C’est fini. Special Thanks goes out to Theresa Ferries, Derek Felska, Timnado, Chris Frost, Justin Caesar and The Meat Beast for joining us on this last hurrah. Special thanks also goes out to all of our listeners, friends and fans who have followed us over the years. We will miss you guys!
Author: Aaron
Merry Christmas from 3 In The Box
We’ve got a couple days off from any hockey what-so-ever, so to prepare for the Wild game against the Trashville Perds, here’s our LaPanta and Greenlay drinking game!
Episode 107 – Top 33
We wrap up the Top 33 Wild players of all time with a podcast where we break down how we voted, criticize each other for the way we voted, and try to not upset the hockey gods by speaking ill of Jason Pominville.
3ITB’s Top 33 Wild Players of All Time – #2
2. Mikko Koivu – C 11 Seasons, 763 Games, 161 Goals, 395 Assists, 556 Points Our Captain. Drafted 6th overall in 2001, he took the slow road to the NHL, spending five years with his hometown team, TPS Turku in the Finnish league, before coming stateside to play for the Wild’s AHL affiliate in Houston during the lost 2004-2005 NHL lockout season. From there, he joined the Wild, and despite getting off to a hot start, he struggled in his rookie campaign. He followed this up with a solid sophomore season, before he was taken down by a cheap shot from MattiasMore
3ITB’s Top 33 Wild Players of All Time – #5
5. Brent Burns – D/RW 7 Seasons, 453 Games, 55 Goals, 128 Assists, 183 Points Drafted 20th overall in 2003 out of the OHL, where he played as a right winger, Brent Burns was promptly converted into a defenseman by Jacque Lemaire and as an 18 year-old, spot started through most of his rookie season. With limited ice-time, he struggled and was likely not quite ready for the NHL. Luckily Gary Bettman decided to deprive all hockey fans in 2004-2005, and that gave Brent a chance to develop with the Houston Aeros. In the two years following the lockout, Burns would flash hints of the talentMore
3ITB’s Top 33 Wild Players of All Time – #6
6. Pierre-Marc Bouchard – LW/C 10 Seasons, 565 Games, 106 Goals, 241 Assists, 347 Points It’s easy to marginalize Pierre-Marc Bouchard’s career with the Wild, as it petered out after a series of debilitating concussions, but there’s no doubt on the impact he had on the Wild teams of the 2000’s. Drafted by the Wild with the 8th overall pick in the 2002 draft, PMB took the fast track to the NHL, getting to play as an 18 year-old right out of the draft. Primarily a playmaker, he had middling success in his first two pro seasons, but after the lost seasonMore
3ITB’s Top 33 Wild Players of All Time – #11
11. Manny Fernandez – G 6 Seasons, 260 Games, 113 W, 102 L, 2.47 GAA, .914 SV% While it’s easy to discount Manny Fernandez’s Wild career as nepotism gone wild (he’s the nephew of former Wild head coach Jacques Lemaire), there’s no doubt that he played a pivotal role in many of the formative years of the Wild. He consistently battled Dwayne Roloson for playing time, despite arguably being the better player. Maybe it was that fear of looking preferential, but Lemaire didn’t consistently play the better goalie, and Fernandez’s numbers were hurt because of this. Regardless, he still hasMore
3ITB’s Top 33 Wild Players of All Time – #14
14. Derek Boogaard – LW 5 Seasons, 255 Games, 2 Goals, 12 Assists, 14 Points, 544 Penalty Minutes While the Wild have had several goons over their brief history (Matt Johnson, Brad Staubitz, Matt Kassian, John Scott), none of them had the hearts of the Minnesota fan quite like Derek Boogaard. Drafted in the 7th round of the 2001 draft, Derek took the slow route to the NHL, by blasting through opponents faces from the WHL, to the ECHL and to the AHL (with which the Houston Aeros honored him with a special “Bobble fists” doll). He made his debut with theMore
Episode 106 – 3 In The Can
What do you call a fantasy hockey draft with only MN Wild players to choose from? The 3 In The Box Power Play Draft! This episode the guys choose their MN Wild roster to see who can gain the most points this season. No drops, no adds, just us.
3ITB’s Top 33 Wild Players of All Time – #17
17. Nick Schultz – D 10 Seasons, 743 Games, 26 Goals, 102 Assists, 128 Points Drafted in the 2nd round (33rd overall) by the Wild in 2000, Nick Schultz was a mainstay on the Minnesota Wild blue line for a decade. Well liked by both fans and teammates alike, he often wore the ‘A’ and ‘C’ in Jacques Lemaire’s rotating captaincy. While Schultz came to the Wild an offensive defenseman, he quickly settled into Lemaire’s defense-first mold and morphed into a true defensive defenseman (even having a stretch of 101 games without a goal). His defense was so highly rated that heMore