| February 18, 2001 vs San Jose Sharks Can the Wild make the playoffs? The Wild beat San Jose 3-1 to get within 8 points of Edmonton who occupy the eighth seed. Eight points! That is four wins, or three wins and two ties. Two important words: winning streak. Edmonton is riding a two game losing streak which may continue. Nashville and Los Angeles remain in our way. I only know one thing, it is possible. LA, Nashville, and Edmonton are certainly capable of losing many of their remaining games. The Wild are going to have have to give up games against St. Louis and Colorado, but they will be forced to win or tie all their other games. We play the Dallas "Stars" on Wednesday, which should be an easy win. One problem with the optimistic approach. We simply cannot drop 4-0 bombs against teams like Los Angeles. If the Wild can string together an unbeaten streak and Edmonton, LA, and Nashville remain the same, the Wild will make the playoffs. They will get crushed in the first round, but they will make the playoffs! If we can keep Pellerin, Leschyshyn, and O'Donnell on our roster until April, great things will happen. Marian had an assist against San Jose, despite playing on their worst line, Blouin and Patera were his linemates, What's up with that? Don't you remember the success Gaborik-Dowd-Pellerin had? Sheeeeesh! Go Wild! February 21, 2001 vs Dallas "Stars" It is going to be tough for the Wild to continue their playoff run if they keep losing to woeful teams like the Dallas "Stars". The Wild play the Colorado Avalanche next and will be very hard pressed for a victory. The Wild suffered an embarassing 6-2 loss against to the Stars on Wednesday. "There is no reason we can't beat a JV team like the Stars," Gaborik said, "We played with little effort and energy and it made everyone but myself look bad." Please listen to me folks! Sergei Krivokrasov is one of the Wild's best players, but he should not be on the top line. The top line should be Dowd-Pellerin-Gaborik, not Dowd-Pellerin-Krivokrasov. I am sorry but this line has not been able to put anything consistent together. Whenever Gaborik is put on the top line the Wild are a better offensive team, please understand this! Wild coach Jacques Lemaire really needs to move Gaborik up in order for him and his teammates to get a better shot at scoring goals. It is tougher for Gaborik to score when he is on a lesser line because he has to utilize his scoring skill the most, and ends up getting little support from his current linemates. Despite Dallas' six goals in the game, Marian escaped with a +1 rating. Marian was called for tripping in the first period. "I don't normally trip opposing players, but might as well, it is the dirty Stars, right?" Yes, Marian, that is correct. February 23, 2001 vs Colorado Avalanche Marian played well despite not getting a shot a off. The rest of the Wild actually played well also but lost to the best team in the NHL. The Wild led in the first period after Sylvain Blouin scored his goal on Patrick Roy. Peter Forsberg's goal shold have been disallowed after he kicked in Ray Bourque's pass. This is hockey, not soccer Peter. He knew it too because he did not celebrate after he scored because he assumed the refs would see it and immediately disallow it. Joe Sakic didn't celebrate either after his short-handed goal, just another day in the office for those guys. The Avalanche are so good now with the addition of Rob Blake that they are basically guaranteed to win the Stanley Cup. Now that the Wild have lost four of their last five it is safe to say that a the playoff run is over. If we can't beat teams like Dallas and LA then I don't think we deserve to go to the playoffs. I am just a little upset about the Wild's recent woes, I expected better play out of them. I really hope they win tonight, no excuses for a loss. I still don't understand how the Avalanche have such a good team....maybe with Joe Sakic being a free agent next year he will leave the team to join the Wild huh? That would be sweet, a Gaborik-Dowd-Sakic line. Well what do you say? February 24, 2001 vs Nashville Predators Sorry folks I don't have too much to say except that the Wild have been sucking it up lately, look for a turn around against Vancouver. Marian once again was held scoreless and only got off two shots. He is still the man though! Sean O'Donnell got the Wild's only goal as the Wild lost 2-1. I don't know what else to say. February 26, 2001 vs Vancouver Canucks This was a very strange game. Marian seemed to play very well. He got a great assist on Darby Hendrickson's goal. It was his 29th point of the season, making him one point short of the 30 point plateau. Antii Laaksonen got 20 stitches in the face after Jamie McClennan whacked him by accident with his goalie stick. Matt Johnson provoked Canuck Donald Brashear into fighting, but Brashear slipped and fell, Johnson showed good restraint not to pursue the fight after the fact. Marian recieved four minutes worth of penalties, one minor for tripping and another minor for high-sticking. The Wild had a goal disallowed when the Canuck's net came off the pegs at the same time the puck was in the net. This was a bad call by the refs. The puck was clearly over the goal line before the net was off the pegs. "Yeah, we got worried when the Wild tied the game 2-2", said referee Brad Watson, "I bet a lot of money on the Canucks, and I wasn't about to let the Wild ruin my bet, this is why I disallowed the goal, called an unwarranted 5-minute major on Matt Johnson in the third period, and called two penalties on that Gaborik guy." The other referee, Scott Zelkin, was unavailible for comment, although there exists public knowledge of his recent gambling problems. All in all a very bizarre game that gave the Wild there first four game losing streak. Gabby finished with a -3 rating. March 1, 2001 vs Calgary Flames Marian scored the apparent game winner in the third period to break the Wild's season-high four game losing streak. "I heard that Columbus just tied us in the standings at the end of the second period," said the young left winger, "that is unacceptable, Columbus is a boy's team among men's. Once (I) found out we were *gulp* tied with Columbus I knew that I had to do something. My boys Gavinator (Gavey) and Seky (Sekeras) hooked my ass up phat!". The Flames came back to tie it late in the third. With the tie, the Wild took the lead back from Columbus. "I hate Columbus", Wild coach Jacques Lemaire said. It was pretty cool to see the Wild not have their goals disallowed or to have their opponents not score via conspiracy, something that has happened in the past two games. " 'Flames' used to be a cool name, but now it is associated with homosexuality, so it isn't as cool anymore" said enforcer Matt Johnson, "maybe they should consider changing their name to 'Fire', or the 'Arsonists', or something like that, I think it would be hard to say 'I am a Flame' without snickering." The Wild traded Scott Pellerin to Carolina for draft picks and such, it was too bad the wild lost his skill and leadership. "More goals for me!" Marian said. The Wild tied 1-1. Wild goaltender Emmanuel Fernandez made a bunch of saves to help the Wild preserve the tie. March 2, 2001 vs Edmonton Oilers Marian got off one shot and finished with a -2 rating versus the Oilers. "I don't want to talk about it right now", Marian said when asked of his mediocre performance. The referees seem to be getting worse and worse with each successive game. Wild goaltender Jamie McClennan may have had a given up a goal that didn't actually cross the line in the third period. Edmonton's third goal also employed some controversy. Wild center Stacy Roest was brought down seconds before Edmonton scored again. The game could have feasibly ended in another 1-1 tie for the Wild, but it didn't. "I grew up watching the Oilers, Jari Kurri was my favorite player," referee Mr. Meier said, "I really wanted to see them win, I know it was kinda dishonest, but the Wild are not even in a playoff hunt you know?" The referees pissed off Wild coach Jacques Lemaire so much that he was given a two minute minor for "abuse of officials." "I couldn't believe what I was seeing," said Lemaire, "all I said to (Mr. Meier) was 'if you are going to act like a bitch, I am going to treat you like one'." Meier apparently did not like the the words, and told Lemaire to select a player to sit on the box for a couple of minutes. OK folks, I am now done uselessly complaining about the refs, we have a more important problem. IHL team Columbus Blue Jackets are only one point behind the Wild! This sucks! March 4, 2001 vs Vancouver Canucks Marian scored a power play goal in the 1st period beating goaltender Bob Essensa. The Wild were able to hold on and win in overtime despite the referees attempts to favor the playoff bound team. "We know the refs are out to get us because we are an expansion team, maybe next year we will get more respect and the refs will call a fair game," said the Wild equipment manager." Folks this game was hard to watch. Wes Walz was elbowed in the face by Todd Bertuzzi, no call. Donald Brashear commited three penalties on one shift but was only called one of them. After Curtis Leschyshyn was called for an illegal hand pass, a Vancouver defensemen did the same thing, no call. The roughing penalty by Ed Jovanovski should have been a five minute major penalty. I don't know why the Wild have gotten succesive bad calls in the past four games. This better stop on tuesday night against St. Louis. We will be going to the game to finally cheer on Gaborik in person! Gaborik returned to top form in the Vancouver game, creating some great plays and causing Canuck LaChance to give him a little cross check after Marian scored. "Bastard," the young winger said at the after game contest, "Listen, I don't want to fight that guy, but I will score goals on his ass, which one would you prefer?" We would prefer the latter young Marian. March 6, 2001 vs St. Louis Blues It has been a while, but we finally went to another game. Damn, I want to live in that place. The game was a thriller to the end. Just like last game, we built up a solid lead, thanks to Marian Gaborik's brilliant play, but found ourselves in a hole towards the end. In the end, the Wild skated to a 3-3 tie, which is pretty good...for me to POOP on. I mean come on, the lowly Blues, who have been winless in 7 straight on the road? OK, so we havent been playing the best hockey lately, (which of course is because of The Man's other job's, including GQ's Man of The Year, and Playgirl Centerfold), but thats beside the point. The game was actually pretty entertaining. Whenever I think of Manny Fernandez, I think of a song....I am a Rock, by Simon and Garfunkel. And when I think of Marian Gaborik, I think of the song, I am the Walrus, By the Beatles. But scratch Walrus, and replace it with God. But Marian had a beautiful goal tonight. He shot through four, yes four Blues players, but it still found a way to find the back of the net. Which adds to my theory, Marian has made a deal with the Devil. No wait, Marian is the Devil, which actually explains quite a bit. But, unfortunately, not all went as well as expected. Pierre Turgeon of the Blues was getting quite frustrated by the constant praise of Gaborik and the fact that he will score more goals next year than Pierre will score in his entire career, that he made a rather rude hit on Marian. But Marian shrugged it off, "I understand that Pierre just wanted to get close enough to touch me, just to get a feel of what a God feels like, however, he could have just asked me to engrave my initials on his forehead. I would have had no problem with that." Pierre retorted, "I understand now, just to be on the ice with him makes me see so much clearer, to just be in the presence of his majesty, I learn so much though osmosis." He will get another shot, as the wild play the Blues yet another time, later next week. March 8, 2001 vs New Jersey Devils Marian has been playing well, he has nine goals and nine assists in the last 22 games. Unfortunately the Wild have been reeking worse than my nuts have and dropped a bomb against New Jersey, 6-2. No excuse for this. The Wild faced Sean O'Donnell for the first time since he was traded last week. Marian had an assist in the first period on Aaron Gavey's goal. Marian now leads the Wild in goals and points. Look for the Wild to rebound against the Islanders. I predict Marian will have a multi-point game. Remember folks I am 100% so far this year on my predictions (2 for 2). Don't forget to check out our new quote of the week section here at SirMarian. March 9, 2001 vs NY Islanders This game was over from the start. We dominated the lackluster Islanders throughout the whole contest. Scoring started with 30 seconds left in the first period and continued on 18 seconds later, which is a Wild record for quickest goals. But I must say, Marian let me down a bit. I understand though, he has been on such a tear, that he wanted to give some other members of the Wild some chances to score. The final was 4-1 in favor of the Minnesota "we are king shit" Wild. Gabby did let me down, but I don't feel like as much of a dolt as Kyle should. He predicted a 2 point game for The Man, and wow, was he way off. So much for his 100%. Maybe he should go back to picking things more his tempo, like the purina dog races of Abu Dahbi. Anyways, I must give props to the Wild Goaltender Derek Gustafson, What a way to begin your career in the NHL. He was a stellar goaltender all night. His shutout bid was thwarted at the end of the game on an errant shot by the Islanders Jason Blake. No not the GOOD Blake, the other one. The goal was even up in question because of a high-stick during the shot. By the looks of Gustafson's quick glove and smart play, the Wild would be crazy not to keep him around for a little while to see what he can do. Behind the starter Emmanuel Fernandez, of course. The former Freshman of St. Lawrence University is only 20 years old. He must have almost as many women and Gaborik does. But Derek, relax, you aren't the youngest stud on the team, so settle down. The Wild host the Detroit Red Wings at 2:00 on Sunday. The Pimp Dome should be as rowdy as the the first two times we beat Detroit. Lets make it three and really embarrass those overrated Rhinos. Hopefully Osgood is in goal, cause I like to see him squirm. And by the way, Lindros, Pick an F-ing team, quit being such a baby. March 11, 2001 vs Detroit Red Wings Marian scored his team high 34th point when he assisted on Darby Hendrickon's goal. Marian is the Man folks, no ifs, ands, or buts about it. I have a little story to tell all you out there visting SirMarian. Tim and I went to the Blues game on the sixth and had the privledge of actually touching Marian's Easton backup hockey stick. We could have touched Kuba's or Dowd's or even Roest's, but we choose to interact with the Man directly. There is a high possibility that Marian has now touched the same object that we have! Also, back in January, Marian was signing autographs at the Mall of America and he actually said something to me! He and his bodyguard were talking about the best color pen to use to sign Wild jerseys. I came up to the table with my Wild home jersey and he looked at it and the bodyguard asked which color I wanted? Marian then said "silver is the best." Yes folks, that is what he said to ME, Kyle A, the co-creator of SirMarian. I then proceeded to say "thanks, Marian." (because we are now on a first-name basis). Marian didn't respond to my thanks with words, but I think he may have nodded or something like that. Sorry folks I am babbling and have mentioned pretty much nothing about the Red Wings game. Marian only got off one shot but he did manage to get an assist, Marian now has 17 goals and 17 assists. I hope he can break the 40 point and 20 goal barrier by the end of the season. Go Wild! Boo Columbus! March 14, 2001 vs St. Louis Blues The Wild lost in OT for the second consecutive game. It is OK though because we did get a point in the standings to stay a step ahead of Columbus. Marian got off a team high three shots but was not able to score as the Wild were shutout. Should be a great game tomorrow against Philly. Next page |
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