Portfolio - Freelance work - Zone Coverage - 2018-19 Minnesota Wild

Highlights on this page include stories and columns on the Minnesota Wild and NHL beat over the course of the 2018-19 hockey season for Zone Coverage. 
Wild Season Preview: 2018-19 Will Showcase a Familiar Cast of Characters
Oct. 2, 2018 

The Minnesota Wild are one of three teams to have made the Stanley Cup Playoffs each of the past six seasons.
Dubnyk Shines While Offense Slides in Wild’s Opening Games
Oct. 9, 2018

Two games into the 2018-19 season and the Minnesota Wild have a total of two goals. 
​
Wild Need a Boost, So Dubnyk Needs to Keep His Foot on the Gas
Oct. 16, 2018

The Minnesota Wild’s No. 1 netminder, Devan Dubnyk, makes his case game after game as to why he’ll go down as one of the greatest acquisitions in franchise history. He’s already shown it early in this young season, and Tuesday he’s set to face his old team, Arizona, at Xcel Energy Center.
Wild Showing They’re the Comeback Team
Oct. 23, 2018 

The Minnesota Wild pulled out another comeback victory Saturday night in St. Paul with a 5-4 overtime win over Eastern-Conference foe Tampa Bay. Mikael Granlund netted the game-winner, with an impressive assist from Wild goaltender Alex Stalock.
Greenway Shows He’s Earning His Spot
Oct. 30, 2018 

Getting sent down to the minor-league club for the weekend seems to have agreed with Jordan Greenway.
Wild’s Defensive Duo – Seeler and Pateryn – Playing Well on Winning Stretch
Nov. 6, 2018

The Minnesota Wild are rolling as the calendar turns to November, having won seven of their last eight games. 
Wild Riding High After Seven-Game Road Trip
Nov. 13, 2018 

The weather in Minnesota brought an early dose of winter this month. For those who need frigid temps to get into hockey season, now is about the perfect time to jump on the Minnesota Wild bandwagon — for multiple reasons.
Thanksgiving Benchmark is Mixed Bag for Wild’s Playoff Hopes
Nov. 20, 2018 

Professional sports seasons are lengthy, relatively speaking. Baseball, basketball and hockey all span about half a year for a regular season. In the NHL, that marker is Thanksgiving.
Marcus Foligno Finding His Sweet Spot With the Wild
Nov. 27, 2018 

The game couldn’t have ended in a more salt-in-the-wound way for the Minnesota Wild and their fans. After clinging onto a 2-0 lead from the first period on a couple weeks ago against Buffalo, the Sabres tied the game with about seven minutes left in the third. 
No Swoon – Yet – As Wild Start Canadian Road Trip
Dec. 4, 2018

The last time the Minnesota Wild headed out west for some road games, they have a solid 5-2 record on a franchise-long seven-game trip. Things were great. Now they’re headed back out for a Canadian swing needing to not let a few frustrating games turn into a December swoon.
​
OK, Now the Minnesota Wild Swoon is Totally On
Dec. 11, 2018 

Well, sound the alarms and break some hockey sticks, this year’s edition of the Wild swoon has arrived. The Wild went 1-2-0 in a brief road trip to Canada last week, defeating Vancouver 3-2 in a one-goal contest and going 3-for-3 on the power play, before getting shut out in Calgary and embarrassed in a 7-2 loss in Edmonton.
​
Biggest Wild Injury Concern Thus Far This Season: Dumba Is Out
Dec. 18, 2018 

Among the storylines this season for the Minnesota Wild, injuries haven’t been a key factor. It’s certainly nothing like last year when Zach Parise missed half the season and three players were injured in the third game of the year.
A Minnesota Wild Fan’s Christmas List
Dec. 25, 2018 

As folks all around celebrate with gifts, favorite movies, time with family and friends and stuffing themselves with way too many Christmas cookies and cups of eggnog, the NHL also takes a break for a few days. That’s probably a good thing for the reeling Minnesota Wild, which are on a seasonlong four-game skid.
New Year's Resolutions for the Minnesota Wild
Jan. 1, 2019 

With the 2018 year wrapped up, now we’ll see what should be on the list of New Year’s resolutions for the Wild (18-17-3), a team that has lost six of its last seven games and sits on the outside looking in of the playoff
picture.
Wild Find the Right Combo for Now with Parise-Coyle-Kunin
Jan. 8, 2019 

Scoring depth from all four lines on a hockey team can seem like a solid scenario. Get balanced scoring efforts from the whole roster, and life is good. But sometimes, particularly when a team is climbing out of a slump, having even one line that’s excelling and producing points is all a coach can ask for each game.
For the Wild, There’s Just Something About January
Jan. 15, 2019 

When the Wild acquired Devan Dubnyk on Jan. 14, 2015, the Wild were reeling. They were sitting at perhaps their lowest point of that season in the middle of what’s now become infamous with the team – a swoon.
The Nino Trade: Perspective and Memories
Jan. 22, 2019 

Last week, Nino Niederreiter was dealt to the Carolina Hurricanes after five-plus seasons with the Wild. Of course, Niederreiter already has a two-goal game with his new team.
Evaluating the Minnesota Wild Roster at the Break
Jan. 29, 2019 
​
The NHL held its very competitive All-Star Game over the weekend, just past the halfway point of the regular season schedule.