Gaborik Throws His Hat In The Ring
by Chris Thompson

Wednesday, February 18, 2004

Gaborik's hat trick gives Wild fans hope that a late surge may still be possible.

Have you seen the movie "Miracle" yet? It's about that group of no-name hockey players who brought home the gold in the 1980 Olympics. Nobody thought they could do it. They weren't even in the same class as the Russians! But they brought home the gold none-the-less.

Such is the story line the Minnesota Wild hope to repeat during the final two months of the season. And if they are to do it, one very important ingredient will be needed: Marian Gaborik. Gaborik has suffered through a miserable season since ending his holdout. That all changed, however, when he scored a hat trick Tuesday night against arguably the best goalie in the NHL at the moment, Martin Brodeur.

We always knew he had it in him. We saw it last season, especially in the playoffs. That burning desire to score. That nose for the net. That wicked wrist shot that leaves goalies shaking their heads. It's been there all along, but it was smothered in a pile of angst and frustration. Like a needle in a haystack, Gaborik has spent the season searching for it. Finally, he found it against the Devils. With three more goals, Gaborik still has just nine on the season. This after scoring exactly 30 in each of the two previous years. But he has played good defense while struggling through the scoring drought. His +3 rating is a testament to his ability to not let his offensive woes affect his defensive play. And if this truly is his way of saying, "I'm back", that number could again approach the +12 rating he finished last season with.

So what does this mean for the Wild? It's hard to say. It's taken so long for Gaborik to break out, that it may be too late for Minnesota to make a run at the playoffs. The team lost two critical home games after the All-Star break, putting themselves in a highly critical situation. But it's nothing that a little boost of confidence and a five game winning streak couldn't fix. After the tie with New Jersey, Minnesota sits in the 10th spot in the Western Conference, just six points back of Dallas in the #8 spot. Yes it would take a lot to move up, and not the Wild haven't shown so far this season that they're capable of the kind of stretch that would be necessary to make that jump. But, if Gaborik is truly back to his old self, then anything can happen. We just have to wait and hope and keep cheering.

WOI NOTES

Goalie Manny Fernandez started for the first time in quite a while last night against the Devils. Was this Doug Risebrough's way of shopping Manny in front of the nearby New York Rangers? Manny outshined Martin Brodeur in the nets, though neither was spectacular. Both allowed four goals, but Manny had 32 saves to Brodeur's 30.

Pierre-Marc Bouchard returned to the ice as well, logging 10:54 in ice time, including 1:30 on the power play. With Minnesota's playoff hopes slim, Jacques Lemaire has said he'll be putting Bouchard and rookie Brent Burns into the lineup more.