From the Driving Range...

Its funny how the season ends, and I have a hard time getting myself to write something here; there is still plenty to talk about, maybe all summer long...
-Erik Reitz and Benoit Pouliot were reassigned to Houston, where the Aeros are tied 1-1 in their Calder Cup Quarterfinal with the Rockford Ice Hogs. I asked Mike Russo about James Sheppard possibly heading south with to join the team (Nick Schultz spent some time with the Aeros during a playoff run a few years ago, and he was just 19 at the time) but Assistant GM (and Aeros GM) Tom Lynn said Sheppard couldn't go because he wasn't on the "Clear Day Roster", which was set around the time of the Trade Deadline. The "Clear Day Roster" essentially names players who are able to play with the team come playoff time, with the exceptions being amateur try-outs; Colton Gillies and Ryan Jones (who scored the game-winning goal off a Danny Irmen feed in the 2nd OT to tie the series at one) would be examples of this.
-Turns out Branko Radivojevic tore his right ACL early in the series, and Russo said Doug Risebrough seemed to indicate that Radio wouldn't be resigned. His knee surgery and rehab will keep him off the ice for at least 4-6 months.
-I actually agreed with Jim Souhan's column today. Does that make me sick?

I heard an interesting question posed on KFAN: Did this season match your expectations?
It depends on the person answering, but I guess I'm somewhere in the middle. Considering how we finished last year in the Divison (we were in the hunt for the title until the end), everyone should have expected that we would contend for the Division Title after having a "new roster" with a full season under their belt. Granted, around the trade deadline things looked pretty hairy, but they pulled it out. Now, taking that same period of inadequacy along with everything else, did anyone really expect a Cup run?
I didn't foresee another unceremonious 1st Round dismissal (again, credit goes to the Avs), but I don't know I could see them getting past the first round- there were to many contingencies and question marks, and like it was illustrated plain as day, injuries will occur, and our depth was exploited. On top of that, the West is just too good for a fragile team to keep advancing, barring some sort of mysticism. Could you see us moving past a Detroit, San Jose, or Dallas, three teams who OWNED us all season.
But before we get too down, we did come back from the near-dead to win our first Division Title, giving us something to celebrate this fall when the banner is raised; however with that banner comes raised expectations.
In a way that magical run of 2003 has spoiled us all; its now the high water mark for a franchise, ironically it was a team far less talented than the editions we see year after year. Who would have ever thought over-achieving could be detrimental? Now this year's early exit stings a bit more, not just because its a first round exit; this, coupled with last year's trouncing (and subsequent knee-jerk reaction to getting tough), have become a trend that many are now highlighting- that the team that Minnesota ices still hasn't accomplished as much as the plucky little squad from 2002-2003, when on paper they should have. (If you think its bad here, just imagine what its like in Detroit when they continually rack up the President's Cups, but no Stanley Cups.)

So here's what's left; questions.
1. Marian Gaborik
2. The UFA's...Rolston, Demitra, and Co., and to an extent Pierre-Marc Bouchard.
3. Jacques Lemaire
4. Doug Risebrough, who has enough on his plate even without having his name thrown around for the vacant Toronto GM spot
5. The Entry Draft

Stay tuned...