With any luck, last night's loss to the Calgary Flames will mark the beginning of the end for the Minnesota Wild.
No, I don't mean the end of the franchise. Just the end of this storybook start to the season the Wild was having before stumbling in Cowtown.
I've got my fingers — and toes — crossed that the Wild will go on an extended losing streak.
Now, I've got nothing against Minnesota other than, well, it's Minnesota.
(That needed to be said. There are hunters in the state who might think of a Minny-hating journalist as a legitimate target.)
In case you missed it — and most of us who don't live in the Land of 10,000 Lakes probably did — the Wild was the last team to lose in regulation time. Minny started the season with seven wins and an overtime loss.
But let's face it, the Wild play a boring, robotic, defensive style of hockey designed to turn the opposition into Mayo Clinic narcolepsy study test patients. If the paint is already dry, turn on a Wild game. And bring a pillow. You'll be nodding off in no time.
Problem is, the lull-them-to-sleep brand of hockey made popular by Wild coach Jacques Lemaire also wins games. Defensive hockey is the great equalizer. It allows teams with significantly less talent to remain competitive.
The Wild roster is filled with guys like Wes Walz, Eric Belanger and Dominic Moore. The best defenseman on the team, Brent Burns, was drafted as a winger, for God's sake. You could debate that Marian Gaborik is a borderline star, but the rest? Even their families wouldn't argue the point.
Now, after I've said that, take a look at the NHL standings. The Wild sits atop the Northwest Division. I don't see that as a good thing.
Most coaches and general managers, whose livelihoods depend on such things, would disagree with me. They probably wish their team played the way the Wild does.
I don't. The trap, or any other defense-first derivative, should be banished to the NHL's Room For Bad Ideas along with the glowing puck and super-sized goalie equipment.
It's the fans, people like you and me, who lose out when teams play the Wild's style. I can't remember the last time I said, "Hey, that was a fantastic game," after watching two teams combine for 23 shots and three goals.
Don't expect Lemaire or the Wild to change, though.
Not until the NHL decides to award fewer points for boring wins.