from Michael Russo of the Star Tribune,

The rivalry has built throughout the years in part because Minnesota has played Colorado in three of its four all-time playoff berths. One of the great dramas is the disdain Landeskog and the Wild’s Mikko Koivu, Landeskog’s captain counterpart, have for each other. They battle intensely every game, and in the heat of the moment last weekend, Landeskog swiped at Koivu from bench to bench to earn a $5,000 fine.

“Five grand, he should have hit him. Make it worth it at least,” Avalanche coach Patrick Roy, laughing, joked.

Every Wild-Avs game, there are skirmishes, big runs and dirty hits, and the Avalanche still is upset that now-injured Matt Cooke knocked defenseman Tyson Barrie out of last year’s playoffs with a knee-on-knee hit that earned Cooke a seven-game suspension.

After last Saturday’s game, Wild coach Mike Yeo called what McLeod did to Granlund “garbage.” Friday, Roy countered, “To me, garbage is what Cooke did to Barrie.”

more

added 5:08pm, below there is more...

added 5:28pm, Russo remarks now added below too...