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Michael Russo

Wild's Casey Wellman a rare Californian in the NHL

Michael Russo Minneapolis Star Tribune

Last updated Saturday, December 10, 2011 - 5:40pm

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- On March 16, 2010, Casey Wellman chose the Minnesota Wild over two dozen other suitors.

The college free agent, a sniper at UMass, immediately catapulted to the top of the Wild's lonely prospect list.

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NHL prospects do it all but dance

Michael Russo, Star Tribune (Minneapolis)

Last updated Tuesday, June 21, 2011 - 6:40pm

TORONTO -- Wobbly-legged and pale, Mika Zibanejad emerged from a grand ballroom at the Toronto Congress Centre earlier this month ... with a big smile.

Threw up?

"Yeah, exactly," said the "Persian Prince," a 6-4 Swedish centerman whose mother is Finnish, whose father is Iranian and whose stock is skyrocketing into a potential top-10 pick Friday when the two-day NHL entry draft commences at Xcel Energy Center.

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Time is running out on Wild and coach Richards

Michael Russo, Star Tribune (Minneapolis)

Last updated Monday, March 28, 2011 - 3:57pm

"This is about the players and them saying and doing the right things. What game number are we at right now? Sixty? Game 60 has little to do with coaches. We're just kind of stepping and getting out of the way and letting these guys play."

--Todd Richards, Feb. 22, after the Wild rose to fifth in the West

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This time around, Minnesota's Wildly confident

Michael Russo, Star Tribune (Minneapolis)

Last updated Tuesday, February 15, 2011 - 5:17pm

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- A year ago, the Minnesota Wild broke for the Olympics on Feb. 15 right in the middle of a playoff race, albeit on the outside looking in.

A year later, the Wild again is in the thick of the playoff hunt, but as center Kyle Brodziak says, "It definitely has a different feel than last year."

Sure does. This is a confident hockey team.

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Wild making wild run toward playoff positioning

Michael Russo, Minneapolis Star Tribune

Last updated Monday, January 10, 2011 - 5:57pm

PITTSBURGH -- The Minnesota Wild has been one of the hottest teams in the NHL since mid-December, the second-hottest team on the road since early December.

Entering play Friday, the Wild had put itself within one point of eighth place and a stunning three points from fourth in the tightly strung Western Conference.

"Yet I was reading one of the Boston papers before (Thursday's) game, they looked at our roster and said something to the effect of, 'Their roster's not worth writing about,"' coach Todd Richards said before the Wild's bowling outing Friday, one day before the Wild closes the first half against the powerhouse, yet Sidney Crosby-less Pittsburgh Penguins.

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Wild, Richards at crossroads as stress, pressure build in Minnesota

Michael Russo, The Associated Press

Last updated Monday, October 11, 2010 - 5:03pm

HELSINKI, Finland -- The "X" stamped onto all of the Wild's jerseys and at center ice at Xcel Energy Center seems more like a bull's-eye than a 10th anniversary signature.

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