FanNation

A lot has happened since I last put up a post.  The Wild won the Northwest division, but promptly lost to the Avalanche.  The Vikings gave up essentially their 2008 draft class to get Jared Allen to fill their DE spot.  The Twins have been hovering around .500 this year in a wonky AL Central but Liriano is struggling.

First, the Wild.  I received a lot of complaints about how "boring" the Wild play.  Now, I love exciting hockey, don't get me wrong.  But my question always is: why does a good team have to play rapid fire hockey.  That's not the Jacque system.  Usually, those comments come from hockey bandwagoners who have only been exited about hockey since Crosby came into the league.  It's essentially the same people who magically became Red Sox fans a few years ago once they won the World Series.  Good hockey is good hockey.  It's about discipline, solid defense, solid goaltending, and tanking advantage of opportunities.  Yes, the Wild lost in the first round due to their inability to score goals and only about 2 solid defenders.  What they need is another solid offensive threat.  Rolston and Gaborik are good but if no one else can score, you just play them hard and you're fine.  That's something that needs to happen before they will be a true contender.

As a guy who vaguely remembers the H. Walker debacle many years ago, I am wary of a team giving away their future for one guy.  However, I think the Allen trade was a smart one.  There aren't enough OL/TE guys that can double team Williams, Williams, AND Allen.  Then, the only way to run the ball would be to run away from them, which hasn't served RB's too well in the last two years.  Secondly, the offense is improving.  People rag on Jackson so much that they forget he really has had only one full season as QB, most of which was spent having no one to throw to.  Berrian is a great addition and an addition of a pass-catching TE would be awesome.  He needs protection for dump routes and one deep threat to showcase his arm, and he DOES have a cannon.  He's a good player...he was just thrown onto a team and expected to produce.  I think he will this year.  They won't be undefeated by any means but I could seem them at 10-12 wins and go into the playoffs.

The Twins have been interesting to watch this year.  It's a new team with some decent players but it's the same look: small ball, solid defense, and an amazing bullpen.  Hernandez has been a surprise, Nathan is lights-out, and Gomez is starting to make the Santana trade pretty painless.  Liriano is struggling but that's rehab.  He's young and should be in AAA for a long time so he can not feel as pressured.  Blackburn has been good, Slowey will come back, and Baker has actually done quite well.  I think it will be a fun season to watch