I have never been to Minnesota and only know one Minnesotan, who I like very much and consider representative of people from the state. I have never cared much for the Minnesota Wild and still find myself referring to them as “the Stars,” from time to time. However, on Tuesday night I will be a loud and proud Wild fan, and I do not care who knows it.
As of last night, the Los Angeles Kings are out of a playoff spot and their odds are dwindling. Calgary, who torched the Islanders last night for their seventh straight victory, are now eight points up. With seventeen games left to play, the Kings likely lost any chance at catching their division rivals last week.
This leaves L.A. one team to catch: The St. Louis Blues. With a victory over the National Hockey League club formerly known as the Colorado Avalanche, the Blues moved one point ahead of the Kings (69 v. 68) with one game in hand (64 v. 65 GP). This is why Tuesday night’s game against the Wild is so critical for the Kings; a Blues loss is a big win for L.A. Come Thursday night the Kings could be facing anywhere from a one to three point gap for the final wild card spot, and a Wild win in regulation would help in a big way.
Go Wild, Go! If this is not their fans’ actual chant, I apologize for nothing.
Sunday Game Highlights
Lets’ start with our hopeful heroes! Check out the hustle and flow by Matt Dumba to set up Eric Staal.
Sticking with Kings-centric highlights, I wasn’t lying when I said the Flames torched the Islanders last night. This thing was over in the first, people.
Worthwhile Reading
Did you hear about Olivia Lettich, the 11 year old girl from Alberta? Seriously, take some time to read about her story, you won’t regret it.
Ryan Kennedy has a great piece on the state of hockey in Alaska, and times are tough. The culprit? Supply and demand.
Pavel Bure. The most electrifying hockey player in my lifetime broke into the league twenty-five years ago; let’s take a trip down memory lane.
Love him or hate him, I think Ken Campbell is right here. The trade deadline stinks nowadays, and I’m not sure it will get much better (or if it could).