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Sunday May 19, 2013

This is Michael Russo's 18th year covering the National Hockey League. He's covered the Minnesota Wild for the Star Tribune since 2005 following 10 years of covering the Florida Panthers for the Sun-Sentinel. Michael uses “Russo’s Rants” to feed a wide-ranging hockey-centric discussion with readers, and can be heard weekly on KFAN (100.3 FM) radio and seen weekly on Fox Sports North.

Also find Russo on Facebook.

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Posts about Wild news

Wild goaltender Josh Harding nominated for the Masterton Trophy

Posted by: Michael Russo Updated: April 23, 2013 - 5:07 PM

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Josh Harding could have disappeared into the sunset. Nobody would have blamed him.
 
Given the life-jarring diagnosis of multiple sclerosis last fall, the Wild goaltender would have been justified to put his career aside and concentrate on his health.
 
Instead, soon after being told he had the incurable autoimmune disease where his body randomly attacks and eats away the protective lining of his nerves and causes them to scar, Harding selflessly revealed his condition publicly so it would not become a distraction if it got out during a shortened season. Sure enough, Harding did have complications, but his previous revelation meant he could get things under control for two months without being peppered with questions.
 
Harding made it crystal clear the moment he got the life-altering news that his NHL career would continue. He shut out Dallas in his first start and last weekend played a two-game conditioning stint with Houston, helping the Aeros clinch a playoff spot.
 
“I think if anyone was in my situation, they’d do the exact same thing,” said Harding, who backed up Niklas Backstrom on Tuesday against Los Angeles for the first time since Feb. 11. “You’ve been playing hockey all your life and to let something come in the way of it, you usually don’t – you’ll find a way to make it happen.
 
“Obviously it took a little bit of time to get everything dialed in. Every day is going to be different. You can’t predict the future, but I think everybody in my position would do the same thing.”
 
Harding’s perseverance and strength though when tested with true adversity is why the Minnesota chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association has chosen him as the Wild’s nominee for the Bill Masterton trophy. The honor is given annually to the NHL player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to ice hockey.
 
Since I have covered the team, our nominees have been, in order from 2005-06 to 2011-12, Wes Walz, Marian Gaborik, Aaron Voros, Kurtis Foster, Guillaume Latendresse, Pierre-Marc Bouchard and Clayton Stoner.
 
“I’m definitely honored beyond belief,” said Harding. “The support has been amazing. The fans here in Minnesota, around North America, it’s come in from everywhere. I definitely will have more time in the summer to look back on everything and definitely thank a lot of people. Right now there’s a lot going on behind the scenes that people don’t see. Right now unfortunately, selfishly, I have to look after myself to keep my end of the bargain on this team. I have a job to do and I have to make sure I’m ready every day. There’s always going to be time to reflect. When that time comes, hopefully we all have a big smile on our face.”
 
I asked him behind the scenes stuff that he mentioned. He is obviously been run through the gauntlet in terms of treatment.
 
“There’s a lot more than people realize,” he said. “Obviously I’m not going to go into every detail. It’s a lot more complicated than people would actually know. I didn’t know what it was all going to take. That’s why I missed a lot of time. We had to figure things out. It’s an important thing to deal with. Unfortunate thing with MS is everybody’s different. Every situation’s different. There’s no exact similar MS diagnosis. Everybody’s different and everybody acts differently. You can take advice from people, but unfortunately it’s whatever’s going to work best for you. We had to figure out what’s best for me, what works for me and we think that we’ve got it under control here.”
 
Harding has become a role model to many, and knowing Harding, he will find a way to create more awareness for MS through a charitable foundation or volunteering time.
 
“I’m going to get into something for sure,” he said. “There isn’t the time to be rushing home to go do that. I have a responsibility as a teammate and for this team to get myself ready in case I get in there, even in practice to make the guys better by trying as hard as I can. That’s my responsibility right now. I owe it to the team to do that. There’s definitely going to be a lot of time in the summer to deal with all that stuff and look back and start up a … and help out wherever I can.”
 
“It’s an inspirational story,” coach Mike Yeo said. “You see what he’s fought through and worked for, it’s just another thing to rally around and feel good about. He’s been through an awful lot. Not too many people can understand what he’s been through. It’s very inspirational.”

Desperate times call for desperate measures: Veilleux, Dowell up; Granlund, Zucker down

Posted by: Michael Russo Updated: April 22, 2013 - 12:09 PM

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It was just a matter of time before the Wild would have to make a roster shakeup after losing five in a row at home.

Rookies Mikael Granlund and Jason Zucker, coming off a couple poor efforts, especially last night against Calgary, have been reassigned. Energy bugs Stephane Veilleux and Jake Dowell have been recalled to play the big, bad defending Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday.

The Wild has lacked physicality in recent games, focus at proper times, like getting the puck deep and not taking penalties on power plays (see Zucker and Granlund), and also defensive smarts in some key situations.

So Zucker, who was coming off a string of bad games, and Granlund take the hit. Zucker's turnovers have hurt the team since his last recall, and he probably destined himself for this when he bailed out of beating an icing last night. Granlund is just not ready -- plain, simple -- in my opinion.

Veilleux and Dowell are veterans, so they should do their jobs, keep it simple (hit people, get pucks deep and forecheck) and bring some of the elements missing from this team during absences to Mike Rupp and Zenon Konopka.

Desperate move for a desperate team. No matter the way the Wild decides to spin it today, this is a Code Blue move.

Josh Harding and Darcy Kuemper have been flipped, too, as expected, and Harding has been activated off IR.

Here are the numbers on the players involved in the switches.

Dowell, the former Wisconsin Badger who has played in 154 NHL games, had four goals in 37 games with Houston. He's 28.  Veilleux, 31, had three goals in 33 games with the Aeros. He has 460 NHL games under his belt.

Harding was 1-1 on his rehab assignment in Houston, stopping 56 of 61 shots. He played in four games for the Wild this season before symptoms related to multiple sclerosis sidelined him.

Kuemper was 1-2 for the Wild this season after posting a 1.88 goals-against average in 21 games with the Aeros.

Zucker has four goals in 19 games for the Wild, and had 24 in 55 games for the Aeros. Granlund had two goals in 27 games with the Wild and 10 in 29 games with the Aeros.

The Wild's in a crisis. This is a reaction to that. We will see if it works now.

Like I said last night, Wild goes 2-1 in its final three games, there should be a postseason.

More after availability at 11.

 

Harding wins first conditioning start

Posted by: Michael Russo Updated: April 19, 2013 - 10:38 PM

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In his first start since Jan. 30 and first appearance since Feb. 7, Wild goalie Josh Harding stopped 33 of 36 shots in a 4-3 Houston Aeros victory over the Texas Stars on Friday night. It was the first of what will likely be a two-game conditioning stint for Harding, who has been sidelined for nine weeks after complications with new medication to treat multiple sclerosis.


The win clinched a playoff spot for the Aeros. Matt Dumba, a 2012 first-round pick, made his pro debut for the Aeros. Harding is expected to be recalled Sunday. If all goes well, Darcy Kuemper will likely be reassigned for the Calder Cup playoffs.

Wild Q and A: Submit questions on my blog

Posted by: Michael Russo Updated: April 18, 2013 - 6:42 PM

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I will be doing another Wild blog-submitted Q and A for Sunday's newspaper.

If you have any questions that you want considered for my Q and A, please leave them in the comment section of this blog OR you can LIKE www.facebook.com/startribunemikerusso and leave questions in the comment field of the link to this blog.

One rule: Space is tight in the paper. So no long comments or War and Peace type questions. Just quick-hitting, brief questions please that you know can easily be answered in the paper. Read through the questions already submitted. If you see one that you were going to ask, try to come up with another.

Thanks!

Wild will officially seek approval to move AHL team to Iowa

Posted by: Updated: April 17, 2013 - 7:59 PM

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During an American Hockey League Board of Governors conference call Thursday, the Wild will officially seek approval to relocate the Houston Aeros to Des Moines, Iowa, next season.
 
If approved, as expected, the Wild will rename the team the Iowa Wild and host a news conference in Des Moines on Monday.
 
The team will play at the Wells Fargo Arena. The Wild was unable to come to a lease agreement in Houston with the Toyota Center.

In other Wild news, Mikael Granlund traveled with the team to San Jose. The team should learn after Thursday's morning skate whether or not Mike Rupp can play against the Sharks.

Granlund was reassigned to Houston on Tuesday only to be called back up on an emergency becasue Rupp was banged up. Granlund then scored against the Oilers, his first goal since Jan 19.

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