Good afternoon from snowy Steel City
Posted on November 17th, 2008 – 4:49 PMBy Michael Russo
Howdie, just got back from practice. Very snowy here. I got pelted as I walked to the Igloo, but it was pretty cleared up after practice.
Man, the Igloo’s old. I mean, Jacques Lemaire played there his rookie year 
He said the two places he hated to play in the most? Pittsburgh and Minnesota. He said he hated the ice in both arenas. He said the best ice was Chicago, Detroit and Boston.
He also almost tripped this morning when his skate got caught in a huge rut at center ice: “Boogey must have turned there.”
I relayed that to Boogey and he said, “Come on, I’m a graceful turner.”
Couple things:
Uno: That Kurtis Foster feature I wrote today (here it is if you didn’t read), I got a couple emails wondering when that Project Xtreme episode will be on the DIY (Do-It-Yourself) Network. Best I can tell you is spring ‘09. There’s no specific date yet, but I’m sure it’ll be replayed often.
Dos: Speaking of replayed often, I got to catch Voices: Bob Kurtz yesterday. Very well done. Only bad part was when they thanked Kevin Falness in the end credits.
Tres: Stephane Veilleux turned 27 yesterday. As a gift, Lemaire huddled the team around Veilleux today and from behind, an unidentified teammate smashed him in the face with an enormous shaving cream towel. Veilleux’s visor and face were covered.
Like he was trying to catch the second shooter, Veilleux spent his post-shower trying to figure out who got him. Veilleux calls me Russ (pronounced Russ, not Roose like everyone else). He tried to get me to help figure out whom it was, and finally said, “Would you even tell me if you knew, Russ?” I said, “Of course, but if I knew, you’d have to read it in tomorrow’s paper.”
Veilleux: “Could have been Burns. Could have been Koivu. Couldn’t have been Butch. He was next to me, so it was impossible.”
Pittsburgh was the same arena where some unnamed Panther (Todd Simpson) stole Mike Sillinger’s teeth once at the beginning of a road trip and mailed it to Sillinger’s wife in Florida. Sillinger got Simpson back by cutting holes in Simpson’s dress shirt to reveal his nipples.
What else?
Everybody practiced today for the Wild. Tomorrow we’ll find out what wins: Defense or offense? The Wild has the best defense in the NHL, Pittsburgh has the fifth-best offense, and the hottest player in the NHL, Evgeni Malkin, who’s got a 13-game point and assist streak. I did a feature on Malkin for tomorrow.
Wild has the NHL’s fewest even-strength goals (22), but third-best power play. Just imagine where the Wild would be without its power play and top-ranked penalty kill.
The Wild had a very loose practice. It held a shootout competition, the one where players basically bet on whether a guy will score or not. If you lose, you skate laps.
That’s it for now. By the way, Pascal Dupuis will play against the Wild for the first time tomorrow.
69 Responses to "Good afternoon from snowy Steel City"
I assume by “everyone was skating”, he means everyone except Gaborik? Funny how his name isn’t even coming up anymore.
Man, the Igloo’s old.
He said he hated the ice in both arenas.
(Nodding in agreement.)
JL’s comment about the ice at Met Center is interesting. I had always understood that it had a rep as being one of the better NHL surfaces in its day. Maybe it wasn’t so good in the 70s and improved thereafter?
I’ll play the role of Dan here as I’m sure all of you haven’t had enough of him yet.
“Veilleux does nothing for this team. Why is he getting more playing time than a guy like Pouliot who can actually score. What a waste of shaving cream and a clean towel. I’m sure JL made Backstrom clean the towel after that incident because he does every thing else for the team.”
richard b FTW.
I’m sure JL made Backstrom clean the towel after that incident because he does every thing else for the team
…and boom goes the dynamite!
who took Miami of Frickin’ Ohio deep in the tournament last year
didn’t holy angels go as deep as ohio one year?
and anyone who thinks college hockey players are there to get an education first, hockey 2nd, has ZERO credibility. and that is the only feeding i will leave out for the troll.
I stand guilty of troll feeding today for sure.
Nah, Backstrom carries this team on his back. He should never have to practice just so he’s rested for the barrage he’s about to face every game, especially against the Pens.
Hopefully:
Everybody practiced today for the Wild.
means Gaborik practiced. Once he’s back, the Wild would finally have 1 scorer. It would be a great help.
When Gaborik’s back the lines should be as follows:
Gaborik-Koivu-Burns (since JL seems set on him as a wing now…ugh)
Puliot-Belanger-Brunette
Miettinen-Bouchard-Clutterbuck
Veilleux-Sheppard-Nolan
be alot more effective then what Jacques running out now.
holy angels=holy cross same difference
Cool, SRV’s birthday is close to mine! My friend S. has a birthday tomorrow. It’s also Mickey Mouses birthday tomorrow.Russo tell SRV happy birthday from one scorpio to another for me.
I’m looking forward to the game on Thursday. It’ll be fun to go to the game. I think the Mr and I are getting dinner at Reids since it’s between my job and the X. Woo!! I need another nap.
GreenStar says:
November 17th, 2008 at 5:24 pm
who took Miami of Frickin’ Ohio deep in the tournament last year
didn’t holy angels go as deep as ohio one year?
and anyone who thinks college hockey players are there to get an education first, hockey 2nd, has ZERO credibility
considering most will never make the pros, it’s ridiculous that you would say that. for every Okposo in college hockey, there are at least a dozen that are there to get their degree. Just because the Gophers run their program like a NHL minor league system, doesn’t mean the rest of college hockey is run the same way.
Yes, Russo could you specify if “everyone practiced” = including Gaborik?
Just because the Gophers run their program like a NHL minor league system
Alert Gareth Snow.
funny thing is, the best pros that come out of this state never go to the U…they go to Duluth, SCSU, Mankato, or straight to junior hockey. There are so few good pros that have been a Gopher in the last 2 decades, that maybe kids that go to the U should hang out a little longer and actually learn their craft.
Tomas Vanek, Phil Kessel, Blake Wheeler, Kyle Okposo, Alex Goligoski, Keith Ballard, Jordan Leopold? Just to name a few.
Just to name a few
but are any of them good? I bet we will find out they are not.
“Man, the Igloo’s old. I mean, Jacques Lemaire played there his rookie year
He said the two places he hated to play in the most? Pittsburgh and Minnesota. He said he hated the ice in both arenas.”
I am a JL fan and supporter all of the way, however, if his assessment of the ice in Minnesota is in reference to the old Met Center, I can’t agree with him.
The Met had arguably one of the best sheets in the league for many years. I skated there many times and it was excellent. Probably one of the other great sheets in the Metro at that time was over at Aldrich…
is yashin still housing carol alt? tip of the cap if he is. i could tape my stick to that.
Last year, SRV shaved creamed Koivu for his birthday. My bets are that its Koivu. He said he wanted to get back at SRV.
richard b says:
November 17th, 2008 at 5:44 pm
Tomas Vanek, Phil Kessel, Blake Wheeler, Kyle Okposo, Alex Goligoski, Keith Ballard, Jordan Leopold? Just to name a few.
*Vanek’s great.
*Kessel wasn’t ready and is starting to get it.
*Wheeler stayed 3 years and was ready for the NHL. He still needs to add some muscle, but he’s played quite well.
*Okposo has done nothing. He should’ve stayed one more year, but when you want to jump, and the GM of your NHL comes calling, hard to say no.
*Goligoski has had a nice start to the season, was awesome in the AHL playoffs last year. He’ll probably be a good pro.
*Ballard has been good since he came into the league. There was little question he would be a good player from what I recall.
*Leopold has been a great underachiever. He has been a disappointment to his coaches in Calgary and Colorado. He hasn’t done too bad, but he has the talent to be so much better. It’s frustrating to watch him play.
is yashin still housing carol alt? tip of the cap if he is. i could tape my stick to that.
+23
Dan, your same old contrarian act is wearing thin. One might almost believe you are Mike. But, at times Mike posts with some intelligence, so I doubt it.
Oh, and the ‘coach’ post about road/home SHOULD be on NHL network.
I didn’t see where this was posted but Penner not making the Oilers too happy. Who knew Crazy Kevin Lowe’s offer sheet would be such a huge mistake. 
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=256277&lid=sublink01&lpos=headlines_nhl
I kinda have a soft spot for Penner. I watched that “Lord Stanley’s Summer” show that followed the cup around the summer the Ducks had it. He was the only one of the whole bunch who didn’t cause me to throw up in my mouth a little. I guess the Neiderbrothers aren’t that bad, but you get my point.
Anyway, it’s a shame he’s not doing more.
Wow, slick move by Voros in the Rags/Sens game.
cool site
Is there a more homer group of announcers than Detroit’s?
You’re asking Wild fans that, Kevin?
Can’t be worse than the Rangers announcers disagreeing about whether Voros should have dropped the gloves against Ruutu. It’s like they wouldn’t acknowledge the disagreement, they just kept repeating their cases ad nauseum.
Are you allowed to knock a player’s stick out of his hands?
I guess the Neiderbrothers aren’t that bad, but you get my point.
You only said that because of the Don.
Kevin, if he deserves it, yes.
Nick, the Don holds no sway with me. I’m all objectivity, all the time.
Okay, that’s not true. Russo’s like the Brent Burns of hockey reporting. Rock star. But I forgot (and in fact, don’t think I even know exactly the extent of) his association with them. But I’m sure he’ll bring it up at some point.
I just figured those were the only ones on that team I’d get pushback about. And I’m all about avoiding pushback. Just accept what I say as though it’s gospel and move along.
When does he deserve it?
[…] Russo’s Rants – […]
Remember, the Igloo was originally built as an Opera House, not a hockey arena. It was extensively rebuilt for the Pens in 1966-67, and remodelled several times since then. (And yes, you can knock on the metal roof from some of the D-level seats and the main press box.)
There are not real ‘concourses’ in that arena, just wide spots in the hallways for vendors to sell stuff. Everything about that place is really claustrophobic.
Now, did Russo score an appearance fee for going on the Pittsburgh sports talk show which airs live from the Marriott Hotel across the street?
OK OK OK.. People are emailing me asking me about my weekly jottings from last week. I will try to get them done in the future on Sundays.
(1) Wild fans, maybe its time to let reality set in. Are the Wild now an organization that can be considered a winning organization ? Last year they won the division and now they are in first place without Gaby. To DRs creidit this is what he has always talked about with this franchise. So I say a good question is, are the Wild a team that is expected to be a winner now ?
(2) Why dont we hear more about the Wild in the same sentence as winning the stanley cup this year ? I am not sure I see how this is not reasonable to consider them a contender now
(3) I think that the general public is a sleep in its perception of who the Wild are now
(4) Owen Nolan- After watching Lemaire coach I knew the Wild would give Nolan a chance to deliver his offense. I bet at the end of this season that Nolan gets better scoring results then with the Wild over Calgary
Signed Mister Know it all
sorry svr, I don’t know. If I hear anything I will let ya know?
Yeah Kevin, I thought Minnesota employed the worst announcers in the NHL but I was flipping through Center Ice and Detroits guys b!tch about every little call. You would think the game is Edmonton Oilers & NHL Referees vs Detroit Red Wings.
Has this video been around for some time?
http://www.break.com/index/the-all-bear-olympic-hockey-team.html
Kevin, I think we all know when they deserve it.
I’m not a huge Gopher fan, even though I’m an alum, but in addition to the list of Gophers above, you need to add Paul Martin. I think most GMs would agree that you could build a pretty good team around Vanek, Kessel, Wheeler, Ballard, Leopold and Martin.
What other school has six guys in the NHL now, playing at that level?
Nice effort by the Isles tonight to keep Vancouver from getting two points, and the Evil Empire shut out the Oilers. A win for the Good Guys tomorrow night would be huge, but I don’t really expect it.
SCSU has quite a few guys in the NHL. In one game last year, the Carolina Hurricanes had 5 Huskies play for them in the same game. There are quite few Huskies spread all over the league.
Watching Kurtz’s Voices episode. Really good stuff.
Gabby’s still alive????
Gabby who?
KiPA- You can knock a stick out of their hands, but it has to be done just right, or it becomes a slashing penalty.
It is completely subjective, but as long as you aren’t close to the hands, you can stick check them and knock the stick out, sure. Almost always in the NHL it ends up a slashing call, but it shouldn’t.
I apologize to all out there in Russoville for my rants earlier. I don’t mean to argue with idiots, I just can’t help it. Ignorance, stupidity, and bad writing bother me more than anything else, and combine the three it just makes a perfect storm.
I’ll stop feeding the bears.
+1 on The Enlightened One’s comment.
Im really excited for the game today. It will be awesome no doubt. I have watched Jordan Staal take over games these past few weeks, I hope we can shut him down as well as Malkin and Sid the Kid. The Pens dominate us every year now. I think its time we beat a team people say we aren’t supposed to beat. It seems like we have been keeping up with best teams like San Jose, Montreal, Buffalo and then playing one bad period and losing the game. I hope this doesnt happen again. We could have won all those games. So we’ll see.
As for Harding, I think him and Gaborik in a trade could get us a good center, and scoring in return and opens a lot of cap space. Backs should be in a wild uniform until the end of his career, so DR best sign him and we should be in the playoffs every year with him.
I know our defense is the best in the league but its missing the shut down guy which will be important to go deep in the playoffs. I like keeping Burns at wing because then we have 3 defenseman on the ice basically. Schultz is good, but im talking about a big physical defenseman. We need a Chara, Blake, Pronger (hate him with a passion), a tough guy….KYLE MCLAREN IS ON WAIVERS.. Wild should pick him up. Hes a tough veteran player and ive always liked his play on the Bruins and Sharks. Hes the kind of gritty player we need back there that can hammer big guys like Joe Thornton because none of our defenseman are big enough. And at a 2.5 million cap hit, why not we could use him for playoffs.
Oh and I want Kolanos back and put Shepp in Houston for a bit. Lets shake things up in Shepp’s world because nothing is working right now.
GO WILDDD
[…] -How old is Mellon Arena? Minnesota coach Jacques Lemaire played there is rookie year. […]
I absolutely agree Chris from Ca. on McClaren being added. I know we’re deep at D but he would add needed grit. Hello Ms C.; I never thought McIntyre would be handled like he was by Goddard. I know Goddard is good but “WoW”!
Hello deathgrip!
Morning glories! Hooray for game day!
This just in “Gaborik cut himself shaving” injury status…month to month.
Mister Know it all thinks that Buddha may have slipped some of his acid into what deathgrip and Chris in CA or tripping on. The Wild will be in need of a sniper that can score goals yet play gritty as a forward. I would rather just stick with Gaby but I doubt that will happen
ms.c: you have mail.
KiPA…no pre-game gloating… 
Should be fun tonite.
Right back atcha, Nick.
Oh, Kevin can gloat ALL he wants. We know what the hockey gods do to gloaters…
McKenzie’s blog on Gaby is a must read - http://www.tsn.ca/blogs/bob_mckenzie/?id=256366 - but I don’t know what to make of it.
I agree about sending Shep down to the minors. Give him something to think about. Seems like he can’t put it together. Maybe he just isn’t ready.
KiPA: will STK and Geno be on the same line tonight?
Interesting, 6GS…. wonder what Russo’s intuition is telling him these days.
Yes, please send Shep to Houston. Tho I might have to move down to my seats near the glass if that happened. Rawr.
Paul Stastny will receive $33 million in his five year contract extension.
“It’s exciting. I’m still speechless,” Stastny said. “I haven’t really grasped what I’ve done. The hard work has paid off. It happened early in the year, so I don’t have to worry about it. I know I’m part of a winning organization that wants me to be there for the next five years. I feel the same way about them.” The new contract kicks in next season. Stastny is one of the top forwards in the NHL at this time and should have went among the top 15 forwards in most drafts.
pretty cheap for a point a game guy who is better then Gaborik. Gaborik better sign quick because he isn’t about to get what he wants to get.
Tonight’s game seems simple enough. If the Wild can stay out of the penalty box, limit the Pens to 2 or 3 opportunities, it should be able to squeeze at least a point out of the game. If the Wild begins a parade to the box, top penalty-killing unit be dammed, the game will go to the Tuxedoed Birds.
6GS - thanks for that link.
There was some Gaby chatter yesterday on HNIC Radio. Jeff Marek and Kelly Hrudey believe that even when Gaborik returns he is going to have an injury plagued season where he will won’t see 100% health. They said his success really depends on his “lower body” and he has shown a history of slow healing in that area.
This is nothing new to Wild fans, but it is getting considerably more attention across the league. And you have to believe GMs aren’t going to trade much for a guy in the last year of his contract that could be a bust this season - which is basically what McKenzie’s blog addresses.
I almost feel bad for DR in this situation. He has a franchise player he can’t seem to resign and probably can’t trade for much value. As hard as some people are on DR you have to admit this is just brutally difficult for him to handle.
What are the chances Leipold makes his mark on his new toy by bringing in Burke as GM? Leipold is the guy who brought Forsberg to honkey tonk hockey.
I would mind the Wild looking the the Ducks in a couple years.
Trade Gabby for Cleary and Fillipula and we can move on.
Food.
Burke is going to Toronto.
backstrum whas the difrens in the game vs pinguins in the shutout most hi inproved in his shutout hi stops crosby and malkin if backstrum does the same next game hi will be in the allstar game but at the end of the year last year hi dint play is good this year if hi kips it up the wild are goign to be grait and anti is won of the the best players on the team
backstrum is a big drents hi could be warign the c limare said backstrum is going to be the difrents this year if his good then the wild will make it in to the 2nd round hi said i sink hi mite need more breaks this year and i sink that i wood mite traid harding a goalie that doesint fall for tricks iam not shure if thats whats lemair sinks that we need a back up goalie that you can trust to play good hardign some times plays good some times his bad
backstrum is a big drents hi could be warign the c limare said backstrum is going to be the difrents this year if his good then the wild will make it in to the 2nd round hi said i sink hi mite need more breaks this year and i sink that i wood mite traid harding a goalie that doesint fall for tricks iam not shure if thats whats lemair sinks that we need a back up goalie that you can trust to play good hardign some times plays good some times his bad
