WILD WEEK 317 WASHINGTON STREET • SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA 55102 PH: 651.602.6000 • WEB: WILD.COM Feb ru a ry 2 , 2 0 15 • A L O O K AT T HE WE E K A HE A D FO R T HE MINNES OTA WI L D DATE Mon., Feb. 2 Tue., Feb. 3 Wed., Feb. 4 Thur., Feb. 5 Fri., Feb. 6 Sat., Feb. 7 Sun., Feb. 8 Mon., Feb. 9 OPPONENT/EVENT Practice Chicago Blackhawks Day Off Practice Practice Colorado Avalanche Practice Vancouver Canucks LOCATION* Xcel Energy Center Xcel Energy Center PRACTICE/GAME TIME** 11:00 a.m. 10:30 a.m./7:00 p.m. Xcel Energy Center Ridder Arena Xcel Energy Center Xcel Energy Center Xcel Energy Center 10:30 a.m. 10:30 a.m. 10:30 a.m./7:00 p.m. 11:00 a.m. 10:30 a.m./7:00 p.m. INFORMATION NBC Sports Network/KFAN 100.3 FM FSN/KFAN 100.3 FM FSN/KFAN 100.3 FM * Practice times and locations are subject to change. Please contact Aaron Sickman at (651) 602-6009 or Carly Peters (651) 602-6034 to confirm. Players and coaches are available to the media following practice. Practices are closed to the public. ** All times are CDT CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS All-Time Wild Record: 30-22-3 (17-10-1 at Xcel Energy Center, 13-12-2 at Chicago) 2014-15: The Wild is 0-3-0 after three season meetings against the Blackhawks…Minnesota lost both contests at United Center, 5-3 (12/16) and 4-1 (1/11) while dropping the second contest, 4-2, at Xcel Energy Center (1/8)…C Mikko Koivu (0-2=2), RW Nino Niederreiter (1-1=2), RW Jason Pominville (1-1=2) and LW Thomas Vanek (1-1=2) lead the Wild with two points each…G Niklas Backstrom is 0-3-0 with a 3.71 GAA and a .880 SV% in three starts…RW Patrick Kane leads Chicago with eight points (2-6=8) in three contests…C Jonathan Toews has six points (1-5=6)…C Brad Richards (1-4=5) has five points…G Antti Raanta made 26 saves in the first match… G Corey Crawford is 2-0-0 with a 1.50 GAA and a .963 SV% in two starts. WILD LEADERS: D Ryan Suter leads the Wild with 29 points (4-25=29) in 55 games vs. Chicago, his highest point total against any team...Koivu has 25 points (4-21=25) in 36 matches...LW Matt Cooke owns 18 points (9-9=18) in 41 games…Pominville has 11 points (8-3=11) in 15 contests…Vanek has nine points (4-5=9) in 13 games. WILD GOALIES: Backstrom is 6-12-1 with a 2.96 GAA, a .908 SV% and one shutout in 19 starts (20 games) against the Blackhawks…G Devan Dubnyk is 2-6-0 with a 4.28 GAA and a .887 SV% in 10 games (nine starts)…G Darcy Kuemper is 1-0-0 with a 1.22 GAA and a .959 SV% in two contests (one start). BLACKHAWKS LEADERS: Richards has 27 points (8-19=27) in 23 games against Minnesota…Kane has 27 points (1116=27) in 30 contests…Toews owns 25 points (7-18=25) in 25 contests…RW Marian Hossa has 25 points (13-12=25) in 30 games. BLACKHAWKS GOALIES: Crawford is 7-3-2 with a 2.24 GAA and a .919 SV% in 13 games (12 starts) against Minnesota…Raanta is 1-1-0 with a 2.56 GAA and a .896 SV% in two career starts. CONNECTIONS: Bob Mason appeared in 41 games for Chicago in 1987-88. FAST FACT: Minnesota is 6-6-1 in its last 13 games against Chicago with seven of the contests being decided by one goal and four going to a shootout. COLORADO AVALANCHE All-Time Wild Record: 39-32-10 (21-14-5 at Xcel Energy Center, 18-18-5 at Colorado) 2014-15: The Wild is 2-0-0 this season after winning the home-and-home season opening series against the Avalanche with a 5-0 shutout victory at Xcel Energy Center (10/9) and a 3-0 shutout win at Pepsi Center (10/11)…LW Zach Parise leads Minnesota with four points (2-2=4) in two games…D Ryan Suter has three points (1-2=3)…C Charlie Coyle (1-1=2), C Mikael Granlund (0-2=2), RW Jason Pominville (1-1=2) and D Jared Spurgeon (1-1=2) have two points each…G Darcy Kuemper is 2-0-0 with two shutouts stopping all 46 shots faced in two starts…G Semyon Varlamov is 0-2-0 with a 4.33 GAA and a .901 SV% in two starts…G Reto Berra entered the first game in the third period, making 10 saves in relief. WILD LEADERS: C Mikko Koivu has 38 points (15-23=38) in 51 games against Colorado... Suter has 23 points (221=23) in 40 games…Parise has 21 points (7-14=21) in 18 matches...C Kyle Brodziak has 21 points (7-14=21) in 44 games. WILD GOALIES: G Niklas Backstrom is 24-7-3 with a 2.25 GAA, a .924 SV% and four shutouts in 34 career games against Colorado (33 starts)…G Devan Dubnyk is 8-5-1 with a 2.24 GAA, a .934 SV% and one shutout in 15 starts… Kuemper is 2-0-0 with a 1.54 GAA, a .942 SV% and two shutouts in three career starts. AVALANCHE LEADERS: RW Jarome Iginla is the all-time leader against the Wild in points (67), goals (37), shots (238) and game-winning goals (10), is second in plus-minus rating (plus-19), in games played (73) and in power-play goals (10) and is tied for third in assists (30)…LW Alex Tanguay has 46 points (16-30=46) in 61 games vs. Minnesota, the fifth-highest total by a Wild opponent...C Matt Duchene has 15 points (5-10=15) in 28 games...Landeskog has 14 points (6-8=14) in 17 matches. AVALANCHE GOALIES: Varlamov is 7-6-1 with a 2.40 GAA, a .924 SV% and one shutout in 14 games (13 starts)…Berra is 1-2-0 with a 3.60 GAA and .859 SV% in four contests (two starts). CONNECTIONS: Darby Hendrickson skated in 20 games with Colorado in 2003-04...Andrew Brunette tallied 205 points (70-135=205) in 246 games (2005-08) with the Avalanche…D Erik Johnson hails from Bloomington...LW Patrick Bordeleau was selected by Minnesota in the fourthround (114th overall) of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. FAST FACTS: Minnesota defeated Colorado in seven games in the 2014 Western Conference Quarterfinal...MacKinnon (2-8=10) and Stastny (5-5=10) led the Avalanche with 10 points in seven games while Parise led the Wild with 10 points (3-7=10) during the playoff series. VANCOUVER CANUCKS All-Time Wild Record: 33-30-14 (20-14-5 at Xcel Energy Center, 13-16-9 at Vancouver) 2014-15: Minnesota won the first meeting of the season against Vancouver, 4-2 at Rogers Arena (2/1)…C Mikael Granlund led the team with two assists…LW Zach Parise, D Jared Spurgeon, LW Thomas Vanek and LW Jason Zucker each tallied a goal…G Devan Dubnyk stopped 35-of-37 shots to earn the win…LW Daniel Sedin and LW Ronalds Kenins netted a goal apiece for the Canucks…RW Radim Vrbata, D Alexander Edler and C Henrik Sedin each registered an assist…G Ryan Miller made 16 saves. WILD LEADERS: C Mikko Koivu leads Minnesota with 30 points (10-20=30) in 47 games against Vancouver...C Kyle Brodziak owns 16 points (7-9=16) in 38 games...D Ryan Suter has 12 points (1-11=12) in 36 matches…Vanek owns eight points (3-5=8) in eight contests…Parise has eight points (6-2=8) in 13 meetings. WILD GOALIES: G Niklas Backstrom is 13-13-6 with a 2.63 GAA, a .908 SV% and one shutout in 33 games (31 starts) against Vancouver…Dubnyk is 7-6-3 with a 2.48 GAA, .925 SV% and three shutouts in 18 games (15 starts)…G Darcy Kuemper is 1-2-0 with a 2.20 GAA and a .918 SV% in three career starts. CANUCKS LEADERS: H. Sedin owns 59 points (11-48=59) in 75 games vs. Minnesota...He ranks first all-time against the Wild in assists and games played and second in points...D. Sedin has 57 points (21-36=57) in 72 matches...He ranks second in assists and third in games played and points against Minnesota...Vrbata has 22 points (13-9=22) in 37 games. CANUCKS GOALIES: Miller is 4-4-0 with a 2.55 GAA, a .902 SV% and one shutout in eight starts against the Wild…G Eddie Lack is 1-0-1 with a 1.44 GAA and a .944 SV% in two starts. CONNECTIONS: D Keith Ballard skated in 148 games with Vancouver over three seasons (2010-13)...LW Matt Cooke was selected by the Canucks in the sixth round of the 1997 NHL Entry Draft and collected 203 points (83-120=203) in 566 games during nine seasons with Vancouver (19982008)...Darby Hendrickson skated in 27 games with the Canucks in 1998-99...Bob Mason appeared in six games with Vancouver in 1990-91. FAST FACTS: Minnesota is 5-1-0 in its last six games against Vancouver…The Wild’s 80 points versus the Canucks are its third-most against any NHL franchise (33-30-14). IOWA WILD The Iowa Wild dropped three home games last week…The Wild lost 6-0 to the Grand Rapids Griffins on Thursday (1/29)…G Darcy Kuemper earned the loss with 23 saves in two periods while G John Curry made nine-of-10 saves in relief during the third...Iowa suffered a 2-1 loss against Hamilton on Friday (1/30)…D Guillaume Gelinas scored the sole goal with assists from D Brad Richard and F Marc Hagel…Kuemper stopped 27-of-29 shots…The Wild fell, 5-3, on Saturday in its second match against the Bulldogs (1/31)…F Tyler Graovac (1-1=2) and F Jordan Schroeder (0-2=2) led Iowa with two points each…F Zach Mitchell and F Michael Keranen netted a goal apiece…Curry made 32 saves…Graovac leads the team in scoring with 33 points (16-17=33) in 43 games…Keranen ranks second with 29 points (7-22=29)… Schroeder ranks third with 28 points (10-18=28)…Curry is 8-10-0 with a 2.78 GAA and a .917 SV% in 21 games… Kuemper is 0-2-0 with a 4.23 GAA and a .877 SV% in two games…The Wild begins a four-game road trip with three stops this week visiting Adirondack (Wed.), Hamilton (Fri.) and Toronto (Sat.). STRIKE IT WILD The first ever “Strike it Wild” Bowling Event presented by Treasure Island Resort & Casino benefiting the American Diabetes Association and Minnesota Wild Foundation will take place on Thursday, Feb. 5 from 6:30-9:00 p.m. at Treasure Island (5734 Sturgeon Lake Road Welch, MN 55089). The sold out, casual, family friendly event will feature two hours of bowling with Wild players and celebrities, knockout appetizers and refreshments to help you keep your eyes on the prize. PLAYER APPEARANCE Charlie Coyle is scheduled to appear and sign autographs at Two Stooges Bar located at 7178 University Avenue in Fridley on Wednesday, Feb. 4 from 5 – 6 p.m. WILD.COM PRESS BOX AND TWITTER MEDIA WEBSITE: Returning for the 2014-15 season, the Minnesota Wild presents www.wild.com/pressbox providing media access to team press releases, game notes, postgame notes, multimedia and game day statistics among other information. Media can also use the site to request single-game credentials. TWITTER: Follow @mnwildPR on Twitter to get the latest news and notes, practice times, appearance schedule and other valuable media information from the official Wild Public Relations Twitter account.