There is a special link between the Minnesota Wild and San Jose Sharks. It was this way before they became trading in the summer of 2011.
The last Wild coach had been Todd McLellan's assistant. McLellan was a coach in the Minnesota system. Brad Staubitz played in Minnesota and Justin Braun grew up in Minnesota.
Okay, those last two are pretty meaningless. But there was enough familiarity to make a blockbuster trade easier. Once that was completed, the others were no big deal.
The fact that four contestants in the game played big roles on the other team the previous season was bound to be the storyline coming into Thursday's battle. But for the coaches, that was secondary to a battle between teams jockeying for position in the challenging NHL Western Conference.
Just like in their other challenges since having a full roster, the Sharks' players did not disappoint.
Antti Niemi played his best game all season. After struggling to reach regular-season form after missing training camp, he allowed just one goal on 22 shots. It should be noted that Niemi struggled last year for over two months before becoming the Sharks' player ...
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Article written by MJ Kasprzak
San Jose Sharks Dominate Minnesota Wild in NHL Trade Battle
November 11th, 2011 by MJ Kasprzak Leave a reply »
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