from Michael Russo of the Star Tribune,

“Bottom line is until we … prove that something’s different, then nothing’s changed.” — Wild coach Mike Yeo before Game 1 against Chicago.

Nothing changed. In fact, it got worse.

After an NHL-best second half and knocking off the St. Louis Blues in the first round, the Wild truly believed that with stable goaltending, more scoring punch, better balance up and down its lineup and further maturity from its young core that this would be the year to slay the Chicago dragon.

Four playoff games and six days later, the Wild learned it’s not close to overtaking the Blackhawks, who ended Minnesota’s season for a third consecutive year.

That harsh reality had to be an eye-opener for Wild brass heading into the offseason. After a period of decompression and evaluation, it’ll take an honest appraisal by General Manager Chuck Fletcher, who is expected to address the media this week, and his staff about what went wrong and how to fix it.

The problem seems obvious: The Wild still doesn’t possess that pure goal scorer and clutch playoff performer.

continued