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07.08.2019 09:05
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This story is part of ESPN The Magazines Oct. 31 NBA Preview Issue. Subscribe today!Minnesota WildOverall: 62 Title track: 84 Ownership: 46 Coaching: 64 Players: 91 Fan relations: 42 Affordability: 76 Stadium experience: 16 Bang for the buck: 72 Change from last year: -25The Wild have made it to four straight playoffs -- the longest such streak in the franchises 15 years in the league -- and what did they get for their trouble? A precipitous 25-spot drop down our Ultimate Standings. All told, Minnesota fell in every one of our categories, save coaching (welcome to the frozen tundra, Bruce Boudreau!), and plummeted double-digit slots in title track, ownership, players, fan relations and affordability. We think the locals are getting restless, stuck in the purgatorial space between good and not-quite-great. And thats what we call Minnesota ... not-so-nice.Whats goodThe home of hockey in the State of Hockey is still a much-beloved meeting place for Minnesotans, with the X checking in as the No. 16-ranked stadium experience overall and sixth best in the NHL. Yes, the Xcel Energy Center is creeping closer to Year 20, but between the arenas homage to local hockey greatness (a ring of 215 jerseys representing nearly all the boys and girls high school hockey teams in Minnesota lines the suite level) and nightly, raucous crowds, home-ice advantage remains as real today as it did on Sept. 29, 2000, the night it opened.Whats badAbout that purgatorial space? Despite seven playoff berths in 15 seasons, the Wild havent been a true postseason force, reaching the conference finals just once (in 2003), and getting bounced in the first and second rounds in each of the past three years. That wont cut it in the state that prides itself on fostering hockey mega-talent: 230 NHL players, in all. Witness: Minnesotas sub-optimal No. 84 ranking in title track, a 17-spot drop since last year, and its lowest turnout since the pre-Zach Parise, pre-Ryan Suter era. But Boudreau, the new coach on the block, is out to transform the Wild from playoff contender to playoff power -- and make sure the Minnesota Wild of the 2010s dont become the Minnesota Timberwolves of the 2000s.Whats newParise and Suter, the Wilds onetime shiny, new toys, have proved to be tigers more on paper than on ice. Parise hasnt topped 62 points in his four years in Minnesota; Suter was great last season but abysmal the year before -- so that circa-2012 euphoria, when the team swept free agency on a breathless, giddy day in July? It now feels like a distant, gauzy memory. So too, does the Wilds respectability in our players ranking, where they land No. 91 overall, 46 spots lower than last year.Next: Columbus Blue Jackets?| Full rankings Clayton Kershaw Youth Jersey . This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the middle of their season. Fernando Valenzuela Youth Jersey . Brandon Morrow allowed five runs on six hits over three innings. He struck out two, walked one and hit a batter. Edwin Encarnacion had a two-out, bases loaded two-RBI double in the third inning. http://www.ladodgersprostore.us/Kirk-Gibson-dodgers-jersey/ . -- Anaheim Ducks captain and leading scorer Ryan Getzlaf has been scratched from Sunday nights game against the Vancouver Canucks because of an upper-body injury. Kenley Jansen Jersey . Duchene scored two goals and had an assist, helping the Colorado Avalanche beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-2 on Friday night to match the best 10-game start in team history. Justin Turner Womens Jersey .J. -- Josh Cribbs was in the Pro Bowl in February and out of a job six months later. AP () -- -- Brazilian marathoner Vanderlei Cordeiro de Lima lights the Olympic cauldron for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games. ' ' ' |
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