Wild Game Day number 53 Wild Record (28-19-5 61 pts) Road Record (10-15-1)
Opponent: St. Louis Blues (32-19-3 67 pts) Home Record (18-10-0)
Site: Scottrade Center, St. Louis, MO
Time: 7:00PM CT
TV: NBC Sports Network (NBCSN)
Last Season Results: 10/13 Wild 2 @ Blues 3 11/26 Wild 3 @ Blues 4 (SO) 12/11 Blues 1 @ Wild 3 1/26 Blues 1 @ Wild 5 3/7 Blues 2 @ Wild 1
Playoff Results: Game 1: 4/12 Blues 2 @ Wild 1 (OT) Game 2: 4/14 Blues 2 @ Wild 1 Game 3: 4/16 Wild 1 @ Blues 3 Game 4: 4/19 Wild 2 @ Blues 0 Game 5: 4/22 Blues 4 @ Wild 3
Last result: 11/25 Wild 3 @ Blues 6 12/2 Blues 1 @ Wild 2 (OT)
Another Central Division road test for Bruce Boudreau and his team tonight as they head to St. Louis to face the Blues. St. Louis currently holds down third in the tough Central Division 6 points ahead of the Wild. If the Wild can somehow turn their road woes around and win tonight they could potentially draw within 4 points of the Blues with 2 games in hand, and within 3 points of Dallas with a game in hand.
This is the same old story we have heard and talked about all season, how the Wild are a good team at home and a complete crapshoot on the road.
In many of the road losses of late the Wild have not been competitive at all. That is alarming to say the least. The clichés from the players after the losses are tiring to listen to as is the coach having little to no answers as to why this continues to happen.
It is time for Bruce Boudreau to step his game up and stop going to the well with the same old same old. This team needs a swift kick to the back side and it begins with the veteran leaders. The guys with the letters on their sweaters need to be called out. Boudreau finds it easy to call out some of his guys but when it comes to Koivu, Suter, Parise, Staal, and Dubnyk he is quiet.
The leaders have those letters on their sweaters for a reason, and the day that they stop earning them, they need to be removed and awarded to the players that will earn them every day.
I am not sure what it is with Suter and Koivu in particular, that every coach that has been here has basically kissed their backsides and turned their head to the fact that they have done very little to make the team better as a whole. They obviously are not very capable of holding their teammates accountable which leaves that to the coaching staff.
We all know how that goes, coaches have only so much power, especially when the team is up against the salary cap and player movement is nearly impossible. Players respond best when they hold each other accountable, and go to battle each and every day with and for each other.
I am not saying that Koivu and Suter are not two very important players on the Wild team, because we know that they are. But that said there is no reason why Suter plays over 26 minutes a night every night and Koivu logging top six mutes. Koivu may actually bring more value to the team in a third line role, and Suter too would be more effective if his minutes were managed better.
Getting back to Boudreau, he has seen this play out all season, yet his only answer is we have to get better on the road. When asked about the road PK which has been dreadful he says the players lack confidence when they go on the ice.
This is one of the league's top head coaches, and a veteran team that has been to the playoffs for five straight seasons. Lacking confidence and committing turnovers are what we expect from teams full of young inexperienced players, not the Minnesota Wild who have an average age of 28.5 years old.
Tonight is big as the Wild will play their next five games at home after tonight's road game in St.Louis, and getting 2 points could put them in a position to make a significant move up the standings in the next couple of weeks. But that all depends on how Boudreau handles the guys in the room and the changes he is willing to make in his own approach. The Wild have a whole lot more to give, Boudreau's job is to draw that out of them.
It's always Hockey Day in The State of Hockey!
Follow me on Twitter @dwallace17