The old saying goes, “Misery loves company” and perhaps that is the best way to describe tonight’s matchup between the last place (of the Western Conference) Minnesota Wild and the second to last place (of the Eastern Conference) Toronto Maple Leafs. Both teams, went through some pretty profound changes over this summer. I will not discuss the Wild’s many changes, because if you’re a Wild fan that has been discussed ad nauseum so to sum it up; new General Manager, new coach, many new players, new system. For the Leafs, they are still run by the irrascible and savvy Edina, Minnesota-native Brian Burke as their General Manager and Ron Wilson as coach. The Leafs made efforts this summer to add toughness and sandpaper to its lineup when they added rugged defensemen Mike Komisarek and Francois Beauchemin via free agency, as well as Garnet Exelby via trade. Burke did not just add some toughness along the blueline, but he added tough guy Colton Orr to go along with his big (not to mention costly) early trade for Boston Bruins’ sniper Phil Kessel. The former Canucks GM did not just stop there as he landed the most coveted free agent from Europe, the “Monster” Jonas Gustafsson to provide help between the pipes. Yet with the Stanley Cup drought in Toronto now at 42-years in length, it looks as though it very well will extend into a 43-year drought with the way things have gone thus far as they sit 14th in the East with just 11 points.

Meanwhile, things seem to be looking a bit more positive as of late for the Minnesota, who have won 3 out of their last 4 games. Offense and scoring still remains to be the crucial issue at hand for the Wild, but better play in their own zone as well as some more assertiveness to shoot the puck has resulted in some victories as Minnesota starts a 4-game road swing. The Wild realize they must do their best to make this road trip count to make up much of the ground it lost on its first long road trip where the team went 0-for-5. The State of Hockey is just 2 points behind 14th place St. Louis in the west and while that may not impress many its a start, and in the right direction in the standings. So will the Wild show up and make this upward climb happen or will it be another road disaster for Minnesota?

The game would start with tremendous pace as both clubs exchange rushes against one another. Both clubs were skating well but all they could manage through the first few minutes were a few long-range wrist shots that were easy for Niklas Backstrom and Jonas Gustafsson to stop respectively. The first quality scoring chance came off the stick of the Maple Leafs’ Lee Stempniak who carried the puck down beneath the goal line where he’d attempt a wrap around that nearly was converted if not for an impressive toe save by Backstrom as he went post-to-post. Minnesota would answer back with a scoring chance of its, as Marek Zidlicky made a nice steal in the neutral zone where he moved into the Toronto zone before unleashing a rocket of a slap shot that was deflected out of harm’s way by the glove of Gustafsson. The Wild would earn the first power play of the game as Alexei Ponikarovsky took a boarding penalty when he attempted to smash Shane Hnidy’s face into the glass at Air Canada Centre. On the power play, the Wild got a quick scoring chance as the puck would reach Owen Nolan who tried to shovel a shot 5-hole but Gustafsson was there to shut it down. The Wild were moving the puck well from the half-wall out to the points and then towards the slot where Nolan set up Eric Belanger for a wicked backhander from the slot that the Leafs’ goaltender knocked down and covered up for a whistle. Moments later, Mikko Koivu pounced on a rebound for a one-timer only to be denied by Gustafsson who got across his crease efficiently to make the fine save. The Leafs tried to counter attack and again it was Lee Stempniak carrying the puck down low drawing the Wild’s defense to him before he slid a drop pass to a pinching Ian White who cranked a one-timer that was stopped by the leg pad of Backstrom and then the goaltender swept the puck to the right corner. In a strange play, former Moorhead Spud Jason Blake would collide with Wild captain Mikko Koivu that left both players a bit worse for the wear and skating gingerly to their respective bench. The Wild had a tremendous scoring chance off a strange turnover when Francois Beauchemin fell right behind his own goal as he carried the puck which turned into a quick bang-bang scoring chance for Martin Havlat as he took a quick pass from Benoit Pouliot that Gustafsson got just enough of to deflect it up and over his goal. A few minutes later the Wild had a great 3-on-2, as Minnesota caught Toronto on a bad line change and Owen Nolan couldn’t manage to fire a shot by a way out of position Jonas Gustafsson, and then as Nolan got the puck back and attempted a backhanded pass that went right through the crease towards Havlat but the puck would bounce over his stick and it would exit the offensive zone. A very unfortunate missed opportunity. Toronto would give the Wild another power play as former Minnesota prospect, Rickard Wallin held the stick of Brent Burns. On the power play Minnesota would get set up, but perhaps were a bit too comfortable as Kim Johnsson and Mikko Koivu were passing it back from the half-wall to the point. Moments later, the Maple Leafs would pounce on a lazy pass by Brent Burns that quickly turned into a Toronto 2-on-1. Burns would attempt to prevent the cross ice pass from Matt Stajan as he attempted to feed a crashing Niklas Hagman that just failed to click. Minnesota would pick up the loose puck and go on the counter attack as Martin Havlat carried the puck into the offensive zone where he delivered a drop pass to Shane Hnidy who fired a heavy snap shot that would go wide of the mark but the biscuit was picked up by Havlat who attempted a quick wrap around but as he slid a shot it would actually be tapped in by Gustafsson’s leg pad lifting the Wild to a 1-0 lead. Virtually on the next shift, the Leafs would work the puck down low to Ponikarovsky who tried to center a pass but the puck would ride up the leg of Greg Zanon and into the Wild goal tying the game at 1-1. The final seconds of the period would expire and both teams had reasons to feel some confidence going into the 2nd.

The good pace that marked the start of the 1st found itself once again to start the 2nd period. The Leafs had the first quality chance as Ian White fired a shot that was stopped by Backstrom and Nikolai Kulemin attempted to cash in on the rebound before colliding into the Wild goaltender. Minnesota went on the counter attack a great play to pinch by Greg Zanon who stepped around a Leafs forward to fire a shot wide of the mark but the puck would picked up by Eric Belanger who looked as though he had the whole goal to work with but he was denied by a desperation save by Ian White who bailed out Gustafsson with a small poke check. The next shift, the Wild put out Derek Boogaard who took his chance to run the Leafs’ Tomas Kaberle, and as the Wild enforcer skated towards his bench Toronto’s Colton Orr who wanted to tell Boogaard he didn’t like the hit and gave the Minnesota forward a shove earning the Wild another power play. On the man advantage the Wild were moving the puck well from the points down low where Ponikarovsky was busted for delay of game when he flung a clearing attempt out into the crowd; he did his best to protest the call but to no avail and Minnesota would be given a 5-on-3 power play. The Wild had a dazzling chance early as Minnesota would stretch out the Toronto penalty killers and Andrew Brunette would attempt to dangle a shot by Gustafsson but he was just able to sprawl enough to make the big save. Minnesota continued to work the puck, this time back out to the point and Marek Zidlicky pulled the trigger on a slapper that found the back of the Toronto net to give the Wild a 2-1 lead. That would still leave nearly a 1 minute and 20 seconds of power play time left to Ponikarovsky’s delay of game penalty but Minnesota’s 2nd power play unit was unable to create much with it and Toronto attempted to answer back. A quick chance by Kessel found the post behind Backstrom and it deflected out of harm’s way. The officials would attempt to give Toronto a 2nd life by calling Greg Zanon for hooking. Minnesota’s penalty killers were rock solid, and doing an excellent job at applying passive pressure and keeping their sticks active to disrupt the Maple Leafs’ passes. The Wild were able to chip the puck out and even were able to create some shorthanded offensive pressure as Cal Clutterbuck would race in a 2-on-1 with Chuck Kobasew but as Clutterbuck fed the pass to Kobasew he wasn’t able to control it to get a shot off. About a minute after this first power play, the Maple Leafs would get another courtesy of a lazy and foolish hit by the Wild’s James Sheppard who hit Ian White from behind. Again the Wild penalty killers asserted their control right away and Minnesota put on a clinic as to how to apply timely pressure and earn the safe and easy clearing of the offensive zone. Minnesota had another near chance as a blocked shot turned into a 2-on-1 for Cal Clutterbuck and Kyle Brodziak and Clutterbuck set up Brodziak for a wicked one-timer that was steered aside by Gustafsson. The missed opportunities would come back to haunt Toronto in a big way as a great faceoff win in the offensive zone by Mikko Koivu would turn into some offense down low as Andrew Brunette fed a pass to Antti Miettinen. Miettinen would deliver a perfect centering pass from beneath the goal line to Mikko Koivu who moved right down the slot to camp out at the top of the crease and he roofed a one-timer over the shoulder of Gustafsson for the easy goal lifting Minnesota to a 3-1 lead. Just 29 seconds left, the Wild would light the lamp again as Koivu would have another big faceoff win and Andrew Brunette chipped the puck along the wall and a nice pinch by Brent Burns kept the play in the offensive zone and Mikko Koivu swept in and dished the puck to Greg Zanon who flung a wrister that deflected off a Toronto defenseman and by the Leafs’ goaltender to give Minnesota a huge 4-1 lead. Minnesota still looked in control as it took its 3-goal lead into the 3rd period.

The 3rd period could best be described as the Wild playing safe, positionally sound hockey as it dumped the puck deep and played a strong 1-2-2 trap that made it difficult for the Leafs to carry the puck into the Minnesota zone. The Wild were not taking many chances offensively but they were not just only playing defense either; and for some Minnesota players it was a chance to further show off their level of hustle. Toronto was doing their best to ramp up the pressure in the Minnesota zone but the Wild were keeping the Maple Leafs to the perimeter and forcing them to take shots from long range that were of little difficulty for Backstrom. It was obvious the Air Canada Centre crowd was growing impatient as they began to serenade the home team with some boo’s. The Leafs finally managed to break through the Wild defense with just under 2 minutes left on a fantastic long pass from Jeff Finger up to Phil Kessel who raced into the Wild zone before firing a wrist shot underneath the right arm of Backstrom to cut the Minnesota lead to two, 4-2. With about a minute and a half, Ron Wilson would pull Gustafsson in favor of an extra attacker. The Leafs were swarming all over the Wild zone but Minnesota was doing well until Mikko Koivu tossed a puck into the stands for a delay of game call making it a 6-on-4 Toronto power play. Toronto’s Matt Stajan would win the faceoff and the Leafs would work the puck down low drawing another Wild penalty as Marek Zidlicky would earn a minor for holding giving the boys in blue a very rare 6-on-3 man advantage. Stajan continued to win faceoff after faceoff, and as the Leafs fired shots on goal, Backstrom was rock solid absorbing and holding onto shots killing valuable seconds off the clock. This set the stage for Owen Nolan who would win a race for the puck and he’d backhand a clearing attempt that ended up finding the back of the Toronto net in an extremely rare 3-on-6 shorthanded goal lifting the Wild back to a 3-goal lead. After one last Toronto attempt to score was thwarted the Wild would skate away with 5-2 victory.

Niklas Backstrom was stellar, making 37 saves in the victory. Especially down the stretch, even though the game was in hand the Wild goaltender showed outstanding focus as well as deft positioning in his crease that allowed him to make tough saves look easy. Defensively Minnesota played an excellent game, especially on the penalty kill as they shut down the league’s best power play. Greg Zanon as well as the finally healthy Kim Johnsson had strong games.

Offensively Minnesota was moving its feet well all game long and despite not being as fleet of foot (team-wise) as Toronto they were able to make plays happen because they were not getting caught flat footed. Minnesota’s defenseman did an outstanding job of supporting the play, a perfect example of which was Brent Burns’ subtle play to hold the offensive zone and allow the Wild to maintain control and eventually light the lamp. Marek Zidlicky is on a bit of a hot streak with two goals in the last two games, but apart from starting to find a level of comfort offensively he’s being more responsible in his own end as well. It was great to see Greg Zanon finally be rewarded for all his hard work, and shot blocking by tallying a goal this evening.

Minnesota now travels to Tampa Bay to take on a team that could almost be called Minnesota Wild-South for all the former Wild connections on it from assistant coach Wes Walz to former Wild players like Todd Fedoruk, Adam Hall, Stephane Veilleux and Kurtis Foster. The Wild need to enjoy this win, but they need to refocus and put together another solid road effort like tonight.

Wild Notes:

~ The Wild roster tonight is as follows: Mikko Koivu, Martin Havlat, Eric Belanger, Kyle Brodziak, Chuck Kobasew, James Sheppard, Benoit Pouliot, Derek Boogaard, Owen Nolan, Antti Miettinen, Andrew Brunette, Cal Clutterbuck, Brent Burns, Greg Zanon, Shane Hnidy, Kim Johnsson, Marek Zidlicky and Nick Schultz while Josh Harding backed up Niklas Backstrom. John Scott was the lone healthy scratch while forwards Pierre-Marc Bouchard and Petr Sykora are out of the lineup with injuries.

~ The 3 Stars of the Game were: 1st Star Niklas Backstrom, 2nd Star Mikko Koivu, 3rd Star Marek Zidlicky

~ The State of Hockey News wishes to salute of the 2009 Hall of Fame class of players; Luc Robitaille, Brian Leetch, Brett Hull, Steve Yzerman and New Jersey Devils GM Lou Lamiorello in the builder category.

Houston Aeros Report:

Current Record: 8-7-0-0, 7th in AHL’s Western Conference (out of 14 teams)

The Houston Aeros, the Minnesota Wild’s American Hockey League affiliate is on the rise as of late climbing up to 7th place in the hotly contested AHL Western Conference. The Aeros had a fairly light work schedule last weekend, with just one game against its natural in-state rival the San Antonio Rampage. With the 41st President, George Herbert Walker Bush and his wife, the former First Lady Barbara in attendance the Aeros battled to a 5-2 victory in what would prove to be a fight-filled Saturday night game. The Aeros got off to a quick 3-0 lead on goals by Peter Zingoni, Robbie Earl and Chad Rau. The Rampage tried to rally back with two goals of their own by defenseman Jeff May and former teammate of Wild winger Cal Clutterbuck at Oshawa Brett MacLean, but the Aeros lit the lamp two more times as Jon DiSalvatore and Petr Kalus found the back of the net to seal a victory.

The gloves were dropping early and often as Matt Kassian had 3 fights as Clayton Stoner and Kalus both had one respectively. It is very clear a rivalry (and the hatred that goes with it) exists and made for a spirited contest that over 8,000 attended including the former President and first lady got to see first hand. I am curious what President George H.W. Bush thought of the game, as he is known to be a very competitive person especially when it comes to athletics and grew up in Massachusetts where hockey is a traditional sport.

If one thing is clear about this year’s edition of the Aeros is that AHL-veterans Danny Irmen and Robbie Earl are showing a definite sense of urgency to their game. Perhaps helped in part by the departures of AHL scoring machines Corey Locke, Jesse Schultz and Krys Kolanos from last year’s squad has refocused the former WCHA stars to contributing more offensively as Earl and Irmen are #1, #2 in scoring for the Aeros this season. Neither of them is going to dazzle you with unreal ability, but both are showing a strong desire to take their game to the next level with the hope of earning a shot at the NHL. Rookie pro, Eden Prairie, Minnesota-native and former Colorado College star Chad Rau is having a solid first season as he’s given the Aeros some much needed secondary scoring punch. Anton Khudobin continues to excel between the pipes, sporting a solid 6-2 record, a 1.70 goals against average and a stellar .934% save percentage.