The preseason is always an interesting time. Fans are always excited to see hockey back in action, but the problem is its only half back in action. The purpose of preseason games are purely to knock the summer rust off and evaluate players to see if they are worthy of the open roster spots that may exist. Practice can only do so much because the pace is not simply not real game pace and the competition is not the mixed back of tricks you’ll get from playing another squad.
The Minnesota Wild have had a rough go of the last two preseason games, and there’s been a temptation to start to admonish this team a bit.