I’m Going To Miss The Wild

Hockey NHL Wild
Austan Lundeen

I’m heading to Italy. The country of wine, the Colosseum, Vatican City, pizza and so on, but something will be missed. Will it be the palm trees of Arizona? No. Will it be the poor play on the golf course? Ha, no. Will it be missing FOUR Minnesota Wild games? You effing betcha. 

While I’m away the future Stanley Cup champions will be playing host to four NHL teams in downtown St. Paul where I hope to dear goodness that they come away 4-0. Please know that if they do, I’ll continue to not watch ANY games until they lose. Bet on it. 

With that, I thought now would be a good time to have some fun with said games and throw out my predictions. Now, these predictions have changed considerably due to the news of Marc-Andre Fleury being put on injured reserve. What this means is he’ll be missing at least a week of action. (This is how I feel about it…)

Also, before I dive into these predictions, understand that if Marco Rossi does indeed score I’ll blow. EVERY. SINGLE. GAME. I’ve said he’d score and you guessed it! The bastard hasn’t. So, you can hopefully understand how I’ll feel. He’s as irritating as watching the Timberwolves.

Okay, on to the fun stuff. 

Game 1

Minnesota Wild vs. Pittsburgh Flightless Birds

Coming off a horrifying loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Flightless Birds led by Sid the Kid and that other guy are hungry. They’re going to wobble their way into St. Paul with confidence. But will that be enough? 

The Wild are without star goalie Fleury and are struggling to find their offensive footing. But I feel that this game is going to be the turning point. We’re going to find that our defense is still playing the best hockey (imo) in the league and the Wild are going to soar. This will also be the first time the new Reverse Retro jerseys are played in for the Wild.

Final score: Minnesota Wild-3, Pittsburgh Flightless Birds-2

Game 2

Minnesota Wild vs. Carolina Gale Force Winds

With Carolina continuing to play solid hockey, Saturday night’s going to be a challenge for our Minnesota Wild. It’s going to be a high scoring game that brings the best out of our team, but will it be enough? Depending on who’s in goal will be the deciding factor in this game. But my instinct is saying…

Minnesota Wild-4, Carolina Gale Force Winds-5

Game 3

Minnesota Wild vs. Winnipeg Kites

Growing up in Hermantown I had the honor of playing alongside Winnipeg defenseman Neal Pionk in baseball. Everything you hear about the guy is true, truly a great human. I remember the days of going to his folks place just north of Hermantown where we’d play video games, practice on their outdoor baseball diamond and so on. It was fun! 

With Neal developing himself into one hell of an NHLer, he’s sure to bring some excitement back to the State of Hockey. Even with this, I don’t think it’s going to be enough for the Kites to build off of. 

Minnesota Wild-2, Winnipeg Kites-1

Game 4

Minnesota Wild vs. Toronto Maple Syrup

I’ve never been an Austin Matthews fan. There, I said it. He kind of seems like a tool bag with a creeper stache… But I think the stache will be intimidating enough for the score to be… 

Minnesota Wild-2, Toronto Maple Syrup-5

With all of that being said…

While I’m gone I’m predicting the Wild to go 2-2. Not ideal considering we were one of the top home teams last season, but I’ll take it. 

It’s going to be so fricken hard not watching the Wild play, but all will be good. I hope I’m wrong and the team goes 4-0, but time will tell. 

Until next time friends, cheers and LET’S GO WILD!