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Minnesota Wild Season Review
2008-09 Wild Season
WE SALUTE YOU FOR…
1. Tightfisted Defense. The Minnesota Wild led the Western Conference this season in goals against and was second in the NHL, giving up 2.4 goals per game. Take away the six goal game the Colorado Avalanche pounded us with (12/01/08) and the five goal games against the LA Kings (1/20/09) and the Ottawa Senators (2/14/09) and that gpg number is even lower.
2. Goalie Niklas Backstrom. Backstrom won a Wild franchise record 37 games, finished third in the NHL with a 2.33 goals against average and fourth with 4,088 minutes played. The Wild look forward to his steel curtain between the pipes for years to come.
3. Power Play Prowess. The Minnesota Wild finished ninth in the NHL this season with their tough power play team made up mostly of Owen Nolan, Andrew Brunette, Marek Zidlicky and Marc-Andre Bergeron. The Wild finished second on the penalty kill charts, killing a notable 87.6 percent of opposing power plays.
4. Cal Clutterbuck. The 21 year old rookie led the NHL with 356 hits in 78 games plus he scored 11 goals. He is one tough cookie.
WE LOATHE YOU FOR…
1. Injuries. Marian Gaborik missed 65 games, Brent Burns missed 23, Owen Nolan missed 23, Pierre-Marc Bouchard missed eight. Yuck.
2. Scoring. 5 on 5, the Minnesota Wild ranked 27th in the NHL on scoring goals. The Wild have got to get better at putting together plays and scoring especially on the 2nd and 3rd lines.
3. Win One, Lose One Pattern. The Minnesota Wild's inability to put together a winning streak, especially during the second half of the season was wearing on the fans (and the coaches) nerves.
4. Heartbreaker Games. Valentines Day against the Ottawa Senators at home was the ultimate heartbreaker. The Wild coughed up a three goal lead and lost 5-3. That game could have sent us to the NHL playoffs.
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