The Mom of Wild Twitter Says the Season Isn't Over Yet!

In this episode, Mikki tries not to get too sad about last Saturday's death blow to Minnesota hockey fans. She also talks about Ryan Hartman's suspension, some Wild prospects, and being the Mom of Wild Hockey Twitter.

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Host

HockeySheWrote

Wild Hockey Fan | Cozy Mystery Writer | Mom of 2 | MN Raised | She/Her | Hockey Takes that No One Asked For

What is Her Wild Side Hockey Podcast?

Her Wild Side combines hockey knowledge with a side of vibe checks. The weekly show will have game breakdowns, any topical news about the MN Wild, and fun things going on surrounding Wild's social media. This show aims to be informative while also sparking good conversation about the Wild and hockey in general without having to keep everything serious.

hello welcome to her wild

side hockey podcast I am

your hostess Mikki aka

hockey she wrote and here

we are we have got um I

want to say seven eight

games left somewhere around

eight less than ten let's

just say less than ten in

the wild season and

you know what I don't know

um I still have all the

positive vibes I'm still

sending them so much

positivity and energy

because you know what um

mathematically we are not

out of it um is there a way

to get into the playoffs yes

It is not, um, probable,

but it is possible.

And until it is impossible,

I will keep believing in them.

So this morning I did check

and on money pocket says

4.6% of making the playoffs

for Minnesota.

Uh,

while they're currently eight points

behind the LA Kings who are

in the second wild card

spot and technically the St.

Louis blues are.

A little bit closer to the Kings.

I think they've got like two points on us,

but they have a harder

schedule coming down the line.

And they also just lost to

the San Jose Sharks like four zip.

So the blues will probably

be falling while we are hopefully rising.

I meant to make this podcast

yesterday and also the day before.

Today is Tuesday.

So while they're playing the

Senators tonight.

Yes, I meant to make this on Sunday.

But you know what, guys?

Saturday was a really tough

day to be a Minnesota hockey fan.

Not only did we have the

Minnesota Wild loss, but

which was even tougher

because it was an overtime

they pulled the goalie and

vegas scores an empty net

goal so the wild lose any

points in the standings

that they would have gotten

and that was really really

tough to swallow now I

understand why heinz did it

but I just I feel like

against a team like vegas I

i don't think it was the right choice

Nashville,

it made a little bit more sense.

I don't I don't know.

I don't know.

I don't know.

I don't know.

It feels kind of like a one

and done kind of a kind of a thing,

you know, like, yeah, it worked once,

but we can't keep doing it.

But I'm also not going to

fault Hines because I get

his reasoning that he would

rather have two points.

But what about one?

I would rather have the one

point right now.

Again, I'm not faulting John Hines.

He's got a really tough job right now,

especially.

But so the wild lose.

It's already we're having a tough time.

I've talked about before.

My dad is a huge Golden

Gophers hockey fan.

He's got season tickets.

He bought Frozen Four tickets long ago,

like the instant he could.

So we watch the Gophers also

lose directly after the Wild have lost.

And that was a rough Saturday, man.

I didn't even, like,

I couldn't even talk about it.

I was just, like, I just went to bed.

So where do we go from here?

I think that...

Again, with the Wild,

there are teams that have

clinched spots and there

are teams that are

definitely out of the playoffs.

The Wild are neither.

And until they are one or the other,

I think fans need to keep that hope.

That's what my whole thing is,

is being positive.

Like,

the Wild have great vibes around them.

On the ice, yes.

Like,

they have finally gotten pretty much

all of the injuries are gone.

healed um they've got both

goalies are now kind of

back to top form you know

gustafson gustafson was

struggling for a while but

against vegas on saturday

he was great I mean it took

vegas scoring an empty net

goal to win you know

gustafson being in there he

was doing great so I just I

want to make sure that

everybody understands that

to be a fan you need to

still have that hope and

you need to look at the

team because they have got

a lot of great pieces and

no matter what this season

was has been a really

important one because I

think it kind of galvanized

them even more to pull them

together into this very tight group of

family, basically.

They fight together on the ice.

They are off the ice.

They are helping each other out.

And I think that no matter

what happens at the end of this season,

it was a very important

building season going into

the next couple years.

Take that as you will.

All right.

Before I get into a little more,

because we actually have

quite a few things to talk about,

which is

know great um but I am going

to talk about ticket master

so once again here is our

quick little blip about

ticketmaster to help

support the show her wild

side hockey podcast and

also the inside the rink

podcast network in general

we do have an affiliate

link for ticketmaster and I

would love it if you would

use that the next time you

go to buy tickets

There's a QR code here on

the screen if you're watching the video.

Otherwise,

I always have a link in the show notes.

Any kind of tickets that you want to buy,

you can buy through the

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of Ticketmaster's profits.

So there's my blurb.

Now back to my beautiful face.

So the big thing that happened yesterday,

this is what I've been

wanting to get into,

is Ryan Hartman's suspension.

Now.

It gets so contentious on social media,

surrounding Hartman especially.

Now, Hartman,

his biggest problem is his temper.

We know that.

Fans and non-fans alike, we all know.

It's not a surprise.

But I do think with his reputation,

They just don't even look at

what actually happened.

Either the NHL safety, you know,

player safety board who

gives out these suspensions, these fines.

I feel like they don't look

and I feel like other fans

don't look because

everybody automatically

assumed that Hartman did

something physical.

And yes, that has happened in the past.

That has happened.

That's not what happened here.

And I don't... He did not do

the right thing.

Let's say that.

Hartman did not do the right thing.

He broke a rule.

But I think it was very overblown.

And I think that they did

not show enough of what

happened beforehand to really...

show why hartman was like

that he was not just angry

about losing the game he

was angry because he was

high-sticked in the face in

blatantly there was no call

right at the end of the

third period if it had been

called the wild would have

gone into overtime with a

power play and that could

have changed the entire

outcome of the game and

helped with the season in

general I also think that

A lot of people were trying

to say he threw the stick

at the official.

That's not what happened.

Now, he was being very verbal,

which also he should not have been doing.

But when you watch the video,

like he leaves the ice,

he walks back on up to, you know,

the the the ice and in point two seconds,

chucks his stick onto the ice.

in an area where there is

nobody nearby until the

official skates to the stick.

Now,

it's not like Hartman is tracking this

official and throwing it at

him or directly in his path.

He literally picked an empty

space of ice to do it.

So once again, let's be very clear.

Hartman did not do the right thing.

But three games for throwing

a stick into an empty space

of ice while simply

berating verbally the

official should not be a

three-game suspension.

One game?

Okay.

Fine?

Okay.

But three games?

I hate that they see his

name and they just automatically be like,

okay, he suspended three games.

Don't care what he did.

Now, that's over.

Obviously, we can't change that.

So let's move forward from that.

So he will be out for the

rest of the homestand here.

So who will elevate in the lineup?

I would love to see who they

are going to put in his space.

Now, right now,

Kuznetdinov is centering the third line.

Rossi is centering the second line.

you know, is,

is there a potential that

they could see if Marat

could play winger on the second line?

Because I know that he has,

he's done both.

I know they,

they want him to be more of a center,

but he has done both.

Um, otherwise I, you know,

I'm just on the third line right now.

They've got there.

We're going to look again.

Cause I, uh,

I want to make sure I'm

saying the right thing.

Trying to scroll through.

Here we go.

So right now on the second line,

they've had Zuccarello, Rossi, Hartman.

Third line, Jojo, Kuznetdinov,

and Goudreau.

And then they've had Beckman

is out of the lineup.

So, I mean, just looking,

I'm assuming then that

they'll leave Hustininov as

a center in the third.

And they'll probably elevate Goudreau.

And then I'm hoping they'll

put Beckman on the third line.

Because I feel like the fourth line,

which is right now, is Shaw, Lucini,

Letary.

They have really been doing well together.

Like, they've been skating well together.

And I think Beckman would

fit in a little bit more

with Jojo and Husti.

Because he has...

kind of the same more kind of speedy,

not as much physical grind.

We'll see.

But there are a lot of other

exciting things happening

in the Wild organization in general.

So Liam Ogren,

his team is officially out

of the playoffs over in Sweden.

And so he has now come to

Iowa for the rest of the season.

And it's really fun.

to see kind of how he'll do

down there because I was

there kind of in the same

situation that Minnesota is

where they're like,

like seven points out of

the playoffs last I heard.

And so they're really

pushing for a spot and I'd

love to see what Ogren can

do while he's down there.

And then also, um,

let us love first off who

left Iowa to go back to the

KHL earlier this season is back in Iowa.

And again,

That was such a cool

revelation because

obviously when Russians go

home to play in the KHL,

it's basically assumed that

we will never see them again.

They're done.

They're not going to come back.

But we didn't have the full story,

apparently,

because what actually happened

is first off was contacted

by coach of his local team in Russia,

I believe,

and world class hockey player

and basically said, come play for me.

And so first I was like, yeah, okay.

um because he knew that he

would get some things in

the khl that he might not

get in iowa so it wasn't

that he was never going to

come back he just he wanted

to have that experience and

now he's brought that

experience back so

hopefully he has upped his

game even more and we'll

kind of see how where that

goes from there we've also

got uh charlie stramell at

the university of wisconsin

it has been a tough tough

tough year for this poor center

Wisconsin has just not been a great team.

They got a new coach this year.

And instead of Hastings, Mike Hastings,

he was Mankato State's coach before.

So instead of using some of

these guys in Wisconsin

that he has that have great potential,

like Stramel,

he brought over a bunch of

his players from Mankato.

So then you have players

like Stramel who are

basically pushed down to the fourth line

Six minutes a game, no power play time.

He's better than that.

And that was really kind of

damaging for his development.

And so what we're all hoping to see,

and it has not happened yet,

is hopefully Stradamore

will enter the transfer portal.

And we'll find another team

that will really help develop him more.

Obviously,

everyone's kind of hoping for

the University of Minnesota

because the U of M and the

Minnesota Wild do have very strong ties.

And it would be great to see him there.

So that's kind of something

that we are keeping our eye on.

We being the royal we, of course,

because I am the queen.

And then one more thing

before I jump to another commercial here,

which is Marc-Andre Fleury.

I've talked about him before.

about his future and about

what I would like to see, which is,

I would love to see him resign again.

There was an article that

came out actually in like the, um,

on the French version of

the NHL site where he told

a reporter that he either will,

he would love to sign a

one-year contract with the

Minnesota wild.

He wants to keep playing,

but he will only play in Minnesota.

Because he likes it here.

His family loves it.

His wife loves it.

They've really made a home here.

And he does not want to leave.

I would love to see him have

one more year with the Wilds.

I've been very open about that.

And saying that I don't

think it would be bad for

Wilson to have one more year in Iowa.

And not only that,

but then moving even

further into the future.

It makes me wonder if...

he'll start,

like he would find a job in

the front office of the

wild once he's done.

Like if he is really

enjoying it in Minnesota,

as much as he said,

and I know that he doesn't

want to keep having to move

his family is the big thing.

He talks specifically about how his kids,

they love their school, they have friends,

they've got activities that

they do that they don't wanna leave.

So even once he's done on the ice,

there's a potential that we

could see Fleury in the front office,

which would be really great.

I mean, he is just,

he is such an amazing

player and he would be a

really great addition to a

front office that as we know,

has struggled this year a lot.

I'm going to jump to a quick

little one minute discussion.

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welcome back I was just

checking to see if there

was any um updates from

minnesota wild practice

this morning because one of

the things that I well

would like to touch on

something I've been a very

important thing that I've

been tracking is jewel

erickson x hair yes I know

how ridiculous that sounds

and I know how ridiculous I

am and I am 100 delulu and I don't care

I'm still going to say that

I think one of the secrets

of his success are his curls.

Look at him go.

He's got a career here.

He's got the curls.

Do you think maybe he saw

Hussain Af come in with

like all of his curly hair

and Ek was like, you know,

I could do that too.

Just a thought.

But it's, you know,

every time there's practice

pictures and videos, it's always,

I go on curl watch just to see.

Now,

anyone who is going to the game tonight,

and I've already talked

about this on social media,

if you are going to the

game tonight against the Senators,

it is 90s night.

And when I tell you how mad

I was when I heard that,

because my brother,

he had tickets for tonight.

He's not in town,

so he asked if I wanted to use them.

Not only do I not have someone to go with,

but I also...

My kids have play practice tonight.

If you follow me,

you know that I've been

helping with that.

And while I'm sending my

husband there so I can

still watch the game,

I knew that I wouldn't be

able to go to the game.

So then it was like 90s

night and I was like...

Because I am a 90s kid

and... Being a kid in the

90s was like... It was great, you guys.

Obviously, you know, when you're a kid,

things are a lot...

a lot different,

but I grew up in a small

town in the nineties.

Things were really different.

The world seemed very different.

There was no social media.

Even at my house,

we did not have a computer.

We did not have internet.

We did not have cable satellite,

nothing like literally nothing.

Um, so it was just as very, like,

I get very nostalgic when I

think about that time.

So to see that they're

having a night for the

nineties and I cannot be there.

But I know several of you will be there.

So I am expecting you to

post any and all 90s goodies,

mostly videos.

So one thing I am going to

next week is the Frozen Four.

Now, like I said,

my dad bought tickets to

the Frozen Four months ago,

like as soon as they were released.

Obviously,

we were hoping to see the U of M

Golden Gophers release.

play in the frozen four.

Unfortunately,

there will be no Minnesota

teams playing in the frozen four.

So he did call me up the

other day and he was like, Hey, um,

so like your mom doesn't

want to take work off

because the gophers aren't

even in it and it's out of Thursday,

but do you want to watch

the frozen four with me?

And I was like, yeah.

I mean,

I'm not going to turn down free

hockey tickets.

I'm just not.

I didn't even ask.

I don't even know what level

we're sitting on.

I have no idea.

I'm assuming, though,

he's bought tickets for the end.

Because there's two kinds of fans.

My brother and I are fans

that like to sit on the side, you know,

so we actually sit on the

goal line of the shoot

twice side for the wild.

You know,

so it's a little oval in front of us.

You know, we see the side view.

We look right at the benches.

My dad, on the other hand,

likes to sit on the ends

behind the goal because he

feels then he can see the whole ice.

So I'm just interested.

I would love to know.

What kind of.

fan are you?

Where do you like to sit

when it comes to that?

I'm assuming I'll be sitting

behind the goal for the Frozen Four.

It is what it is.

Free tickets.

I mostly just have random

stuff here because after

talking about the sadness of Saturday,

I was just like,

let's talk about lots of fun things too.

I touched on this, but I want to give...

Him,

his do that gust of sin is back on it.

He.

It's been a tough year.

And I know a lot of people,

maybe not a lot of people.

I know people on social

media are kind of like freedom.

Get rid of him.

Right.

No.

He still has that potential.

Even if he has struggled this year,

he still has the potential.

We've seen it now.

It is coming back.

Do not trade the man.

I wrote an article the other

day about the goalies.

And I actually yesterday

published an article that I

will link in the show notes

about three things that the

Wild should not do.

As in bad takes.

that I have seen around

either in comment sections

or on social media that

I've seen more than once

that are not a good idea,

things they should not do.

And kind of the bonus one

was don't trade Gus because

I have a whole article just about that.

The last thing I want to

touch on is that I am

incredibly honored to be

known as the mother of

Minnesota Wild Twitter.

And I am not offended if you call me mom.

I'm not even offended if you

call me grandma,

as long as you do it in the

spirit of things.

I'm not actually that old, folks.

And most of you,

I don't think I could even

be your mother.

Barely.

I could barely be your mother.

But I will always be your

mother inside the hockey community.

And anybody else.

You don't have to be a wild fan.

I will be your hockey mom forever.

If you need and I will be there for you.

And like in all seriousness,

I do like it warms my heart

to have people.

That are not biologically my

children call me mom.

I will always love that.

One more really quick story

that I just thought of.

This is nothing to do with hockey.

This has nothing to do with hockey.

But when I was younger,

like early to mid-20s, I was a nanny.

I actually formed my now husband's boss.

They had two kids.

I loved them very much.

And there was one part of

the summer where there was

kind of like some other

kids that came to stay.

And so...

my husband's boss, her name is Brenda,

helped me.

She and I and all the gaggle

of kids would go to the pool and stuff.

And we always had a good

laugh because we were like,

there's two possibilities.

Either people think that we

are a lesbian couple with a

very large amount of

children or that Brenda is

my mom and I am her kids' mom.

Because we figured out that mathematically,

that could actually just barely work.

But it always made us laugh to be like,

I wonder what people think

our relationship is.

Because none of them probably were right,

but...

It always gave me a good laugh.

Okay, that was random enough.

Remember,

I have my wonderful merch shop if

you would like any sort of

Her Wild Side merch.

If you also have any ideas

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I would love to hear them.

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You can just let me know.

Until then,

I'm going to knock on some wood

and say that we're going to

see some good wild hockey tonight,

and I will see all the rest

of you in a few days.

See you later.