On Friday, the Wild begin just their third Western Conference semifinal series since the team's inception in 2000, meeting the Chicago Blackhawks for Game 1 at United Center. The man who led Minnesota to their first, Jacques Lemaire, is watching from a distance.
"They're doing pretty good," Lemaire said Wednesday. "Obviously, you need a goalie that makes the saves, but since they have it, they've got a chance to win every game."
Devan Dubnyk, in fact, might be the NHL's hottest goaltender. In 2003, when Lemaire's team advanced to Minnesota's only conference final, the Wild ran into that year's hottest goalie, Anaheim's Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who went on to win the Conn Smythe Trophy after a 4-3 loss to New Jersey in the final.