The Wild: No Playoffs. No Coach. Big Problem?

Image via WikipediaThe Minnesota Wild ended their 2010-11 NHL season with a 5-3 win at home over the Dallas Stars.  The next day, coach Todd Richards was let go after two seasons.

The Wild ended up with 39 wins, 35 losses and eight overtime points, which adds up to 86.  That's good enough for third place in the Northwest division, but not for a playoff spot in the competitive Western Conference.

This was not all Richards' fault, because he was doing the best he could with the team that was put in front of him.  But when you have a bad finish--eight consecutive losses in March and a lousy home record--in an otherwise so-so season that results in missing the playoffs for the third straight year, changes need to be made.

Well, it's going to be difficult to make those changes when a team like the Wild is stuck between a rock and a hard place, thanks to the blessings and curses of the Jacques Lemaire (who retired--again--as New Jersey Devils coach)-Doug Risebrough era.  General manager Chuck Fletcher and owner Craig Leipold will have to find a way to build a team with unrestricted free agents, a limited amount of homegrown talent (though their minor league team in Houston is doing well) and not much money to work with.

Whoever becomes the next Wild coach will have a lot of expectations place on him.  Such as:  Getting the most out of his players.  Making the playoffs.  And winning the respect of the multitudes who still sell out Xcel Energy Center.  Is that too much to ask?

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Now a word about the Stanley Cup playoffs, which begin Wednesday.  Has Sidney Crosby's concussion doomed the Pittsburgh Penguins' chances?  When is Alexander Ovechkin coming back from whatever it is he's coming back from?  What will come first in the Boston Bruins/Montreal Canadiens series--a goal or a brawl?  How can the Chicago Blackhawks repeat as Cup champions when they needed the Wild to beat Dallas to get into the playoffs?  Will the Vancouver Canucks be as good in the playoffs as they were in the regular season, when they all but dominated the league?

When the smoke clears in June, the Philadelphia Flyers and Detroit Red Wings will be playing for the Stanley Cup.