I’m on top of the world right now.

I’m watching the NHL Network, and Brent Sutter just scored to give my Islanders a 3-2 lead over the Bruins with about 20 seconds left in the first period of Game 6 of the 1983 Wales Conference Final.

My prediction is the Isles go on to win huge in the second and third periods (thanks to a hat trick from I’ll guess Mike Bossy), then move on to a Stanley Cup Finals sweep of the Oilers. That’s how confident I am in my Islanders. I predict they won’t even lose a game vs. Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier and Gang.

Just a guess. BOS-SY! BOS-SY! BOS-SY! Tell me you remember that chant?

I’m in a good mood because the playoffs are starting.

So I got on an early-morning flight out of Denver today and made it in time for the Wild’s final practice before the quarterfinals begin tomorrow night against the Avalanche.

Guess who else made it down there today? Kurtis Foster, but unfortunately for the Wild, he’s not going to be able to make a miraculous return from a broken femur to replace Nick Schultz, who’s still in a hospital bed minus one appendix.

Foster popped in to say hello to the fellas, who know things just got a heckuva lot tougher without Schultz, arguably the Wild’s most reliable defenseman.

Not that he wanted to get in this way, but Petteri Nummelin is ecstatic to be part of the mix again. He’s only played five times since early January but is confident he’ll be able to get back into the swing of things quickly. And honestly, like I alluded to last night, I think his speed makes this a better matchup than if he were suddenly to be thrown into a Calgary series.

Nummelin had three assists vs. the Avs this season and actually played pretty well against them. The bigger issue is how does the Wild replace Schultz’s consistency and who gets the minutes that Schultz would have gotten vs. Colorado’s big boys.

Nummelin, playing in his SECOND Stanley Cup playoff series, said he feels like a little kid again, he’s that excited. Remember, the 35-year-old is very decorated playing in the postseason overseas.

The team basically said all the right things about how this is just bad luck and it’s up to them to suck it up and move on and make sure Schultz has a second or third round to return to.

If you didn’t see, here’s my exclusive with Ian Laperriere yesterday.

Tomorrow’s paper will have tons of stuff for your reading pleasure, including a couple Brent Burns stories. Yes, he was so good, I wrote two stories on him.

Wild is in playoff mode. Many players are staying in a hotel tonight.

That’s it for now. I better get to work.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 8th, 2008 at 2:09 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.