Don't kid yourself: Youthful Wild are wise beyond their years
David vs. Goliath. The young guns against the wily veterans. Seemingly every comparison made about the matchup between the Wild and Blackhawks refers in some way to age, size, or relevance.
Granted, the Blackhawks have won two Stanley Cups in the last five years, and have consistently been among the best teams in the league during that time, but the Wild are no slouches. With the Blackhawks putting an early end to their last two playoff runs, the Wild enter Friday’s Game 1 with something to prove.
Although one would think that the Blackhawks dominate the Wild in the experience department, eleven Wild players who saw action in the previous two series against Chicago remain with the team, and they’ve gathered enough during that time to know what it takes to succeed in the playoffs.
In a recent interview with Kelly Erickson of NHL.com, Wild head coach Mike Yeo said that despite his team’s youth, “…they’re not considered on our part, and they don’t consider themselves young guys. They just consider themselves as important parts of our hockey team.”
Sound execution and stellar goaltending have been the root of the Wild’s resurgence, but their discipline is what has set them apart. Dating all the way back to their mid-season turnaround in mid-January, the Wild have stressed the importance of sticking to their process in order to achieve the best results. This will be of utmost importance against the Blackhawks, who have proven that they have the ability to demoralize their opponents, especially over the course of as many as seven games.
“It doesn’t matter if we win or lose the first game” Nino Niederreiter told Kelly Erickson of NHL.com, “we’ve just got to keep building.”
