Sport-scan daily brief

I don’t mean to sound like a broken record, but the Wild hasn’t had a full practice in 7-10 days. I can’t even remember the last one. That’s what they look like. Disjointed, out of sync, a mess.

“It’s been tough lately,” Niklas Backstrom said. “We have a system that works. It’s just for us to get back to the details, shift after shift, do the right things and for all the six guys to get out there, work together and do the right things. We have to just rely on our system no matter what happens. It works. We know it works. If we do it right, we won’t be in our zone and it’ll help our game.”

The game was a mess before it even started.

Matt Cullen was injured. Johan Larsson was the callup to replace him. The Wild then proceeded to trade Larsson and never brought up a forward as insurance in the morning. Not sure why since rosters have expanded, but the game started with defenseman Nate Prosser playing wing and four brand new lines that certainly looked unaccustomed to playing together.

Yeo went back to Coyle on with Parise and Mikko Koivu in the second and things started to look better.

Again, Pominville is scheduled to arrive in Los Angeles on Thursday morning at 11 a.m. PT. We should talk to him some time in the afternoon or before the game. The Wild, right now, isn’t saying if he’ll debut because you know they want to leave it up to him.

He’s a gamer. I can’t imagine he wouldn’t. Heck, Ryane Clowe, the man the Wild missed on before turning its sights toward Pominville, took a red eye from San Jose to New York and scored two goals and one assist in his debut pounding of Pittsburgh tonight.

This morning, Yeo wasn’t able to talk about Pominville specifically because the trade wasn’t official.

Before tonight’s game, Yeo said, “It’s a huge, huge vote of confidence by [GM Chuck Fletcher] and the entire staff. It’s a message to this group that, ‘We believe in you.’ So now, let’s go.”

Yeo said much like the summer when owner Craig Leipold stepped up and authorized Fletcher to sign Zach Parise and Ryan Suter to 13-year contract totaling $196 million, Wednesday’s trade for Pominville proves “this is an organization … [that is] extremely committed to winning. We’re not satisfied with being good. We want to be great. That’s an important statement.”

Yeo said the Wild will explore the possibility of using Pominville on the point on the No. 1 power-play unit, a slot he played in Buffalo. The other option is Pominville replacing Kyle Brodziak in the slot as the net-front presence guy.

With Pominville going to the top line, Coyle may move to center, at least until Matt Cullen returns from a lower-body injury. That’s why he started the game there tonight – to get him used to it. Coyle, who has been playing right wing, has played center throughout his life.

By the way, the reality of pro sports. Larsson’s parents came from Sweden to Houston this week to see their boy. He was then called up to San Jose. He was then traded to Buffalo – with his parents in Houston.

Larsson and Matt Hackett will report to Rochester, by the way.

Talk to you from Los Angeles.

Star Tribune LOADED: 04.04.2013

667810 Minnesota Wild

Sloppy Wild loses 4-2 to Sharks; Heatley injured

Article by: MICHAEL RUSSO , Star Tribune

Updated: April 4, 2013 - 1:37 AM

SAN JOSE, CALIF. – The Wild, which hasn’t had a full practice in well more than a week because of a heavy schedule, looked like it Wednesday night.

A short-lived rally from two goals down against the San Jose Sharks was spoiled when the Wild began running around its own zone aimlessly and turning pucks over en route to a 4-2 loss at the Shark Tank.

Not spurred at all by the Jason Pominville trade earlier in the day, the Wild, which lost for the third time in four games, was a mess all night. The final straw came less than four minutes after former Sharks draft pick Charlie Coyle and Dany Heatley scored goals 25 seconds apart to get the Wild back in a game it had no right to be in.

A remarkably bad shift started with Heatley falling and turning the puck over. That was followed by a Kyle Brodziak turnover, then Heatley not getting the puck out, then Jared Spurgeon coughing up the puck and finally Joe Thornton’s centering feed being redirected behind Niklas Backstrom off of defenseman Clayton Stoner.

It capped a nightmarish game by Stoner, one full of turnovers, penalties, curious decisions and poor positioning.

The Wild got off to a horrible start, getting scored upon first for the fourth consecutive game. The Sharks had a 2-0 lead by the intermission.

The Wild was lucky it wasn’t at least 5-0 because Patrick Marleau hit the post, Ryan Suter, who had one of his worst games in weeks, stopped a Brent Burns shot from trickling in and TJ Galiardi was denied on a breakaway.

After the Sharks already took a 1-0 lead on former Wild Martin Havlat’s fifth goal, Stoner, with nobody on him, airmailed a puck into the stands with Brodziak already in the penalty box. That gave the Sharks a long 5-on-3, and Dan Boyle, a defenseman, made a sick move around another defenseman, Suter, after skating untouched coast to coast to slip a pretty breakaway goal by Backstrom.

But the Wild started to slowly get the momentum back and tied the score on goals by Coyle and Heatley.

However, after Thornton’s goal, it was all San Jose as the Wild again looked disjointed in the third.

The game ended in ugly fashion when Heatley and former teammate Marc-Edouard Vlasic, who were battling all night, got into a violent battle in front of the San Jose net.

Vlasic two-handed Heatley across the arm and then jumped him to the ice. Heatley skated in pain back to the Wild bench looking like he sustained an upper-body injury.

Star Tribune LOADED: 04.04.2013

667811 Minnesota Wild

Gameday preview: Wild-Los Angeles

Updated: April 3, 2013 - 11:39 PM

MICHAEL RUSSO

9:30 P.M. at Los ANgeles • staples center • FSN, 100.3-FM

Preview: The Wild continues its three-game road trip against a team in beat in a shootout, 4-3, last weekend. In that game, the Wild rallied from a 3-1 deficit. The Kings are coming off a 3-1 loss at Phoenix on Tuesday.

Players to watch: New Wild RW Jason Pominville wearing No. 29 on the right wing of C Mikko Koivu and LW Zach Parise. He has scored 10 goals and 25 points in 37 games for Buffalo this season. Koivu has scored 22 points in 23 games against the Kings. G Niklas Backstrom might get the night off for Darcy Kuemper. Kings C Anze Kopitar has scored 23 points in 25 games against the Wild, while C Jarret Stoll has 20 points in 41 games. C Jeff Carter leads the Western Conference with 20 goals.

Numbers: The Kings are the eighth-best offensive team in the NHL (2.86 goals per game) and 10th-best defensive team (2.47). … The Wild is 4-2 in the second of back-to-backs this season. … The Wild is 20-15-10 all-time vs. the Kings.

Injuries: Wild C Matt Cullen (lower body) and G Josh Harding (symptoms related to multiple sclerosis) are out. Kings D Willie Mitchell (knee), D Matt Greene (back) and LW Dustin Penner (lower body) are out.

Star Tribune LOADED: 04.04.2013

667812 Minnesota Wild

Wild deals prospects, draft picks for Sabres captain Pominville

Article by: MICHAEL RUSSO , Star Tribune

Updated: April 4, 2013 - 12:17 AM

SAN JOSE, CALIF. – Chuck Fletcher declared Wednesday afternoon, “We’re no longer a seller,” and the Wild general manager certainly proved that when he dug into his big bag of assets and spent a pretty penny to acquire the Buffalo Sabres captain.

In a trade that was designed to propel an already confident team into the playoffs, the Wild traded for Jason Pominville, a versatile 30-year-old right winger who should parachute right onto the Wild’s top line.

In exchange for the six-time 20-goal scorer who has twice hit 30, the Wild sent a large parcel to rebuilding Buffalo — prospects Johan Larsson and Matt Hackett, a 2013 first-round draft pick and a 2014 second-round pick. The Wild also received a 2014 fourth-rounder from Buffalo.

“Hey, we recognize that we paid a price,” Fletcher said, pointing out that Pominville isn’t a rental (he has one year left on his deal at a $5.3 million salary cap hit). “But as a franchise we’ve spent a lot of time accumulating assets and trading for draft picks, and I think it’s a positive sign that as a franchise we’re now trading prospects and picks to acquire players.

“Typically that means you’re moving in the right direction. There’s always a balance. You can’t make these moves all the time. But if you never make them, how do you get better?”

When Zach Parise found out the Wild traded for Pominville, he grew an ear-to-ear smile.

“Heck of a player. Heck of a player!” said Parise, who played on a line with Pominville in the 2008 World Championships. “It’s really exciting for us. It just gives you the sense that they believe in the way we’ve been playing and they believe in our team. Now it’s up to us to elevate our game even more.”

Solid all-around game

Pominville has scored 185 goals and 456 points in 578 NHL games. He’s coming off a career-high 73 points last season, has scored 10 goals and 25 points in 37 games this year and has played all 82 games in five of his six full seasons.

He’s a strong penalty killer, has a booming shot and gives the Wild a much-needed right shot that can play the point on the top power-play unit.

“He’s a hard-working, 200-foot player, and like some of our other top players, … not only is he talented, he’s got a hard-working mentality and a high level of character,” Fletcher said.

Added former Gopher Thomas Vanek, Pominville’s star linemate in Buffalo, “The Wild, they’re lucky. Just a smart, good hockey player who can adapt to any situation and make his linemates better. He’s going to really help them.”

The Wild heavily pursued San Jose’s Ryane Clowe on Tuesday, but he wanted to play in the East and chose the Rangers. The Wild then set its sights on Pominville late Tuesday and into Wednesday.

The Sabres were looking to rebuild and asked Pominville for a list of eight teams he didn’t want to go to. “Everything he represents as a player you can multiply by a big number as a person,” Sabres GM Darcy Regier said.

Thursday debut?

Pominville couldn’t be reached for comment Wednesday. The hope is that he’ll make his Wild debut Thursday against the Los Angeles Kings.

Larsson, one of three 2010 second-round picks and Sweden’s captain when it won the gold medal at last year’s world juniors, was considered a top prospect and a big loss. The first-round pick is obviously significant, too.

But the way the Wild justifies the price, the foundation of the franchise is in place for years with top-liners Parise and Mikko Koivu, No. 1 defenseman Ryan Suter, cornerstone forwards Charlie Coyle, Jason Zucker and Mikael Granlund and blue-chip defensemen Jonas Brodin and Matt Dumba.

From there, the Wild is loaded with young talent, from developing defenseman Marco Scandella, to forwards Brett Bulmer, Zack Phillips, Tyler Graovac and Raphael Bussieres to college-level players Mario Lucia and Erik Haula to Adam Gilmour and John Draeger.

It still has two hotshot young goalies with Darcy Kuemper and Johan Gustafsson, who plans to come to North America next year.

In other words, Fletcher felt the Wild could afford the hefty price for Pominville.

“We have plenty of assets in the cupboard and plenty of talented, young players at every position,” Fletcher said. “At times you’ve got to dip into that pool of talent that you’ve accumulated and pay some assets to get, in this case, an All-Star NHL player.”

Star Tribune LOADED: 04.04.2013

667813 Minnesota Wild

Trade sends vote of confidence to Wild players

Article by: MICHAEL RUSSO , Star Tribune

Updated: April 3, 2013 - 9:47 PM

SAN JOSE, CALIF – Mike Yeo was late getting on the ice Wednesday morning, and it came after assistant coach Rick Wilson tapped youngsters Johan Larsson and Matt Hackett on the shoulder to go see the Wild head coach.

When Yeo finally met with his players at center-ice, he wasn’t allowed to tell them yet that the Wild had acquired Buffalo Sabres captain Jason Pominville. The trade was not yet official.

“They were giddy, you could tell,” Yeo said. “It was guys shooting on an empty net in practice. Normally they’d be probably not thrilled with that. But they knew something good was up. It’s a huge, huge vote of confidence by [Genera Manager Chuck Fletcher] and the entire staff.

“It’s a message to this group that, ‘We believe in you.’ So now, let’s go.”

Yeo said much like the summer when owner Craig Leipold stepped up and authorized Fletcher to sign Zach Parise and Ryan Suter to 13-year contracts totaling $196 million, Wednesday’s trade for Pominville proves “this is an organization … [that is] extremely committed to winning. We’re not satisfied with being good. We want to be great. That’s an important statement.”

Yeo also is downright giddy to have so many weapons now. Pominville likely will debut Thursday against the Kings on the top line with Parise and captain Mikko Koivu. That puts three former or current captains on one line.

Yeo said Pominville brings “speed, skill, competitiveness, and as much as anything else, this is a quality person, a character guy. Much of what we’ve been trying to do around here is making sure that we not only have talented players, players that fit the way we want to play the game, but people that you want to be around and go to war with.”

Yeo said the Wild will explore the possibility of using Pominville on the point on the No. 1 power-play unit, a slot he played in Buffalo. The other option is Pominville replacing Kyle Brodziak in the slot as the net-front presence guy.

With Pominville going to the top line, rookie Charlie Coyle might move to center, at least until Matt Cullen returns from a lower-body injury. Coyle, who had been playing right wing, has played center throughout his life and took most his shifts at center in Wednesday’s game against the Sharks.

Etc.

• While the Wild players on the ice were “giddy” Wednesday morning, it was a contrast to what Yeo had to do moments before stepping on the ice.

“That is always the tough part of it,” Yeo said. “It’s not an easy thing, for sure. Especially for young kids, you just don’t quite know what’s going on.”

Larsson and Hackett were to fly back to Houston to get their belongings, then report to AHL Rochester.

• With Larsson gone, defenseman Nate Prosser played wing Wednesday night. With Hackett gone, goalie Darcy Kuemper was recalled.

• The Wild also acquired Anaheim Ducks goalie Jeff Deslauriers for future considerations because it needed a goalie for Houston.

• Right winger Torrey Mitchell, a longtime Shark who signed a three-year deal with Minnesota last summer, returned to San Jose for the first time and played right wing with Koivu and Parise. Koivu, by the way, was sporting a nasty shiner and cut under his left eye from Monday’s uncalled first-period high stick from St. Louis’ Chris Stewart.

• Defenseman Brett Clark was scratched for Justin Falk.

Star Tribune LOADED: 04.04.2013

667814 Minnesota Wild

Former Minnesota Wild star Marian Gaborik traded to Columbus

Associated Press

Posted: 04/03/2013 12:01:00 AM CDT

Updated: 04/03/2013 04:55:42 PM CDT

NEW YORK -- The New York Rangers traded slumping forward Marian Gaborik to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday, April 3, just before the NHL's afternoon trade deadline.

In return, the Rangers got center Derick Brassard, right wing Derek Dorsett and defenseman John Moore.

Gaborik, 31, who spent his first eight seasons in the NHL playing for the Minnesota Wild, waived a no-movement clause in order to allow the deal to be completed.

It was the second big trade for the playoff-hopeful Rangers in two days. On Tuesday night, the New York acquired forward Ryane Clowe from the San Jose Sharks for a package of three draft picks.

Gaborik has been disappointing this season, his fourth with the Rangers, as he has only nine goals and 19 points in 35 games while shuttling between various lines. He didn't score in his final five games with New York and notched only two goals and five assists in the past 22.

Gaborik had two 40-goal campaigns in three-plus seasons after signing with the Rangers as a free agent in July 2009. He netted 42 goals in 2009-10 and 41 last season when he played in all 82 games. He was limited to 22 goals and 62 games in the 2010-11 season because of injury.

Gaborik had six goals and seven assists in 25 playoff games with New York over two years, including last season when the Rangers reached the Eastern Conference finals. Gaborik was hampered by a shoulder injury during the playoffs that required surgery during the offseason.

Including

his eight seasons with the Wild, Gaborik has 333 goals and 333 assists in 757 career NHL games.

The deal will give the Rangers much-needed salary relief. Gaborik carries a $7.5 million cap hit this season and next, the final year of his contract. The added flexibility could help New York re-sign the newly acquired Clowe, who can become an unrestricted free agent after this season.

The Rangers entered play Wednesday in ninth place in the Eastern Conference, two points behind area rivals New Jersey and the New York Islanders, who currently hold the final two playoff positions. The Rangers have 13 games remaining.

Columbus also has its sights on the playoffs, sitting in 11th place in the Western Conference but only one point below the postseason cutoff. The Blue Jackets have qualified for the playoffs only once in their first 11 NHL seasons -- losing in the first round in 2009.

Pioneer Press LOADED: 04.04.2013

667815 Minnesota Wild

Minnesota Wild pick up Jason Pominville in trade with Buffalo

By Chad Graff

Posted: 04/03/2013 12:01:00 AM CDT

Updated: 04/03/2013 08:57:22 PM CDT

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- The Wild are all-in this season.

Forget about stockpiling prospects and certainly forget about window-shopping at the deadline.

The Wild on Wednesday, April 3, made one of the biggest deals on the day of the NHL trade deadline, acquiring Buffalo Sabres captain Jason Pominville in a deal that sent two of Minnesota's top prospects and two high draft picks to Buffalo.

In return for the 30-year-old winger, who was an all-star last season, and a fourth-round pick in 2014, Minnesota parted with goalie Matt Hackett, 23, forward Johan Larsson, 20, and its first-round draft pick in 2013 and second-round selection in 2014.

"We paid a significant price," general manager Chuck Fletcher said. "We certainly paid full value, and that's to be expected when you're acquiring a top player and dealing with a very smart general manager on the other side."

Pominville will join the Wild's top line, playing alongside Mikko Koivu and Zach Parise. He will also probably see time on the power play, where he has run the point in the past, and the penalty kill.

"We'll definitely explore that possibility," coach Mike Yeo said. "He seemed very excited. Obviously, there is a lot of emotion involved so there are other factors involved, but he seems extremely excited to be joining this group and to be part of what we think can be a great year. And he's heard great things about the city and the fans."

Pominville posted a career-high 80 points in the 2007-08

season and has averaged 63 points in the four NHL seasons since then. His 10 goals and 15 assists this season would have him on pace for 55 points in an 82-game season.

Fletcher praised him after the deal as a two-way forward with a mentality similar to that of many Wild players.

"He's a player that plays 200 feet," Fletcher said. "He's as strong defensively as he is offensively. His skill set and his mind-set is very similar to a lot of guys on our team in that he takes a lot of pride in his overall game and he's a two-way contributor and a great character guy. The more people you add like that to your group, the stronger you become."

Pominville has another year left on his five-year, $26.5 million deal. That contract will come with a $5.3 million cap hit next season. With the addition of his contract, the Wild are projected to finish the season just $295,165 under the cap.

"We're obviously monitoring that situation every day, and we're pretty aware of where we are and what we need to do," Fletcher said. "It's one of the challenges to this job, but we're certainly glad we were able to accumulate enough space to make this trade."

Hackett, a goalie, and Larsson, a winger, were widely regarded as two of the Wild's top-10 prospects.

Hackett was a third-round selection in 2009 and appeared in his first game of the season March 29, surrendering five goals in a loss to Dallas. Larsson was taken in the second round of the 2010 draft and appeared in one game for the Wild this season, registering two shots and no points in 14:02 of ice time in a mid-February win over Detroit.

Goalie Darcy Kuemper was called up from the AHL Houston Aeros to fill Hackett's roster spot. He joined the Wild in San Jose.

Pominville is set to join the Wild in Los Angeles on Thursday, but Yeo did not say whether he would play.

He'll take Charlie Coyle's spot on the top line. Coyle, a winger who has played center, took some faceoffs Wednesday night and may see more action there until Matt Cullen returns from a lower-body injury.

Yeo said he told the players of a possible move at Wednesday's morning skate.

"They seemed giddy," he said. "We love the message it sends as much as anything. It's a message that says, 'We believe in you.' "

Pioneer Press LOADED: 04.04.2013

667816 Minnesota Wild

Minnesota Wild's rally goes for naught in loss to Sharks

By Chad Graff

Posted: 04/04/2013 12:01:00 AM CDT

Updated: 04/04/2013 01:19:42 AM CDT

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- A 10-man skirmish broke out in front of the net, Dany Heatley skated off the ice alone and in pain, and Clayton Stoner singled out San Jose players with the end of his stick.

And that was all after the game ended.

The Minnesota Wild overcame an atrocious first period and an early two goal deficit, but then surrendered two more unanswered goals and fell to the San Jose Sharks in a fiery battle here at the HP Pavilion 4-2.

Heatley was cross checked, then slashed, then shoved to the ice by Marc-Edouard Vlasic in front of the net as time expired. Heatley skated away holding his left arm while pushing and shoving continued. Vlasic received a game misconduct and a five minute penalty for slashing following the completion of the game.

"I wasn't intending to hurt him," Vlasic said. "I just wanted to slash him because he took a swing at me and missed. He got me the shift before. If he's going to slash me, I'm going to defend myself and just swing back and unfortunately I got him."

It was the first time the Wild have lost back-to-back regulation games since Feb. 7.

"I think that was more frustration than trying to send a message or anything like that," Zach Parise said of the post-game antics.

The Wild play here again in two weeks.

Heatley's game-tying goal midway through the second meant little after Joe Thornton threw a puck off Stoner and into the back of the net for what proved to be the game-winner.

Heatley, Kyle Brodziak

and Jared Spurgeon all had chances to clear the zone before Thornton scored, but were unable to against San Jose's top line and the Sharks made them pay. Thornton threw a shot toward the net that was headed wide against a tired Wild unit, but knocked off Stoner's leg and past Niklas Backstrom.