Dan Wallace: Stalock Claimed By Oilers

No surprise, There are a few teams that need to shore up the number two goaltending and Stalock Is under 800,000 per. I was guessing that the Caps would be Interested In Stalock.

Quick, someone check on Gump as he's prolly in dire straits now that the Wild have lost Stalock.

But seriously, with the way Kahkonen has played so far this year, I think he has arrived. Guessing that the rest of the season KK and Talbot will be 1A & 1B. When the Wild signed CT to that 3yr deal, my thinking was BG was looking for Talbot to be the #1 this year, a hopeful split of duties with them next year, the KK becoming the #1 in that 3rd year, with Talbot being a tradeable backup during that season. Guess the timeline has moved forward a tad, which is a good thing. The only bad thing was that the Wild couldn't find a way to trade Stalock to the Oil or someone else like the Caps.

I'm gonna miss Gump's rants about Stalock. I'm gonna have to find someone else to agitate now.

I'm excited about the Wild and what Guerin and Evason have done on and off the Ice In such a short period of time but keep In mind this Is a process and the Wild are In a soft division the real tests this season for Minnesota will be against Colorado, Vegas, And 8 contests vs. the Blues starting toward the end of March.

Other things I forgot about...

Did anyone expect to see Eriksson-Ek as the leading goal scorer at the season's 1/3 mark? And for Greenway to be leading the team in assists? And for the Wild to have no OT loses....and all of this while playing above .500 hockey and actually outscoring the Avs at this point?

Yeah, I know this is just a small sample size right now...but it sure feels good to start having an expectation that the Wild will have a better than decent chance to win any game they are playing right now. Just hoping it continues and tonight's game against Vegas is a continuation of improvement of the Wild. Dean Evason is starting to look brilliant right about now.

I'm excited about the Wild and what Guerin and Evason have done on and off the Ice In such a short period of time but keep In mind this Is a process and the Wild are In a soft division the real tests this season for Minnesota will be against Colorado, Vegas, And 8 contests vs. the Blues starting toward the end of March.
- Shady1962

Oh, I agree 100% there Shady. Tonight game is another litmus test for them. But the way the played against the Avs the other night, I think the entire team is buying into whatever Evason is selling, which is a really good starting point.

As most in Dan's blogs know, not a big Stalock fan... I mean you can do worse as far as back up's go, but Stalock is not a starter in the NHL... Never has been, never will be... Some like his uber active/aggressive style of play, but i for one could not stand his willingness to constantly leave the crease... it burned him many times as a result... I won't miss him...

Can't wait to watch the Wild tonight! Wish we could see Rossi and Johansson In the lineup. That would be even cooler.

As most in Dan's blogs know, not a big Stalock fan... I mean you can do worse as far as back up's go, but Stalock is not a starter in the NHL... Never has been, never will be... Some like his uber active/aggressive style of play, but i for one could not stand his willingness to constantly leave the crease... it burned him many times as a result... I won't miss him...
- MnGump

Agreed Mr Gump

Just like I posted on the last blog, the boys are running now. Outside of the PP, lots to be excited about. Scoring up and down the line up, defending well, already beat Col. twice and could be one of the top goaltending pairs in the league if not the best.

As most in Dan's blogs know, not a big Stalock fan... I mean you can do worse as far as back up's go, but Stalock is not a starter in the NHL... Never has been, never will be... Some like his uber active/aggressive style of play, but i for one could not stand his willingness to constantly leave the crease... it burned him many times as a result... I won't miss him...
- MnGump

Haahahahahahaha!!!!! This was excellent! Reading it during the first intermission. And the 1st intermissoin is great too! Audra Martin and Gigi Martin. Game has been ok, but a good one to watch. Vegas has been the better teamfor most of the 1st period, so it's good to see it 0-0.

And I am starting to think BG has a pretty good plan moving forward with the Wild. Have heard Ian Cole's name several times here in the 1st period and not for bonehead plays. Just thinking this was an excellent upgrade over Pateryn.

Well not the result i was expecting when the boys were still up by 2 with less than 7 minutes left in the game... I understand the philosophy behind slowing the play down and not being too aggressive, but that style seemed to only energize Vegas in the last period and once they came alive the Wild were on their heels and had no answer to the onslaught of attacks.

Overall i think the Wild played well enough to win but in the end not well enough to deserve to win... IMO I think if they keep their foot on the gas pedal and keep playing the game that got them 4 goals in the 2nd period i think they win that contest.

That final period was very Denny Green-esque with the whole "play not to lose" mentality

Well not the result i was expecting when the boys were still up by 2 with less than 7 minutes left in the game... I understand the philosophy behind slowing the play down and not being too aggressive, but that style seemed to only energize Vegas in the last period and once they came alive the Wild were on their heels and had no answer to the onslaught of attacks.

Overall i think the Wild played well enough to win but in the end not well enough to deserve to win... IMO I think if they keep their foot on the gas pedal and keep playing the game that got them 4 goals in the 2nd period i think they win that contest.

That final period was very Denny Green-esque with the whole "play not to lose" mentality
- MnGump

Denny Green was EXACTlY what I was thinking when LV scored in OT. The 1st and 2nd periods were fun to watch, but it looked like you could just see the bus slowing down in the 3rd. Still a fun game to watch.