(Video) Matt Martin Hit on Keith Ballard

"It's a dirty vicious hit, up high, he put Ballard into the Glass," Minnesota Wild color commentator Mike Greenlay said.

You can decide for yourself what you think of the hit. I agree with Wes Walz, it's a questionable hit. It's in the grey area. The thing that might do Martin in, he came from a long way to hit Ballard and he was injured on the play.

If you watch the video, it looks like an elbow "might" have made contact with the head.

#mnwild Keith Ballard is conscious and has been taken to @RegionsHospital for further evaluation and observation. #NHL #isles
— Minnesota Wild PR (@mnwildPR) December 10, 2014

Related articles

• Keith Ballard Hip Check on Adam Pardy(ndgoon.blogspot.com)

  ---

Keith Ballard hits Corey Perry with a Legal Hit, Fights Nate Thompson

If you haven't seen this, it's worth a look. Minnesota Wild defenseman Keith Ballard hits Anaheim Ducks forward Corey Perry with a clean, hard, hip check. Unfortunately for Perry, he was knocked out of the game with a knee injury. Below is the embedded video of the fight in question.

Just for the record, last time the Ducks and Wild played, the Ducks were taking runs at the Wild players. So, they really have no room to complain about this hit.

Keith Ballard Hip Check on Adam Pardy

Nice hip check by Minnesota Wild defenseman Keith Ballard on Adam Pardy. Big Buff and Pardy take exception and the Wild go on the power play. Of course the Wild's powerless play failed.

Ballard at least attempted hip check on Adam Pardy, and Big Buff and Pardy retaliate
— Michael Russo (@Russostrib) November 16, 2014

Early Minnesota Wild Line Combinations

On my way home from classes this morning, I was listening to Paul Allen and Michael Russo on the Nine to Noon show on KFAN for some preseason Minnesota Wild talk. Right now it looks as if Parise is playing with Granlund and Pominville, which puts Vanek down with Koivu and Coyle.

Now I know that many of us Wild rubes wanted to see Vanek with Pommer and Granny, however, according to an interview Russo did with Coach Yeo yesterday, he said that Parise playing with Granlund and Pommer was the lethal combination at practice thus far.

Russo also believes that come opening night, you will see Jared Spurgeon playing along side of Ryan Suter due to his outstanding play at the end of last season and in the playoffs. I couldn't agree more, however he has a lot of proven chemistry with Marco Scandella already, so why screw that up when it already is a pretty good combination?

                                                                                   That being said, I am not too sure if Jonas Brodin

is worthy of top line defense minutes right now. After his facial injury last season, his play really fell off and was not the dynamic defenseman pre injury. I think that his playing style should be well complementary of Scandella so I see no problem if these two start out the season together, giving Spurgeon the top line minutes he has earned.

Then you also have to address the third defensive pairing. Keith Ballard was plagued with injury for much of last season, so that was a disappointment for all you Gopher fans who follow the Wild as well. Ballard is almost a shoe in right away to be playing as a defender on that third pair, but who plays with him? As of right now, it looks as if Christian Folin will be along side him to open the 2014-2015 season, but I still say don't count out the hard hitting youngster, Matt Dumba. In his games with the Wild last season, before going back to juniors, Dumba proved that he had what it took to be a solid NHL defenseman, who holds a legit scoring threat on the blue line. However, in the one game Folin was able to suit up for Minnesota last season, he recorded an assist, his first NHL point, and was a plus three against the always tough St. Louis Blues. It will be interesting to see how the third defensive pairing plays out. Could Ballard even be the odd man out? I doubt it right now, but it is an 82 game season so lets see if he stays healthy, or is a little more present on the blue line when he is playing.

Transitioning back to the forwards, specifically lines three and four, you know almost for certain that Haula will be centering Nino on that line, but who will be the winger on the other side? Will it be Matt Cooke, or Jason Zucker? With Zucker being out most of last season with injury, he is a great unknown as to how he is going to preform this season, however, when he is healthy, he has shown us that he is deserving to play with the big club no matter what. I think you start Zucker on that third line with Haula and Nino and put Cooke down with Brodziak and Justin Fontaine. The Cooke-Brodziak-Fontaine was a line that had shown some chemistry last season, and sure, why not have a potential 20 plus goal scorer on the fourth line with Fontaine?

With training camp starting this Friday, it should be interesting to see how the lines pan out come October 9th when the Colorado Avalanche roll into town.

Wild's Ballard not impressed with Bollig's dirty hit or his text

Minnesota Wild defenseman Keith Ballard is returning to the lineup tonight and weighed in on Brandon Bollig's dirty hit. Classic stuff.

Ballard: "Too much gets made of the whole, ‘Did he text you?’ I don’t give a shit. I honestly don’t. It’s fine. That’s what happens."
— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) May 13, 2014

Chicago's Brandon Bollig will have a hearing with Department of Player Safety

Looks like Chicago Blackhawks forward Brandon Bollig's has a date with the NHL's Department of Players Safety. The Chicago forward has a hearing for his dirty, and dangerous hit on Wild defenseman Keith Ballard. After the hit, Ballard was face down on the ice for a period of time before he got up, and skated to the Wild bench. Ballard didn't return.

(@NHLPlayerSafety) tweeted at 12:57pm - 10 May 14: Chicago's Brandon Bollig will have a hearing today for boarding/checking from behind on Minnesota's Keith Ballard.

Brandon Bollig Boards Keith Ballard

Chicago Blackhawks forward Brandon Bollig absolutely destroyed Minnesota Wild defenseman Keith Ballard with a very dangerous, and unnecessary hit. You can't hit a guy in the numbers, not like that. I think that Bollig should have been tossed from the game for this hit and given a five minute major and a game misconduct. Ballard would leave the game with what appears to be a concussion.

Yeo gave no update on Ballard. More tomorrow
— Michael Russo (@Russostrib) May 10, 2014

The Rivalry Returns, Game on in 2016-17 at the John

This is good news.

"GAME ON!" -- Wayne Campbell, Garth Algar in 1992. Also, Zach Parise and Keith Ballard, today: http://t.co/r5j74GVtl0
— North Dakota MHockey (@UNDMHockey) October 31, 2013

Related articles

• North Dakota, Minnesota to renew historic rivalry (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• Sunday Morning brings good news, Dralke Caggiula okay (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• UND, Minnesota To Renew Hockey Rivalry In 3 Years (minnesota.cbslocal.com)
• NCHC Hockey: UND's beats Miami in Inaugural Game (thehockeywriters.com)
• Wilderness Walk 10-31-2013: Halloween Edition (hockeywilderness.com)

Minnesota Wild: Brodin picks shield over the bird cage

Brodin decided to go with the bubble over the cage. Better vision. pic.twitter.com/SZejueZDv0
— Matt Benz (@benznasty) October 28, 2013

Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin has decided to go with the shield instead of the bird cage. According to Michael Russo, Brodin skated today. Hopefully, the Wild defenseman will return to the lineup soon.

Jonas Brodin skated on his own again today and his face is apparently still swollen, so it’s uncertain if he’ll practice Wednesday yet (Wild has the day off tomorrow). Charlie Coyle is improving and hopes to play Friday, but he said understandably he will only do so if he’s 100 percent. Keith Ballard and Mike Rupp again practiced today.

Related articles

• Free Jonas Brodin (hockeywilderness.com)
• No Sophomore Slump for Jonas Brodin (thehockeywriters.com)
• Wilderness Walk: 10-24-2013: Game Day Edition (hockeywilderness.com)
• NHL season preview: Three big questions facing the Minnesota Wild (hockeywilderness.com)

Wild Hockey: Keith Ballard something positive

Today, I was out riding my bike, kind of percolating. Sometimes, I do some of my best thinking when I am out riding my bike. When I am out riding the bike I like to listen to my iPod and catch up on some of the podcasts that I might have missed while I was at work.  Today, I was listening to Michael Russo's podcasts who was filling in for Paul Allen on KFAN 100.3.

First off, KFAN should consider hiring Michael Russo, I really like his approach to talk radio, maybe I am the only one that feels this way, but I like how he approaches a radio show. Maybe it's because Russo isn't trying too hard, he's just himself when he fills in for Paul Allen. That's what I like about his shows. While he might not be as polished as a Paul Allen or a Jeff Dubay and Judd Zulgad, he's fun to listen to. Plus, he talks hockey, that's not something that happens a lot in this area. I wish there were more radio shows that simply talked about Hockey 24/7. Especially in the state of hockey.

For some reason, the sports talk radio hosts seem to want to ruin a good show talking about basketball and baseball. Today, Russo was interviewing newly signed Minnesota Wild defenseman Keith Ballard... This was a good interview to listen to, if you haven't heard it yet. You can listen to this interview on the embeded audio posted below. The interview starts at the 24:00 minute mark.

I think the Minnesota Wild are going to benefit from the Keith Ballard signing.

Goon the Magnificent Carnac: Ballard to the Wild

Back in May I was suggesting that the Minnesota Wild pick up Keith Ballard and yesterday the former Gopher defenseman was signed by the Minnesota Wild. Also, two players that I wanted to see gone from the Wild roster are no longer here.  I am thinking, I need to go out and buy a lottery ticket this weekend. Below is what I wrote...

Based on what I have seen during the past season, I would say that the Minnesota Wild are challenged defensively, after the first defensive pairing of Ryan Suter and Jonas Brodin, the Wild are thin on defense and need some help.

Granted, Jared Spurgeon is a great up and coming offensive defenseman and Marco Scandella proved to be a nice surprise during the Wild's short playoff run. After that, Justin Falk proved that he's a defensive liability and at times look like a big green road cone. Former Badgers defenseman Tom Gilbert looked to have taken a step back this past season and I was unimpressed with his play as well because he was a defensive liability.

In my opinion, the Minnesota Wild could use a solid stay-at-home defenseman or two. Former Minnesota Defenseman Keith Ballard "could" be a candidate for an amnesty buyout in Vancouver and might be available to come to the Minnesota Wild at a reduced rate.

I know people get lucky sometimes but here is what I submitted for the season grades for Tom Gilbert and funny how things worked out for the Minnesota Wild.

Tom Gilbert: D

The former Wisconsin Badger Tom Gilbert is an utter disappointment in my opinion, that Wild are being cheated, he’s not worth the money he’s being paid. Gilbert is being paid a hefty four million a year to be a turnover factory and an unimpressive top-six defenseman. If I was a general manager for a day, he would be the first Wild player out of Minnesota; Justin Falk would be number two. The Wild should consider his four million dollar contract for an Amnesty buyout this summer as well. If they Wild could trade him for a bag of wood hockey sticks I would urge them to consider the deal. One positive is that he can’t play any worse than he did this season. Nowhere to go but up for Gilbert, I don’t think he can play any worse. Looking at the stats, in the plus/minus department, -11 is brutal.

"Locked Out" NHL Gophers Return to Minnesota

Even though they're former Gopher hockey players, and they're from two teams I am not all that fond of, Keith Ballard who's from the Vancouver Canucks and Paul Martin who's from the Pittsburgh Penguins; they both did a pretty good job in this video and it's very funny. Thank God the NHL is back on.

Keith Ballard ‘was sleeping 16-18 hours a day' due to concussion

Associated Press Photo

Here is a story about former Golden Gopher and current Vancouver Canucks Keith Ballard and what he has gone through with a concussion that he suffered earlier this season playing for the Vancouver Canucks.

Elliott Pap, Vancouver --- Ballard, 29, participated in the Canucks' morning skate prior to their game against the Los Angeles Kings and talked later about what he has endured since his last lineup appearance Feb. 7 against Nashville.

It may provide some insight into what Daniel is facing, or has faced, since Duncan Keith's cheap-shot elbow took him out last Wednesday in Chicago.

“I had a lot of different stuff,” Ballard said. “I had dizziness and a lot of headaches during the day. I was sleeping 16-18 hours a day and, when I tried to do some light workouts, I ended up getting real sick and I'd be in bed for four days. By around the end of February, we almost had no choice but to just shut me down and not do anything. At that point, I couldn't get through a day without a lot of symptoms.”

According to Ballard, he was initially injured Feb. 5 in Colorado.

Brad Marchand racks up the penalty minutes.

I will give you the first call, it was a penalty as Brad Marchand pulled down Canucks defenseman Christian Ehrhoff, it also appears like he helped a bit too. On the next moved that ended up being a penalty the whistle has already blown when Daniel Sedin came flying in on Marchand...So what was Marchand supposed to do just let Sedin blow him up. I say good for Marchand.

Keith Ballard check on Jamie McGinn

Wow!!! I have to say, what a beautiful old style hip check by former Minnesota Gopher and Vancouver Defenseman Keith Ballard. Ballard had been a healthy scratch for most of the Stanley Cup Playoffs; Ballard's benching went back to game two of  the first round of the NHL playoffs against the Blackhawks where he was replaced in the line up by Canucks rookie defenseman Aaron Rome. Ballard was given a second chance today when Aaron Rome was injured in game three on a check by Jamie McGinn.

Keith Ballard Hip Check Jordin Tootoo

This happened back on April 28 during game one of the Vancouver and Nashville series. Check out this awesome hip check by former Gopher defenseman Keith Ballard, I have watched video quite a few times and there is no reason in my humble opinion why this should be a penalty. Ballard

Milan Mikhalek hit on Keith Ballard

Check out this hit by the Senators Milan Mikhalek on former Gopher and current Vancouver Canucks forward Keith Ballard, the hit caused an injury to Ballard's leg and he will probably be out of action for 2-4 weeks. From looking at the video it would appear to be a slew foot. What do you think?

Keith Ballard traded to the Canucks

Former Gopher Keith Ballard was traded to the hated Vancouver Canucks, so now Wild fans will probably boo him when he comes to the Xcel Energy Center.

LOS ANGELES -- After two seasons with the Panthers, Keith Ballard is moving once once more.

The former Phoenix Coyote is off to Vancouver after Dale Tallon traded him west for forward Steve Bernier and the No. 25 pick in tonight's draft.

This trade is not official nor has it been announced.

This is an obvious salary dump, with Ballard making $4.2 million in each of the next five seasons.

Bernier, who scored 11 goals with 11 assists in 59 games for the Canucks last season, is making $2 million next season and is a restricted free agent in 2011. [Miami Herald]