Wild Willie

[Lil Elwood]

Willie had a ENG last night from his own zone for the Wild. Must be he likes the long-range shots!

'The Lightning pulled its goalie for an extra attacker with 2:55 left to give itself a 6-on-4 advantage, but Mitchell scored on a slapshot from his own end -- approximately 180 feet.

"I was just trying to get between the defensemen and, being a Canadian kid who loves curling, I gave it a little in-turn draw," Mitchell said.'

-Star Tribune article


Way to go, Willie!

[Karyn]

Willie made Sportscenter again. Too bad it looks like he took a pretty hard hit and might be out with sore ribs for a few days. At least the Wild beat the big bad Wings and got themselves back into a tie for first in the West.

[Stemmer]

Yep, he went down in a heap...looked like Fedorov, not a noted body checker, really nailed him! And he had just been creamed before that by someone else.

He'll be fine! I bet beating the Red Wings helps ease the aches and pains.

[Bill]

He was out silly for a bit... I hope he's OK, but his helmet hit the boards pretty hard and he could not regain his feet until the trainer helped him off the ice. Fedorov was about a foot and a half off the ice when he hit him -- no penalty -- home advantage, I guess.......

[Bill]

As I was afraid, Willie missed the last 2 games with his first concussion -- hopes to be back in the lineup on Saturday.... did a good job in the pressbox today -- when they tried to get him to badmouth Fedorov for the charge, he did not -- just said "stuff like this just happens in hockey occaisionally," but was not too happy about getting his first one -- second one comes easier.... I hope he recovers OK and continues to be a force for the Wild -- who beat Cole and the 'Canes today 2-1!!!

[bandieforlife]

I was looking at the Wild's homepage, at their screensavers and noticed that in the picture of Willie, he's wearing an "A" on his jersey. Anybody know when he was made an assistant captain?

[chuck]

Originally posted by bandieforlife
I was looking at the Wild's homepage, at their screensavers and noticed that in the picture of Willie, he's wearing an "A" on his jersey. Anybody know when he was made an assistant captain?

I asked this question before somewhere and I'm pretty sure the Wild had (or have) a "rotating" captain system and that this picture was from last year when it was Willie's turn.

[Lil Elwood]

Yes, that pic is from last year. The Wild players vote for new captains on a montly basis. Hopefully we'll see a pic of Willie with a 'C' on his jersey at some point in the next year or two.

[Stemmer]

Great knight for Techers as Willie scores the gamer over the Devils...serves 'em right for trading him a couple of years back...so they could keep Colin White instead.

[Lil Elwood]

Congrats to Willie on the game winner last night. He deflected the shot off Ray Giroux (former Yale defenseman) and past Brodeur with 5 minutes to go in the game.

I got a chance to see Willie play last week when Minnesota came to Montreal to play the Canadiens. The Wild won 6-3 and Willie was named third star of the game with 7 SOG's and a +1 rating. Hopefully the Wild can make the playoffs and make a run like Carolina last year so that Willie gets the same amount of camera time that Eric Cole got...

[CU on the ice]

Congrats to Willie,
Always saving the game at the end!

Wasn't Willie the one who scored in the last seconds of the game in Lake Placid in ECAC tournament a few years back from the blue line and saving Clarkson from overtime? I forgot.....

[Lil Elwood]

Yes, Willie saved the day at Placid in '99. His shot from the red line hit Princeton goalie "Milton" Bradley under the arm and trickled into the net, much to the suprise and delight of the Clarkson fans and Pep Band. That is definitely the most vivid Clarkson hockey memory I have from my time at Tech. Ah, the good ol' days...

[CU on the ice]

Ahhh, that is a good memory!
Then it was the red line! I had thought that Willie's shot was so powerful that when it hit the goalies glove it twisted his arm back and the puck fell in. Although I was at the other end of the ice so I didn't have the best view. What a legend follows Willie now!
I find it kind of sad that ECAC tournament won't be held in Lake Placid anymore. :(
Thanks for the info lil elwood, happy b-day!

[petal]

Yeah, I'll never forget that. Was sitting on our couch at Riverside watching the game and when it went in we both went nuts because it was so unbelievable. I can do a really good impression of the goalie hahaha. His wrist just kinda flapped in the breeze when the shot came and he totally wasn't ready for it. He was in a daze for sure. Suffice it to say, the next night we drove to Lake Placid for the game...

[Karyn]

The Wild beat the Wings last night 4-0, clinching their first ever playoff spot. Willie had an assist on the GWG. He mentions the ECAC in a pregame interview with him at
http://www.wild.com/index.cfm?section=games&cont_id=
He says something about the Minnesota teams mopping up the 'weaker sister' ECAC teams in the NCAAs... Pretty funny. There's also a ton of cool photos in the photo gallery if you're interested.

[CUKnight]

Willie has the first Goal in tonights game against the Avs. Classic Willie Goal, Huge windup, hard shot, right into the back of the net. Brought back many memories. Contrats Willie!

[Stemmer]

Another solid game for Willie last night...Lemaire had him out there against Forsberg's line most of the time.

Keep those feet moving Willie...win Game 7...send Paddy Roy to the links! :D

[CU on the ice]

Can't believe it... Minnesota won and Willie too! Didn't watch the game too much, how did he do? :D

[CUKnight]

From what I saw, he looked pretty solid. Kept getting hurt though, I saw him get hit in the face with a puck and the announcers made reference to him having a rough night and being hurt a couple times, but he played through them. None the less, the Wild won. Now time to take on Mark Morris and those pesky Canucks.

[broomball52]

Clarkson got a plug last night as announcers noted that Willie Mitchell was wearing the full college face mask "as he did back 1999 at Clarkson in Northern NY"

Now if the SID could get ESPN to keep plugging Clarkson and make the Erik Cole/Willie Mitchell connection, it could not hurt recruiting and name recognition.

Let's Go Wild!!!

[Lil Elwood]

Willie played though the pain of an undisclosed wrist injury last night and was the third star of the game for the Wild in a 7-2 shellacking of Vancouver. I believe he was a +3 with an assist for the game. Coach Lemaire said something to the effect of "He's not the greatest playmaker out there but he's a warrior", and ESPN2 has been giving Willie lots of air time. He's still playing with the face shield to protect the broken cheekbone he got in Game 7 of the Colorado series. Here's hoping the Wild can come back again to beat the Canucks in Games 6 and 7...

[petal]

Congrats to Willie and his team for holding off Vancouver last night. During pre-game, one of the ESPN announcers(might have been the Mullet, not sure) said a bunch of really nice things about him like how he led his team in the 7-2 game and about his broken cheekbone and his ailing wrist, etc. They gave him quite a bit of time last night and also kind words about his play. Go Willie!!! Let's get a 2nd Techer advancing!

[Karyn]

Looks like Willie wins the honor of being this season's first Wild calendar celebrity. You can make it your wallpaper: http://www.wild.com/index.cfm?section=schedule&cont_id=129956

[MikeR]

New NHL.com story on Willie (http://www.nhl.com/intheslot/read/preview03/min/mitchell092803.html)

[tbch13]

Thanks Mike. Good article

[CU on the ice]

real quick, anyone know Willie's number? Minnesota's playing toknight....trying to watch when he's on the ice.


A bit later.... I found him and he just got a penalty. The team isn't playing so well right now. Minn. losing 3-0! Come on Willie!