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Wild Blog: Darcy Kuemper, A Rising NHL Star

By Jen Jimenez, WCCO

WOW! That is the only word I have to describe how the Wild pulled off two shutouts in a row against the Colorado Avalanche -- a team that won the Central Division last year, a team we faced in the first round of the playoffs, a team we had to battle to beat in game 7 at their rink in overtime! To say I'm impressed with how this year's Wild team has started the season would be the understatement of the year.

Let's take a minute to talk about the play of goalie Darcy Kuemper. How great did he look on Saturday? There is no doubt he earned that shutout. I admit, on Thursday's home opener, Kuemps didn't have many shots to stop and those that did make it to the net weren't that impressive, but on Saturday, he was peppered with great shots, and I'm sure Colorado is kicking themselves for a lot of missed opportunities.

In fact, Kuemps played so well that he was named the number two star of the NHL just behind the captain of the Montreal Canadiens, Thomas Plekanec, who opened the season with a league leading four goals. Kuemper made 30 saves on Saturday in Colorado in the Wild's 3-0 win, and 16 on Thursday's 5-0 pummeling at the Xcel Energy Center.

Here's a stat that shows just how impressive a feat that was for a kid who's only 24 years old. The Avs have only been shut out 4 times since Patrick Roy took over as head coach, three of those shutouts were when Kuemper was in the net. I'll give you a moment to let that sink in, pretty impressive isn't it?

Now we have to wait until Friday to see my boys (that's what I affectionately call the Wild) take the ice again. They'll spend a few days practicing at home before taking the long flight to Cali where they'll play the Ducks at 9 p.m. Friday night and then take on the Stanley Cup Champion L.A. Kings on Sunday afternoon. I can't wait to see what kind of damage the Wild can do on the West Coast.

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