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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.
Email Michael to talk about hockey.
Posts about Wild news
New fourth line for the Wild today
Posted by: Michael Russo Updated: May 5, 2013 - 11:42 AM
We will get Mike Yeo in 15 minutes, but I am hearing the Wild will have a new fourth line this afternoon.
Zenon Konopka won't play and Stephane Veilleux will be inserted. The goal is clearly speed, energy and big hits.
Veilleux, called up twice in the past few weeks but scratched in both games, has played 460 regular-season games in the NHL and 11 playoff games for the Wild.
More after we talk to Yeo
Niklas Backstrom in Chicago, but Josh Harding getting the Wild start
Posted by: Michael Russo Updated: May 3, 2013 - 1:23 PMNiklas Backstrom, who did not accompany the team to Chicago, flew commercial to Chicago last night and was on the ice sharing the cage with Darcy Kuemper this morning.
Josh Harding had one to himself and will get the start for Game 2 tonight at United Center. Darcy Kuemper will back up.
Yeo would only say the plan was for Backstrom to always fly to Chicago. Regardless, he'll be in street clothes tonight and will accompany the team back to Minnesota after the game.
Backstrom took shots this morning and still looked to me like he was having some issues. But the fact he was on the ice so soon is obviously a good sign. I haven't talked yet with Backstrom. I can only imagine how disappointed he has to be. You wait all year for the playoffs and minutes before Game 1, you get hurt? Ugh. If you know Backstrom, it has to be an awful feeling.
Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville on Harding and Backstrom: "One's a lefty; one's a righty."
It'll be interesting to see how Harding plays tonight. Completely different mentality when you're a last-second emergency substitution to knowing for three days you're probably starting Game 2. Today's a long day, too, with the odd 8:30 puck drop, so that's a lot of time to think.
Clayton Stoner and Jason Pominville are out tonight and didn't make the trip to Chicago. 6-foot-5 blue-liner Justin Falk will play for Stoner.
"He actually has played some good hockey," coach Mike Yeo said of Falk. "It's nice to insert him into a place where we feel we can give him a good chance to succeed, too. You'll see him out there more against more of their third and fourth lines -- bigger lines, a little bit more physical. That's the type of game that he should be playing. ... With his size, we're looking for him to bring a physical element to the game, too."
David Bolland and Ray Emery are again out for the Blackhawks.
Tonight feels like Game 1 all over again with two off-days oddly in between. Jonathan Toews expects a better playoff pace at the beginning of the game. The Blackhawks have been talking over and over again about a better start tonight, so the Wild will need to weather the storm or better yet look to dictate this pace.
I'd expect a much more physical game than Game 1, one more emblematic of the playoff games we've seen around the league thus far.
"I hope so," Yeo said. "I think that serves us well. I think we're comfortable playing in those type of games. Against a team like that, if we can get engaged in a game like that, then I think that it helps us. That said, we have to make sure we're doing it the right way, doing it within the structure of our game."
More on this, Yeo said, "I know that our guys are emotionally engaged in this and I think it will increase as the series goes on. I'm not comparing us to any of the other series' that's going on."
On the 8:30 start, Yeo said, "It makes it a longer day. That's about it. But these players are professionals."
I will be on KFAN at 4:35 p.m. with Dan Barreiro.
I will be on the Fox Sports North "Wild Live" pregame show at around 7:40 p.m. tonight.
Niklas Backstrom injured in warmups, Josh Harding starting
Posted by: Michael Russo Updated: April 30, 2013 - 7:02 PMIn a potential nightmare for the Wild, No. 1 goalie Niklas Backstrom got hurt during warmups tonight and will not start Game 1 of the Western Conference quarterfinals against the Chicago Blackhawks.
Backstrom, who tied for the league lead with 24 wins, looked like he stretched awkwardly when reaching for a rebound early in warmups. Looked like a lower-body injury on the left side.
Harding hasn't started in the NHL since giving up two goals on four shots and being pulled 6:45 in against Chicago on Jan. 30. His lone postseason action came in 2008 when he played 20 minutes and stopped all 11 shots.
He missed more than two months due to complications for multiple sclerosis.
There is no backup behind Harding. For some reason, the Wild doesn't have Darcy Kuemper here even though Houston doesn't have a playoff game tonight and they're in nearby Grand Rapids.
Wild vs. Blackhawks to start Tuesday: Anticipated lines, must-Twitter follows
Posted by: Michael Russo Updated: April 29, 2013 - 9:13 AM“When they play like they want to, they can score four or five goals a night and keep it out of their net with maybe one of the best defensemen in the league [in Suter]. It’s a dangerous team. You definitely have to be careful with them. They’re a team that I’ve watched throughout the year and it seems like one night they look like the best team in the NHL and the next night they look like they don’t even want to be out there.”
Blue Jackets live to see another day; Wild victory Friday over Edmonton clinches playoff berth
Posted by: Michael Russo Updated: April 25, 2013 - 10:32 PMThe Columbus Blue Jackets defeated the Dallas Stars 3-1 tonight to keep their playoff hopes alive.
A regulation loss, and the Wild would have clinched a playoff berth for the first time since 2008. Instead, the Jackets moved into a tie with the Wild with 53 points but sit in ninth place with one game left. The idle Wild fell one point behind the Detroit Red Wings into eighth place.
The Wild can clinch a playoff spot with a victory over the Edmonton Oilers, who are 1-9-0 in their past 10 games, Friday night at the X. The Wild also plays at Colorado on Saturday night.
The 7th-place Red Wings play at Dallas, which was eliminated from postseason contention tonight, on Saturday night, while the Blue Jackets host Nashville. The Predators, who lost 5-2 to the Red Wings tonight, sat No. 1 Pekka Rinne, incidentally, and blew a 2-1 lead.
If the Wild wins out, it can finish as high as sixth if the San Jose Sharks lose in regulation to the Los Angeles Kings in their finale.
If the Wild wins out and the Sharks get a point, the Wild would finish seventh.
If the Wild wins one and the Red Wings lose Saturday, the Wild would finish seventh.
If the Wild wins one and the Red Wings win Saturday, the Wild finishes eighth.
If the Wild loses out and the Jackets get one point Saturday, the Wild is eliminated.
If the Wild loses out and the Jackets lose Saturday, the Wild finishes eight.
If the Wild finishes 1-0-1, the Wild would finish seventh or eighth depending on how they became 1-0-1 and if Detroit wins. I'm not going to burst any brains cells right now with those scenarios.
Regardless of all this, win, and the Wild's in.
Mikko Koivu said he wasn’t going to watch the Stars-Blue Jackets game.
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recent posts
- Wild season ticket prices go up
- Backstrom has sports hernia surgery
- Harding named a Masterton trophy finalist
- Wild's Fletcher: We're on right path; Yeo coming back
- Postgame: Another Wild season ends; Backstrom had sports hernia
- Goalie drama before crucial Wild game against Chicago
- Russo blog: Wild has arrived in Chicago for a Thursday must-win
- Postgame: Wild season on the brink after shutout loss
- Kuemper replaces Harding in goal
- Pominville returning tonight
- Pominville skating, status uncertain; Suter honored by Norris nomination
- Wild's Suter is finalist for NHL's top defenseman
- Pominville returns to practice; hockey writers voting process
- Pominville practicing for the Wild; Dumba, McMillan recalled
- Russo: Wild's Brodin snubbed as top rookie finalist
- Postgame: Zucker's OT goal put stamp on physical night
- Wild coach wants more physicality today against Blackhawks
- New fourth line for the Wild today
- Wild recalls three from Houston; lineup changes coming?
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