2007-2008 NHL Season Preview - Minnesota Wild
Minnesota Wild
Notable moves and changes:Signed F Eric Belanger (was with Atlanta/Carolina) and G Nolan Schaefer.
Starting goalie: Niklas Backstrom.
Summary of last year: When Manny Fernandez was injured, no one had any idea Niklas Backstrom would be able to fill in the way he did — by leading the league in both save percentage and GAA. Even head-coach Jacques Lemaire had to be thrilled with that kind of defense.
Prediction for this year:The Wild didn’t need to do too much on the off-season, expect pray their come-outta-nowhere goaltender
Niklas Backstrom isn’t a one-hit wonder, since Fernandez now resides in Massachusetts. In front of Backstrom is a solid, if not spectacular, roster, leaning a little to the young side, and that can only help the Wild in the long run.
Minnesota Wild, Eric Belanger, Nolan Schaefer, Niklas Backstrom, Manny Fernandez, Jacques Lemaire
September 14th, 2007 at 8:46 pm
It will be exciting this year to see how the Minnesota Wild will do this season without one of their original goaltenders. Fernandez has been there since the beginning and did farely well for the Wild. Last year Backstrom did well for the Wild and I believe that he will be able to handle a whole season. With the strong defensive style of hockey that the Wild play Backstrom will have plenty of help out front of the net to let him get a chance to settle in as the Wilds number one goalie. With the rest of the team in front of him I believe the Wild will do really well this year even if they have a young roster.
September 14th, 2007 at 9:50 pm
I really do think the young roster is going to work in the Wild’s favor, if not this year, then within the next few seasons. They have the opportunity of good veterans, great coaching, and rightly or wrongly, not a ton of pressure from the rest of the NHL. Yet they still get the bonus of some of the most ardent fans in the league to show support. The Wild don’t get a lot of respect from the rest of the league, but that can be an advantage (just ask the Tampa Bay Lightning, especially the year they won the Cup).
Backstrom — yeah, it’s going to be interesting. I do think he will succeed, but it will be different now that every time in the league will be analyzing how to beat him. (Feel free to post any weaknesses). ;-)