You’ve got to hand it to Derek Boogaard, the class clown of the Wild locker room. He always finds a way to make people laugh, and I bursted out laughing at this one this morning:

After the morning skate, Boogaard walked into the locker room, looked around, walked to his stall and said, “Cameras on? Cameras on?”

If you saw the video of Sean Avery’s comment from yesterday morning, you know what Boogaard was referring to.

Boogaard said it would have been more fun if the league let Dion Phaneuf hand out the punishment. And that’s an interesting point. After yesterday’s antics, I made arrangements to be home by 8:30 because I didn’t want to miss the game. When Avery was suspsended, I no longer needed to watch the game, so I just flipped it on in the second period.

By the way, ironically, I was supposed to talk to Phaneuf today on a conference call consisting of a few beat writers from some of the Flames’ upcoming road cities. Not surprisingly, that conference call’s been given the kibosh.

I talked to Eric Belanger this morning about Avery. I’ll do my notebook lead on that for tomorrow. Belanger was linemates with Avery in Los Angeles when Avery said Phoenix’s Denis Gauthier was “typical of most French guys in our league with a visor on.”

If you didn’t know, Belanger is French-Canadian, and as usual, Belanger was great, in this case, talking about Avery. He said Avery profusely apologized to him for the Gauthier comment.

Looks like my job is safe (see two posts ago if you don’t know what I mean). As tempting as it must have been for Jacques, I won the bet — Cal Clutterbuck is back in tonight. Looked like Colton Gillies and Craig Weller were the scratches.

I’m betting Clutterbuck will bring some energy tonight.

Look for an inspired James Sheppard tonight, too. Lemaire was not happy with Sheppard’s game against Colorado, the evidence being Sheppard’s nine minutes of ice time.

Talked to Owen Nolan for awhile. He’s feeling healthy again and finally comfortable in the Wild’s system. He’s got four goals in four games — two off his career-best goal streak.

Ending a week off the ice, Marian Gaborik skated before the team this morning. GM Doug Risebrough confirmed that to me. I’m told he skated 45 minutes.

Also, Kurtis Foster skated during the morning skate again. He said he’s getting better and better. He’s trying to shoot off the left leg, which he says is at 50 or 60 percent. He’s still getting a pain up and down the leg when he shoots. He said he feels good though, and stopping and starting is still the hardest thing.

Lastly, Warroad’s T.J. Oshie is in the house, as is his dad. But Oshie won’t play tonight. He’s skating extra as he works his way back from a high ankle sprain. Also, I am told Bloomington’s Erik Johnson, who had reconstructive knee surgery two weeks ago, may come to the game tonight to watch his team play the Wild.

Talk to you tonight, and remember, Russo Radio will be on KSTP (1500-am) tonight at 6 p.m. I have a feeling Sean Avery will be discussed and much more.

Also, USA Hockey announced its 2009 World Junior championships roster (tournament starts Dec. 26 in Ottawa).

Gophers Cade Fairchild, Mike Hoeffel and Jordan Schroeder are on the roster, as well as Minnesotans Danny Kristo, Jim O’Brien and Ryan McDonagh. Also, Wild assistant equipment manager Brent Proulx will miss some Wild games and act as equipment manager. Ron Rolston, whose brother, Brian, once wore a Wild sweater, will serve as coach.

2009 United States National Junior Team                                                              

No  Name Ht  (cm) Wt  (kg)  Birthdate    S/C    Hometown 2008-09 Team (League)/NHL Rights
GOALTENDERS (2)
30 Thomas McCollum 6-2 (188) 206 (93) 12/7/89 L Sanborn, N.Y.  Guelph Storm (OHL)/Detroit Red Wings
1 Josh Unice 6-0 (183) 175 (79) 6/24/89 L  Holland, Ohio  Kitchener Rangers (OHL)/Chicago Blackhawks

DEFENSEMEN (7)
24 Jonathon Blum* 6-1 (185) 185 (84) 1/30/89 R  Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif. Vancouver Giants (WHL)/Nashville Predators
28 Ian Cole* 6-1 (185) 218 (99) 2/21/89 L  Ann Arbor, Mich. Univ. of Notre Dame (CCHA)/St. Louis Blues
4 Cade Fairchild* 5-10 (178) 186 (84) 1/15/89 L  Duluth, Minn.  Univ. of Minnesota (WCHA)/St. Louis Blues
20 Blake Kessel 6-2 (188) 204 (92) 4/13/89 R  Madison, Wis.  Univ. of New Hampshire (HEA)/ New York Islanders
17 Ryan McDonagh 6-1 (185) 208 (94) 6/13/89 L  Arden Hills, Minn. Univ. of Wisconsin (WCHA)/Montreal Canadiens
5 Teddy Ruth 6-0 (183) 205 (93) 2/14/89 R  Naperville, Ill.  Univ. of Notre Dame (CCHA)/Columbus Blue Jackets
8 Kevin Shattenkirk 5-11 (180) 193 (87) 1/29/89 R  New Rochelle, N.Y. Boston University (HEA)/Colorado Avalanche

FORWARDS (13)
27 Drayson Bowman 6-1 (185) 195 (88) 3/8/89 L  Littleton, Colo.  Spokane Chiefs (WHL)/Carolina Hurricanes
12 Jimmy Hayes 6-3 (191) 205 (93) 11/21/89 R  Dorchester, Mass. Boston College (HEA)/Toronto Maple Leafs
11 Mike Hoeffel 6-3 (191) 195 (88) 4/9/89 L  North Oaks, Minn. Univ. of Minnesota (WCHA)/New Jersey Devils
10 Tyler Johnson 5-9 (175) 175 (79) 7/29/90 L  Spokane, Wash. Spokane Chiefs (WHL)/Free Agent
18 Danny Kristo 5-11 (180) 180 (82) 6/18/90 R  Eden Prairie, Minn. Omaha Lancers (USHL)/Montreal Canadiens
15 Jim O’Brien 6-2 (188) 190 (86) 1/29/89 R  Maplewood, Minn. Seattle Thunderbirds (WHL)/Ottawa Senators
7 Aaron Palushaj 6-0 (183) 185 (84) 9/7/89 R  Northville, Mich. Univ. of Michigan (CCHA)/St. Louis Blues
9 Matt Rust* 5-10 (178) 195 (88) 3/23/89 L  Bloomfield Hills, Mich. Univ. of Michigan (CCHA)/Florida Panthers
19 Jordan Schroeder* 5-9 (175) 183 (83) 9/29/90 R  Prior Lake, Minn. Univ. of Minnesota (WCHA)/2009 Draft Eligible
25 Eric Tangradi 6-3 (191) 214 (97) 2/10/89 L  Philadelphia, Pa. Belleville Bulls (OHL)/Anaheim Ducks
21 James van Riemsdyk*+ 6-3 (191) 211 (95) 5/4/89 L  Middletown, N.J. Univ. of New Hampshire (HEA)/Philadelphia Flyers
14 Mitch Wahl 6-0 (183) 190 (86) 1/22/90 R  Seal Beach, Calif. Spokane Chiefs (WHL)/Calgary Flames
33 Colin Wilson* 6-1 (185) 213 (97) 10/20/89 L  Greenwich, Conn. Boston University (HEA)/Nashville Predators

*Member of the 2008 U.S. National Junior Team
+Member of the 2007 U.S. National Junior Team

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008 at 10:31 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.