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Wild: 'Good enough' not cutting it




The State of Hockey is given their name due to the excitement around the sport in communities, high school hockey tournament, and even the colleges all around the state that play at the NCAA Division-I level.

The Minnesota Wild, however, have been a blemish to the state’s mantra.

After Minnesota’s latest loss to the St. Louis Blues tonight, the Wild find themselves with the tenth-most points in the Western Conference. This season has been riddled with injuries, inconsistency from their goaltenders and lack of chemistry on certain lines. But the biggest issue the franchise continues to do is set their fanbase up for disappointment, year after year.

Yes, Minnesota professional sports have an ongoing problem with producing winners (besides the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx, of course). The Twins recently just made history with their turnaround in the 2017 season. The Timberwolves are building a path to success beginning this season. The Vikings have surprised many with one of the best records in the NFL, with an opportunity to play in the Super Bowl in their own state. As for the Wild, the expectations appear to be ‘fine’ if they make playoffs. Since their inaugural season in 2000, the Wild have made eight playoff appearances. The excuse of being the youngest franchise in hockey is inexcusable, especially when during that time there was one Division title clinched (2007-2008) and no conference championships or Stanley Cups. Here are some teams in major professional sports that were successful in capturing titles after they were deemed an expansion team:
·         PHILADELPHIA FLYERS (NHL)
o   First Season: 1967-1968
o   First Championship: 1973-1974
·         ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS (MLB)
o   First Season: 1998
o   First Championship: 2001
·         MILWAUKEE BUCKS (NBA)
o   First Season: 1968-1969
o   First Championship: 1970-1971
·         CLEVELAND BROWNS (NFL)
o   First Season: 1950
o   First Championship: 1950
Many of you may think it is a stretch to mention some of these teams, especially the ones that existed about 50 years ago. There were fewer teams in the league, and the opposition was perhaps less competitive than teams now. Just last season, the Nashville Predators advanced to the Stanley Cup, the first of the four expansion teams in 1997 (Minnesota, Columbus, and Atlanta the others) to do so. The Anaheim Ducks did it in less than 10 years, the Florida Panthers did it in two, and so on. So, what is the ongoing problem?

Minnesota lives, breathes and eats hockey. The atmosphere is electric when the Wild light up the goal horn at the Xcel Energy Center. There is still plenty left to this season, but is it worth it to support a team that cannot reach the biggest stage of them all in almost 20 years?


Also, one other thing… the newest expansion team, the Las Vegas Golden Knights, currently hold the second spot in the Western Conference, trailing St. Louis by five points. 

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