Round 2 Playoff Predictions

Eastern Conference

1 Boston Bruins vs. 6 Carolina - Boston in 7
2 Washington Capitals vs. 4 Pittsburgh Penguins - Pittsburgh in 6

Western Conference

2 Detroit Red Wings vs. 8 Anaheim Ducks - Detroit in 6
3 Vancouver Canucks vs. 4 Chicago Blackhawks - Vancouver in 7

Read more...

Round 2 Schedule

SERIES I	#1 vs. #6	NETWORK
Friday, May 1	at Boston, 7:30 p.m.	VERSUS (JIP), TSN
Sunday, May 3	at Boston, 7:30 p.m.	VERSUS, TSN
Wednesday, May 6	at Carolina, 7:30 p.m.	VERSUS (JIP), TSN
Friday, May 8	at Carolina, 7:30 p.m.	VERSUS (JIP), TSN
*Sunday, May 10	at Boston, 7:30 p.m.	VERSUS, TSN
*Tuesday, May 12	at Carolina, 7:00 p.m.	VERSUS, TSN
*Thursday, May 14	at Boston, TBD	TSN
SERIES J	#2 vs. #4	NETWORK
Saturday, May 2	at Washington, 1:00 p.m.	NBC, CBC, RDS
Monday, May 4	at Washington, 7:00 p.m.	VERSUS, CBC, RDS
Wednesday, May 6	at Pittsburgh, 7:00 p.m.	VERSUS, CBC, RDS
Friday, May 8	at Pittsburgh, 7:00 p.m.	VERSUS, CBC, RDS
*Saturday, May 9	at Washington, 7:00 p.m.	VERSUS, CBC, RDS
*Monday, May 11	at Pittsburgh, TBD	VERSUS, CBC, RDS
*Wednesday, May 13	at Washington, 7:00 p.m.	VERSUS, CBC, RDS
SERIES K	#2 vs. #8	NETWORK
Friday, May 1	at Detroit, 7:00 p.m.	VERSUS, TSN2
Sunday, May 3	at Detroit, 2:00 p.m.	NBC, TSN
Tuesday, May 5	at Anaheim, 10:30 p.m.	VERSUS, TSN
Thursday, May 7	at Anaheim, 10:30 p.m.	VERSUS, TSN
*Sunday, May 10	at Detroit, 5:00 p.m.	TSN
*Tuesday, May 12	at Anaheim, TBD	VERSUS, TSN
*Thursday, May 14	at Detroit, TBD	VERSUS, TSN
SERIES L	#3 vs. #4	NETWORK
Thursday, April 30	at Vancouver, 9:00 p.m.	CBC, VERSUS
Saturday, May 2	at Vancouver, 9:00 p.m.	CBC, VERSUS
Tuesday, May 5	at Chicago, 8:00 p.m.	CBC, VERSUS
Thursday, May 7	at Chicago, 8:00 p.m.	CBC, VERSUS
*Saturday, May 9	at Vancouver, 10:30 p.m	CBC, VERSUS
*Monday, May 11	at Chicago, 9:00 p.m.	CBC, VERSUS (JIP)
*Thursday, May 14	at Vancouver, TBD	CBC, VERSUS

* - if necessary

Read more...

Backstrom, Vezina Nominee

Here's the story from NHL.com

Read more...

Last Two Weeks, Quick Look at the Roster

Just a little over two weeks since the end of the season for the Minnesota Wild, and I've been a little depressed hockey-wise with no rooting interests in the Stanley Cup playoffs and the injuries that have been coming out of the woodworks since the beginning of the offseason have just made it worse.

Here's some bullet points of the the last two weeks since the season has ended and a look at the player situation right now for the Wild:

• Jacques Lemaire resigned from his position as head coach of the Minnesota Wild.
• Doug Risebrough's contract was "not renewed" by Craig Leipold, as the Wild will now have to search for a new GM and coach.
• Bad luck for players with last names beginning with 'B' in the organization as Bouchard, Brunette, Burns, Boogaard, Backstrom, and Bergeron are all currently injuried, along with Koivu, Schultz and Fritsche.
• Wild send 5 players to the IIHF WCs in Switzerland: Zidlicky (Cze), Miettinen (Fin), Harding (Can), Olvecky (Svk), and Madsen (Den).
• The search for a GM is on!

As for the Wild’s GM search, I hear Craig Leipold has more than 25 applicants, and he’s weeding out some names currently.

I also hear the interview process has begun, but I won’t start throwing names on unless I get it 100 percent confirmed that they’ve met. I am pretty sure one (Irish) bigwig that I’ve quoted in the past week was in town, but like I said, unless I find out that he was 100 percent in town to meet with the Wild, I’m not going to assume why he was here.

But you know things are getting down to the nitty gritty because suddenly candidates either don’t return calls or are hesitant to speak on the record. That typically means the process has reached a stage where everybody thinks they’ve got a chance for the job and don’t want to say anything to spoil their chances at it. ~Russo

Players under contract for the 09-10 season:

• Pierre-Marc Bouchard, C - concussion
  
• Mikko Koivu, C - knee
  
• Owen Nolan, R
• Andrew Brunette, L - knee
  
• Antti Miettinen, L
• Eric Belanger, C
• James Sheppard, C
• Colton Gillies, C
• Derek Boogaard, L - shoulder
  
• Cal Clutterbuck, R
• Craig Weller, R
• Kim Johnsson, D
• Brent Burns, D - concussion, shoulder
  
• Nick Schultz, D - concussion
  
• Marek Zidlicky, D
• John Scott, D
• Niklas Backstrom, G - hip

Restricted Free Agents:

• Benoit Pouliot, C
• Dan Fritsche, C - broken collarbone
• Peter Olvecky, L
• Danny Irmen, C
• Josh Harding, G

Unrestricted Free Agents:

• Marian Gaborik, L
• Stephane Veilleux, L
• Krys Kolanos, C
• Martin Skoula, D
• Marc-Andre Bergeron, D - back
  
• Kurtis Foster, D
• Tomas Mojzis, D
• Nolan Schaefer, G

Read more...

2009 IIHF World Championships

With the IIHF World Championships just two days away in Switzerland, I thought I'd throw up a little tidbit about the World Championships. The Wild will have 5 players playing for their countries during the World Championships which are Josh Harding (Can), Morten Madsen (Den), Antti Miettinen (Fin), Peter Olvecky (Svk), and Marek Zidlicky (Cze). Usually during the World Championships teams don't have their big names in place because of the NHL playoffs. There are some names that Wild fans might recognize on some rosters like Petteri Nummelin (Fin), Rickard Wallin (Swe), and Mattais Weinhandl (Swe). They haven't released the where the games will be broadcasted yet, but people can watch the games online at the IIHF website for all 56 games at 39.95 Euros (51.79 USD) or a single game for 6.95 Euros (9.00 USD).

Here's the complete schedule for the games:

Remember that Zurich/Berne is 7 hours ahead of the central time zone.

Read more...

Next GM, Injury News

The question now after Craig Leipold "didn't renew" Doug Risebrough's contract is: Who will be the Minnesota Wild's general manager? Michael Russo threw out some names which includes Pat Quinn, Doug MacLean, Jay Feaster, Rick Dudley, Neil Smith, Pierre McGuire, Chuck Fletcher, Ron Hextall and Peter Chiarelli. And...uh...Jacques Lemaire has already told Russo that he's not intereseted in being the GM. Whoever it is will have to make a lot of major decisions this offseason, and they'll be important ones, starting with who will be the next head coach.

News on other fronts:
From Russo's article:

Backstrom said Thursday he might need surgery.

"I saw a doctor today, and the team doctors, and we have to decide now in a couple days if I need surgery," Backstrom said. "I need to get other opinions, and also from back home in Finland. It's tough for me because everything's in English, so I need someone to translate to me so I know exactly what's going on."

Backstrom said he hoped to talk to Gaborik so he can see his hip specialist, Marc Philippon of the Steadman Hawkins Clinic in Vail, Colo. Backstrom said the recovery from surgery "is speculated, but in my mind, I'll be ready by the start of the season."

Isn't that just great :( ... Andrew Brunette had successful reconstructive right knee surgery, and Derek Boogaard will have surgery on his right shoulder on Tuesday.

Read more...

Risebrough Fired by Leipold

Via Russo and NHL.com:

Minnesota Wild Owner, Craig Leipold, announced today that the organization will not renew the contract of President and General Manager, Doug Risebrough, beyond the 2008-2009 season.

"The entire Minnesota Wild organization is forever indebted to Doug for his substantial efforts in establishing this franchise's solid foundation and winning tradition," said Leipold. "The positive impact of Doug's service will be felt for many years to come. We wish Doug the very best."

The search for a new General Manager will begin immediately. The first order of business for the incoming General Manager will be to select the team's next Head Coach.

Until a replacement is found, Assistant General Manager Tom Lynn, will be acting-General Manager.

From Craig Leipold:

Wild fans,

I wanted to personally be the one to tell you of my very difficult decision not to renew Doug Risebrough’s contract beyond the 2008-2009 season. I have agonized over this decision for some time now, but ultimately, I reached the conclusion that change was in order.

I cannot begin to thank Doug enough for all that he has done for this organization over the past nine years. When he arrived he brought instant credibility, expertise and extraordinary work ethic to an expansion franchise in desperate need of those things. He then worked tirelessly to build the Minnesota Wild into one of the premier franchises in the NHL. So much of our success – on and off the ice – is directly attributable to Doug’s leadership and his legacy will remain evident for years to come in the aura of success and winning tradition that defines this place. I know that you’ll join me in wishing Doug and his family the very best.

The search for a new General Manager will begin immediately. The first order of business for the incoming General Manager will be to select the next Head Coach.

On behalf of our entire organization, we thank Wild fans for the incredible support you’ve given us.

Craig Leipold

It's something that Wild fans have been calling for since the beginning of the season, and with the disappointment of not making the playoffs, it doesn't come as a shocker...but it is. The Wild are now a team without a GM and a head coach, and with a team that was already facing a lot of questions going into the offseason, the main question will now be...

Who will be the next GM of the Minnesota Wild?

Read more...