In the days leading to the NHL trade deadline, Chuck Fletcher said he didn't want to do anything to adversely affect the chemistry of the Wild locker room.
The trade deadline came and went Monday, Fletcher, the team's general manager, indeed left that cohesion alone, and the Wild responded by cohesively sleepwalking through the first two periods of a 4-2 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks at Xcel Energy Center.
"For whatever reason, we didn't have the energy through two periods," Wild coach Todd Richards said.
Before a thwarted third-period comeback, Wild players looked as if they spent the afternoon watching TSN's "TradeCentre" rather than taking their afternoon naps.
Maybe the Wild, which began the game seventh in the Western Conference and ended in ninth, was drained from a nerve-racking day.
"I hope everybody felt pretty comfortable in our room the way we've been playing. We've been playing pretty well," said defenseman Greg Zanon, adding, "We thought maybe a move would have been made, but it is what it is, and this is what we've got. We've got what we need in here."
Asked if that meant players were looking for help in this desperate playoff push (the Wild's only move was trading minor league goalie Anton Khudobin), Zanon said, "You just read what you see in the paper. Nothing was ever said in the room or nobody said anything to the players. This is what we've got. We're happy with what we've got. We've been playing well with what we've got, and this is what's going to get us to that next level."
Asked if he felt players were disappointed no moves were made, defenseman Nick Schultz said: "You want to get better, you want to add guys, but you look at the price that teams were paying for guys, it's pretty steep. Now teams are built from draft picks and young players, so it's tough.
