National Weather Service

It's cold today -- but you probably already knew that.

​Here's some news for those of you who have well-insulated abodes and/or haven't gone outside yet morning: It's winter in Minnesota, and it can get freakin' cold.

You might have forgotten about this season while we were being pleasantly surprised with an extremely mild December and 50-degree temps as late as January 10, but today's freeze-your-face-off coldness brings that familiar bone chill that Minnesotans expect this time of year.

Don't fret, though, those of you willing to sacrifice ice fishing and snowmobiling for comfortable walks outside, because it appears that this cold-snap isn't for long.

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Cal Clutterbuck took two big swings and nailed... the wrong guy.

​Minnesota Wild winger Cal Clutterbuck is known for a few things. First, there's that great name of his.

Clutterbuck's also one of the most prolific hitmen in the NHL: A couple years back, while playing for the Wild, Clutterbuck set the all time record for most hits in a single season.

But Clutterbuck's name and his hits might someday be dwarfed in the Clutterbuck legacy, thanks to an unfortunate incident last night. As Clutterbuck clashed with the Vancouver Canucks' Maxim Lapierre, the two of them were caught up in a close quarters stalemate.

A referee tried to step in and pull the two apart. Clutterbuck chose that moment to throw two blind, roundhouse left hooks -- both of which smashed right into the ref's face.
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Pierre-Marc Brouchard has good stick control, bad impulse control.

​The Minnesota Wild's season got off to a mixed start on Saturday. On one hand, the Wild beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-2, with a goal apiece for the Wild's new forwards Devin Setoguchi and Dany Heatley.

On the other hand, Pierre-Marc Bouchard showed a pretty ugly side to his game when he slapped Matt Calvert in the face... using the blade of his stick.

The smack left Calvert bloodied, and earned Bouchard a double-minor penalty at the time.

Yesterday, the NHL took a second look at the high-sticking and decided it wasn't just clumsy, it was malicious. Bouchard, who also notched two assists in Saturday's win, was suspended for the next two games for his ugly misconduct.
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You and a friend could get into this building for free tonight.

​The Minnesota Wild's last preseason game is tonight against the Edmonton Oilers. If you've got at least $70 bucks to throw down, you could buy a couple of tickets.

Or you could get them for free from City Pages! We're giving away two pairs of free tickets to tonight's game to whichever readers can convince us they need them the most.

So far, the preseason's been pretty exciting, with a lot of goals scored by and against the Wild. If you want to get one last absolutely free preview of Mikko Koivu, Dany Heatley, and Devin Setoguchi before the regular season kicks off, you've come to the right place.
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Pavol Demitra played three seasons for the Wild.

​A Russian jet carrying one of the country's best professional hockey teams crashed Wednesday evening, killing dozens, including former Wild forward Pavol Demitra.

Reports have as many as 44 dead in the plane crash, including nearly the entire Lokomotiv team, which is based out of Yaroslavl. One Russian news agency  reported that a single crew member survived the crash.

Demitra's agent confirmed this morning that he was among the dead.

The team plane had tried to fly out of Yaroslavl, but burst into enormous flames and crashed shortly after takeoff.
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Aaron Boogaard posed for this picture with the Penguins. Now he's posing for a mugshot.

​Aaron Boogaard, the 24-year-old brother of former Wild enforcer Derek Boogaard, turned himself in to police on Wednesday to face potential felony narcotics charges in connection with Derek's overdose death on May 13.

The date and time of Aaron's alleged crime are the same as when he found his brother's body in Derek's Warehouse District apartment in downtown Minneapolis, which indicates that the legal trouble stems from the overdose death.

Why it took so long for Aaron to be arrested is one of many questions that may be answered by noon Friday, the deadline to file charges for the Hennepin County Attorney's office.
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Mike Yeo: Tough enough.

​The Minnesota Wild will name Mike Yeo as their new head coach today, and since we know he's got a tough road ahead to whip the Wild into shape, we thought we'd see just how tough he's been in the past.

Answer: Plenty tough. 

Check out some of Yeo's brawls from his playing days with the IHL's Houston Aeros.

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RIP Derek Boogaard

​Derek Boogaard, the popular Wild enforcer who had signed with the New York Rangers, was found dead in his apartment Friday at the age of 28.

Boogaard was found unresponsive by his brothers Ryan and Aaron at around 6 p.m. in his condo at 415 1st Street North in Minneapolis. It could take weeks for the toxicology test that could determine the cause of death, but foul play is not suspected.

I met Boogaard in 2007 for a City Pages cover story. Although he made his living terrorizing opponents on the ice with his fists, he was a soft-spoken giant with a deep connection to his family and his teammates.
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Fletcher explains his decision.

​After two poor seasons, head coach of the Minnesota Wild Todd Richards was ousted from his job this morning.

Now, Chuck Fletcher, the team's general manager, is explaining why he made his decision.

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Wild head coach Todd Richards is out.

​The Minnesota Wild have fired head coach Todd Richards, the team's general manager, Chuck Fletcher, has just announced. The move takes place "immediately."

The news comes after just two seasons for the 44-year-old Richards, who took the job after after the resignation of Jacques Lemaire, the only other coach in franchise history. Richards had a 77-71-16 record over his two seasons.

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