Robtangle

I'm no longer sore over the Minnesota Wild's 4-2 series loss to the Colorado Avalanche. If anything, it helped me in a few ways because:

A) It further pointed out our flawed blue line which NEEDS to be changed over the offseason

B) Mikko Koivu and Pierre-Marc Bouchard are going to be bonafide Stars in the NHL, and...

C) Most importantly - we are the best fans in the Northwest Division, if not the conference.

I know it looks like I'm absolutely jumping for my high horse, that's not the case. After following the Avalanche in their second-round matchup with the Red Wings, one thing became obviously clear - Colorado is home to incredibly fair-weathered fans.

They gloated when their team beat mine. They said it had nothing, absolutely nothing to do with the refs. They said it had nothing to do with our injury-depleted defense. They had the audacity to say that their team, and fans, were better.

Fast-forward to this series, and my, how the tables turned. After the first game, the Avs fans hung around. Said they were still in the series. After Game 2's drubbing, the hypocrisy came by the shovel-full. They said the refs were throwing the game, that the Red Wings had too many penalties. They said that the NHL wanted Detroit to win. They said that they were suffering from key injuries. And now that the Wings put an eight-spot (or, "The Ocho" for fans of the movie Dodgeball) on Jose Theodore aka "The One-Series Wonder," the fans have completely disappeared.

I'm sorry. I couldn't hold back. I had to sink my teeth into those posts. Was it mature? Probably not, though my articulation and logic were impeccable as usual. Was it necessary? No, they knew they aren't hardcore fans. Was it fun?

You bet your ass it was fun.

I'm a fan of all sports so my summer will be spent playing baseball and golf, watching a little bit of them on TV, catching a Twins game every week or so. I have things to occupy my time. So I'll be writing some baseball blogs this summer, and also reporting on any moves the Wild make. I'm sad the Wild didn't move on, but boy did I enjoy watching the second round of these playoffs.

Keep your stick on the ice,

~ Robtangle

Dear Minnesota Twins organization:

I actually applaud your offseason moves. I really believed that the offense could compete this year. Now I know, GM Bill Smith, you're going to tell me to give it time. The pitchers are ahead of the hitters at this point in the season.

Good argument, my good sir - except the Los Angeles Sacramento Angels of Northern San Jose County Municipal Janitors of Anaheim put up a nine-spot on us not 24 hours ago. Twins, please split this series, or Torii's going to think he actually made the right off-season move. Justin Morneau, where are you? I mean, your stick, that is. Defense was great last night, I threw my beer on some kid because that no-look flip to Nick Blackburn was amazing.

Speaking of which, Morneau, you should write to ESPN. Your play was number 5 in their daily top ten. I think you got beat out by a water-skiing squirrel. But that's why I blog on this Web site, not theirs. ESPN can shove it.

Back to the point, though - we've scored four runs in three games. Ouch. An alcoholic college student (read: pretty much every college student) has a higher GPA than your runs per game. We thought that the pitching would be sketchy coming into the year, but it's STILL the hitting? Ugh.

I'm done ranting for now, but expect another letter from me if things don't change in a hurry.

Love,

~ Robtangle

P.S. - If you wish to add yet another overweight pitcher to your roster, gimme a call. My curveball is faster than Livan Hernandez's.

Just when you're ready to count out the Minnesota Wild, they come back with an A+ performance like they had last night against the Oilers. It's like the roles were reversed from the previous matchup. The Wild came out strong, scoring two goals in the first ten minutes of the game and went on to score a goal shorthanded, on the power play, and at even strength. Defense was more or less solid, as were the line combinations as Lemaire didn't do nearly as much juggling as he usually does.

Tangle's game puck is awarded to: Center Mikko Koivu. Talk about being unselfish, the guy acted like Pierre-Marc Bouchard last night. His assist to Sean Hill was great - he could have tried to jam the puck in the net but made the extra pass to give Sean Hill the open net. His saucer pass to Brian Rolston on the shorthanded break was a thing of beauty. The only part of his game that was flawed was getting inexplicably kicked out of the faceoff circle time after time, and for what, I have no clue. The refs were pretty inconsistent on those faceoffs, and Koivu wasn't too happy about it. Other props go to Hill, getting back to back goals after going 90+ without a single one. Backstrom stopped 31 of 32 shots; that is, if you count how much the posts bailed him out. Sometimes you get those kind of breaks. The final prop goes to Coach Lemaire (who I will get to more fully later), he kept his line combinations pretty consistent AND broke up the Dildaphonic Duo of Martin Skoula and Kim Johnsson. Surprise, surprise, the defense suddenly got better (though Skoula finished with a -1, I believe...it's hard to tell using CBS's stats because they also say that Hill finished with a -1, which is impossible considering he scored a goal (+1) and the Oilers only scored one goal total (-1) so the worst he could do is even).

Tangle's "WTF?" award goes to: Coach Jacques Lemaire. Now you may be thinking, "Tangle, what kind of Kool-Aid are you drinking, you just gave Lemaire props earlier." Well, here's my response. While I'm glad he kept lines consistent last night, there was one line combination I didn't like - Derek Boogaard, Aaron Voros, and James Sheppard. Huh? How is Sheppard going to excel with two enforcers on his wings? Second, Lemaire had Branko Radivojevic on the 5-on-3 power play. I like Radio but I don't think he's power play material, and had we scored with the two-man advantage, we would've put the game away much earlier. Finally, where was Benoit Pouliot? He's been playing incredibly well, and he was the odd man out last night with a healthy scratch. I know Bouchard and Pavol Demitra are better players but you ride somebody when they're hot. The other harassment award goes to the Oilers' power play unit. Granted, we've got the third-best penalty kill in the NHL, but Edmonton is now 0 for their last 21 power play chances. For a team fighting for their playoff lives, that's a shot in the foot. Finally, Zack Stortini - why would you even try your luck against Boogey? The ref got in front of the camera so the angle wasn't great but Boogey leveled him with a left, then picked him up and started donkey punching him. Serves you right.

I'll be coming to you again Friday night, either covering the game against the Canucks or watching my Badgers take on upstart Davidson in the NCAA tournament. Picture in picture, anyone?

Peace,

~ Robtangle

I can't believe I sat through the entire Wild game last night, especially after the first 5:02 when the Oilers went up 3-0. Let's face it - this team's going to be one and done in the playoffs - well, if they end up holding onto a spot.

Streaky teams do not win championships. It's why the Senators lost the Stanley Cup Finals last year, and why Edmonton did a couple of years back. A seven game series does not give you enough time to come back from a large deficit. It's a shortened season, and yes, the Wild came back from 3-1 twice in the same season.

But there's a reason why they're the only team that's ever done it. It's happened as many times as the Cubs have won a World Series over the past 99 years. Once. You can't count on those odds come playoff time.

Jacques Lemaire running practices again may kick these guys into gear, but for how long? They'll eventually slide back into the turnover-prone, ho-hum team that came to play last night. The team that's scored more than three goals only once in the past 17 contests. The team that, well, you get the idea.

Look, losing Pierre-Marc Bouchard and Pavol Demitra for the same game hurt us, but that doesn't let that first shift go unnoticed - three turnovers, two by my favorite (cough) player, Kim Johnsson.

I'd rant some more but it would just make me angrier. Kids, this is your blog on drugs. I've lost coherency after watching this team over the course of the season. I wish my first blog in a month would have been a more positive one, but I'd be called crazy if I said the Wild are firing on all cylinders.

We need to be driving a vehicle with cruise control, not one that resembles a ferris wheel. Welcome to the Minnesota Wild carnival, where you can always count on at least one ride being down for repairs on any given night.