With Boudreau Behind The Bench, Wild Embark On A New Era

ST. PAUL (AP) - Not much has changed with the Minnesota Wild roster as they get set to start their season.

The biggest difference is the man now in charge on the bench, Bruce Boudreau, who's been tasked with squeezing more success out of a team that's been stuck in the early rounds of the playoffs for the last four years.

"Bruce has that ability to convince the players, to get the players, to encourage the players, to prod the players to execute on a consistent basis," general manager Chuck Fletcher said the day Boudreau was introduced in May. "If we do that, we're a good hockey team and can even become very good."

Boudreau has mostly experienced early exits from the postseason, too, with Washington and Anaheim. But the team organization is banking on Boudreau, with his remarkable regular season success of eight division titles in nine years, as the catalyst that this a group of players has been missing at critical times.

The Wild open their season at division rival St. Louis on Oct. 13. Their home opener is two days later against Winnipeg.