It's happened! The Trade Deadline has arrived, and the Wild have cashed in it's chips, sending several draft picks to Arizona to acquire Martin Hanzal. We had actually recorded the bulk of the show on Saturday, so we brought in Friend of the Show™ Dustin Nelson to chat with us about the Wild's new acquisition.

Speaking of new faces, Tony and Joe were joined by Luke Solberg, a Twitter-er who is big into analytics. Luke stopped by to chat about the Wild's defense, their meltdown against Chicago, and much more!

Topics included:

• Who is Martin Hanzal?
• Did the Wild overpay for his services?
• The silver lining to the high price to acquire him
• Whether Hanzal makes Minnesota deeper at center than anyone in the West
• Ryan White and the battle for the fourth line's soul
• Pierre-Marc Bouchard
• Should we panic after last Tuesday's embarrassing loss to Chicago?
• Shouldn't the Wild's defense be way better than it is?
• Defending Matt Dumba
• Is it smart to break up the Suter-Spurgeon pair
• What is WAR good for? Absolutely nothing?
• Why Jason Pominville is underrated and Erik Haula is overrated
• Signing Mikael Granlund and Nino Niederreiter this offseason

And much more!

Looking for a good way to support the Hockey Wilderness Podcast? There’s a few good ways to do that!

First, subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts from, whether that’s iTunes, Podcast Addict, PocketCasts, Doggcatcher, Stitcher Radio- wherever you listen to podcasts, that’s where you can find us!

While you are there, you can leave us a review! They give us a boost in the algorithms so that more Minnesota Wild fans can find us. If you’re having a hard time finding where to leave a review, here’s the link to our iTunes page.

Lastly, any sharing of the podcast- whether it’s word-of-mouth to your friends, or on social media- is helpful. Let your friends know what your favorite Wild podcast is (so long as it’s ours).

Thanks for listening to the Hockey Wilderness Podcast. It means everything to us that you listen to and enjoy the show. We’ll be back for more next week. Stay tuned, and Go Wild!

The Minnesota Wild are heading into a bye week, so we decided to take a step back and look at where the Wild are at, and where they're headed. Carolyn Wilke (Managing Hockey Editor of FanRag Sports) was kind enough to join us to lend an outsider's perspective, as we discussed the struggles of her favorite team (the Dallas Stars), the Minnesota Wild, and the shifting balance of power in the Western Conference.

Today's topics:

• What's going on with everyone's favorite player, Antoine Roussel?
• The very disappointing list of players who wore #95
• Why the Stars struggles don't solely rest with their goaltenders
• What's wrong with the Stars blue line?
• Lindy Ruff's status as head coach
• Why Bruce Boudreau is awesome
• Seriously, he should win the Jack Adams this season
• And really, he should have won it last season, too
• Just retroactively give every Jack Adams Award to Bruce Boudreau
• Why Minnesota shouldn't worry much about regression
• What the Wild need at the trade deadline
• Can they snag a Number One Center™?
• Looking ahead to the expansion draft
• Who are the elite teams in the Western Conference?
• Why Anaheim is a sneaky bad team
• Who's a scarier first-round opponent for Minnesota- Nashville or Los Angeles

And much, much more!

We appreciate you listening to the show, but if you want to take your love of the Hockey Wilderness Podcast to the next level, here are some things you can do!

The first is subscribe to our show so that you never miss an episode! We’re on just about every podcast platform, including iTunes, I Heart Radio, Stitcher, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, and Doggcatcher!

Another easy way to support us is to leave us a review on iTunes! These reviews help bring people to the show, and it’s important that we get your feedback. It takes just minutes, but we’re grateful, and we read any review you leave us on the show.

A third great way is good-old-fashioned word-of-mouth. You’ve probably got some friends who are Wild fans, so let them know about the show! And if none of your friends like the Wild, then get new friends, and then tell **them** about the podcast.

Thanks so much for all you do. We’ll be back next week.

What has four thumbs and isn't suspended? It's the Hockey Wilderness Podcast! After a two-week absence, Joe is back, and he sat down with Tony to discuss all the things that happened in a busy, busy, news-worthy week for the Minnesota Wild.

Topics include:

• Notable players who wore 94, including Derek Boogaard
• Jeremy Roenick's trolling
• Darcy Kuemper's tougher workload
• Gustav Olofsson's latest NHL stint
• Alex Tuch demoted, recalled again
• Tyler Graovac hits waivers
• Ryan Carter's comeback hopes
• Gustav Nyquist spears Jared Spurgeon, gets suspended for 6 games
• Antoine Vermette slashes a referee in the Ducks-Wild game, gets a 10-game suspension
• Are we OK with losing Dumba (no) in the expansion draft (definitely not)?
• Can the Wild hang with more physical teams in the playoffs?
• Futurama references
• Tony and Joe lay out their unpopular music takes for all to ridicule

And much, much more!

Looking for a good way to support the Hockey Wilderness Podcast? There’s a few good ways to do that!

First, subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts from, whether that’s iTunes, Podcast Addict, PocketCasts, Doggcatcher, Stitcher Radio- wherever you listen to podcasts, that’s where you can find us!

While you are there, you can leave us a review! They give us a boost in the algorithms so that more Minnesota Wild fans can find us. If you’re having a hard time finding where to leave a review, here’s the link to our iTunes page.

Lastly, any sharing of the podcast- whether it’s word-of-mouth to your friends, or on social media- is helpful. Let your friends know what your favorite Wild podcast is (so long as it’s ours).

Thanks for listening to the Hockey Wilderness Podcast. It means everything to us that you listen to and enjoy the show. We’ll be back for more next week. Stay tuned, and Go Wild!

It’s been a busy week in the Wilderness! Call-ups, trades, and old friends in new jobs! To break down this whirlwind week, we brought aboard Hockey Wilderness writer Adam Stafki. Be prepared- it’s impossible to find a duo who loves Nino Niederreiter and Jason Zucker more.

Together, Adam and Tony discuss:

• Mike Yeo’s new gig
• The Minnesota Wild’s first trade of the season
• Defenseman shake-up
• Alex Stalock’s new deal
• Bye Bye Kuemper?
• Alex Tuch’s NHL debut
• Charlie Coyle’s new home
• Mikael Granlund’s coming-out party
• Does Mikko Koivu deserve some hardware?
• Expansion Draft Power Rankings
• Who is Minnesota’s preferred first-round opponent
• A very, very unfortunate F/M/K
• The best drinking establishment in the Twin Cities

And much more!

We appreciate you listening to the show, but if you want to take your love of the Hockey Wilderness podcast to the next level, here are some things you can do!

The first is subscribe to our show so that you never miss an episode! We’re on just about every podcast platform, including iTunes, I Heart Radio, Stitcher, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, and Doggcatcher!

Another easy way to support us is to leave us a review on iTunes! These reviews help bring people to the show, and it’s important that we get your feedback. It takes just minutes, but we’re grateful, and we read any review you leave us on the show.

A third great way is good-old-fashioned word-of-mouth. You’ve probably got some friends who are Wild fans, so let them know about the show! And if none of your friends like the Wild, then get new friends, and then tell **them** about the podcast.

Thanks so much for all you do. We’ll be back next week.

The Hockey Wilderness Podcast has returned refreshed from the All-Star Break! Joe was a scratch due to illness, but we have some strong podcasters coming off the bench. Our long-time writer from the OG days of the podcast, Aaron Holm, as well as HW College Hockey expert and Gogol Bordello fan Jack Van Thomme. Together they looked ahead to the second half of the season, and the Trade Deadline.

Specifically:

• Whether Bruce Boudreau’s All-Star Game failure should have us worried about the playoffs
• The NHL’s Top-100 Players of All Time list: Which current Blackhawks players should have replaced Crosby, Ovechkin, and Jagr?
• Is the West Minnesota’s to lose?
• Crediting Bruce Boudreau and Chuck Fletcher’s recent work
• The lack of pending UFA goaltenders on the trade market
• Could Jaroslav Halak be the ideal solution in a trade?
• Should Minnesota even look at upgrading their blue line?
• Why the Wild’s fourth line needs upgrading
• Who the hell is Derek Ryan???
• Tony digs up some potential buy-low candidates
• Is Minnesota still looking for a Number One Center™?
• One surprise name that could mayyyybe be available

And much more!

Looking for a good way to support the Hockey Wilderness Podcast? There’s a few good ways to do that!

First, subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts from, whether that’s iTunes, I Heart Radio, Podcast Addict, PocketCasts, Doggcatcher, Stitcher Radio- wherever you listen to podcasts, that’s where you can find us!

While you are there, you can leave us a review! They give us a boost in the algorithms so that more Minnesota Wild fans can find us. If you’re having a hard time finding where to leave a review, here’s the link to our iTunes page.

Lastly, any sharing of the podcast- whether it’s word-of-mouth to your friends, or on social media- is helpful. Let your friends know what your favorite Wild podcast is (so long as it’s ours).

Thanks for listening to the Hockey Wilderness Podcast. It means everything to us that you listen to and enjoy the show. We’ll be back next week to discuss Mike Yeo’s new gig and more! Stay tuned!

The Minnesota Wild are almost at the All-Star Break, but there's no rest for the Hockey Wilderness Podcast! Tony and Joe sat down on Wednesday Night to discuss the Minnesota Wild's week, answer your questions, and more!

Topics included:

• Recapping the results from last week's All-Star Draft
• Talking about the growth of Hockey Day in Minnesota, and why it's actually a really great event
• Casey Middlestadt. He's good.
• Why the Wild shouldn't tank for Middlestadt
• Another Wild win on Hockey Day, thanks to Ryan Suter
• Jonas Brodin's broken finger, and its fallout
• A plague of two-goal leads blown this week
• Minnesota Prospects rising in Corey Pronman's Top-50
• What to do with Darcy Kuemper
• Realistic trades for the Wild at the deadline
• How to snap Zach Parise's slump
• Why Matt Dumba and Jason Zucker should play NBA Jam with Tony

And much, much more!

Looking for a good way to support the Hockey Wilderness Podcast? There’s a few good ways to do that!

First, subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts from, whether that’s iTunes, Podcast Addict, PocketCasts, Doggcatcher, Stitcher Radio- wherever you listen to podcasts, that’s where you can find us!

While you are there, you can leave us a review! They give us a boost in the algorithms so that more Minnesota Wild fans can find us. If you’re having a hard time finding where to leave a review, here’s the link to our iTunes page.

Lastly, any sharing of the podcast- whether it’s word-of-mouth to your friends, or on social media- is helpful. Let your friends know what your favorite Wild podcast is (so long as it’s ours).

Thanks for listening to the Hockey Wilderness Podcast. It means everything to us that you listen to and enjoy the show. We’ll be back for more next week. Stay tuned, and Go Wild!

For just the second time in Hockey Wilderness Podcast history, we join face-to-face and have a live show for you. After a skate with several friends of ours in the Wild podcasting community, Tony, Joe, and so many others sat down at Grumpy's in Roseville to discuss the Minnesota Wild's week.

Topics included:

• Talking about our Blogger Classic outdoor skate
• The Minnesota Wild's battle for first place
• Whether we've seen the best of Minnesota
• We get sad and talk about Darcy Kuemper
• Minnesota's potential rebranding for the new Adidas jerseys
• Our Central Division All-Star Draft
• Debating Artemi Panarin's true value
• Trying to figure out how the Jets aren't good yet
• Ryan Suter vs. Jared Spurgeon
• Why Zach Parise still has a compelling All-Star case
• Even more homer picks
• Who the John Scott of the 2017 All-Star Game should be

The draft includes Friends of the Show™ Ben Remington of Giles and the Goalie, as well as Bob Spencer and Dan Ginter of the Hashtag Hockey Podcast. Make sure to follow their work, too. Also joining the show: Panda Pete of Twins and Losses and Chris Boyd of Hockey Wilderness.

Looking for a good way to support the Hockey Wilderness Podcast? There’s a few good ways to do that!

First, subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts from, whether that’s iTunes, I Heart Radio, Podcast Addict, PocketCasts, Doggcatcher, Stitcher Radio- wherever you listen to podcasts, that’s where you can find us!

While you are there, you can leave us a review! They give us a boost in the algorithms so that more Minnesota Wild fans can find us. If you’re having a hard time finding where to leave a review, here’s the link to our iTunes page.

Lastly, any sharing of the podcast- whether it’s word-of-mouth to your friends, or on social media- is helpful. Let your friends know what your favorite Wild podcast is (so long as it’s ours).

Thanks for listening to the Hockey Wilderness Podcast. It means everything to us that you listen to and enjoy the show. We’ll be back for more next week. Stay tuned, and Go Wild!

All is right in the State of Hockey. Minnesota continued their winning ways on the road, their prospects did well in the World Junior Championships, and a couple of those prospects brought home the Gold for Team USA. With such a big week, we had to get an equally big-time guest, so we got Dustin Nelson of Thrillist, The Hockey Writers, and Sports Illustrated.

Dustin joined Tony and Joe to discuss all that happened, including:

• Merciless Monday: Where we mock Star Sunday
• Devan Dubnyk’s struggles over the week
• Why Darcy Kuemper will be important over the second half and beyond
• Zach Parise putting his game back together

Then after the break, they move on to the World Junior Championships

• Getting excited for Joel Eriksson Ek’s well-rounded game
• Jordan Greenway’s meteoric rise- Will he be able to be as dominant against stronger competition?
• Luke Kunin shines in a defensive role
• Kirill “The Ghostface Krilla” Kaprizov drags Russia all the way to a Bronze Medal
• Where does Alex Tuch factor into this forward group now?

And more!

Looking for a good way to support the Hockey Wilderness Podcast? There’s a few good ways to do that!

First, subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts from, whether that’s iTunes, Podcast Addict, PocketCasts, Doggcatcher, Stitcher Radio- wherever you listen to podcasts, that’s where you can find us!

While you are there, you can leave us a review! They give us a boost in the algorithms so that more Minnesota Wild fans can find us. If you’re having a hard time finding where to leave a review, here’s the link to our iTunes page.

Lastly, any sharing of the podcast- whether it’s word-of-mouth to your friends, or on social media- is helpful. Let your friends know what your favorite Wild podcast is (so long as it’s ours).

Thanks for listening to the Hockey Wilderness Podcast. It means everything to us that you listen to and enjoy the show. We’ll be back for more next week. Stay tuned, and Go Wild!

It's a New Year, and the Minnesota Wild are going to have to build a new streak. After dropping a much-anticipated matchup to the Columbus Blue Jackets on New Year's Eve, the Wild are looking to build on the momentum they created themselves. Joe Bouley and Tony Abbott sat down on Sunday night to discuss those positives that defined the streak.

Topics included:

• Devan Dubnyk, of course. Is it OK to call him an elite goalie yet?
• Jason Zucker becoming a complete player
• Jordan Schroeder making the most of his shot- both literally and figuratively
• Mikael Granlund's impressive season- why aren't we talking about him more?
• Dissecting the end of the 12-game streak
• The Chris Stewart fight and Matt Dumba fight/ejection
• Is this Wild team for real? How can they avoid the annual slump?
• A brief World Junior Championship update
• Who will make the biggest impact for Minnesota in 2017?
• What would be our ideal Minnesota Wild lineup?

Help start us off on the right foot in 2017! You can start by subscribing to our show wherever you get your podcasts from. We're in the process of adding even more places to hear our show, but your favorite podcast app should have us. 

If you want to help even more (and you definitely want to), leave us an iTunes Review! You can find the link here, and in just minutes, you can leave us your feedback and help more Wild fans find our show.

We'll be back with a special guest to cover the World Junior Championships in-depth next week! Stay tuned!

The Minnesota Wild have extended their winning streak to 7 games! Surely, this means that we’re going to be positive this week, right?

Right?

Don’t worry, after a couple of weeks of measured, pessimistic thinking, Tony and Joe sat down Monday night and said some positive things about the Wild.

They started out by discussing player numbers, because it’s Episode 87, which is the number of a hockey legend: Donald Brashear. We also got the jersey talk for Episode 88 out of the way, reflecting on the Brent Burns trade, and go down the road of talking about how weird it was that the Wild traded away their leading (per-minute) scorer in two of the last 6 years.

Things do get rolling, and the crew knocks out a bunch of news, including the winning streak, the team’s playoff odds, Erik Haula’s injury, Eric Staal’s greatness, Tyler Graovac stepping up, and 30-year-old Pat Cannone making his debut. They even make themselves praise the Wild for doing things good.

In Segment Two, they give you a quick rundown of the prospects that will be playing in the World Junior Championships over the next few weeks, and have Jack Van Thomme step in and discuss Team USA Captain Luke Kunin. Funny- don’t hear many people knocking that draft pick now.

Then in Segment Three, we read our first Celebrity iTunes Review. You’ll never guess who it is. Then we delve into our mailbag, which covers aging vets, drafting goalies, whether Graovac can shake up the Wild’s centers long-term, the John Scott Rule, and instability in Florida.

After you’re done listening to this great podcast, you can show your support by subscribing to our show on your favorite podcasting app, leaving us an iTunes review, or telling your friends about us.

We will also be taking the week between Christmas and New Year’s off, so we’ll be back in action in the first week of January.

2016 sucked for a lot of people, but at least for the podcast, it was great. Thanks to everyone who listened, subscribed, reviewed, and shared us. We’re incredibly grateful, and looking forward to an even better 2017. Have a great, safe holiday season!