppard, Martin Havlat, Greg Zanon, Owen Nolan, and Chuck Kobasew all get goals.

Owen Nolan scored his first 2 goals on rebounds and his final goal for the hat trick came on the PP when Koivu sent a pass right to the slot and Nolan beat MacDonald up high.

The Wild are off to a fast pace winning their first two games handily and scoring 14 goals. We'll see if they can continue to play well in their upcoming road trip. They'll see a 5-game road trip against the Kings, Sharks, Ducks, Oilers, and Canucks. They will need to come away with some points in this road trip.

[takeshi1191]

Great start! Keep it going!

[sdjbiman]

Wild Continue Streak


James Sheppard continued his hot streak just like the Wild scoring in each of the first 3 games.

By: Mick Reikelson

Game Recap | October 8, 2009 | Minnesota Wild at Los Angeles Kings

1 2 3 F Minnesota Wild (3-0-0) 0 2 1 3 Los Angeles Kings (1-2-0) 0 0 1 1 Three Stars Niklas Backstrom 19 Saves Anze Kopitar 1 Goal Drew Doughty 1 Assist	Head-to-Head Statistics MIN LAK Shots on Goal 30 20 Hits 17 17 Faceoffs Won-Lost 22 15 Penalty Minutes 12:00 14:00 Power Plays Converted 2 0 Total Power Plays 5 5 Time on Attack 9:22 5:22
Scoring Summary SECOND PERIOD SCORING MIN James Sheppard O. Nolan, G. Zanon EV 5:56 MIN Martin Havlat M. Koivu, B. Burns PP 13:18 THIRD PERIOD SCORING LAK Anze Kopitar R. Scuderi, D. Doughty EV 2:57 MIN Guillaume Latendresse N. Schultz, M. Zidlicky PP 19:52
Minnesota Wild - Goaltending PLAYER NAME SHOTS SAVES SV % GAA Niklas Backstrom 20 19 95% 2.05	Los Angeles Kings - Goaltending PLAYER NAME SHOTS SAVES SV % GAA Jonathan Quick 30 27 90% 3.35

Wild continued their hot streak tonight in LA. It looked to be a defensive game as both goalies looked good in the first period. The Wild took two early penalties, but the PK was good tonight. James Sheppard started off the scoring on a rebound of a point shot. Martin Havlat converted a shot from the slot after a pretty pass from Koivu. The Kings came back and scored to bring them within one as Kopitar got his own rebound and threw it past Backstrom. Latendresse would eventually score with 8 seconds left to ice the game away on the PP.

The Wild have had a great start to the season winning their first 3 games. James Sheppard continues his hot pace, and most of his goals have come in important situations. He is currently playing on a 3rd line role, but if he continues to play well, he could see his ice time increased on the top line somewhere. He has had a knack for scoring game-impacting goals such as tying goals, go-ahead goals, and first goals of the game.

The Wild hope to continue their early year success against the Sharks. The Sharks are off to a 2-2 start, but still boast a monster line of Marleau-Thornton-Heatley.

I've also heard some rumblings that the Wild are looking to acquire some forward help, and it's been heard that Pierre-Marc Bouchard might being dangled out there as a hope for a potential upgrade on the 2nd line. While Bouchard has played well this year, his faceoffs have not been very good this year and could be on his way out.