Attn all Wild fans:

If the Wild comes back to win this series, you each owe me a sugar-free hazelnut, nonfat latte, my signature java (better than it sounds).

Whether it was players catching up on some reading on their flight out here or the fact that the FSN North pregame show was being SHOWN IN THE DARN LOCKER ROOM prior to Friday’s warmups, the news finally leaked to the players that yours truly predicted Avs in six.

Well, you’ll be happy to know I walked into the hornet’s nest of my life today as players terrorized me with barbs regarding that wonderful prediction.

It started with Stephane Veilleux, moved to Rolston, then to Gaborik, then to Burns and Bouchard and then Pavol Demitra took over with continuous heckling of, “We’re going to prove you wrong, Russo!”

“Where’s the belief, Russo?” Burns said. “Now we’ve got a little extra motivation.” 

Burns joked that I “shunned” sportswriting 101 that you’re supposed to pick the team you cover. I’ve never abided by that rule if that is indeed one.

But two things on that pick: I originally had Wild in six, but the second I heard about Nick Schultz’s appendectomy Monday night, I hit the backspace button on my predictions (I was in the midst of doing them as I got the phone call). I just felt — and still do — that his absence is major.

And, like I told every player, I was the same guy that predicted the Wild to beat Anaheim last year. That pick didn’t work out too good.

I’ve gotten a lot of national press for that prediction, like TSN’s Bob McKenzie saying, I’ve got “jam,” etc. But like I’ve said on XM and in Ottawa and Vancouver and KFAN and other radio shows I’ve done, I don’t work for the team. My job’s to give objective views on the Wild, and my feeling was Schultz’s injury changes the complexion of the series.

I would hope that you’d rather see quality, objective coverage rather than cheerleading and disregarding the facts.

And if I’m wrong, good for the Wild, and good for you fans, and I’d be the first to admit that I underestimated them.

And then I’d probably pick them to lose to San Jose Just a joke, just a joke. 

If you’ve read me long enough, you know I’ve had no problem admitting in print before when I was dead wrong.

Now on to practice, Branko Radivojevic did not practice. He’s been seen wearing a knee brace on his right knee. Jacques said he WILL NOT play tomorrow, although Doug Risebrough said that’s not true — that it’s wait and see.,

“Day to day,” Risebrough said.

One thing’s for certain. After talking with Radivojevic yesterday, this has got to be excruciating if he won’t be permitted to play. And if they don’t let him play, you know he played that game on a sprained knee or something.

Schultz practiced at the start today, then sat on the bench the rest. But this is a good sign. He said he’s not close to playing just yet, but he did say that if it got to the point late in the series where the Wild needs him and he’s ready, he hopes to play. More on this stuff tomorrow.

Talked with Marian Gaborik for tomorrow’s notebook on what Colorado’s done to eliminate him from the series so far. The Wild feels fortunate to be 1-1 in the series considering Gaborik has no points and three shots.

That’ll be in tomorrow, as well as a couple Keith Carney items. At age 38, he’s the oldest defenseman in NHL history to score at OT playoff winner.

What else, what else? Derek Boogaard practiced today and declared himself good to go. His back is acting up again.

Because the Avs and Wild practiced at two different sites, I couldn’t go to Colorado’s practice. 

From my Denver Post pal, Peter Forsberg did not practice today, but Joel Quenneville said he’ll play. We also hired a stringer to cover the Avs’ practice today, and he tells me David Jones (foot) practiced today and said he’ll play.

My advance is on Jacques Lemaire’s line changing and how you should be prepared to see a plethora of combinations of forwards in the road games at Colorado. I’ve got some really good anecdotes and quotes about what it’s like to be on the bench when Lemaire’s scrambling up his forwards. 

As I transcribe, I’ll throw other stuff up I may have forgotten to put here. But I’ve got to get writing now.

My favorite quote from practice, coming from Jacques Lemaire, and you better pray this ain’t true:

“Our team looks for goals from people we don’t expect, not only the top guys. We’ll need a goal from [Derek] Boogaard at a time if we want to win this series.”

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 13th, 2008 at 3:56 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.