Fans: Reasons for optimism abound, so just enjoy it

The Wild and the Colorado Avalanche were playing for first place in the Northwest Division on Monday night. This was such a large game that there were rumors the organization attempted to get Bruce Springsteen to stay over or Jon Bon Jovi to arrive early in order to bellow "Let's Play Hockey" before the puck was dropped.

They couldn't get either of these gentlemen to rearrange their schedules, so the Wild settled for the rock star weatherman -- KARE-TV's Sven Sundgaard -- to do the honors.

The Wild needed someone as sunny as Sven to set the scene for Monday's game, since the St. Paul lads heard more grumbling over the past few weeks from their previously adoring fans than at any time in the club's seven seasons.

The Wild lost nine of 12 from Feb. 19 through March 13, with four of those defeats being accompanied by that wondrous consolation point for reaching overtime.

The discontent came from both the losses and the fact that Doug Risebrough, a general manager with some of the coldest feet in the NHL, engaged in subtraction by addition at the trading deadline. His only move was to bring in nonfactor Chris Simon, who was guaranteed another game with no possibility of a suspension by being inactive Monday.

Risebrough's deadline failure aside, there did seem to be more public panic about the Wild's playoff position than was required. Through the dozen-game slump, the beloved W's remained at or near the top of the division.

On Saturday, they celebrated Sid Hartman's birthday with a 2-0 victory over the lowly L.A. Kings. On Monday, they marked another traditional feast -- St. Patrick's Day -- with a 3-1 victory over the onrushing Avalanche.

Stop fretting and be happy, folks. Your heroes are going to the playoffs; it's a just a question of who, when and where.

From here, the fans' battle cry should be "Bring on the Avs!"

The presence of Peter Forsberg -- playing for only the fourth time since returning to Colorado last month -- added plenty of extra life to the arena. Give him good health and better conditioning by next month and watching Forsberg go against the current Wild would be as enthralling as was watching his seven-game duel with Wes Walz four years ago.

It wasn't a checking center but rather Brent Burns, the ascending defenseman, who stood up to Forsberg in the most memorable fashion on Monday.

Burns was the No. 1 star, and only partially because he scored the game's first goal and took the shot for the goal that broke a 1-1 tie in the second.

"It's a big thing for me to get the chance to play against a guy like that ... to play against one of the best players in the world," Burns said.

He turned 23 earlier this month and seems to be having more impact on this team by the week.

Five years ago, he was an 18-year-old rookie getting little ice time as a forward. He was able to spend the next season (2004-05) with Houston in the AHL, while the NHL veterans dealt with the lockout.

"I know he got plenty of ice time as a 'D' down there, and that had to help," said Nick Schultz, Burns' defensive partner. "It was a real advantage for the young guys to spend the lockout year in the American League, getting better."

Schultz, now a crusty 25-year-old, was asked if there was any way to envision this type of blue-line play when Burns was a spare forward as a rookie.