Just as the regular season ended for baseball, the hockey season begins. That's what's so great about these two sports; they keep you busy for the entire year.
Not much has changed with the lineup; it should be pretty similar to last season. You've got the hard-working Zach Parise, minute-eater Ryan Suter, speedy-scorer Jason Zucker, captain Mikko Koivu, plus guys like Charlie Coyle, Mikael Granlund and Matt Dumba.
I'll probably save writing about Heatley Jr. - I mean, Thomas Vanek - for another time. He was terrible last season and has already set the bar very low for his production this season. We'll see what we get.
I'm expecting more of the same this year from a team that's played well enough to make the playoffs the past couple years. On paper, their performance should have been better throughout the season, but obviously it didn't work out that way. They barely made it, beat the tough St. Louis Blues in the first round and then lost to the Chicago Blackhawks.
They'll need continued production from the top lines, plus it would be a nice boost to see a few guys step it up, like Coyle, Granlund or Jason Pominville. Then there's the power play. It was a sore spot last year and ranked near the bottom throughout. I'm not sure that will change all that much because I haven't heard of any major changes to the personnel or the setup with the man advantage. If it produces, it'll be a nice surprise.
Goaltending is key, of course
It's no secret that the acquisition of goalie Devan Dubnyk last winter saved the Wild's season. He played extremely well and is the guy you point to when you think about how the Wild came back from the brink and made the playoffs.
The Wild kept him around this season, signing him to a six-year, $26 million deal over the summer. While I'm glad they decided to stick with him, the numbers of this deal make me nervous. Six years is too long. Three or four maybe, but not six. Sure, he was outstanding last season, but will he be able to keep up that pace?
I guess I'm worried about the second half last year being a flash in the pan for him. I don't think he'll go in the tank or anything, but I just don't know if we've seen enough of him to warrant a six-year deal. I also got the impression that it was a pretty typical deal for a goaltender these days, so I can understand why Chuck Fletcher made the move, to a point.
It's probably just apprehension after the Niklas Backstrom deal backfired, and that was only three years. They signed him to the deal at age 35, and now he's riddled with injuries.
There's also Darcy Kuemper, a guy I'm hoping will rebound after I think he got into his own head too much last season.
Can they avoid the slump?
One of the bigger frustrations that's now become rather routine for the Wild is what I'll call the New Years Slump. The past couple years, the team went into a downward spiral around the mid-December, early January time frame.
It's caused a lot of concern that Coach Mike Yeo would lose his job.
For me, this will be a test for the Wild. Now matter how the first couple months of the season go, the key will be this window in December and January. We've gotten used to a slump. We'll hold our breaths to see if they can prove us wrong and break out of this unfavorable pattern. It would be a small step forward if they can.
Even if they slump at another point in the season, which could happen, it might not be as bad if they can avoid history repeating itself. It may just be psychological, but I might feel a little better with a strong New Years winning streak, even if there's still a string of bad losses somewhere else on the schedule.
The goals
Before last season, I wrote about how the Wild needed to go deeper in the playoffs than losing out in the second round. That hasn't changed for this season. They need to win the second round.
Last year, they played so well when they needed to at the end of the season, just to get into the postseason, that I think they were worn out when they faced Chicago and were swept out of the second round. With essentially the same group coming back, the Wild should have their sights set on a deep run.
Easy for everyone to say. I mean, the end of last year surprised us, too. We didn't think the Wild would nearly hit rock bottom and then limp into the playoffs again. But they did. I'd really like to be hopeful and think that this team has moved past the point where they sneak into the top eight. Just shoot for the top-four in the still-tough Western Conference and save the fingernails of the fan base for once.
I'd like to see the Wild in the conference finals. Then again, in a conference so tight and competitive, they could just as easily falter under the pressure and missed the playoffs, too. But right now, I just want to watch some hockey.
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