Wild In The Middle

Image via WikipediaThe Minnesota Wild are reaching the NHL's All-Star break as a team at the crossroads:  With the team being one point out of playoff contention, they are not bad enough to call it a season.  Yet they're not good enough to really take off and join the league's elite.

This inconsistency manifests itself whenever the Wild give up big leads or mess up doable scoring chances (particularly on the power play).  The fact that they have a better record on the road (they won their last two games in Calgary and Edmonton) than at home does not sit well with the paying customers at Xcel Energy Center, which has resulted in the streak of sellouts being broken for the first time since the franchise was founded.

It's not all coach Todd Richards' fault, having to make do with the players he's got.  For every Pierre-Marc Bouchard that returns to the lineup from a concussion, there's having to raid the minor league team in Houston for goaltending help after Jose Theodore, Niklas Backstrom and Josh Harding get hurt at one point or another.  Plus there are some players who are just not working out.

But such is the nature of how many teams are competing for the eight Western Conference playoff spots, that whoever is on top today might be on the bottom tomorrow.  The Wild will use the rest of the season to not be caught standing in the NHL's version of musical chairs.