The server was down; that’s why there was a delay.

Here are your multitude of skate updates:

– Jacques Lemaire was in his typical surly mood when dealing with the Vancouver media. He’s not a fan. Was a little better after they cleared out.

He pulled the team over for a talk after the skate and told them he expects them to come out strong tonight. He said he’s tired of opponents who played the night before outskating the Wild early in games. And the Canucks were in Edmonton last night. He brought up recent San Jose game, recent LA game, etc. The Wild might be the king example. The Wild is 10-3-2 in the second of back-to-backs.

He also said the Wild might be seven points up on a playoff spot, but they haven’t made it in his mind.

– Lemaire said there will be forward changes tonight and to wait for warmups to find out. I have a suspicion Chris Simon will be in, and I have a funny feeling it’ll be for Mark Parrish. Just a wild guess. I’m not sure if Aaron Voros will be back in, but I definitely think Simon will be in and I definitely think it’ll be for Parrish. The players didn’t know though, but I’ve got a feeling.

– Kurtis Foster continues to rest comfortably, according to close friend Mikko Koivu, who talked with Foster yesterday. He said Foster’s in a lot of pain and actually had eight hours of surgery, not six.

– After talking with Doug Risebrough, Lemaire told me the Wild will not call up a defenseman until Erik Reitz has recovered from a sprained ankle. That could happen by next week. He’s missed five games since March 9, but clearly, there’s no interest in bringing up guys like Clayton Stoner, John Scott and completely-off-the-map Shawn Belle.

– Stephane Veilleux took a puck to the kisser during the skate after Josh Harding made a save. Veilleux got a nasty cut on his lip, but he’ll be fine. Vancouver media thinks Ryan Kesler will play after taking a puck to the foot last night in Edmonton. Willie Mitchell also has got fat lips and has been wearing a full cage.

– Tomorrow’s notebook lead will be on the shootout debate. I know for a fact that the coaches have debated whether or not to pull Niklas Backstrom in the next shootout. He’s the worst NHL goalie in the shootout’s short history.

The problem is the Wild would be worried about Harding coming in cold off the bench. That happens all the time when the starter is pulled, but you usually don’t face three breakaways immediately — as Harding pointed out to me. And this has backfired before. I have to look it up, but didn’t Edmonton do it once and I think Kari Lehtonen got hurt coming in cold in the shootout.

But Lemaire admitted he’s most worried about what that would do to Backstrom’s psyche. Is it worth messing with a goalie’s mind when it could affect him mentally next time he plays? And Backstrom’s been on a roll recently.

This was just emailed to me from a reader. Here’s one take on pulling a goalie in the shootout.

Here’s the most interesting thing: Jacques’ more perturbed with the shooters, and if the Wild has a shootout in the final eight games, Lemaire indicated he planned to pick three new shooters.

I told him to go on YouTube and watch Benoit Pouliot’s shootout move vs. Syracuse, so if Pouliot gets a try and misses, blame me.

And no, Lemaire didn’t react, “What’s YouTube?”

You people are so cynical.

Later.

FYI. Wrote this last season. Note Manny’s reaction to my query (oh man, I miss Moody Manny).

Thought I’d throw on here. Risebrough isn’t with the team now, so I don’t know if he feels the same way.

Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)

December 13, 2006 Wednesday

Metro Edition

WILD NOTES;

Risebrough says he’d swap goalies in a crucial shootout

BYLINE: Michael Russo, Staff Writer

SECTION: SPORTS; Pg. 8C

LENGTH: 499 words

DATELINE: Calgary, Alberta

Wild General Manager Doug Risebrough has taken note of the distinctive early-season difference between starting goaltender Manny Fernandez and backup Niklas Backstrom in shootouts.

Fernandez is 6-0 this season with a .720 save percentage (seven goals on 25 shots), and 10-2 in his career. Backstrom is 1-2 and ranks 41st out of 46 goaltenders with a .300 save percentage (seven goals on 10 shots).

It got Risebrough thinking. Later this season, if points are essential and Backstrom got the team into a shootout, he wouldn’t mind seeing coach Jacques Lemaire replace Backstrom with Fernandez.

“If you’re going to put your best shooters out, why wouldn’t you put your best goalie out?” Risebrough said. “If it came down to late in the season and it was a needed game … the general manager’s already decided.”

In October against Philadelphia, Thrashers coach Bob Hartley pulled backup Johan Hedberg before a shootout in favor of Kari Lehtonen, who went 5-0 in shootouts last year. Lehtonen lost, but Hartley said, “If you have Mariano Rivera sitting in the bullpen, you use him.”

Last season, Edmonton yanked Jussi Markkanen and Ty Conklin for Mike Morrison. Conklin was furious.

Fernandez didn’t seem thrilled with the hypothetical idea.

“I mean, they’re my boss. If they decide I go, I go,” Fernandez said. “There’s a lot of positions that a goalie wouldn’t want to be in, but I’ve worked through it in the past. … It’s their call, obviously. I’m getting paid to stop pucks.”

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