Well, the State of Hockey still resides in the State of Mediocrity, but the Wild have been playing better as of late.  They're still languishing back in 10th place in the Western Conference standings, but they're only a handful of points away from the 4th spot in the always tight Western conference race.  The Wild's problem isn't effort, or coaching, or speed or whatever.....it's that they lack top-tier talent.  This is a nice team...D Brent Burns is going to his first All-Star game,...C Mikko Koivu is widely recognized as a top-flight center, but when your top goal-scorers are Burns and grinder Cal Clutterbuck,...it's going to be hard to make the playoffs, much less win a playoff series, unless they end up riding a mass-hot goalie down the stretch!