Getting caught up with Indy: Carb Day and the 500

The Indianapolis 500 was a few weeks ago already, but it's never a bad time to rehash the details. Let's just get the winner out of the way, since I'm pretty sure I won't spoil the result for anyone: Juan Pablo Montoya earned his second Indy 500 victory, his first coming back in 2000.

We'll rewind to before the race, however. I can now check going to Carb Day off my bucket list, if I had a list. Anyway, Carb Day happens each year on the Friday before the greatest spectacle in racing. (Yes, I always have to use that phrase at least once.) There's an hour-long practice session for the IndyCars, which is their last chance to get out on the track and test their setups before the big race.

Also among the festivities is a pit stop competition and the Freedom 100 Indy Lights race. The Indy Lights is the support series for IndyCar, like a minor league team.

Race cars in the summertime
We made the long drive to Indy and enjoyed a picture-perfect weather day. Sunny skies and just the right amount of warmth. What could be a better setting to watch race cars? Anyway, we got as far up in a turn four grandstand as we could to watch the practice session. (Fan tip: If you're in the stands for a race and aren't sitting as close to the top row as you can, you're doing it wrong.)



Our view let us see down pit road and the main straightaway, from a distance, and then as the cars entered the last couple turns of the 2.5-mile oval. The speed and the purr of the engines was just great. The only real bummers were a couple of caution flags for "debris on the track." With a crash-free session, I didn't buy that "debris" part.

Tough finish for Freedom 100
We watched the Freedom 100 in the grandstands near the yard of bricks marking the start-finish line. Watching race cars fly by on the main straight is a much different perspective than watching from high above in the stands of a turn, that's for sure. Even the speed of this support series is dazzling.

The Freedom 100s in 2013 and 2014 had amazing finishes. We're talking unheard of finishes. In 2013, it was four wide. Four cars wide! That's incredible, and the times were incredibly close. Last year was another close finish, too. What would 2015 have in store at the end? Not much.

The race went along fine until a late crash. That meant that the caution flag came out and there was no chance of getting things cleaned up in time for a restart. Finishes under yellow are just the worst. Well, unless you happened to be in the lead, I guess.


99th running of the Indy 500
As for the Indy 500 itself, we watched that on TV back at home. It pretty much came down to a showdown between - gasp - Penske and Ganassi, the top two teams in the series. History tells you that the 500 doesn't really ramp up until about lap 180 of 200. The past few years, it's been really exciting to watch these closing laps, because there are lead changes all over the place. You're not sure who's going to win.

Montoya made a pass for the lead with three laps to go, and it stuck. And hey, it wasn't Helio Castroneves, so I was happy with that. He's looking for his fourth Indy 500 win, which would put him in an elite class. But I always say he didn't get the one in 2002, and I'm not alone. Bitter? Eh, I don't care.

American drivers, with famous racing dads, Graham Rahal and Marco Andretti finished fifth and sixth. Not bad when they're competing with Honda engines, which are apparently inferior to Chevys this year. These two are both having more success this year, but still not the same as their fathers. It'll be interesting to see if they can break through and get some more wins.

As for next year's 100th running of the Indianapolis 500, I really hope to be there for that one.

Wild recap part 3: Scorers are a must

This latest series was evidence that the Minnesota Wild still doesn't have the pure-scoring players. Plus, something seems to be askew with the entire team system. This isn't a new problem. It's not one that started with Mike Yeo, nor is it a reason why he should be fired, just in case any of those #FireYeo peeps are still at it.

Don't get me wrong, Minnesota has talent and a deep lineup. Zach Parise is one of the hardest working guys on the ice, and his grit and determination put pucks in the net. Jason Zucker brings his speed. Marco Scandella has a blistering shot from his defensive point.

But a pure goal scorer? They don't have one.

Same ol' system
Now back to the system that's been a relatively unspoken issue for a few years. I'm talking about the one the Wild plays which often focuses on passing lanes and spreading the wealth with teammates like it's playtime at preschool. To put it simply, the Wild pass too much and don't think "score" enough.

Instead, this team gets the puck and stops just inside the zone, slowing the play down. They'll wait for teammates to catch up or finish getting on after a line change. They'll pass the puck 17 times around the zone looking for that highlight-reel goal, forgetting that anything can happen when you put the puck on net. They've sent three players behind the goal line for puck battles, resulting in no one out front to pass it to when they get it.

There can be too much hesitation when a player does decide to take a shot, giving the defense enough time to prepare and block or deflect shots. I've also never been a big fan of the dump-and-chase scenario, even though I know how it works and the benefits. That's another story.

Just my opinion from The Stands
All this being said, I'm not a hockey coach. Maybe there are things I'm missing about how effective these above strategies can be for a team trying to score a goal. Or maybe the Wild could try more plays driving the net and firing off more quality shots. Take a page out of Patrick Kane's book, for crying out loud. He gets the puck and before you blink, it's in the net.

To sum up the Wild's season is a tough task. It was filled with the mumps, the usual illnesses and injuries, heartbreak for Parise and Suter as they mourned their father's deaths, a terrible losing streak, and an amazing comeback that fell disappointingly short at the end.

Still, it was fun to watch and follow. I'll be back to watch again next season. Because after all, hockey is just such a blast.

Wild recap part 2: Steps backward, when going forward seemed easy

Let me address how this Minnesota Wild season should be viewed and the spin some people have chosen to put on it. Quickly after the playoff exit, there was a consensus that the Wild had a good season because of a "look at how far they've come" mentality, thinking back to digging out of a December/January collapse.

This is ridiculous.

Yes, the second-half comeback after the trade of Devan Dubnyk was remarkable. Yes, no one thought this team was playoff-bound in mid-January. Yes, this was one of the greatest stories out of the NHL this season.

That awesome run from mid-January to the end of the season looks pretty meaningless now. Thought the #MNWild had a chance this year. Nope.

— John Kriesel (@johnkriesel) May 8, 2015

Here's your bottom line
But we must look at the bigger picture. The worst slump in franchise history should have never happened in the first place. The Wild took a step backward this year. Period.

It came off a year in 2013-14 in which the team won a playoff series and lost a six-gamer to Chicago after outplaying the Blackhawks for much of the series. This season, it was reasonable to expect the Wild to be a top contending team in this league. They should have been striving for a division title or to be one of the leading teams, not a wildcard.

Their core group of players had another year of experience behind them. This was the year to make a mark and move forward.

Let's not forget either that if the Wild wouldn't have taken their feet off the pedal in the season's final week, they could have passed the Blackhawks and gotten a top-three spot, which came with home-ice advantage. Maybe that's not much of a difference, but we will never know.

Chicago will now face Anaheim in the Western Conference Finals. Anaheim has only surrendered one game this postseason, and that was in overtime in Calgary. Here's something else I heard about the Wild's playoff fate this year: Well, they weren't going to get past Anaheim anyway.

In their heads
While I don't disagree with that, given the clutch talent and hard-hitting players Anaheim has, I think this isn't the key point. The Wild needed to beat Chicago, to show that they can do it. To show that they have it in them and that Chicago doesn't create a mental block for them.

Because now it does.

Yes, the longer the series went on, the more Tweets and comments I saw about comparing the Blackhawks/Wild playoffs to the Yankees/Twins. I didn't think so coming into the series, but now I think Chicago is in their heads.

We're going to keep hearing about these stats until the Wild changes the course to rewrite history a little bit. The Wild are 0-9 in Chicago in the postseason, the Wild are 3-12 against Chicago in the postseason. All Patrick Kane essentially has to do is breathe and he scores a goal against the Wild. The unflattering list can go on and on. And we'll hear about it again and again.

The frustrating aspect is that Chicago's stars are young and will continue to be around for Wild tormenting purposes. How can Minnesota compete with that? Against opposing straight shooters who are now commonly called "snipers" around these parts. I'm not sure how Minnesota counters that.