2008–09 Minnesota Wild season

2008–09 Minnesota Wild
Division3rd Northwest
Conference9th Western
2008–09 record40–33–9
Home record23–11–7
Road record17–22–2
Goals for219
Goals against200
Team information
General managerDoug Risebrough
CoachJacques Lemaire
CaptainRotating
Mikko Koivu (Oct.–Nov., Jan., Mar.–Apr.)
Kim Johnsson (Dec.)
Andrew Brunette (Feb.)
Alternate captainsRotating
Andrew Brunette (Oct.–Jan., Mar.–Apr.)
Marian Gaborik (Oct.–Nov.)
Kim Johnsson (Nov.)
Mikko Koivu (Dec., Feb.)
Owen Nolan (Jan., Mar.–Apr.)
Nick Schultz (Feb.)
ArenaXcel Energy Center
Average attendance18,568 (102.8%)
Team leaders
GoalsOwen Nolan (25)
AssistsMikko Koivu (47)
PointsMikko Koivu (67)
Penalty minutesDerek Boogaard (87)
Plus/minusKurtis Foster (+7)
WinsNiklas Backstrom (37)
Goals against averageJosh Harding (2.21)

The 2008–09 Minnesota Wild season began October 11, 2008. It was the Wild's ninth season in the National Hockey League (NHL).

Pre-season

At the conclusion of the Pre-season, the Wild finished with a 5-2 record.

2008 Pre-season Game Log: 5–2–0 (Home: 3–0–0 ; Road: 2–2–0)
# Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Recap
1 September 24 Columbus 1–2 Minnesota Backstrom 18,064 1–0–0 [1]
2 September 26 Minnesota 3–4 Chicago Harding 18,034 1–1–0 [2]
3 September 28 Minnesota 2–1 Buffalo SO Backstrom 17,311 2–1–0 [3]
4 September 30 Chicago 2–3 Minnesota OT Backstrom 18,064 3–1–0 [4]
5 October 1 Buffalo 2–3 Minnesota Harding 18,064 4–1–0 [5]
6 October 3 Minnesota 3–5 Columbus Backstrom 11,794 4–2–0 [6]
7 October 4 Minnesota 3–0 Montreal Backstrom 21,273 5–2–0 [7]

Regular season

The Wild were the most disciplined team in the League during the regular season, with just 291 power-play opportunities against. They also allowed the fewest power-play goals, with just 36.[1]

Divisional standings

Northwest Division
GP W L OTL GF GA Pts
1 y – Vancouver Canucks 82 45 27 10 246 220 100
2 Calgary Flames 82 46 30 6 254 248 98
3 Minnesota Wild 82 40 33 9 219 200 89
4 Edmonton Oilers 82 38 35 9 234 248 85
5 Colorado Avalanche 82 32 45 5 199 257 69

Conference standings

Western Conference
R Div GP W L OTL GF GA Pts
1 p – San Jose Sharks PA 82 53 18 11 257 204 117
2 y – Detroit Red Wings CE 82 51 21 10 295 244 112
3 y – Vancouver Canucks NW 82 45 27 10 246 220 100
4 Chicago Blackhawks CE 82 46 24 12 264 216 104
5 Calgary Flames NW 82 46 30 6 254 248 98
6 St. Louis Blues CE 82 41 31 10 233 233 92
7 Columbus Blue Jackets CE 82 41 31 10 226 230 92
8 Anaheim Ducks PA 82 42 33 7 245 238 91
8.5
9 Minnesota Wild NW 82 40 33 9 219 200 89
10 Nashville Predators CE 82 40 34 8 213 233 88
11 Edmonton Oilers NW 82 38 35 9 234 248 85
12 Dallas Stars PA 82 36 35 11 230 257 83
13 Phoenix Coyotes PA 82 36 39 7 208 252 79
14 Los Angeles Kings PA 82 34 37 11 207 234 79
15 Colorado Avalanche NW 82 32 45 5 199 257 69

bold – qualified for playoffs, y – division winner, p – Presidents' Trophy winner
CE – Central Division, NW – Northwest Division, PA – Pacific Division


Schedule and results

2008–09 Game Log
October: 6–2–1 (Home: 3–1–1 ; Road: 3–1–0)
# Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap
1 October 11 Boston 3–4 Minnesota Backstrom 18,568 1–0–0 2 [8]
2 October 14 Minnesota 4–2 Atlanta Backstrom 11,843 2–0–0 4 [9]
3 October 16 Minnesota 6–2 Florida Backstrom 12,106 3–0–0 6 [10]
4 October 18 Minnesota 1–0 Tampa Bay SO Backstrom 15,191 4–0–0 8 [11]
5 October 23 Buffalo 4–3 Minnesota OT Backstrom 18,568 4–0–1 9 [12]
6 October 25 Columbus 1–2 Minnesota Backstrom 18,568 5–0–1 11 [13]
7 October 27 Chicago 2–3 Minnesota Backstrom 18,568 6–0–1 13 [14]
8 October 29 Minnesota 2–4 Dallas Backstrom 18,431 6–1–1 13 [15]
9 October 30 Montreal 2–1 Minnesota Harding 18,568 6–2–1 13 [16]
November: 8–5–0 (Home: 4–3–0 ; Road: 4–2–0)
# Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap
10 November 1 Minnesota 3–2 Phoenix Backstrom 14,817 7–2–1 15 [17]
11 November 4 Minnesota 1–3 San Jose Backstrom 17,183 7–3–1 15 [18]
12 November 6 Minnesota 3–1 Colorado Backstrom 14,562 8–3–1 17 [19]
13 November 8 Minnesota 0–2 Vancouver Backstrom 18,630 8–4–1 17 [20]
14 November 13 Phoenix 0–4 Minnesota Backstrom 18,568 9–4–1 19 [21]
15 November 15 Columbus 2–3 Minnesota SO Backstrom 18,568 10–4–1 21 [22]
16 November 18 Minnesota 2–1 Pittsburgh SO Backstrom 16,971 11–4–1 23 [23]
17 November 20 Vancouver 3–2 Minnesota Backstrom 18,568 11–5–1 23 [24]
18 November 22 St. Louis 2–1 Minnesota Backstrom 18,568 11–6–1 23 [25]
19 November 24 Washington 3–4 Minnesota Backstrom 18,568 12–6–1 25 [26]
20 November 26 Dallas 4–3 Minnesota Backstrom 18,568 12–7–1 25 [27]
21 November 28 Tampa Bay 2–4 Minnesota Backstrom 18,568 13–7–1 27 [28]
22 November 29 Minnesota 6–2 Nashville Harding 13,990 14–7–1 29 [29]
December: 4–9–1 (Home: 4–3–1 ; Road: 0–6–0)
# Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap
23 December 1 Colorado 6–5 Minnesota Backstrom 18,568 14–8–1 29 [30]
24 December 3 St. Louis 0–4 Minnesota Backstrom 18,568 15–8–1 31 [31]
25 December 5 Vancouver 2–1 Minnesota Backstrom 18,568 15–9–1 31 [32]
26 December 6 Minnesota 0–1 Nashville Harding 14,408 15–10–1 31 [33]
27 December 11 Minnesota 1–3 Phoenix Backstrom 13,296 15–11–1 31 [34]
28 December 13 Minnesota 1–3 Los Angeles Backstrom 14,857 15–12–1 31 [35]
29 December 14 Minnesota 2–4 Anaheim Harding 16,577 15–13–1 31 [36]
30 December 17 Calgary 3–2 Minnesota OT Backstrom 18,568 15–13–2 32 [37]
31 December 19 NY Islanders 1–4 Minnesota Backstrom 18,568 16–13–2 34 [38]
32 December 20 Minnesota 2–4 St. Louis Backstrom 19,150 16–14–2 34 [39]
33 December 23 Carolina 2–3 Minnesota Backstrom 18,568 17–14–2 36 [40]
34 December 28 Chicago 4–1 Minnesota Backstrom 18,568 17–15–2 36 [41]
35 December 29 Minnesota 1–2 Calgary Harding 19,289 17–16–2 36 [42]
36 December 31 San Jose 2–3 Minnesota OT Backstrom 18,568 18–16–2 38 [43]
January: 7–5–1 (Home: 3–2–1 ; Road: 4–3–0)
# Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap
37 January 3 Detroit 3–2 Minnesota SO Harding 18,568 18–16–3 39 [44]
38 January 4 Minnesota 2–0 Colorado Backstrom 14,125 19–16–3 41 [45]
39 January 6 Minnesota 1–0 Boston Backstrom 16,272 20–16–3 43 [46]
40 January 8 Minnesota 1–3 Philadelphia Backstrom 19,596 20–17–3 43 [47]
41 January 10 Minnesota 2–4 Columbus Harding 16,605 20–18–3 43 [48]
42 January 13 Phoenix 3–6 Minnesota Backstrom 18,568 21–18–3 45 [49]
43 January 15 Edmonton 1–5 Minnesota Backstrom 18,568 22–18–3 47 [50]
44 January 17 Anaheim 3–0 Minnesota Backstrom 18,568 22–19–3 47 [51]
45 January 19 Minnesota 4–1 Chicago Backstrom 21,320 23–19–3 49 [52]
46 January 20 Los Angeles 5–2 Minnesota Backstrom 18,568 23–20–3 49 [53]
47 January 27 Toronto 1–6 Minnesota Backstrom 18,568 24–20–3 51 [54]
48 January 30 Minnesota 1–3 Edmonton Backstrom 16,839 24–21–3 51 [55]
49 January 31 Minnesota 4–3 Vancouver OT Backstrom 18,630 25–21–3 53 [56]
February: 5–5–2 (Home: 4–2–2 ; Road: 1–3–0)
# Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap
50 February 4 Anaheim 0–3 Minnesota Backstrom 18,568 26–21–3 55 [57]
51 February 6 Nashville 2–0 Minnesota Backstrom 18,568 26–22–3 55 [58]
52 February 8 Edmonton 2–3 Minnesota SO Backstrom 18,568 27–22–3 57 [59]
53 February 11 Colorado 2–3 Minnesota Backstrom 18,568 28–22–3 59 [60]
54 February 12 Minnesota 2–4 Detroit Harding 20,066 28–23–3 59 [61]
55 February 14 Ottawa 5–3 Minnesota Harding 18,568 28–24–3 59 [62]
56 February 19 Calgary 3–2 Minnesota OT Backstrom 18,568 28–24–4 60 [63]
57 February 21 Detroit 2–5 Minnesota Backstrom 18,568 29–24–4 62 [64]
58 February 22 Minnesota 2–1 Chicago Harding 22,443 30–24–4 64 [65]
59 February 24 Los Angeles 2–1 Minnesota SO Backstrom 18,568 30–24–5 65 [66]
60 February 27 Minnesota 1–4 Calgary Backstrom 19,289 30–25–5 65 [67]
61 February 28 Minnesota 2–3 Edmonton Harding 16,839 30–26–5 65 [68]
March: 6–6–4 (Home: 2–0–2 ; Road: 4–6–2)
# Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap
62 March 3 Minnesota 2–4 Vancouver Backstrom 18,630 30–27–5 65 [69]
63 March 5 Minnesota 4–3 San Jose OT Backstrom 17,496 31–27–5 67 [70]
64 March 7 Minnesota 3–4 Los Angeles Harding 18,118 31–28–5 67 [71]
65 March 8 Minnesota 3–2 Anaheim Backstrom 17,300 32–28–5 69 [72]
66 March 10 San Jose 5–4 Minnesota OT Backstrom 18,568 32–28–6 70 [73]
67 March 12 Minnesota 1–2 Colorado SO Backstrom 14,213 32–28–7 71 [74]
68 March 14 Minnesota 2–3 Dallas OT Backstrom 18,584 32–28–8 72 [75]
69 March 15 Minnesota 3–5 St. Louis Backstrom 19,150 32–29–8 72 [76]
70 March 17 Colorado 2–3 Minnesota SO Backstrom 18,568 33–29–8 74 [77]
71 March 20 Minnesota 0–4 New Jersey Backstrom 17,625 33–30–8 74 [78]
72 March 22 Edmonton 0–3 Minnesota Backstrom 18,568 34–30–8 76 [79]
73 March 24 Minnesota 1–2 NY Rangers Backstrom 18,200 34–31–8 76 [80]
74 March 25 Minnesota 6–2 NY Islanders Backstrom 13,332 35–31–8 78 [81]
75 March 28 Minnesota 2–3 Calgary Backstrom 19,289 35–32–8 78 [82]
76 March 29 Minnesota 3–2 Edmonton Backstrom 16,839 36–32–8 80 [83]
77 March 31 Vancouver 2–1 Minnesota OT Backstrom 18,568 36–32–9 81 [84]
April: 4–1–0 (Home: 3–0–0 ; Road: 1–1–0)
# Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap
78 April 3 Calgary 0–4 Minnesota Backstrom 18,568 37–32–9 83 [85]
79 April 5 Minnesota 2–3 Detroit Backstrom 20,066 37–33–9 83 [86]
80 April 7 Dallas 1–3 Minnesota Backstrom 18,568 38–33–9 85 [87]
81 April 10 Nashville 4–8 Minnesota Backstrom 18,568 39–33–9 87 [88]
82 April 11 Minnesota 6–3 Columbus Harding 19,013 40–33–9 89 [89]

Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)

Playoffs

The Minnesota Wild failed to qualify for the 2009 NHL Playoffs. after qualifying in 2006-07 and 2007–08

Player statistics

Skaters

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals 
Regular season
Player GP G A Pts +/− PIM
Mikko Koivu 79 20 47 67 +2 66
Andrew Brunette 80 22 28 50 -5 18
Pierre-Marc Bouchard 71 16 30 46 -5 20
Owen Nolan 59 25 20 45 +5 26
Antti Miettinen 82 15 29 44 -1 32
Marek Zidlicky 76 12 30 42 -12 76
Eric Belanger 79 13 23 36 -5 26
Marc-Andre Bergeron 72 14 18 32 +5 30
Brent Burns 59 8 19 27 -7 45
Kim Johnsson 81 2 22 24 -3 44
James Sheppard 82 5 19 24 -14 41
Marian Gaborik 17 13 10 23 +3 2
Stephane Veilleux 81 13 10 23 -17 40
Cal Clutterbuck 78 11 7 18 -5 76
Martin Skoula 81 4 12 16 -12 10
Nick Schultz 79 2 9 11 -4 31
Benoit Pouliot 37 5 6 11 +1 18
Dan Fritsche† 34 4 5 9 -3 10
Peter Olvecky 31 2 5 7 +1 12
Colton Gillies 45 2 5 7 -2 18
Krys Kolanos 21 3 3 6 +3 16
Kurtis Foster 10 1 5 6 +7 6
Craig Weller 36 1 2 3 -3 47
Derek Boogaard 51 0 3 3 +3 87
Erik Reitz‡ 31 1 1 2 -2 41
Tomas Mojzis 4 0 1 1 -1 2
John Scott 20 0 1 1 -1 21

Goaltenders

Note:  Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;
Regular season
Player GP Min W L OT GA GAA SA SV Sv% SO
Niklas Backstrom 71 4088 37 24 8 159 2.33 2059 1900 .923 8
Josh Harding 19 869 3 9 1 32 2.21 453 421 .929 0

†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Wild. Stats reflect time with Wild only.
‡Traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with Wild only.

Awards and records

Records

Milestones

Regular Season
Player Milestone Reached
Niklas Backstrom 100th NHL Game October 11, 2008
Colton Gillies 1st NHL Game
1st NHL Assist
1st NHL Point		 October 11, 2008
Kim Johnsson 600th NHL Game October 14, 2008
Antti Miettinen 100th NHL Point October 27, 2008
Andrew Brunette 800th NHL Game November 6, 2008
Erik Reitz 1st NHL Goal
1st NHL Point		 November 15, 2008

Transactions

Trades

June 20, 2008
 To Minnesota Wild
23rd pick in 2008 (Tyler Cuma) 		To New Jersey Devils
24th pick in 2008 (Mattias Tedenby)
3rd round pick in 2009 (Alexander Urbom)
July 1, 2008
 To Minnesota Wild
Marek Zidlicky 		To Nashville Predators
Ryan Jones
2nd round pick in 2009 (Charles-Olivier Roussel)
June 10, 2008
 To Minnesota Wild
Marc-Andre Bergeron 		To Anaheim Ducks
3rd round pick in 2009 (Brandon McMillan)
July 11, 2008
 To Minnesota Wild
Corey Locke 		To Montreal Canadiens
Shawn Belle
January 21, 2008
 To Minnesota Wild
Robbie Earl 		To Toronto Maple Leafs
Ryan Hamilton
January 29, 2008
 To Minnesota Wild
Dan Fritsche 		To New York Rangers
Erik Reitz

Free agents

Player Former team Contract Terms
Antti Miettinen Dallas Stars 3 years, $7 million
Owen Nolan Calgary Flames 2 years, $5.5 million
Andrew Brunette Colorado Avalanche 3 years, $7 million
Player New team
Todd Fedoruk Phoenix Coyotes
Brian Rolston New Jersey Devils
Pavol Demitra Vancouver Canucks
Joel Ward Nashville Predators

Draft picks

Minnesota's picks at the 2008 NHL Entry Draft in Ottawa, Ontario.

Round # Player Position Nationality College/Junior/Club team (League)
1 23 (from Washington via New Jersey) Tyler Cuma (D)  Canada Ottawa 67's (OHL)
2 55 Marco Scandella (D)  Canada Val-d'Or Foreurs (QMJHL)
4 115 Sean Lorenz (D)  Canada U.S. National Team Development Program (NAHL)
5 145 Eero Elo (LW)  Finland Lukko (Finland Jr.)

See also

Farm teams

References

  1. ^ "2008-09 NHL Summary".
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