2009–10 Minnesota Wild season

The 2009–10 Minnesota Wild season was the team's tenth season in the National Hockey League (NHL). On May 22, Chuck Fletcher was named as the new general manager of the Wild, replacing Doug Risebrough.^[1] On June 16, the Wild named Todd Richards as the new head coach, replacing Jacques Lemaire, who had resigned from the position in April.^[2] On August 30, the Wild unveiled their new third jersey, which they debuted on October 21 against the Colorado Avalanche.^[3] The team ended its de facto policy of rotating the captaincy monthly by naming Mikko Koivu the team's permanent captain.

2009–10 Minnesota Wild
Division	4th Northwest
Conference	13th Western
2009–10 record	38–36–8
Home record	25–12–4
Road record	13–24–4
Team information
General manager	Chuck Fletcher
Coach	Todd Richards
Captain	Mikko Koivu
Alternate captains	Andrew Brunette Martin Havlat Kim Johnsson (Oct.–Feb.) Owen Nolan Nick Schultz Greg Zanon
Arena	Xcel Energy Center
Average attendance	18,415 (101.9%)
← 2008–09 2010–11 →

Preseason

2009 Pre-season Game Log: 3–4–0 (Home: 2–1–0; Road: 1–3–0)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Record	Recap
1	September 15	Minnesota Wild	1 - 3	St. Louis Blues		Khudobin	0-1-0
2	September 18	Columbus Blue Jackets	0 - 2	Minnesota Wild		Backstrom	1-1-0
3	September 20	Chicago Blackhawks	0 - 3	Minnesota Wild		Khudobin	2-1-0
4	September 21	Minnesota Wild	1 - 5	Columbus Blue Jackets		Harding	2-2-0
5	September 24	St. Louis Blues	4 - 1	Minnesota Wild		Backstrom	2-3-0
6	September 25	Minnesota Wild	3 - 4	Chicago Blackhawks		Harding	2-4-0
7	September 29	Minnesota Wild	5 - 4	Philadelphia Flyers	SO	Backstrom	3-4-0

Regular season

The Wild allowed the most shorthanded goals in the League, with 13.^[4]

The Wild did not qualify for the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs, making it the second year in a row that they've missed the playoffs.

Divisional standings

Northwest Division^[5]

		GP	W	L	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	y – Vancouver Canucks	82	49	28	5	272	222	103
2	Colorado Avalanche	82	43	30	9	244	233	95
3	Calgary Flames	82	40	32	10	204	210	90
4	Minnesota Wild	82	38	36	8	219	246	84
5	Edmonton Oilers	82	27	47	8	214	284	62

Conference standings

Western Conference^[6]

R		Div	GP	W	L	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	z – San Jose Sharks	PA	82	51	20	11	264	215	113
2	y – Chicago Blackhawks	CE	82	52	22	8	271	209	112
3	y – Vancouver Canucks	NW	82	49	28	5	272	222	103
4	Phoenix Coyotes	PA	82	50	25	7	225	202	107
5	Detroit Red Wings	CE	82	44	24	14	229	216	102
6	Los Angeles Kings	PA	82	46	27	9	241	219	101
7	Nashville Predators	CE	82	47	29	6	225	225	100
8	Colorado Avalanche	NW	82	43	30	9	244	233	95
8.5
9	St. Louis Blues	CE	82	40	32	10	225	223	90
10	Calgary Flames	NW	82	40	32	10	204	210	90
11	Anaheim Ducks	PA	82	39	32	11	238	251	89
12	Dallas Stars	PA	82	37	31	14	237	254	88
13	Minnesota Wild	NW	82	38	36	8	219	246	84
14	Columbus Blue Jackets	CE	82	32	35	15	216	259	79
15	Edmonton Oilers	NW	82	27	47	8	214	284	62

bold – Qualified for playoffs; y – Won division; z – Won conference (and division)

Game log

2009–10 Game Log
October: 5–9–0 (Home: 4–1–0; Road: 1–8–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 1 October 3 Minnesota Wild 1 - 2 Columbus Blue Jackets Niklas Backstrom 18,159 0-1-0 0 2 October 6 Anaheim Ducks 3 - 4 Minnesota Wild OT Backstrom 18,256 1-1-0 2 3 October 8 Minnesota Wild 3 - 6 Los Angeles Kings Josh Harding 14,995 1-2-0 2 4 October 10 Minnesota Wild 2 - 4 San Jose Sharks Backstrom 17,652 1-3-0 2 5 October 14 Minnesota Wild 2 - 3 Anaheim Ducks Backstrom 15,111 1-4-0 2 6 October 16 Minnesota Wild 2 - 5 Edmonton Oilers Harding 16,839 1-5-0 2 7 October 17 Minnesota Wild 1 - 2 Vancouver Canucks Backstrom 18,810 1-6-0 2 8 October 21 Colorado Avalanche 2 - 3 Minnesota Wild SO Backstrom 18,175 2-6-0 4 9 October 23 Minnesota Wild 1 - 3 St. Louis Blues Harding 19,150 2-7-0 4 10 October 24 Carolina Hurricanes 2 - 3 Minnesota Wild OT Backstrom 18,145 3-7-0 6 11 October 26 Minnesota Wild 1 - 3 Chicago Blackhawks Backstrom 20,046 3-8-0 6 12 October 28 Nashville Predators 4 - 3 Minnesota Wild Harding 18,199 3-9-0 6 13 October 30 New York Rangers 2 - 3 Minnesota Wild Backstrom 18,106 4-9-0 8 14 October 31 Minnesota Wild 2 - 1 Pittsburgh Penguins Backstrom 16,980 5-9-0 10
November: 5–3–3 (Home: 3–2–1; Road: 2–1–2) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 15 November 5 Vancouver Canucks 5 - 2 Minnesota Wild Backstrom 18,105 5-10-0 10 16 November 7 Dallas Stars 2 - 3 Minnesota Wild Backstrom 18,558 6-10-0 12 17 November 10 Minnesota Wild 5 - 2 Toronto Maple Leafs Backstrom 19,063 7-10-0 14 18 November 12 Minnesota Wild 3 - 4 Tampa Bay Lightning SO Backstrom 14,530 7-10-1 15 19 November 13 Minnesota Wild 1 - 3 Washington Capitals Harding 18,277 7-11-1 15 20 November 15 Minnesota Wild 4 - 5 Carolina Hurricanes SO Backstrom 12,194 7-11-2 16 21 November 18 Phoenix Coyotes 3 - 2 Minnesota Wild Backstrom 18,110 7-12-2 16 22 November 20 New York Islanders 2 - 3 Minnesota Wild Backstrom 18,114 8-12-2 18 23 November 25 Boston Bruins 2 - 1 Minnesota Wild SO Backstrom 18,208 8-12-3 19 24 November 27 Colorado Avalanche 3 - 5 Minnesota Wild Backstrom 18,365 9-12-3 21 25 November 28 Minnesota Wild 3 - 2 Colorado Avalanche SO Harding 15,303 10-12-3 23
December: 10–6–0 (Home: 5–2–0; Road: 5–4–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 26 December 2 Nashville Predators 4 - 5 Minnesota Wild OT Backstrom 18,071 11-12-3 25 27 December 4 Anaheim Ducks 4 - 5 Minnesota Wild SO Backstrom 18,265 12-12-3 27 28 December 5 Minnesota Wild 5 - 3 Nashville Predators Harding 13,145 13-12-3 29 29 December 7 Minnesota Wild 0 - 2 Phoenix Coyotes Backstrom 8,981 13-13-3 31 30 December 9 Minnesota Wild 1 - 0 Colorado Avalanche Backstrom 11,435 14-13-3 33 31 December 11 Minnesota Wild 2 - 1 Calgary Flames OT Backstrom 19,289 15-13-3 35 32 December 12 Minnesota Wild 3 - 4 Vancouver Canucks Harding 18,810 15-14-3 35 33 December 15 Columbus Blue Jackets 1 - 2 Minnesota Wild Backstrom 18,086 16-14-3 37 34 December 17 Minnesota Wild 3 - 1 Montreal Canadiens Backstrom 21,273 17-14-3 39 35 December 19 Minnesota Wild 1 - 4 Ottawa Senators Backstrom 16,259 17-15-3 39 36 December 21 Colorado Avalanche 4 - 3 Minnesota Wild Backstrom 18,244 17-16-3 39 37 December 23 Edmonton Oilers 1 - 3 Minnesota Wild Backstrom 18,250 18-16-3 39 38 December 26 St. Louis Blues 3 - 4 Minnesota Wild Backstrom 18,554 19-16-3 41 39 December 28 Minnesota Wild 4 - 3 Los Angeles Kings Backstrom 18,118 20-16-3 43 40 December 29 Minnesota Wild 2 - 4 Anaheim Ducks Harding 16,960 20-17-3 45 41 December 31 Los Angeles Kings 5 - 2 Minnesota Wild Backstrom 18,504 20-18-3 45
January: 7–6–1 (Home: 6–1–1; Road: 1–5–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 42 January 2 New Jersey Devils 5 - 3 Minnesota Wild Backstrom 19,155 20-19-3 45 43 January 5 Minnesota Wild 1 - 4 Chicago Blackhawks Harding 21,381 20-20-3 45 44 January 6 Calgary Flames 1 - 4 Minnesota Wild Backstrom 18,137 21-20-3 45 45 January 9 Chicago Blackhawks 5 - 6 Minnesota Wild SO Harding 19,310 22-20-3 47 46 January 11 Pittsburgh Penguins 3 - 4 Minnesota Wild Backstrom 19,044 23-20-3 49 47 January 13 Vancouver Canucks 2 - 5 Minnesota Wild Backstrom 18,356 24-20-3 51 48 January 14 Minnesota Wild 0 - 1 St. Louis Blues Harding 19,150 24-21-3 51 49 January 16 Minnesota Wild 4 - 6 Phoenix Coyotes Backstrom 12,631 24-22-3 51 50 January 18 Minnesota Wild 3 - 4 Dallas Stars Backstrom 16,302 24-23-3 51 51 January 21 Detroit Red Wings 4 - 3 Minnesota Wild SO Backstrom 18,330 24-23-4 52 52 January 23 Columbus Blue Jackets 2 - 4 Minnesota Wild Backstrom 18,173 25-23-4 54 53 January 27 Detroit Red Wings 2 - 5 Minnesota Wild Harding 18,316 26-23-4 56 54 January 28 Minnesota Wild 1 - 0 Colorado Avalanche Harding 11,597 27-23-4 58 55 January 30 Minnesota Wild 2 - 5 San Jose Sharks Harding 17,562 27-24-4 58
February: 3–3–0 (Home: 3–2–0; Road: 0–1–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 56 February 2 Minnesota Wild 2 - 4 Dallas Stars Wade Dubielewicz 16,729 27-25-4 58 57 February 4 Edmonton Oilers 2 - 4 Minnesota Wild Anton Khudobin 18,168 28-25-4 60 58 February 6 Philadelphia Flyers 1 - 2 Minnesota Wild Khudobin 18,640 29-25-4 62 59 February 10 Phoenix Coyotes 3 - 2 Minnesota Wild Backstrom 18,178 29-26-4 62 60 February 12 Atlanta Thrashers 3 - 2 Minnesota Wild Backstrom 18,257 29-27-4 62 61 February 14 Vancouver Canucks 2 - 6 Minnesota Wild Backstrom 19,342 30-27-4 64
March: 7–7–2 (Home: 4–3–1; Road: 3–4–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 62 March 3 Minnesota Wild 4 - 0 Calgary Flames Backstrom 19,289 31-27-4 66 63 March 5 Minnesota Wild 1 - 2 Edmonton Oilers SO Backstrom 16,839 31-27-5 67 64 March 7 Calgary Flames 5 - 2 Minnesota Wild Backstrom 18,217 31-28-5 67 65 March 9 Florida Panthers 3 - 2 Minnesota Wild SO Backstrom 18,191 31-28-6 68 66 March 11 Minnesota Wild 1 - 5 Detroit Red Wings Harding 19,327 31-29-6 68 67 March 12 Minnesota Wild 3 - 2 Buffalo Sabres Harding 18,690 32-29-6 70 68 March 14 St. Louis Blues 2 - 4 Minnesota Wild Harding 18,580 33-29-6 72 69 March 16 Edmonton Oilers 2 - 4 Minnesota Wild Harding 18,474 34-29-6 74 70 March 18 Minnesota Wild 0 - 5 Nashville Predators Harding 16,615 34-30-6 74 71 March 19 Minnesota Wild 2 - 4 Columbus Blue Jackets Harding 16,419 34-31-6 74 72 March 21 Calgary Flames 3 - 4 Minnesota Wild Harding 18,411 35-31-6 76 73 March 23 San Jose Sharks 4 - 1 Minnesota Wild Backstrom 18,551 35-32-6 76 74 March 25 Minnesota Wild 4 - 3 Philadelphia Flyers OT Backstrom 19,716 36-32-6 78 75 March 26 Minnesota Wild 2 - 6 Detroit Red Wings Harding 20,066 36-33-6 78 76 March 29 Los Angeles Kings 2 - 3 Minnesota Wild Backstrom 18,284 37-33-6 80 77 March 31 Chicago Blackhawks 4 - 0 Minnesota Wild Backstrom 18,933 37-34-6 80
April: 1–2–2 (Home: 0–1–1; Road: 1–1–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 78 April 2 San Jose Sharks 3 - 2 Minnesota Wild Backstrom 18,584 37-35-6 80 79 April 4 Minnesota Wild 3 - 4 Vancouver Canucks OT Backstrom 18,810 37-35-7 81 80 April 5 Minnesota Wild 1 - 4 Edmonton Oilers Backstrom 16,839 37-36-7 81 81 April 8 Minnesota Wild 2 - 1 Calgary Flames SO Dubielewicz 19,289 38-36-7 83 82 April 10 Dallas Stars 4 - 3 Minnesota Wild SO Backstrom 19,109 38-36-8 84
Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)

Player statistics

Skaters

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/− = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes

Regular season Player GP G A Pts +/− PIM Mikko Koivu 80 22 49 71 -2 50 Andrew Brunette 82 25 36 61 -5 12 Martin Havlat 73 18 36 54 -19 34 Marek Zidlicky 78 6 37 43 -16 67 Antti Miettinen 79 20 22 42 -2 44 Guillaume Latendresse† 55 25 12 37 1 12 Eric Belanger‡ 60 13 22 35 -1 28 Owen Nolan 73 16 17 33 -12 40 Kyle Brodziak 82 9 23 32 -3 22 Cal Clutterbuck 74 13 8 21 -8 52 Nick Schultz 80 1 19 20 -8 43 Brent Burns 47 3 17 20 -15 32 Greg Zanon 81 2 13 15 -10 36 Shane Hnidy 70 2 12 14 -6 66 Kim Johnsson‡ 52 6 8 14 3 26 Chuck Kobasew† 42 9 5 14 -9 16 Andrew Ebbett† 49 8 6 14 -8 6 Cam Barker† 19 1 6 7 -2 10 Robbie Earl 32 6 0 6 1 6 James Sheppard 64 2 4 6 -14 38 Derek Boogaard 57 0 4 4 -12 105 Casey Wellman 12 1 3 4 -2 0 Benoit Pouliot‡ 14 2 2 4 0 12 Petr Sykora‡ 14 2 1 3 -7 8 Clayton Stoner 8 0 2 2 1 12 John Scott 51 1 1 2 -3 90 Cody Almond 7 1 0 1 -3 9 Nate Prosser 3 0 1 1 2 8 Pierre-Marc Bouchard 1 0 0 0 0 2 Nathan Smith 9 0 0 0 -4 12 Andy Hilbert 4 0 0 0 -2 2 Danny Irmen 2 0 0 0 -1 0 Petr Kalus 2 0 0 0 0 0 Jaime Sifers 14 0 0 0 1 6 Justin Falk 3 0 0 0 -2 0 Maxim Noreau 1 0 0 0 0 0

Goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime losses; GA = Goals against; GAA= Goals against average; SA= Shots against; SV= Saves; Sv% = Save percentage; SO= Shutouts

Regular season
Player GP TOI W L OT GA GAA SA Sv% SO G A PIM Niklas Backstrom 60 3489 26 23 8 158 2.72 1632 .903 2 0 1 4 Josh Harding 25 1300 9 12 0 66 3.05 692 .905 1 0 1 4 Wade Dubielewicz 3 101 1 1 0 5 2.97 34 .853 0 0 0 0 Anton Khudobin 2 69 2 0 0 1 0.87 48 .979 0 0 0 0

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Wild. Stats reflect time with Wild only.
^‡Traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with Wild only.

Awards and records

Awards

Regular Season
Player	Award	Awarded
Guillaume Latendresse[7]	NHL Third Star of the Week	January 18, 2010

Records

Milestones

Regular Season
Player	Milestone	Reached

Transactions

The Wild have been involved in the following transactions during the 2009–10 season.

Trades

Date	Details
June 26, 2009	To New York Islanders 1st-round pick (12th overall) in 2009	To Minnesota Wild 1st-round pick (16th overall) in 2009 3rd-round pick (77th overall) in 2009 7th-round pick (182nd overall) in 2009
June 27, 2009[8]	To Edmonton Oilers 4th-round pick (99th overall) in 2009 5th-round pick (133rd overall) in 2009	To Minnesota Wild Kyle Brodziak 6th-round pick (161st overall) in 2009
October 18, 2009[9]	To Boston Bruins Alexander Fallstrom Craig Weller 2nd-round pick in 2011	To Minnesota Wild Chuck Kobasew
November 23, 2009[10]	To Montreal Canadiens Benoit Pouliot	To Minnesota Wild Guillaume Latendresse
February 12, 2010[11]	To Chicago Blackhawks Kim Johnsson Nick Leddy	To Minnesota Wild Cam Barker
March 3, 2010[12]	To Washington Capitals Eric Belanger	To Minnesota Wild 2nd-round pick in 2010

Free agents acquired Player Former team Contract terms Greg Zanon[13] Nashville Predators 3 years, $5.8 million Martin Havlat[14] Chicago Blackhawks 6 years, $30 million Shane Hnidy[15] Boston Bruins 1 year, $750,000 Jamie Fraser[16] New York Islanders 1 year Jaime Sifers[16] Toronto Maple Leafs 1 year Duncan Milroy[17] ERC Ingolstadt undisclosed Jon DiSalvatore[17] Lowell Devils undisclosed Wade Dubielewicz[17] Columbus Blue Jackets undisclosed Nathan Smith[18] Lake Erie Monsters 1 year Ryan Lannon[19] San Antonio Rampage 1 year Petr Sykora[20] Pittsburgh Penguins 1 year, $1.6 million Bjorn Krupp[21] Belleville Bulls entry-level contract Andy Hilbert[22] New York Islanders 1 year Casey Wellman[23] University of Massachusetts Amherst Entry-level contract Nate Prosser[24] Colorado College Entry-level contract Jarod Palmer[25] Miami University 1-year entry-level contract

Free agents lost Player New team Contract terms Marian Gaborik[26] New York Rangers 5 years, $37.5 million Stephane Veilleux[27] Tampa Bay Lightning 1 year, $750,000 Kurtis Foster[28] Tampa Bay Lightning 1 year, $600,000 Peter Olvecky[29] Nashville Predators 1 year, $500,000 Krys Kolanos[30] Philadelphia Flyers 1 year Martin Skoula[31] Pittsburgh Penguins 1 year, $575,000 Marc-Andre Bergeron[32] Montreal Canadiens 1 year, $750,000

Claimed via waivers Player Former team Date claimed off waivers Andrew Ebbett[33] Chicago Blackhawks November 21, 2009

Lost via waivers Player New team Date claimed off waivers

Player signings Player Contract terms Tyler Cuma[34] undisclosed Clayton Stoner[35] undisclosed Danny Irmen[35] undisclosed Benoit Pouliot[35] undisclosed Robbie Earl[35] undisclosed Kyle Brodziak[36] 3 years Josh Harding[37] 1 year, $1.1 million Cal Clutterbuck[38] 3 years, $4.2 million contract extension Clayton Stoner[39] 2 years, $1.1 million contract extension Marek Zidlicky[40] 3 years, $12 million contract extension Matt Hackett[41] 3-year entry-level contract

Draft picks

Minnesota's picks at the 2009 NHL entry draft in Montreal, Quebec.

Round	#	Player	Position	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	16 (from Columbus via NY Islanders)	Nick Leddy	(D)	United States	Eden Prairie High School (USHS-MN)
3	77 (from NY Islanders via Columbus)	Matt Hackett	(G)	Canada	Plymouth Whalers (OHL)
4	103	Kris Foucault	(LW)	Canada	Calgary Hitmen (WHL)
4	116 (from Boston)	Alexander Fallstrom	(F)	Sweden	Shattuck-Saint Mary's (USHS-MN)
6	161 (from Edmonton)	Darcy Kuemper	(G)	Canada	Red Deer Rebels (WHL)
6	163	Jere Sallinen	(RW/LW)	Finland	Espoo Blues (SM-liiga)
7	182 (from NY Islanders)	Erik Haula	(LW)	Finland	Shattuck-Saint Mary's (USHS-MN)
7	193	Anthony Hamburg	(C)	United States	Dallas Stars (Midget AAA)

See also

• 2009–10 NHL season

Farm teams