DENVER - The Wild holds one obvious advantage in this series, even while facing elimination tonight: Minnesota employs the two toughest guys in the arena.
Enforcers Derek Boogaard and Chris Simon are not people you would want to meet in a dark alley or a neon arena, and their intimidating presence has raised a question about hockey enforcers that Wild management seems to have forgotten to ask:
What good are goons?
Even while ignoring a lack of depth at center and defense, the Wild, concerned about Boogaard's iffy back, went three-deep in one-dimensional players, picking up Todd Fedoruk off waivers and acquiring Simon at the trading deadline.
It's actually unfair to lump Fedoruk in with the other two, because he's been a pleasant surprise this season -- a tough guy who can actually play the game. Fedoruk has even played on the power play because of his willingness to muck it up in front of the net.
While Fedoruk has contributed hockey skills, Boogaard has mostly drawn penalties and lurked. He did make an impact in the first period Thursday, stalking the Avs on the forecheck, but he's more likely to take a bad penalty than make a good play.
Simon? The only damage he's doing in this series is to the press box nachos. He should get his named printed on his own personal chair, like a Hollywood director.
After watching the Anaheim Ducks manhandle his team in last year's playoffs, Wild GM Doug Risebrough wanted to make this year's team tougher. But the players who win playoff games are tough guys who can skate, make clean hits, maybe agitate the other team's scorers, draw penalties and actually capitalize on a scoring chance once in a while.
