The Iron Patriot

Photo: Hannah Foslien/Getty Images

Zach Parise was expected to be out 2-3 weeks with a bruised foot, which he suffered during Monday's game. He took the morning skate on Wednesday, but couldn't play due to the pain.

O Brodziak, Where Art Thou

It has not been a good start for Brodziak. Photo: Lance Thornson/Getty Images

Yesterday was for giving thanks, counting your blessings, and all that good stuff. Today, not so much. In fact, we are going to a near opposite of giving thanks.

For the 2013-14 Wild, there are two distinct players who have stood out among the rest when it comes to being our favorite scapegoat. One of them is Kyle Brodziak.

What's Really Important

Day in and day out (or at least every other day), we gather here to discuss the good and bad when it comes to our favorite hockey team. And while thats why we come here on a semi daily basis, that is not why we gather here today.

How Long Will This Dominance Last?

Are better times ahead for the Wild when playing the Blues? Photo: Jeff Robertson/AP

One could easily look at last night's score and say "The Wild got throttled by St. Louis". When you read 3-0 and Parise leaves the game with injury, its real easy to say that. If you watched the game, the Blues controlled the puck like no other and it showed up in the stat line. The Blues dominated the game with a 61% Corsi For. Not exactly the way the Wild wanted to send a message to St. Louis in their first meeting as divisional opponents.

Keith Ballard, Ryan Suter, and Stuff About Their TOI

Photo: Hannah Foslien/Getty Images

Lately, everyone has been talking about the number of minutes Ryan Suter has been playing each night. At 29:33 of TOI per game, he leade the NHL by 1:45 over Erik Karlsson. Suter is looking to become the first player to average over 30 minutes of TOI since Chris Pronger back in 1999-2000  with 30:14 (also worth noting that Pronger won the Hart Trophy).

Into The West

A nice soothing song while taking in some vicious facts.

Tomorrow, the Wild get a special afternoon matinee (not so special for those of us in the Twin Cities who have the Wild and Gopher Football team on at the same time) up in Winnipeg against those pesky Jets. The game is the team's third game on a four game road trip that has taken them across Central/Eastern Canada,  and ending in St. Louis on Monday.

Chalk Talk: How To Make Four Defenders Look Bad

Its late in the third. Ottawa tied up the game earlier on a power play after Jason Pominville took a stupid penalty. The Wild are desperately trying not to lose on back to back nights, after winning their last four games. 

So who do you call to get a big go ahead goal late in the game? Zach Parise? No. Pominville? No. Dany Heatley? Haha. 

Houses of Horrors

Its been a decade since the Wild have won in Ottawa. Photo: Front Page Media Group

Last night, the Wild rode a two goal performance from Mikko Koivu and a 21 save effort from Josh Harding to a 2-1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets. The win was the fourth in a row for the Wild, and pushed their record on the young season to 13-4-4.

Taking The Foot Off The Pedal

Photo: Hannah Foslien/Getty Images

Last night, the Wild closed out their three game homestand with a 2-1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets. The win gave the Wild a sweep of the homestand, and was their fourth straight victory overall.

3-on-3: Wild After 20 Games

Josh Harding has played a huge part in the Wild's hot start. Photo: Hannah Foslien/Getty Images 

Essentially, we are a quarter into this season. Pretty crazy considering we have only been playing hockey for a month and a half now, but when you think about the compressed schedule due to the Olympic break, it makes sense.

So now that the Wild have completed roughly a quarter of their season, lets do a little three-on-three for the team as a whole.

Moving On

Photo: Brace Hemmelgarn/USA Today

Last night, we witnessed one of the worst individual displays of hockey from Leafs forward Nazem Kadri (this is where Leaf fans quit reading).

In one hockey game, Kadri managed to distribute a shot to the head of Niklas Backstrom (which caused the Wild goalie to leave the game) and handed out another high blow to Mikael Granlund, which earned him a match penalty.

Ryan Suter: Minnesota's Iron Man

Check back tomorrow, where we compare Jonas Brodin to Pepper Potts.

Since his arrival in the NHL, Ryan Suter has become one of the more well-conditioned players in the league. He built that reputation up with the Nashville Predators, and it has become very front and center now with the Minnesota Wild.

Monday Thoughts

Photo: Gerry Broome/AP

Good afternoon everyone. Good to see the squad pick up a shootout victory after we talked about the lack of goal scoring in shootouts on Saturday. Here are some thoughts as we head into a three game home stand:

Shootout Woes

Photo: Rob Carr

Last year, the Wild had tremendous success in the shootout thanks to the addition of Zach Parise. Parise brought a goal scoring skill set that the Wild have not seen since the likes of Marian Gaborik roamed these parts, but even he was not great in the shootouts.

Visting The Nation's Capital

A picture of Jaromir Jagr is always a good way to start a post

For those of you wondering why a picture of Jaromir Jagr is preceding this post, the answer is quite simple: The last time the Minnesota Wild won in the nation's capital, Jaromir Jagr was a member of the Washington Capitals.

The Fourth Line Resurgence

Zenon Konopka finally registered a point! Photo: Hannah Foslien/Getty Images

“Dany Heatley gets put on our line. Total professional. Instead of coming with a bad attitude to our line, total opposite. So excited to play with me and Mitchell, raised our game and was excited to play with us. I think it shows the unselfishness of him and being a true professional.”-Zenon Konopka


Prior to the Wild's game Sunday night against New Jersey, Mike Yeo decided to switch up his lines in order to spark a little more offense. One of the switches he made was sending Dany Heatley (noted 50 goal scorer and All-Star in the NHL) down to the fourth line alongside Zenon Konopka and Torrey Mitchell.

Dany Heatley Is Not Going Anywhere

It has not been a great start for the former 50 goal scorer. Photo: Brace Hemmelgarn/USA Today

During the summer, I argued why Dany Heatley needed to stay with the Wild. The main points of argument in the article stated that Heatley gives the Wild more depth and gives them much more flexibility in the summer for free agency (when his $7.5M cap hit comes off the book).

October Wrap Up

Trying another new feature here where we wrap up each month by looking back at the best players, plays, and game. Here is the Team of 18,001's October Wrap Up:

The Last Time Montreal Visited St. Paul

Todd Richards was our head coach. Jose Theodore was our starting goaltender. Mikko Koivu scores on a penalty shot. Young PK Subban lit up the Wild for a hat trick and lead the Habs to a 8-1 rout of the Wild.

But a lot can change in two and a half years.

Wild and Montreal drop the puck at 7:00 tonight.

Follow Giles on Twitter @gilesferrell