Minnesota Wild - A Season Smashed Against the Boards

In yesterday's StarTribune, Grandpa Sports (aka Sid Heartman) interviews Minnesota Wild owner Craig Leipold. Leipold comes off very positive about the team and its trajectory with the new GM and coaching that was named prior to the season. Says Leipold:
"

"I love it, it's great, the fans are unbelievable," Leipold said. "You know you can walk into the Xcel Energy Center, every game is a sellout. It has been just a blast. St. Paul and the Twin Cities are ... all about hockey. I feel very, very fortunate to be there."

Here's a little insight for you, Craig. Your team stinks, and stinks on ice. There are only two teams in our conference worse than us, and in a league where they give out playoff appearances like little-kid soccer trophys, we're too lousy to go. Despite being mathmatically able to get into a playoff position , the team worked up a gutless 7-9 record in the critical March period, and punctuated it with a horriffic 0-4 loss to the hated Blackhawks in front of our home crowd. This team lacks hustle, momentum, guts, scoring, and desire. They are, candidly, one of the worst teams in the NHL, and have been that way for their entire existance. And in the mean time, ownship continues to grin and spout off about how great the fans are and how every game has been a sellout. What a load of crap.


For the first time since they came to town, I didn't go to a game, and I've stopped watching them on TV due to their March swoon. My categorization of the team last October couldn't have been any more correct.


Here's a little tip for Mr. Leipold: Instead of keeping your eye on all of those full seats, what's say you take a look, just for one minute, at what is happening on the ice. You're going to see some really lousy hockey, trust me. If you really care about all of those "unbelievable" fans, you'll do something about it.