Just got a call from Kent Youngblood, who wrote a pretty cool game story today regarding Matt Foy oversleeping yesterday. Check it out if you haven’t seen it.

Only six or seven guys skated today. Pavol Demitra (groin) skated on his own again before practice. Team says he is “day-to-day on whether he can join full practice from here.”

I got in touch with Wild assistant GM Tom Lynn regarding that Swiss online magazine report of Petteri Nummelin, for the 100th time, allegedly wanting out of his Wild contract so he could play in Europe.

Lynn’s response: “I have heard this rumor at various times since August and believe it comes from a Swiss team’s effort to falsely make their fans think he is coming to play, in order to sell more tickets and alleviate fan pressure. I have spoken to Petteri directly, and he is very happy playing for the Wild, especially with his recent increased ice time and contributions. Not only is he uninterested in returning to Europe, he believes he will contribute to a run at a memorable season here in Minnesota and continue to pursue his dream of a Stanley Cup.”

I had to reschedule my Lasik eye surgery this morning. It was scheduled for Wednesday, but with the possible fireworks that may occur in Wednesday’s game vs. Vancouver, I didn’t feel I could miss it.

I’ve exchanged emails with the Vancouver Sun writer who accidentally wrote that Derek Boogaard said he’d “slash” Naslund and the Sedin Twins when Boogaard really said, “check.”

The writer said he made an honest mistake and he ran a correction in today’s Vancouver Sun. It was a hectic night the other night for all of us and I believe him.

This is obviously a sensitive thing because by no way, shape or form did Boogaard vow revenge on the Canucks’ skilled players, as has been reported in some places in Vancouver and even here in the Twin Cities.

He said, “Their so-called agitators were taking liberties. As soon as I stepped on the ice, they just sort of spread out and scatter in their holes almost. They don’t want to come near me and talk to me. But they think they can slash and stick and punch our skill guys. I’m not going to stand for it.”

To me, it’s compulsory for the media not to put words in Boogaard’s mouth, like saying he vowed revenge. Brad May vowed revenge at Steve Moore once, remember? May got himself in a whole lot of legal trouble after Todd Bertuzzi broke Moore’s neck for quote-unquote putting a “bounty” on Moore’s head.

Boogaard did nothing of the sort. In fact, everything he said the other night after that heated game, he thought through carefully. In fact, somebody asked if there’d be retribution, and he paused, smirked and said, “No.”

In other words, he was trying not to say anything that could be used against him in a ….. , you know what I mean.

By the way, The Canucks just reassigned tiny skilled player Jannik Hansen and recalled Mike Brown, who had 19 fights in the minors last year and five this year. Wonder why?

I’ve gotten emails from fans about all the Olli Jokinen trade rumors from Florida and whether the Wild, in need of a dominant center, would have interest.

I’ve gotten assurances from a source in Florida (you can’t get any higher than this person inside the organization) that the Jokinen trade rumors are “100,000%” hogwash.

Still, there reportedly has been a lot of behind-the-scenes disagreements between coach/GM Jacques Martin and Jokinen, so it could get heated. And Florida is very experienced with power jostling between players and coaches.

Jokinen is a good guy and a great player. He’s also never ever ever ever injured and produces constantly. Has played the most games in the NHL without playing a playoff game, however.

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This entry was posted on Monday, November 19th, 2007 at 1:23 pm and is filed under Practice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.