What I'm Grateful For...

...as a Wild Fan/Hack Blogger. Now that all the food we've consumed during the day is in the process of digestion, and I'm sure catnaps have occurred (guilty!) I think its appropriate to give thanks to the team I write about, and some of the elements I am thankful for.

1. Mikko Koivu

He's our captain, he plays hard at both ends, and is fiery. And Finnish, so a large population here in Minnesota can relate to a blond haired, blue eyed Scandinavian. Even in times where well, we're, uh, mediocre, you can count on Koivu giving 110% every night.

2. Cal Clutterbuck



Nuff Said.

3. Chuck Fletcher

It's been wrote already about The Brown Fox' willingness to wheel and deal and be a mover and a shaker- of the three trades that have taken place so far into this season, Fletcher has been involved in two of them. Fletcher's been considered the Doogie Howser of potential GM Candidates, having the bloodlines, pedigree, and experience to be The Next Big Thing...and now he's here. He was aggressive in free agency (even if, amazingly the best signing he made was Greg Zanon,) and has made transactions in a salary-cap world; he's also committed to keeping draft picks and developing prospects, which is nearly a 180 degree turn from the previous regime.

4. Greg Zanon

He's the kind of defenseman we've lack since we dealt Willie Mitchell away in 2004. He does everything he can for the sake of defense...and I love him for it.

5. Lastly, this underwhelming (transitional) season.

Ya, suddenly things took a turn.

But

I think that the thing we have to look at is that this season serves as the catalyst for a reboot, and that I think in a sense we need to embrace the team's struggles. Now, that being said, I spent quite a few of my hard earned rubles, so I don't want to go to a game, drink my $6.75 beer (seriously, what happened with concession prices?) and watch a dog of a game in the sense that Minnesota just isn't giving it their all.
Obviously I want to watch a win, but I don't have problems with a team trying hard and losing.
But that being said, the thing I think that alot of Wild Nation can hold on to is that with every disheartening loss, the closer we get to becoming the vision that Chuck Fletcher has for this team. Think about it this way- we're looking at having not only a top 10 pick in this year's Entry Draft (considered to be one of the deeper drafts talent wise in recent memory) but we're also looking at a probable firesale (which leads to acquired picks and prospects,) and roster turnover. So, the tools to make this team better- and get the assets/personnel to make Todd Richards' system go- will be readily accessible sooner than later.

Essentially you got to build this thing from the ground up; so a bad season now means the foundation gets poured sooner.


That is...assuming...we don't flail on our first round pick. Didn't we just trade Pouliot?