@FlameRaptorRaven

2mo

Stanley Cup Heroes, Part 14: Punching above their Weight

The current Minnesota Wild have a real chance to make a run at the Stanley Cup. At the very least, they could make it back to the 3rd round of the playoffs. Until they do that, they will be chasing the Wild team that came closer than any other. Minnesota calls itself the “State of Hockey”. Well, there was a time when that state didn’t have an NHL team. After the Minnesota North Stars moved to Dallas in 1993, there was a desire to bring back an NHL team in Minnesota. It would be Norm Coleman, former mayor of St. Paul, that would get Minnesota their new team. In 2000, the Minnesota Wild were born. As an expansion team, the Wild were bad, as expected, but they did have some bright spots: Their first ever head coach was Jacques Lemaire. Lemaire had won a Stanley Cup with the Devils in 1995 and was best known for The Trap system that defined the dead-puck era of the late 90s and early 2000s. Lemaire was the master of a strategy that had spread across the NHL by the time the Wild arrived to the league. Along with a great coach, Minnesota had drafted well. Their first ever draft pick in 2000 was Marian Gaborik, who quickly became a young star, scoring 30 goals in his 2nd season, while just 19-years-old. Their 2nd ever draft pick was Nick Shultz. While not a star like Gaborik, Schultz became a reliable defenseman before he could drink and was a regular in Minnesota’s lineup. In 2002, the Wild drafted Pierre-Marc Bouchard. He almost immediately was called up to the NHL team and became a reliable bottom 6 forward. Each of those players played at least 500 games with the Wild and were all apart of the 2002-03 team. Going into that season, they had no expectations. After 2 seasons near the bottom of the NHL, there was no reason to think their 3rd season ever would be any different. Well, thanks to some slick free agent signings, on top of the draft picks I mentioned, the Wild managed to finish 3rd in the stacked Northwest division (4 out of 5 teams made the playoffs) to make the playoffs for the first time ever. Jacques Lemaire won the Jack Adams as coach of the year, his 2nd time winning the award. It was easy to think the Wild were just going to enjoy the ride and bow out early when they were matched up with the Colorado Avalanche in round 1. The Avs had won the Stanley Cup 2 years earlier and still had many of the stars who made that happen. Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, Patrick Roy and more. It was even easier to think Minnesota’s first playoff trip would be short when the Avs went up 3-1 in the series. The Wild proceeded to win the next 3 games and complete a massive upset. Each game ended with a final score of 3-2. Games 6 and 7 ended in overtime. The series winner was scored by current Predators head coach Andrew Brunette. In round 2, the Wild faced the chaotic, but talented Vancouver Canucks. The Canucks were led by the players’ MVP Markus Näslund. Once again, the Wild were the underdogs and the doubt grew stronger when they went down 3-1 in the series. For the 2nd consecutive time, Minnesota stormed back and won the next 3 games to win the series. This time they did it with 3 dominant performances with a combined score of 16-5. In their first ever playoff appearance, the Wild had made it all the way to the conference finals. Sadly, they would become another victim of JS Giguère’s legendary playoff run as they would only score 1 goal while getting swept in 4 games (see Get Giggy with it dyk to learn more). Jacques Lemaire’s trap is considered the biggest reason why Minnesota pulled this off, but it would be criminal to ignore some key contributors. Marian Gaborik, in his first ever playoff run, was excellent. The 20-year-old led the Wild in goals and points with 9 and 17 respectively. All of those came in the first 2 rounds (14 games) as he was one of many players shutout in the conference finals. Those numbers were good enough for 3rd in both goals and points, only behind players who played 6 more games than Gaborik. Inaugural free agent signing Wes Walz (who was 37) and the aforementioned Brunette (a 2001 free agent signing) were the only other players with more than 4 goals on the Wild (they had 7 each). Next season, the Wild missed the playoffs. To this day, the Minnesota Wild have never been back to round 3 of the playoffs. The his current Wild team is the best I’ve seen in my 26 years on this Earth. If any Minnesota team is going to get back, it’s them. Until then, the 2003 group will forever be Minnesota’s greatest Stanley Cup heroes. (Photo from left to right: Andrew Brunette, Jim Dowd and Pascal Dupuis)

Wild

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Vegas joins the NHL!

On June 22, 2016, Las Vegas officially became an NHL city when the league awarded Bill Foley’s expansion group the franchise that would become the Vegas Golden Knights. A decade later, that announcement looks like one of the best decisions the NHL has ever made. The Golden Knights became the first major professional sports team in Las Vegas, helping change the city’s reputation as a sports market, and paving the way for the NFL’s Raiders, MLB’s Athletics, and continued NBA expansion talks. Nobody could have known just how quickly the franchise would take off, seeing a trip to the Stanley Cup Final in its debut season, playoff appearances in eight of the first nine years, and a Stanley Cup championship in 2023. Foley ended the announcement with a line that resonates in the heart of all who adore the team and have grown with them, “Las Vegas is hockey-ready. We’re convinced of it. We know it.” Go Vegas, baby!

@Bro

Biggest loser in Hockey?

This has been on my mind a lot lately and yes you can call me salty or whatever. On December 12th 2025 the Vancouver Canucks traded star player Quinn Hughes to the Minnesota Wild for Marco Rossi, Zeev Buimm, Liam Ohgren and a first round pick. Many Canucks like myself were very upset but saw it coming a 100 kilometres away. Buy as soon as Quinn Goes to the Wild he shows his true self. Before his first game against his former team he was asked about his former team and his response “honestly I don’t know any of there guys” Not a good look as*hat He was the Captain of the Canucks for two years and played there for almost 7 seasons. You know at least AT LEAST SIXTEEN OF THEM He also treated his tenure with the Canucks as a prison sentence always with one word answers but as soon as he goes to the Wild he’s all jolly. He never seemed happy even though his best years so far are with Vancouver. He never smiled and never did anything for this community he never cared to help people less fortunate in Vancouver especially going to B.C. Children’s Hospital where Canucks captains always have gone. No he’s done nothing. Sorry this was kinda a rant

@rafiki

"Fresh from the bench it's Crosby"

The Pittsburgh Penguins entered the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs looking to do something that had not been done in nearly two decades: win back-to-back championships. After defeating the San Jose Sharks in the 2016 Final, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, and the Penguins' core returned. The regular season was far from easy. Pittsburgh dealt with injuries throughout the year, including a significant absence from Letang, who missed the entirety of the playoffs with a herniated disc, but still finished with 50 wins and earned the second seed in the Metropolitan Division. Their toughest test up to that point came in the second round against the Washington Capitals. For the second straight postseason, the Penguins faced their longtime rival, who had won the Presidents' Trophy and entered the series as the favorite. Pittsburgh once again ended Washington's season, winning 2-0 in Game 7 on the road to eliminate the Capitals for the second consecutive year. The Eastern Conference Final against the Ottawa Senators was another battle. After the teams split the first six games, the series went to a deciding Game 7 in Pittsburgh. Chris Kunitz became the hero, scoring his second goal of the game in double overtime to send the Penguins back to the Stanley Cup Final for the second straight year. I can still hear Lange's voice: "Fresh from the bench it's Crosby; Crosby onto Kunitz; Kunitz a shot; HE SCOOOOOOORES!!! PENGUINS WIN IT! AND THEY GO TO THE FINAL!" In the Stanley Cup Final, the teams traded home wins through the first four games before Pittsburgh took control with a 6-0 victory in Game 5, setting up a chance to close out the series in Nashville. Game 6 remained scoreless for most of the night until Patric Hornqvist, a former Predator, scored with just 1:35 remaining in the third period. Carl Hagelin added an empty-net goal, giving Pittsburgh a 2-0 victory and its fifth Stanley Cup in franchise history. With the win, the Penguins became the first team in the salary cap era and the first since the 1997-98 Detroit Red Wings to win consecutive Stanley Cups. Sidney Crosby also became just the third player in NHL history to win the Conn Smythe Trophy in back-to-back seasons, leading the Penguins' core of himself, Malkin, and Letang to their 3rd Stanley Cup. Looking back, after Crosby and Letang joined Malkin in the 2005 draft, I don't think anyone could've predicted that they would create one of the most successful and long-lasting cores of the modern NHL. After 20 years, these three managed to accumulate 3 Stanley Cups, 3 Harts, 3 Conn Smythes, 4 Art Rosses, 5 Ted Linsays, and 23 All-Star Selections, proving their greatness. Crosby is still performing at the highest level on his classic $8.7 million contract; Malkin signed a $5.5 million 1-year contract for the 2026-27 season; and Letang is also looking to return. They are not surrounded by the team that won those back-to-back cups, but they are still acting as the glue holding together a young and rising Pens Team.