International Falls native Bob Mason recently concluded his sixth season as the goalie coach for the Minnesota Wild.
He kept his answer pretty simple when commenting on why the Wild didn’t make the playoffs for the second straight season.
“Just inconsistent,” Mason told The Journal on Thursday.
The first year for general manager Chuck Fletcher and head coach Todd Richards was a disappointment, and it began right away.
The 3-9 start by the Wild, which became the first NHL team in 13 years to lose eight straight road games in regulation to start a season, was too much to recover from.
They played better during the 50-game stretch that came next, but the final 20 games were marked by more inconsistency and an inability to transfer momentum from inspired performances at home to important matchups away from the Xcel Energy Center.
Missing the playoffs for a second straight spring masks the pride of a 25-12-4 home record.
“It’s not a good feeling. We’ve known for a while. That’s the tough part,” goalie Niklas Backstrom said in an article by the Associated Press. Backstrom’s statistics slipped noticeably while fighting injuries and watching the Wild transition to a new style in front of him. Backup Josh Harding also missed time with a hip injury and went under the knife April 12 for a torn labrum. Both goalies used the same surgeon — Backstrom in 2009 and Harding on April 12.
The Wild were 22nd out of 30 teams in the NHL in scoring, despite switching to a faster pace under Richards and getting a career-high 22 goals from captain Mikko Koivu and 25 goals in 55 games from Guillaume Latendresse after he was acquired in a trade.
The Wild gave up 239 goals, up from 197 in 2008-09 and 210 from 2007-08, the last season Minnesota reached the playoffs. Mason attributed the increase to injuries and the adjustment to the new system.
Minnesota opens training camp in September across the pond in Finland.
Backstrom, a Finnish native, will be sporting a new goalie mask next season. Backstrom and the Wild currently have a contest running for fans under 18. Backstrom is asking kids to design his mask. Visit www.wild.com for more details.
“That’s a good idea for him to do that,” Mason said, noting Harding is Mr. Creative when it comes to goalie masks, while Backstrom has always lagged behind with creativity. “Hopefully there are some creative examples in there. A little bit of Minnesota stuff. A little bit of Finnish stuff.”
Mason also talked about goalie prospect Jeff Hackett and the current state of the playoffs. He also said there’s “no doubt” he’ll miss this year’s Smokey Bear Invitational at the Falls Country Club.
Mason scouted Hackett five times with the Plymouth Whalers of the OHL, and the 6-foot-3, 170-pounder eventually signed a three-year entry level deal on March 17. Matt’s uncle is Jeff Hackett, a former NHL goalie.
“He’s probably our top prospect as goalies are concerned,” Mason said. “We’ll see this summer if we take anybody (in the draft).
The NHL draft is June 25-26 in Los Angeles. Next summer’s draft is June 24-25 at the Xcel Energy Center.
As far as this year’s playoffs, Mason liked San Jose before Thursday night’s 7-1 drubbing. He also like Vancouver before the Canucks fell behind 2-0 to Chicago.
“Game by game it swings,” he said. “That’s the parody.”
When put on the spot, Mason picked Pittsburgh and Chicago to meet in the Stanley Cup Finals with Pittsburgh capturing its second-straight title.
