I was thinking about getting a Mikko Koivu Minnesota Wild third jersey. NHL.com is selling it for $114 and change without customization, which runs another 50+ hiking it to about 170 plus shipping. This is the premier year of Minny’s traditional hockey 3rd and to be honest, we love it. It’s a nice color forest green with white and looks good. A sharp jersey and probably one of the better alternates IMHO.

Why the Wild? Well, I like them. Especially Koivu, who flies under the radar as one of the better overall players in the game. Why? Because of who he plays for, which only happens to be a great hockey town that deservedly got another team. Since a dreadful start, they’ve been playing better with even Martin Havlat contributing with a recent OT winner over Calgary and three points in a tough 4-3 defeat to Vancity. Maybe the gifted Czech is finally 100 percent, which would be nice for my fantasy team that’s hanging in there. Just picked up Jimmy Howard too. Now, if only Cam Ward could win. 😛

Anyway, I probably will get the jersey even though it costs. I haven’t gotten one in a while with my last being a Russian letter Ovechkin. As for the telling quote, it’s provided by veteran Wild pivot Eric Belanger after his team defeated the Flames in a game they outshot Jarome Iginla & Co. 46-23:

Of course, he’s referring to the silly point system that rewards losing teams no matter what. The flipside is that one can argue that Miikka Kiprusoff earned his team a point. Maybe it’s just us but we prefer the old system that gave you two for a win and none for a loss regardless. It would separate the pile up we got in the East minus Carolina. You really think Bettman Inc. will reverse it? They love parity because it makes for more intriguing playoff races, keeping more teams in the hunt come February/March. Sure. This post comes on the heels of the Rangers losing a tough one last night in which they outshot Atlanta 48-27. They deserved two but fell in the gimmick which really made it feel like a loss.

I know it’s not going anywhere anytime soon. But what if we had the old system in place? Wouldn’t more teams go for it in regulation? Of course, you’d still have ties. But don’t teams want to win? It really would put more emphasis on getting two points, separating the contenders from the pretenders. Oh well. Sure makes ya wonder.