Preface: My apologies for not writing for a long while. When you’re writing three or more papers a week for school, as I am now, I don’t have much spare time to do anything, let alone write more. That is coupled with the fact that I don’t have a radio in my dorm, so I couldn’t listen to any of the Wild's preseason games.
With the NHL’s regular season looming just mere days away, the Wild have made their final cuts, packed their bags, and moved from Parade Ice Garden to the cozy confines of the Xcel Energy Center to await the Boston Bruins on October 8.
There were a few surprises cracking this year’s version of the Wild, as Jacques once again put together his patented mix of skilled youngsters and muck-and-grind veterans. Here’s what the roster looks like this year:
Eric Belanger
Derek Boogaard
Pierre-Marc Bouchard
Andrew Brunette
- B/R Ticket Guide
Marian Gaborik
Colton Gillies
Mikko Koivu
Antti Miettinen
Owen Nolan
Benoit Pouliot
James Sheppard
Stephane Veilleux
Craig Weller
Marc-Andre Bergeron
Brent Burns
Kurtis Foster
Kim Johnsson
Tomas Mojzis
Erik Reitz
Nick Schultz
John Scott
Martin Skoula
Marek Zidlicky
Niklas Backstrom
Barry Brust
Josh Harding
On the forward side, it seems that the Wild will have a tough time scoring many goal.
As I’ve preached before, the Wild will need a solid performance from sophomore center James Sheppard, who is due for a breakout year.
I’m happy to see Gillies make the roster. He’s sure to spark the offense, and is a good guy to have around for that energy shift, or on the penalty kill.
On the defensive side of the puck, I wonder why Jacques hasn’t cut Skoula yet, but I guess depth on the blue line is a good thing to have.
John Scott must have really impressed in training camp and the preseason. I have to confess I’ve never heard of him before.
The Wild have three goalies on their roster, but this is because Skoula injured Harding’s eye late in the preseason (yet another reason to get rid of Skoula).
I’m a little perplexed as to why Brust is backing up Backstrom instead of Schaefer. Brust has more NHL experience, perhaps? Maybe Brust showed something in the preseason, but I missed it because I don’t have a radio.
I guess it doesn’t really matter, because Brust will be sent back down to Houston when Harding gets healthy anyways.
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