Checking in on the MN Wild with Mike Doyle
April 22, 2015
Mike Doyle is the official reporter for the Minnesota Wild, and the writer of the team's "View from the Lighthouse" blog. He stopped in to The Current's Morning Show to talk about the Wild's playoff run with Jill Riley and Sean McPherson.
Tonight is game 4 of the playoff series between the Minnesota Wild and St. Louis Blues in St. Paul; the Minnesota Wild lead the St Louis Blues two games to one.
Doyle explains that the St. Louis Blues won the Central Division, widely considered the toughest division in the NHL. He says that tonight at the Xcel Energy Center, the Wild are looking to go up three games to one before the series returns to St. Louis. The Wild's concentration on speed, skill and solid transitions have stood them in good stead heading into tonight's game. "The Wild have been very disciplined this series," Doyle says. "In game 3, they didn't take a single penalty."
Another strong point for the team has been goalie Devan Dubnyk, brought to Minnesota via a trade with Arizona earlier this season. "He has been on an unbelievable run and has brought that into the playoffs," Doyle says. "Once it gets to playoff time, essentially you roll with the hot goaltender, and obviously Dubnyk is the man for Minnesota."
Another factor for the Wild has been the enthusiasm of the team's loyal fans. "It's really buoyed the team throughout the end of the regular season and into this series," Doyle says.
Listen to the entire interview to hear more about how the NHL playoffs are structured, and why the St. Louis Blues' Steve Ott could be described as "the Nickelback of the NHL."
Tonight's game begins at 8:30.