Peters Recalled, Prosser Reassigned

2:20 p.m. CT UPDATE: Wild broadcaster Mike Greenlay has sent an update from the “morning” skate in Anaheim. Cody Almond is out with a lower-body injury and Warren Peters will take his spot in the lineup tonight. The rest of the Wild lineup will remain the same, except for Jose Theodore taking the spot in net.

Good morning, Wild fans. Hope you’ve all had an extra-large coffee this morning after staying up late to watch the Wild battle the Kings last night in L.A. That 947-minute pregame ceremony in L.A. didn’t make it any easier to get up this morning, did it? Regardless, I’m currently bouncing off my cubicle walls in anticipation of tonight’s Wild game in Anaheim – and OK, maybe my caffeine intake has something to do with that – but I’m not giving it too much credit.

The news from Anaheim is that the Wild has recalled center Warren Peters from Houston and reassigned defenseman Nate Prosser to the Aeros. The moves come after Todd Richards told the media postgame that some Wild players were banged up. Based on this morning’s transactions, that presumably means he was talking about forwards and that all six defensemen are healthy for tonight’s contest. I’ll update this post later today after more information is available at the Wild morning skate in Anaheim.

Peters was first recalled from Houston on Dec. 11 and played two games with the Wild, but did not register a point. My brotha’ from another motha’ – OK, that’s a lie since there’s no relation despite his awesome last name – averaged 6:05 TOI in his time with the Wild. The 28-year-old has 24 points (11-13=24) and 39 penalty minutes (PIM) in 55 games with Houston this season.

Elk River native Prosser was recalled by the Wild Wednesday as blueline insurance for the trip out West but was a healthy scratch last night. He’ll return to Houston where he’s posted 19 points (6-13=19) and 27 penalty minutes (PIM) in 58 games with the Aeros this season.

One important piece of the lineup we know for sure is that Jose Theodore is expected to get the start in net against the Ducks. Niklas Backstrom was stellar again last night – did you see his most-recent “WOW!” save? – but he’s earned a night off, and we all know Theo is more than capable to shut down the Ducks.

Enjoy your Friday, everyone. Though, we all know you will because you’ve got a Wild-Ducks game highlighting your schedule at 9 p.m. CT on FS North (HD) and WCCO 830. Wild.com will have all of the info on tonight’s game when our insiders in Anaheim get today’s update from Todd Richards in the early afternoon.

Zanon Misses Practice, Will Play in St. Louis

Hi, Wild fans! Just a quick post today to make sure you’ve got the latest on all things Wild since I’ve got some things to do for Hockey Day Minnesota on Saturday. The guys on the Wild are just as busy, having a late practice this morning before hopping a plane to St. Louis in the next hour. The Wild will play in St. Louis tomorrow and then finish off the home-and-home when it hosts the Blues Saturday as the Hockey Day finale at 8 p.m.

Wild defenseman Greg Zanon was the lone Wild player missing from today’s practice, but since he’s Greg Zanon, I wasn’t that worried. Neither was Todd Richards who said after practice that Zanon is “just sore” from taking a puck to the elbow in yesterday’s game and should play tomorrow. Richards had some great lines about the toughness of NHL players today and their willingness to put their body in front of 100 MPH shots without blinking, and some especially funny quips about everyone’s favorite shot blocker. Hear his comments to the media in today’s PONDcast.

Richards must’ve been happy with last night’s win because he had some fun with the media, acting like he’d keep the goalie decisions for this weekend’s games a secret, before smiling and giving them away: Jose Theodore will play in St. Louis tomorrow and Niklas Backstrom will get the Hockey Day start Saturday.

Other than the lineup announcements, there wasn’t much news from practice. The West just continues to be unbelievably tight and the Wild continues to be forced to win to stay in the thick of things.

The Wild and Blues will face each other for the first time this season and Richards talked about how this weekend is a battle between the two organizations, with two Wild-Blues games and two Aeros-Rivermen games. Of course, the second AHL game will be at Xcel Energy Center Sunday at 1 p.m. Click here to get all the details, including specifics on Wild and Aeros autograph sessions.

Finally, kudos to the Wild video and game operations staff for an excellent job on the pre-game ceremony honoring Andrew Brunette last night. If you didn’t get a chance to watch the festivities, check it out here.

Wild Heads Back On The Road

Good Afternoon from St. Paul, where the Wild players are currently packing up their hockey bags and getting ready to head to the airport as they go out on the road once again. It seems like every time you turn around, the team is leaving for a road trip – but with the way the guys have played on the road this season, you can’t really complain about a lack of extended home stands.

This time, the Wild heads to Denver for a matchup with the Avalanche tomorrow and then to Phoenix for a game Saturday. Tomorrow’s game should be interesting because the Wild and Avs had some VERY physical contests earlier in the year, but the last contest between the two was relatively mellow – what type of game will it be tomorrow? Of course, both games have plenty of importance since they are Western Conference battles and the playoff race continues to get tighter, even when you think it can’t be possible.

Speaking of Phoenix, they blew a lead last night to San Jose and the Sharks ended up winning 5-3, meaning the Wild’s stay 8th place and playoff position lasted about two hours. I talked to Matt Cullen about it after practice and thought some of the things he said were very interesting: basically saying that while it can at times be frustrating that the Wild’s winning and not making much headway in the standings, the team feels good because the tight standings are practically like a playoff race and the Wild is dealing with the pressure of that and winning.

As for practice itself, every Wild player was on the ice for a pretty fast-paced 45 minutes or so and looked like they’ve gotten rid of the All-Star rust. Todd Richards reiterated after practice that Jose Theodore will start in Colorado, adding that they made the decision before break. Regardless of Niklas Backstrom’s great play of late, they want to make sure they have both goalies to use down the stretch and Jose needs to get some playing time in. Listen to Todd Richards entire scrum with the media on this Wild PONDcast.

I saw photos last night, but I finally got to see the shirts honoring Andrew Brunette’s 1,000th NHL game that all the players and team staff got yesterday:

They’re pretty sweet up close. Brunette was on NHL Live this afternoon to talk about the milestone and will be honored with a pre-game ceremony at the next Wild home game Wednesday against the Avalanche.

Finally, in case you didn’t see it last night, I’ll leave you with video of Niklas Backstrom’s absolutely unbelieveable, amazing, jaw-dropping and a million other adjectives save on Jack Johnson in the shootout last night. Watch it here.

Theodore Gets Acclimated

Jose Theodore got his first full practice in with his new teammates at today’s Wild practice at Xcel Energy Center. It was an interesting day for a guy to get his first taste of Wild action.

Head Coach Todd Richards skated his team hard for the 45 minutes or so that they were on the ice, wanting them to start getting their legs back after two days off. Everyone was called off the ice quickly so they could get ready for part two of the day, which is team training with U.S. Army sergeant major J.B. Spisso. Theodore may be wondering if every day in Minnesota is going to be like this.

Not surprisingly, the first guy out of the locker room to head to the training was military guru, Brent Burns. He was bounding out of the arena toward his car. He probably wishes every day would be like this.

As for Theodore, he got his first Minnesota media session today. He said he was very excited to join his new team and help them win. When asked who he was familiar with in the Wild locker room, he mentioned his time in Colorado with Andrew Brunette and his time in Montreal when Guillaume Latendresse was a rookie. Then he said he remembered meeting 11-year-old Mikko Koivu who came to Montreal and skated with his older brother, Saku. Theodore said Mikko has changed a bit, specifically height-wise.

Theodore said he wasn’t too frustrated in the offseason, despite not getting an offer after a year in which he finished 20-0-4 to close out the regular season. He said he knew that if an injury were to occur to an NHL goaltender, he’d likely be the first in line to get the call.

Now, the next item on his agenda is to get a new paint job on his mask. He’s still got all Washington Capitals colors on his mask, gloves and pads.

And speaking of masks, gloves and pads, the second annual equipment drive was a resounding success yesterday, with over 700 people attending the giveaway inside Gate One, and more than 2,000 pieces of hockey equipment being distributed. Thanks to all who donated gear for such a great cause!

Finland Day Two

Hello again from Helsinki!

It was a great day here for Day Two, with a lot of action and a lot of hockey. This morning, the Wild players shook off the cobwebs for the first practice of the trip, which was held in the practice rink underneath Hartwall Areena, where the team will play Carolina on Thursday and Friday.

Rink might be stretching what this place was actually like. The ceilings and walls are like rock, and in parts, stick out over the ice surface. It didn’t seem to bother the players, who seemed to enjoy the up-tempo practice.

It wasn’t official at the time of practice, but the Wild did confirm the signing of goaltender Jose Theodore later in the day. Theodore will join the team next week, which means he missed out on the team’s trip to Sauna Island this afternoon. It was a player and coach-only event, and I’m doubting we’ll find out too much about all that went on, but I’ll challenge my inner-Mike Russo to try and dig up some dirt.

The entire front office staff, including owner Craig Leipold, GM Chuck Fletcher and Assistant GM Brent Flahr, took in tonight’s Finnish Elite League Game between H.I.F.K. Helsinki and Assat. Mikael Granlund, the Wild’s first round pick last year, plays for H.I.F.K. and he put on a show for his future employers. He finished the night with a goal and three assists and was named the game’s Second Star after his club bulldozed to an 11-3 victory.

This one wasn’t as close as the score indicated as Assat didn’t appear to even be in the same class. They had no answer for Granlund and his Finnish superstar linemate, Ville Peltonen. As for Granlund, he’s going to be a good one. He’s still just a kid playing with adults, but he always seems to be in the right spot, make the right play and he gets to the net. That’s how he scored his goal, parking himself in front and tipping a high shot as it whizzed by.

Russo and I spoke to a 16-year-old Granlund fan named Tuomas, who wore his number 64 jersey. The youngster says Granlund “will be one of the most talented Finnish players ever when he is older.” He was a great interview, and you can see that on Wild.com later as well.

We had the chance to talk to Mikael after the game, and that and some highlights will be posted on Wild.com later today.

What an atmosphere! The crowd, especially in the corner where we were seated, were singing, chanting, dancing, clapping and waving flags for the entire game. The only time they weren’t going crazy was during the intermissions, when the arena nearly empties out completely. My only complaint was that every time Assat took a penalty, the song “Bad to the Bone” would play. It didn’t help that Assat took roughly 134 penalties in this game. Other than that, it was an amazing experience, and truly an atmosphere I’ve never had the chance to see. I’m already excited for Monday’s exhibition in Tampere, which by the way is pronounced “Tam-pear-ah.”

There were some fights in this one as well, which from what I understand, is not all that common in Finnish games. Assat started getting pretty chippy, especially when it was clear a blowout was going to happen.

Keep an eye out on Wild.com for more on Granlund, and plenty of video in the next few hours. Since I’m told I’m getting some bad information on my Finnish translations, I will just say “talk to you later.” It only makes sense, because I’ve hardly run into anybody here that doesn’t speak English.