The 2013-14 Minnesota Wild season is just 24 hours away.
The team of 18,000 will be there, the LA Kings will be there, and Bring Me The News will be there for all the action.
Here’s the three storylines to watch for in the 24 hours leading up to the Wild setting out on their quest for a 2014 NHL Stanley Cup.
Yeo wants “pack of wolves” mentality: Head Coach Mike Yeo emphasized that Minnesota needs to be less passive and more aggressive when it comes to dealing with confrontation.
Yeo, speaking on David Backes’ hit of Jason Pominville in a preseason game last week, told Michael Russo of the Star Tribune that the team needs to respond a little more when faced with a borderline dirty play like that.
Calling it mob justice may be going a little far, but “pack of wolves” makes it sound as if the Wild will not be pushed around. Expect aggressiveness and accountability on the ice tomorrow, as they have their first chance to make good on this mentality against the Kings’ Dustin Brown, who gave Jason Pominville a concussion just before the playoffs last year.
Dumba to play?: 19-year old defenseman Matt Dumba may not make his NHL debut tomorrow night after all.
Yeo refused to commit to Dumba seeing the ice after a practice that was less than prosperous today, here’s a look at a lineup scenario tomorrow night without Dumba.
A mix of youth and experience: Some think there may be too much youth on this team. More specifically, youth that isn’t ready to step up, such as Dumba.
Others prefer to think of this as a strength, with guys like Zach Parise, Ryan Suter, Dany Heatley, and Pominville, taking the likes of Charlie Coyle, Nino Niederreiter, and Dumba under their collective wing.
Pominville’s extension: Pominville has said time and time again that he’d like to get an extension done before the start of the 2013-14 season.
The clock is ticking.
