The writing’s been on the wall, and in the paper for that matter.

For the first time in his Wild career, and for the first time since his rookie year, Mark Parrish is a healthy scratch tonight.

He’ll be replaced by Matt Foy. Sean Hill and Chris Simon are also scratched.

Postgame notes: I’ve covered tons and tons of games in this arena, and I’ve covered worse last-minute comebacks than this, believe it or not.

But just to show you what kind of character guy I am, I’ll fall on the knife on this one, folks.

Blame this meltdown to one of the NHL’s worst teams (one that had lost eight in a row) on me.

I neglected to mention this on the blog before the game because I was hoping nothing would come of it, but I might have turned Nik Backstrom into a bundle of nerves about 90 minutes before the game.

You see, he was doing his normal pregame routine where he slow (speed)walks around the arena like a man-turtle, much to the amusement of several of the Philips Arena workers who weren’t used to this bizarre spectacle.

Well, between the loading docks and the entrance to the area that houses the Zamboni and locker-room corridor, there’s a door. Working my way up to the press box — actually CNN Center to meet my brother, his gf and some friends – I opened it and it wouldn’t open because somebody was pulling from the other side.

I finally yank it open and it’s Nik Backstrom, clearly in a Zen state (Everything Zen by Bush, highly recommend it).

Normally, I’d just ignore him knowing he was starting.

But we were eye to eye. So I instinctively said, “Hey Nik.” He sheepishly said, “Hi,” back. And right then, I hit panic mode. In hockey writing 101, you learn, “Do not speak to an entranced goaltender or you deal with the repercussions if they blow up later.” I think that’s what tutor, John Vanbiesbrouck, once taught me.

Well, I accidentally talked to Backstrom, and freaked out. All looked good until about 5 1/2 minutes to go when KABOOM!

If you really do blame me, remember I pumped Marian Gaborik up in that Nashville game he won with four ticks left in OT by watching his five-goal game with him that morning.

If it makes you feel any better, this Wild implosion will likely cost me a few years at the end of my life. Stressful, stressful night. And as you can tell, the aftermath has clearly made me delirious.

Regardless, barely had time to spend five minutes in a pretty silent locker room, but Jacques Lemaire immediately tried to lift his team’s spirit by telling them how well they played and how they can build off this during a brief postgame meeting.

The Wild outshot Atlanta 16-5 through one period, 26-12 through two. Yet, it had a 1-0 lead with 5 1/2 minutes left when Colby Armstrong tied the score.

So again, tonight’s storyline is the fact that either every goaltender that ever faces the Wild on that given night is a combination of Patrick Roy, Martin Brodeur, Roberto Luongo, the Beezer, Dominik Hasek, Ken Dryden, Glenn Hall, Billy Smith and Tony Esposito all wrapped into one — OR — the Wild is offensively challenged.

I’ll go with the latter. As I said last night, IT IS WHAT IT IS. If the Wild scores more than two or three goals in a game, school and work should be cancelled the next day for a Twin Cities parade bigger and better than any before.

Don’t know what to say about this one:

– Eric Belanger is day-to-day with a leg injury. This dude sacrificed his body by launching himself into an Ilya Kovalchuk blast, but it cost him. He was gone for half the game, forcing the Wild to use Brian Rolston at center. And, he likes playing center in the Minnesota system as much as Pavol Demitra.

I did see Belanger after and he said, “I’m OK.” If he misses games, the Wild will likely call up Serge Payer, Steve Kelly or Benoit Pouliot, although I’d guess the former because Pouliot’s been terrible this year. Peter Olvecky is out with an injury.

– Burns was great tonight and got one and one to become the Wild’s new single-season defenseman record holder for goals (12) and points (36).

– Anything else? Parrish, probably smartly, declined to comment on his press-box credential. To be honest, I didn’t ask Lemaire about it after the game considering I had 15 minutes TOTAL to do interviews and write an entire game story.

Kent can ask about that tomorrow, and other things, as he’s got practice and I take a mental day away from anything puck related.

I’m staying an extra day in Hotlanta, but I’ll head back to the Twin Cities on the first flight Sunday morning so I can cover the Sharks game.

Good night Minnesota.

This entry was posted on Friday, March 7th, 2008 at 6:04 pm and is filed under Game coverage. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.