Minnesota Wild are ready for the season

While the NFL roars on, the NHL is quietly making its return to the ice this week. The Wild reported to training camp on Friday, and they open up pre-season play in Edmonton on Tuesday night. What should fans expect from the Wild this season?

Author:: BMTN Staff
Publish date:: Sep 19, 2011
Updated on: Mar 8, 2018

While the NFL roars on, the NHL is quietly making its return to the ice. The Wild reported to training camp on Friday, and they open up pre-season play Tuesday night. What should fans expect from the Wild this season?

For starters, the Wild are in Edmonton to open up pre-season play Tuesday night against the Oilers. Head coach Mike Yeo says he is excited to be coaching a bunch of guys who truly love to be at the rink.

Another positive for the Wild is that Josh Harding is healthy again. Niklas Backstrom played with more pressure than ever last season because Harding missed the season with a torn ACL.

The excitement over Harding is nothing compared to the anticipation that continues to build around Minnesota's top line. Dany Heatley and Mikko Koivu will provide plenty of offense while Pierre-Marc Bouchard continues to mold himself into a productive player.

The off-season acquisitions of Heatley and Devin Setoguchi have also given fans hope that the Wild won't be left out of the playoffs for a fourth straight season.

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The Wild went down on a shoot out for their pre-season finale against Edmonton. Minnesota held a 3-1 lead in the third period but the Oilers caught up. Anton Lander put Edmonton over the top with the only shootout goal.

The Minnesota Wild open the 2011-12 season Saturday night at home against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Analysts throughout the NHL believe the Wild will be a fringe playoff team. Locally, the fans are hoping a new and improved offense will lead the team back to the postseason.

Dany Heatley has been one of the NHL's top goal scorers since the 2002-2003 season. Now he is ready to shoulder the goal-scoring load in his first season with the Wild.

Wild forward Cal Clutterbuck doesn't think the question is whether the Wild can hang onto a playoff spot. He believes "it's a question of us climbing the ladder from here." The Wild opens the second half of the season Tuesday night against Nashville, and head coach Mike Yeo says every game now "matters."

The Wild has made plenty of news this season. They went from first place in the NHL to out of the playoffs to back into the No. 8 spot in the Western Conference. Forward Darroll Powe says the Wild will bounce back from adversity later this season because they learned to deal with it during their month-long slump.

After a great start to the season on the power play the Minnesota Wild are suddenly struggling. Big names like Dany Heatley, Devin Setoguchi, Mikko Koivu, and Pierre-Marc Bouchard should allow for success with a man advantage, but it hasn't so far.

The Wild are in Edmonton tonight to face the Oilers. Minnesota is in an early-season slump, dropping four of their past five games. Coach Mike Yeo is looking for more punch from his top line.

After helping Team USA win the gold medal at the London Olympics, Lynx stars LIndsay Whalen, Seimone Augustus and Maya Moore are back in the Twin Cities preparing for the second half of the WNBA season, which starts Friday night when Minnesota hosts Washington at Target Center.