Not a lot of time to blog right now because I want to walk to the rink and soak in this weather. And I’m dragging. I actually watched the entire replay of the game last night on Altitude — AND — the postgame show, meaning 3 a.m. my eyes shut.

Don’t expect tons of info on here later because I have a feeling it’ll be slim pickings at the Wild skate.

First of all, I can’t believe you’re letting that Denver Post column get to you.

When an article is so absurd and based on such little facts, to me, it’s almost comical, so calm down. Obviously the writer doesn’t know hockey. Obviously the writer doesn’t watch playoff hockey. Obviously the writer hasn’t watched the Calgary-San Jose series. Obviously the writer has never heard of the Broad Street Bullies. Obviously the writer doesn’t know the Wild’s makeup. Obviously the writer doesn’t know the Wild has actually been unbelievably tame this series and should get more physical. And obviously the writer has never talked to or met Jacques Lemaire in his life.

It’s a typical opinionated column based on zero facts whatsoever. Completely manufactured, no truth. Get it. Forget about it. 

I’m not into ripping other writers. But at some point here in Denver, the Avs jerseys should come off and impartiality and professionalism should trickle back into the business.

I’m sure I’ll be regretting that line later today, but I’ve bit my tongue all series.

Ok, onward.

That might have been the best road game I’ve seen the Wild play.

As expected in the first game in an opposing building, the Wild had to weather a furious storm in the first seven or eight minutes. It was kind of like what Colorado had to do in Game 1 in St. Paul.

But after the Wild killed off the second set of back-to-back minors of the game early in the second, it dominated the rest of the game in my opinion. At one point in the second, it was outshooting Colorado 11-1.

And Colorado’s shoddy play at times is exactly why I wrote in my scouting report for this series that no Avs lead is ever safe. In other words, you can rally on them, just like the Wild has done for three games in a row.

I mean, at one point in the second, the Wild walked in alone on Jose Theodore four times — once by Pavol Demitra, twice by Brent Burns, once by Todd Fedoruk.

Right now the series is all about the third period and the fact the Wild has outscored the Avs 6-2. Overtime wasn’t even close. If it weren’t for Theodore, the Wild could have won that game three other times before Jeff Finger took a weird route to that icing, thus costing Colorado the game.

Other thoughts:

– What if Marian Gaborik actually goes off at some point (nine shots yesterday)?

– What is Paul Stastny shows up for this series?

– Brian Rolston and Mikko Koivu have been the Wild’s best players. Rolston has been on the ice for seven of eight goals in the series, and Koivu — who is a genuine Avalanche killer if you look at his career numbers — has three tallies.

– The Wild’s defensemen are playing tremendously, especially the big-minute guys. So far, you’ve seen Good Skoula. Very good Skoula.

– I realized last night that Peter Forsberg has so many feet problems because he flops to the ice on every hit and then locks his feet around the opposing player. At some point that should be an unsportsmanlike.

– Tonight’s a huge game. Does the Wild take advantage of an aged, banged-up Colorado team or does it let down like it often does when it can go for the kill?

If you’ve paid any attention to the Wild this season, you know it has a tendency to let down when things are going well. Does it lay it all out on the ice tonight or does it allow what’s bound to be a fired-up Colorado squad control play?

We will see. More later.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 15th, 2008 at 11:43 am and is filed under Pregame skate. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.