Wild 1, Blackhawks 0

The Wild opened their season last night with a shutout at home against Chicago. Nikki and I went to the game and it was a good time. It felt like the crowd's energy from the end of last year at the playoffs didn't fade away at all over the off-season.

The Wild looked good and bad. They looked like they were playing with more confidence and offensive calmness than ever before. The powerplays clicked and they took shots more eagerly instead of timidly passing the puck too much when a scoring chance presented itself. They gave up some pretty bad chances in front of their own net though at times and Backstrom saved the team from losing the lead a number of times.

Gaborik and Demitra were exciting to watch, as usual. They have a tough time getting good scoring chances though because I think opponents scout them pretty intensely and defend against them with extra effort.

I told Nikki before the game was starting that this is the first year before the season begins that I think the Wild have a good chance at going deep in the playoffs. You look at their roster now and they've kept almost all of the team from last year. They've added Eric Belanger, who was perhaps the most dangerous player the Wild had on the ice last night.

Looking forward to a new season, Wild!