Tag: Minnesota Wild

Wild’s Kirill Kaprizov contorted himself around a defender for a stunning deflection goal

Kirill Kaprizov is a magician!

Kirill Kaprizov is no stranger to pretty goals, but this one might just be his best yet.

Coming off a 108-point sophomore season last year, Kaprizov is the race horse that makes this Minnesota Wild team run. And so far this season, Kaprizov has delivered, this time in a big way to break a late first period tie.

With the Wild and Ottawa Senators tied 1-1 in the final moments of the first, Kaprizov turned a net-front pass into a score with ease. While Kaprizov looked tied up with a Senators defender in front of the net, the winger was able to contort his body around his opponent to get his stick on the puck to deflect it past Anton Forsberg.

Let’s see that one more time, shall we?

That’s just absurd from Kaprizov right there. You might have also noticed that Kaprizov leaves his skates as he makes that move, making it all the more impressive. What an individual effort here from Kaprizov for a highlight reel goal.

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Marc-Andre Fleury trade: Who won the deal between the Blackhawks and the Wild?

Last year’s Vezina winner is headed to Minnesota!

The 2022 NHL trade deadline is closing in and Monday saw a huge blockbuster deal go down before noon.

The Minnesota Wild have acquired goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury from the Chicago Blackhawks in what is, so far, the biggest deal of the day. Fleury was our highest-ranked goaltender on our trade target list headed into the deadline and for good reason, the 37-year-old is less than a year removed from a Vezina Trophy winning season and is an absolute pro to boot.

We’re still a handful of hours away from the deadline, so let’s break down the Fleury to Minnesota trade and hand out some grades to determine who won this blockbuster deal!

Red Wings’ goalie Alex Nedeljkovic accidentally scores on himself off tragic misplay

Oh no!

When it rains, it pours for Alex Nedeljkovic.

On Thursday, during the first period of a routine Detroit Red Wings and Minnesota Wild game, the unthinkable happened for a goaltender. On what seemed like a routine deflection that a netminder would stop… Nedeljkovic just beefed it big time, resulting in an own goal.

In an attempt to swat the puck to the corner to continue play, Nedeljkovic instead batted it right between his legs off the heel of his stick in the most tragic misplay possible. Seriously, this is as devastating as it gets as own goals go in the NHL. It’s not pretty.

Here’s a handful of other angles of the play because… yikes.

Yeah, that’s pretty tragic. In the midst of an already disappointing year for Nedeljkovic in net, that’s a back breaker for sure. But hey, this is absolutely a teaching moment here not to get too casual with the puck! I’m 100 percent sure Nedeljkovic will never make that mistake again.

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Capitals’ Carl Hagelin accidentally scores own goal on delayed power play in hilarious blunder

“LOOK OUT! LOOK OUT!”

There might not be a bigger shame in hockey than scoring an own goal.

Carl Hagelin found this out in quite a harsh way in the second period of Saturday night’s game between the Minnesota Wild and the Washington Capitals. The Capitals, headed onto a power play, pulled goaltender Zach Fucale for the extra man with just over six minutes remaining in the period.

Then the unthinkable happened for Hagelin. The forward’s pass near the boards found none of the Capitals in the zone, flying out of the offensive zone and straight towards the Washington net. With no goaltender to stop it, the puck went in, breaking the ice for the Wild and cutting the Capitals’ lead in half 2-1.

Just incredible stuff. Here’s the Capitals broadcast on the call too, which is absolutely hilarious and you will no doubt find yourself watching it over and over again just to take in the sheer pain and suffering in the broadcasters’ voices.

We haven’t had an own goal like this in the NHL in some time, but what a way to start 2022. You have to feel bad for Hagelin but this is, as they say, tremendous content.

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It’s so bitter cold at the 2022 NHL Winter Classic that players’ beards and mustaches have frozen over

It’s cold out there in Minnesota!!!

If you haven’t heard, it’s pretty cold at the 2022 NHL Winter Classic in Minnesota. So cold, in fact, that it’s broken league records for how frigid it is.

At puck drop between the Minnesota Wild and the St. Louis Blues, the weather hit at least minus-8 degrees Fahrenheit, making it the coldest outdoor game in NHL history. Not only that, before the game, the cold weather didn’t stop the Blues from showing up dressed to the nines… in beach gear.

So yeah, it’s pretty cold out there in Minnesota tonight. So cold, in fact, that players’ facial hair is collecting ice and freezing to their faces! Yes, seriously, players on both the Wild and Blues were seen with icicles on their beards and mustaches during warmups, which seemingly weren’t very warm at all.

Look, the NHL’s outdoor games may have overstayed their welcome, but you don’t get moments like these during regular games now do you?

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The 2022 NHL Winter Classic in Minnesota could be the coldest outdoor game in league history

It’s gonna be a cold one in Minnesota.

It’s going to be cold in Minnesota this weekend for the 2022 NHL Winter Classic. Possibly historically so.

Despite all the game postponements across the league due to COVID-19, the NHL’s marquee annual outdoor event is still scheduled to take place on New Year’s Day in the evening between the Minnesota Wild and the St. Louis Blues at Target Field. Previously, Minnesota hosted a 2016 Stadium Series game at TCF Bank Stadium between the Wild and Chicago Blackhawks, but this will be the first time the city has hosted the Winter Classic in full.

And, as expected of Minnesota winters, it’s going to be frigid cold on Saturday. As of Thursday’s forecast, the high for New Year’s Day will be minus-3 Fahrenheit with a low of minus-9, potentially making the 2022 Winter Classic the coldest outdoor game in NHL history.

It’s going to be so cold in Minnesota that the league will have to heat the ice to keep the rink in optimal condition. Not only that, the benches and penalty boxes will be heated as well to keep players comfortable. As for the fans, of which a full house of nearly 40,000 are expected to attend, hand warmers will be provided, alongside additional heated areas in Target Field.

The frigid temperatures in Minnesota this weekend could very well eclipse the NHL’s coldest outdoor game on record, the 2003 Heritage Classic between the Edmonton Oilers and Montreal Canadiens where temperatures dipped to zero degrees Fahrenheit.

Knowing local Minnesotans, however, Saturday’s game will be just another winter evening in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

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Wild rookie Brandon Duhaime scored his first NHL goal without his stick in his hand

Talk about being in the right place at the right time!

Brandon Duhaime just had the most memorable first NHL goal you’ll ever see.

The 24-year-old rookie for the Minnesota Wild netted his first career NHL goal on Saturday against the Anaheim Ducks in the most unorthodox way. With the Wild trailing 1-0 in the first period, Minnesota found a spark of life after Nico Sturm took a shot on net during a four-on-four sequence. The puck deflected off a Duck player and found its way right to Duhaime’s skate and went in.

The kicker? Duhaime wasn’t even paying attention to the play at the time, as he was in the process of picking up his stick that he dropped in front of the Ducks’ net! What a way to get your first NHL goal, by being in the right place at the right time to make the accidental deflection.

Earlier in the season against Los Angeles, it looked as if Duhaime had gotten his first NHL goal but it was waved off after a review. Thankfully, this one counted for the rookie, who was able to celebrate properly this time thanks to a fortuitous bounce.

The first of hopefully many for Duhaime with the Wild!

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Former Notre Dame players on NHL rosters to begin 2021-22 season

Pay special attention to these players this season.

The puck has dropped on the 2021-22 NHL season, and the full 82-game schedule has returned. Besides the usual amount of hockey to look forward to once again, there also is a new team that has taken the ice. One player on that team played collegiate hockey at Notre Dame, as did nine other players who are starting the year on NHL rosters. That number could grow later this season with 15 other former Irish players starting play in the AHL, but for now, here are the 10 you can see at hockey’s top level at this moment:

Zach Parise scored a ridiculous backwards no-look between-the-legs goal for Minnesota in Game 7

This is one for the highlight reel for Zach Parise.

We’ve already had some incredible moments early on in the 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs, from back-breaking overtime goals to spirited bouts. What Zach Parise did to the Vegas Golden Knights on Friday, however, may top them all on the ridiculousness scale.

During the Minnesota Wild’s first period of Game 7 against the Golden Knights in the opening round, Parise got his team on the board with this incredibly skilled, between-the-legs goal to tie things at 1-1 with three minutes remaining. Not only was Parise’s tally an actual shot from between his legs, not a tap-in, he was also facing away from the net as he shot the puck in past Marc-Andre Fleury, completely no-looking the shot all the way to the back of the net.

It’s a stunning goal, one that put the Golden Knights on the back foot to end the first period.

And here are some more replays that do Parise’s goal justice as to how bonkers it was in real time.

Fleury had no chance to stop that one, as Parise was able to quickly snap that shot home before the netminder had any idea what was going on. The Vegas defense, however, has to be kicking themselves for letting Parise behind them with so much room to work from the crease uncontested.

Just a wonderful showcase of skill by Parise here to even things up for the Wild in a do-or-die elimination game.

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NHL’s Minnesota Wild weighs in with brilliant tweet on J.J. Watt

J.J. Watt is a free agent and everyone seems to want the elite defensive lineman … even an NHL team.

Recently released by the Houston Texans, J.J. Watt let everyone know on how things are going in free agency Wednesday.

His name has been associated with a number of teams from the Pittsburgh Steelers, for whom his brothers play, to the Cleveland Browns to the Buffalo Bills to Minnesota … not the Vikings.

The Minnesota Wild of the NHL win the day on social media but putting the great defensive lineman in one of their sweaters.

He’d likely be a force on the ice — assuming he can skate. Unlikely Watt is looking to start a career as an enforcer in the NHL. But it was an extremely clever thought.