WildHBcommunity: Beating the Blues is Best Way to Begin Stanley Cup Run
The Bad Blood Between Minnesota Wild and St. Louis Blues Will Fuel Great Series Round One
I hope Minnesota Wild fans truly understand how much David Backes and T.J. Oshie(Transplant not native) have enjoyed rubbing the State of Hockey's favorite teams nose in it the past couple years. Both guys are Minnesota natives and both truly look forward to making a point against the Wild every time these teams matchup. Backes seems to love being the heal and his leadership of this Blues squad is something that his teammates feed off of.
Beyond those guys I have a healthy amount of respect and admiration for the Blues roster which is deep and talented. The Blues are truly a perfect playoff villain for Wild faithful because they are going to almost certainly looked to take liberties and play a physical high emotions series in round one of Lord Stanley's Cup Playoffs. What a better springboard as well for the Wild should they send the Blues packing with a first round playoffs exit.
There are so many storylines to latch onto with Wild versus Blues as well, the Ken Hitchcock/Mike Yeo hiring and comparison is a favorite around these parts specifically. Even a reasonable level headed hockey mind like myself (Kidding of course haha) has fallen victim to Yeo was a mistake that should have never occurred had Chuck Fletcher just hired the guy that is a dead ringer for WWE manager Paul Bearer.
In hindsight I have eaten my words on Yeo should have gotten the axe two years in a row, so I can throw some daggers at Wild fans that still female dog about Fletcher not hiring Hitchcock. I think last season specifically shed light on why Hitchcock is an extremely successful NHL bench boss but just as flawed as Yeo and probably was never a good fit.
Watching the Blues attempt to bully their way through the league last year only to get a heaping helping of their own medicine from every opponent down the stretch last season was beautiful. The Blues were ravaged by injuries last season as the playoffs began which I attributed to the self sculpted reputation as a the tough guy team that is going beat up on every game in and game out.
This season the Blues have really evolved into a team driven by their graduated young stud prospects like Vladimir Tarasenko, Jaden Schwartz, Jake Allen, and Jori Lehtera. Obviously Backes, Oshie, Alexander Steen, and Paul Stasny is an impressive veteran core but this year the kids really stepped it up.
I am a huge fan of Alex Pietrangelo and Kevin Shattenkirk who lead the Blues blueliners along with other veterans Jay Bouwmeester, Barrett Jackman, Carl Gunnarsson, and Zybnek Michalek. The only real question I think the Blues have lingering about their roster is goaltending. I don't question the talent of Allen or Brian Elliott who have combined for 47 wins this season but rather the fact that no clear number one exists here for the Blues.
Hitchcock will have to really commit to one of these netminders and it appears at least from what I have seen discussed on Blues Twitter it will be Allen that gets the first crack. The Wild exercised the demons a bit by going into St. Louis and defeating the Blues in their building March 14th and then followed it up a week later with a 6-3 drubbing at the Excel Energy Center.
These teams will finish the regular season versus each other on Saturday night in St. Louis which will only intensify the rivalry and hate fire between these organizations. There is still a very situational set of circumstances in which the Wild goes into St. Louis emerges victorious on Saturday in concert with a Chicago Blackhawks loss to Colorado Avalanche that would shift the standings and first round opponents for both of these teams.
I will have written all of this for nothing should Wild win and Blackhawks lose tomorrow because the first round opponent for our squad will be the Predators. Buckle up this is sure to be a war tomorrow night.
***Update***
They Wild signed Dylan Labbe who is a talented two way defender out of Canadian Juniors. This kid jumped out to me during Wild prospect camp two summers in a row because he has the size and skating to go end to end with the puck. He is truly a sleeper given how much other defensive prospects have been written about like Mathew Dumba, Gustav Olofsson, and Christian Folin. This kid has already played some PTO time with Baby Wild last year too. I also am really excited for Baby Wild fans to get Christoph Bertschy done there for next year. He is a slick handling late bloomer type who was really skilled last year during Wild prospect camp and he had breakout season this year in Europe.
Here is the show from 04/08/2015 Jeff Dubay #WildWednesdayShow from Bennett's Chop and Rail House featuring Ben Remington of WildXtra.com as my replacement
**If you are interested in sponsorship or advertising your business in the Twin Cities Metro area on this column, please send a message for more information by clicking on the “Contact” button at the top of the page.**
Just My Take,
Tony Dean
Follow Me on Twitter
@TonyDeanHB
Follow WildHBcommunity on Twitter
@WildHBcommunity
Also Like the WildHBcommunity of FaceBook here: WildHBCommunity on FaceBook
Minnesota Wild Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»