What We Leave Behind

Angry, bitter, sad, shocked. Those are a few of the adjectives that come to mind this morning. 

Should you feel all those things after how last night's game ended? Absolutely. A puck taking a completely random bounce off the stanchion right out front of the net to a streaking Patrick Kane to end it. Yeah, not the way this season deserved to end. Except it did.

It may take some time to let this season sink in. But when it does, you should have a proud feeling. What this team did this year, under the circumstances, was nothing short of amazing. Think about it.

The Wild dressed a million goalies this year (okay, it was seven). No one could stay healthy. After a dismal end to December, Mikko Koivu and Zach Parise were sidelined with injuries. The team was left for dead. They went 9-4-1 in January. 

They relied heavily on their kids to play key roles. Charlie Coyle (who was a late bloomer this year), Nino Niederreiter, Mikael Granlund, Erik Haula, Justin Fontaine, Jared Spurgeon, Marco Scandella, and Jonas Brodin all filled in admirably. In fact, several of these players were huge in getting the Wild to the second round.

When the dust settles from this, we will look back at the 2013-14 Minnesota Wild fondly. They might not be as high up there with the 2003 squad, but this was a team that continued to achieve when no one expected them to.

As Picard mentions above "[time] reminds us to cherish every moment, because they'll never come again". Lets do just that today. Cherish the memory of the 2013-14 Wild. Believe that greater things lie ahead. Have #faith.

Farewell boys. See you in the fall.


Follow Giles on Twitter @gilesferrell