Checking in from the United Center in Chicago, where the Wild is about to skate.

Niklas Backstrom took a commercial flight to Chicago, which is fascinating. I would still expect Josh Harding to start tonight, but Backstrom probably wouldn't be here if he didn't have any chance of playing.

I'd start Harding regardless of Backstrom's readiness. Harding played great on Tuesday. He's acting loose and confident. He's playing with house money. I'd give him a shot rather than hoping Backstrom is recovered from his mystery injury.

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What you get from the Chicago media is that the Blackhawk players regret coming out so slowly in Game 1 and plan to correct that tonight. The Wild may have to survive an emotional start.

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I'm in Chicago, so I missed the Flip Saunders press conference.

Flip is a smart guy with tons of NBA experience. He could be a very good GM. The question is, can he stay in his lane, or is he taking this job with an eye toward coaching in the future?

As GM, it's his job to make Rick Adelman want to come back. What kind of vibe is Adelman going to get when he talked to Flip about that? Friday morning, Flip wouldn't say he isn't interested in coaching sometime in the future. Does Adelman want to work for his eventual replacement? In some ways, he was better off working for David Kahn, because Kahn had to hand over power to Adelman for Adelman to take the job. Flip will not be handing over any power.

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I'll be covering the Wild skate and Game 2 tonight. I'll be on 1500ESPN with Judd & Dubay at noon. My Twitter handle is @Souhanstrib.