THE WILD WIRE - #12
Jan 1, 20192018 COMES TO AN END
What’s up, Wild fans?
Hope everyone had a great Christmas/holiday season and a fun and safe New Year’s Eve!
Crazy to think it’s 2019, eh?
The calendar year of 2018 was one to remember for your Iowa Wild, as the club posted a record of 36-25-8-7, with 22 of those wins coming on home ice.
Several records were shattered, including most points in a single game (Justin Kloos – 6 pts. on Dec. 21 vs. Stockton) and longest shutout streak by a goaltender (Kaapo Kahkonen – 222:22 – which included three consecutive shutouts back in November).
Earlier this season, team captain Cal O’Reilly surpassed his former teammate Zack Mitchell for the most career assists, posting 67 (and counting).
Next up – knock on wood – is Colton Beck surpassing Mitchell as the all-time leader in games played. With good health, Beck will leapfrog Kurtis Gabriel (2nd all-time) on Jan. 4 and then he’d pass Mitchell in late February.
In addition, there were a couple of hat tricks recorded, several highlight-reel moments and a few NHL debuts, including young defensemen Carson Soucy and Louie Belpedio.
The Wild also welcomed their one-millionth fan on Jan. 7 of 2018, which was a pretty special moment for the franchise.
Now, the Wild just need to punch their ticket to the Calder Cup Playoffs!
ALL-STAR GAME FOR ARMY
The Wild’s 3-1 win on New Year’s Eve allowed Iowa bench boss Tim Army to receive the honor of All-Star coach for the Central Division.
Had the Chicago Wolves earned a point in that match-up, their head coach, Rocky Thompson, would have gotten the nod.
Iowa currently sits one point back of Chicago for the top spot in the division, but with one game in hand, the Wild have a slightly better points percentage (.652 to .647).
Congrats, Coach Army!
The league will announce the playing lineups in the coming days. I’d expect goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen to be a representative for the Wild. If Kahkonen does get selected, will another one of his teammates join him?
RESOLUTIONS?
Are you a New Year’s Resolution person? Yes, you, reading this blog!
I’m not really. For a few years I tried to come up with something that was achievable…I’m going to be more active and healthy…blah blah blah. For the most part, I did try and accomplish those very minor goals. But I can’t remember really setting a difficult goal or milestone for myself heading into a new calendar year.
Tweet at me if you have a real New Year’s Resolution that you’re hell-bent on achieving and I’ll mention some of them on the air on Jan. 2 when the Wild play the Wolves in Rosemont, IL.
My gut tells me that New Year’s Resolutions are a thing of the past – one of those old-school, pre-millennial generation things.
SEINFELD NIGHT
Saturday, Dec. 29’s home game was Seinfeld Night. I’m a pretty big Seinfeld fan. I haven’t seen every episode or know every quirky character, but if there’s a re-run on and I’m flipping through the channels, I almost always stop to watch.
I’d actually say I’m a bigger Curb Your Enthusiasm fan. Larry David, one of Seinfeld’s creators, stars as himself in “Curb”, and it’s an absolute riot. Unfortunately, I’m way behind on my Curb viewing – like multiple seasons and it’s almost too daunting to dive back in and catch up.
I should probably start watching episodes on some of these long bus rides like the one we’re currently on. If you’ve never seen Curb, you need to give it a try. Larry David is an absolute genius – hysterical comedy, for sure.
While I’m on it, here are some of my favorite TV shows in the COMEDY genre – in no particular order:
- Chappelle’s Show – Dave Chappelle is the man
- The Office – Watched every season up until Michael Scott left Dunder Mifflin
- The Jim Jeffries Show – I’m certainly no whiz when it comes to politics, but this show is a great source to stay current on news and politics while laughing my butt off
- South Park – OG episodes were must-watch back in the late 90s/ early 2000s – I haven’t stayed up to date over the last few years though
- It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia – Even if I wasn’t from Philly, this show would be hilarious
- Impractical Jokers – It’s not sitcom, it’s not standup, it’s just outlandish and super funny
- Catastrophe – It’s on Amazon Prime. Rob Delaney is super good in it
I’m sure there’s a bunch I’ve left out, but I’d highly recommend any of the shows listed above as long as you’re OK with some habitual “line-crossing” in your comedy!
- Wild Joe Radio