Russo's Rants

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.

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Posts about Wild pregame skate

Goalie drama before Wild's must-win Game 5 against Blackhawks

Posted by: Michael Russo Updated: May 9, 2013 - 1:41 PM

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There was some wacky and wild goalie drama at today’s pregame skate for tonight’s must-win Game 5 of the Western Conference quarters against the Chicago Blackhawks.

Josh Harding, who left Game 4 after the first period with a lower-body injury, had one cage. Niklas Backstrom and Darcy Kuemper shared the other.

That was a clear indication that Harding was starting. Next, Harding took shots from the D toward the tail end of the skate. That usually cinches who is starting.

But slowly but surely, it became clearer that Harding was laboring. As Harding took shots, head coach Mike Yeo and goalie Bob Mason were talking and watching Harding. Suddenly, they turned and began watching Backstrom at the other end of the United Center’s rink. He, too, looked to be having bigtime trouble pushing off.

Yeo and Mason turned back and watched Harding. Harding skated over, began chatting with them. Finally, Yeo skated over to Backstrom and had a long conversation with him.

The final decision? Harding will start tonight with Kuemper backing up.

Why Harding? “We don’t know how he feels, but you have to trust him, and he says that he is good to go and there was absolutely no doubt about it, so that’s what we were looking for,” Yeo said.

On the crazy goalie drama, Yeo said, smiling, “You don’t know what we were talking about. I think we might have been talking about what we were having for lunch today.”

Yeo then turned serious and said, “This is what we’ve been dealt, but we were able to figure it out and now we should push all that stuff behind us. Bottom line is we’ve got 20 guys going into the game. No excuses whatsoever on our part. You’re in the lineup, you’re there for a reason, and we’ve got a group that is more than capable of winning this hockey game tonight.”

Defenseman Ryan Suter has never seen anything like the Wild’s postseason goalie situation, saying, “It’s too bad you have to deal with that. There’s so many distractions already. For us, we know whoever’s in net, we have to play hard and play our best if we want to win this game tonight. That’s been our attitude all year. It’s just someone different in net. Obviously it’s not Backy, who’s been there all year. Whoever it is, we have to go out and defend well and play in the offensive zone.”

Zach Parise said, laughing, “Honestly I don’t know who’s playing tonight.”

The Blackhawks expect the Wild’s best game. Yeo said, “If we can win this game, obviously we’d still be behind, some of the pressure would shift. We have to have a good focus of how to make that happen.”

Yeo noted that the Wild has been in similar situations. “Game 3, we knew without a doubt we had to win that game, and we played our best game of the series. Game 48, we knew we had to win that hockey game and we were able to go out and perform. Hopefully we can draw upon that.”

Yeo said, “3-1 is daunting. Tonight’s game is not necessarily that daunting.”

The reason, he says, is because even though the Wild’s execution last game wasn’t great, the Wild easily could have won that game. The Wild outchanced the Hawks, outhit them and drew six power plays. “Bottom line we didn’t score and they did. But there are a lot of things that can be taken from the last two games.”

Yeo talked about how great the Hawks have been defensively and how deep they are, saying, “If you would have told us through four games that Jonathan Toews wouldn’t have a point, we probably would have signed up for that pretty quickly. But obviously we still trail 3-1.”

As for lines, Jason Pominville will skate with Kyle Brodziak and Pierre-Marc Bouchard – his line that was playing well prior to his getting hurt.

On the fourth line, Stephane Veilleux and Mike Rupp will be game-time decisions. One will play, one won’t, on a line with Torrey Mitchell and Cal Clutterbuck.

“They’re not going to lay over for us, by any means,” defenseman Brent Seabrook said. “Nobody wants to have their season over. We expect them to come hard and play a tough, tight game.”

Dave Bolland and Ray Emery are both out for the Blackhawks.

Just a real quick FYI, I’m going to be away from the team starting tomorrow for a little bit. I have a family emergency and need to leave town. We have plenty of capable folks to cover the Wild in my absence, and of course, I’ll do my best to keep one eye on the team. But I've got to leave unfortunately.

Pominville skating, status uncertain; Suter honored by Norris nomination

Posted by: Michael Russo Updated: May 7, 2013 - 1:04 PM

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UPDATED

Jason Pominville participated in the Wild's morning skate today, but that doesn't necessarily mean he will return tonight for Game 4.

Pominville has practiced twice since April 23 -- and one was an optional. At least in the morning skate, he was not on a line for rushes, although Pominville did work his way through battle drills late with Nate Prosser.

We'll have to see during warmups if he participates. It's the playoffs, so everything is in a shroud of secrecy.

If Pominville knows if he is playing or not, he wasn't divulging. Neither was Mike Yeo, only saying his appearance in the morning skate was "another good step. Good to see he had another good day, and we'll see."

"I'm just doing my best trying to get proper treatment done and doing my best to get back to where I need to be," Pominville said. "That decision will be up to the coach, but I'm heading in the right direction, that's for sure."

Pominville wouldn't say the injury. We assume concussion, but this is still conjecture. He said he would reserve comment on that until the season is over.

"It's been tough not being on the ice in the best time of year. It is not easy," he said. "It's been a tough rehab. A few things have gone different ways."

We hadn't talked to Pominville since the dirty April 23 elbow from Dustin Brown. Pominville hasn't played since. Brown got a two-day vacation in games he probably didn't want to play anyway.

"Obviously not happy about the hit, but at the same time I know that he's a guy that plays hard and hits hard," Pominville said. "I just don't think the elbows are needed when you try to hit a guy. It's unfortunate that it happened."

Pominville, whose wife and kids have been in town for a month, has been skating on the side with Dany Heatley, who has been shooting some pucks and skating for conditioning. I talked to Heatley and it's clear there's no chance he could return at least this series.

Mike Rupp also skated, but like Pominville, he wasn't on a line rush. Injured Zenon Konopka and Clayton Stoner weren't on the ice. Neither was Mikael Granlund, Carson McMillan or Matt Dumba, meaning they will join the several Houston players recalled that just checked into a local hotel. I will provide a list later.

Jake Dowell, a former Blackhawk who played two postseason games for them, looks like he will play if Pominville and Rupp don't.

The first three lines remained the same this morning, but Dowell was centering Stephane Veilleux and Torrey Mitchell.

If Pominville appears tonight, he would likely skate with Kyle Brodziak and Pierre-Marc Bouchard. My guess -- and total guess -- would be that Veilleux would play the left side of Mitchell and Cal Clutterbuck.

The other option is to keep the third line intact and play Pominville on the fourth line with Mitchell and Veilleux or Mitchell and Dowell. Or maybe Rupp plays.

Confused? I am. Let's wait and see.

Dowell said he didn't know for sure if he was playing, that it was just a matter of being ready if Pominville doesn't play. He would love to play, obviously, saying, "It'll be a gametime decision. This would be awesome. This stage that this game is, I'm champing at the bit to get in and want to do whatever I can to be effective. I'm ready if called on. If not, I'll just have to stay ready."

He skated with Veilleux in Houston: "You just let him go and try to feed off his energy."

Josh Harding starts. I am hearing Darcy Kuemper is backing up, although Niklas Backstrom is getting closer.

Ryan Suter was very honored by being named a Norris Trophy finalist.

"It's a huge honor for me," Suter said. "I feel very fortunate to be on that list. It says a lot about our team and the guys that I've played with."

He added, "Our team, we had a good year. Without all my teammates, I'm not going to be on that list. Playing with Jonas [Brodin], he's a good, young player. It's kind of a shame he didn't get nominated for the Calder. But I don't look at it personally. I couldn't have done it without a great team and great goaltending and the whole package."

Dowell, his good buddy from Wisconsin (college roommates, in each other's weddings), said, "He is as humble as a guy as there is. He thrives in these situations and loves being here."

Before the year, there was a big question as to how Suter would be without Shea Weber and vice versa. Dowell said, "He’s a big part of why Shea Weber was Shea Weber. Shea Weber is a great player, but Ryan’s proved to a lot of people that he’s that caliber of a player as well. He was incredible this year."

Mike Yeo: "You don’t realize what a good person this is, you don’t realize what a tremendous leader he is, the character that he has. He’s been a huge part, obviously with his play, but as much with his attitude, his character, his personality in really helping our organization take a big step."

On Suter not being with Weber, Yeo said, "There was no concern on our part. Obviously Shea is a tremendous hockey play, but that’s how highly we respected Ryan and his abilities. We knew there was going to be a bit of an adjustment period – new system, new teammates, new partner. There was a lot of things for him to get used to. … He adjusted relatively quickly if you think about all those things. Once he really started to get on top of his game, it was clear the effect that it had on the rest of our team.”

Blackhawks stalwart defenseman Duncan Keith wasn't at the morning skate. Keith flew home to Chicago, where his wife gave birth to a boy -- their first child. Keith is flying back to Minnesota and expected to play tonight.

Coach Joel Quenneville said Dan Carcillo "could play," which the Blackhawks scribes say is his coachspeak for "will play." Henrik Karlsson will back up Corey Crawford again. Coach Q says Ray Emery is "close."

Remember, live chat at 3 on startribune.com. Game 5 in Chicago on Thursday will be at 8:30 p.m.

Ryan Suter selected as Norris Trophy finalist; Live chat at 3 p.m. today

Posted by: Michael Russo Updated: May 7, 2013 - 9:01 AM

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One day after the Wild felt rookie Jonas Brodin was snubbed as a Calder Trophy finalist, Ryan Suter was selected as one of three finalists for the Norris Trophy (Best Defenseman).

Good morning from Minnesota, where tonight at 8:30 p.m. (FSN, KFAN) the Wild will attempt to even the best-of-seven Western Conference quarterfinals with the Chicago Blackhawks.

I will host a live chat on startribune.com today at 3 p.m. Please join in. I will also be on Fox Sports North during Wild Live before the game and during the first intermission. I should also be on KFAN at some point this morning.

If you didn't buy today's newspaper, please go to www.startribune.com/wild for a ton of Wild-Blackhawks coverage from myself, Chip Scoggins, Rachel Blount and Shari Gross.

Remember, the Wild will host a pregame party from 6-8 p.m. between Gates 1 and 3 at the X tonight.

Because of the late starting time for the game, the pregame skates today are later than usual -- 11 a.m. and noon. I will blog again after the skates, but if you want lineup information, follow me on Twitter at @russostrib.

But the Wild will call up several players from Houston today to add to Mikael Granlund, Stephane Veilleux, Jake Dowell, Carson McMillan and Matt Dumba. Those players include Justin Fontaine, Kyle Medvec and others.

Suter was selected as one of three finalists with Montreal's PK Subban and Pittsburgh's Kris Letang.

Suter, signed by the Wild to a 13-year, $98 million last summer, led all NHL skaters in average ice time during the season with a franchise-record 27 minutes, 16 seconds a game. He finished third behind Subban and Letang in points from defensemen with 32 and ranked second behind Letang with 28 assists.

All of this season’s award winners will be announced during the 2013 Stanley Cup Final, with more detail on format to be released at a later date.

The NHL Awards will return to Las Vegas in June 2014.

Following is the schedule of announcements:

Wednesday, May 8 Vezina Trophy (top goaltender)

Thursday, May 9 Ted Lindsay Award (most outstanding player as voted by NHLPA) **Ted Lindsay Award nominees will be announced by the NHLPA

Friday, May 10 Hart Memorial Trophy (most valuable player to his team)

Monday, May 13 General Manager of the Year Award

Tuesday, May 14 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy (perseverance and dedication to hockey) *Josh Harding is the Wild's Professional Hockey Writers' Association (PHWA) nominee

Wednesday, May 15 Frank J. Selke Trophy (top defensive forward)

Thursday, May 16 Lady Byng Memorial Trophy (skill/sportsmanship)

Friday, May 17 Jack Adams Award (top head coach)

Monday, May 20 Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award presented by Bridgestone (player who exemplifies great leadership qualities to his team, on and off the ice)

Wild's Mike Yeo wants more hatred, physicality today against the Blackhawks

Posted by: Michael Russo Updated: May 5, 2013 - 12:10 PM

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Josh Harding will start for the Wild in Game 3 against the Chicago Blackhawks at 2 p.m. (NBC, KFAN) at the X.

I am hearing Stephane Veilleux will play for the Wild in place of Zenon Konopka. Originally, I heard Mike Rupp would be out for Jake Dowell, but that doesn’t appear to be the case now. Coach Mike Yeo didn’t want to discuss the lineup.

I’ll update blog if anything changes in warmups.

Yeo expects a good, intense game: “Both teams understand the importance of this game. Clearly we’re going to be a desperate team today. This is a very significant game for us.”

On why the lack of hate and hostility in this series compared to others, Yeo said, “We have a lot of guys that they’re getting their first taste of playoff hockey and some guys that haven’t been a part of it for awhile. There’s no question that I really believe that to be successful, there has to be a level of hatred for the team that you’re playing against. It shouldn’t be hard for us. They’re trying to take away something from us.”

On what he would want a guy like Veilleux to bring and the fourth line to bring, Yeo pointed out that No. 1 he doesn’t want the fourth line to be scored upon. That’s happened twice in Games 1 and 2, including the overtime winner in Game 1.

“One thing in particular that we haven’t done very well is be physical on key guys, and especially on their defensemen,” Yeo said. “You look back at the game and we have opportunities to finish checks on a guy like [Duncan] Keith and we’re not taking those opportunities. We have to understand it’s more than just that play. It’s about investing in the series and making sure that every time they’re going to touch a puck that they know that you’re coming.”

New fourth line for the Wild today

Posted by: Michael Russo Updated: May 5, 2013 - 11:42 AM

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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

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Posts about Wild pregame skate

Goalie drama before Wild's must-win Game 5 against Blackhawks

Pominville skating, status uncertain; Suter honored by Norris nomination

Ryan Suter selected as Norris Trophy finalist; Live chat at 3 p.m. today

Wild's Mike Yeo wants more hatred, physicality today against the Blackhawks

New fourth line for the Wild today

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