Apologies for the lateness of this particular posting.
The Minnesota Wild have had a rough last few games, and have seen themselves drop to eleventh place in the Western Conference playoff race. They need to start winning if they want to harbor even a little bit of hope of making it to the 2011 NHL playoffs, but right now, the playoff pulse of the team is faint.
Over at Hockey Wilderness. . .well, to say they're pessimistic would be understating it a bit.
Let's be honest, this doesn't matter. Sure, the Wild can secure a season series win over the Sharks if they beat them tonight, but they haven't won in regulation in that building since 2006.
For a team with great playoff positioning (in fact, only 3 points out of hosting a first round series 10 days ago, the past week has been a slide of biblical proportions. You have to wonder where the heart, soul and effort went. What went so wrong? Why has a team that was turning things around and heading into the playoffs in the driver's seat seemingly given up? The Wild are 3-6-1 in the last 10, and frankly look like a team going 0-10-0. They have a massive uphill battle to not miss the playoffs for the third straight season, and I can't see it happening. Fork.Stuck.Done.
Hopefully, the Wild can go out and put forth the effort necessary to get the job done tonight. At this very moment, they're tied at one with the Sharks in the second period.