# 2005–06 Minnesota Wild season

The 2005–06 Minnesota Wild season was the team's sixth season in the National Hockey League (NHL). The Wild failed to qualify for the 2006 Stanley Cup playoffs.

## Regular season

The Wild allowed the fewest power-play goals in the NHL with 55 and had the highest penalty-kill percentage at 87.39%.

### Final standings

Northwest Division :
| No. | CR | | GP | W | L | OTL | GF | GA | Pts |
| 1 | 3 | Calgary Flames | 82 | 46 | 25 | 11 | 218 | 200 | 103 |
| 2 | 7 | Colorado Avalanche | 82 | 43 | 30 | 9 | 283 | 257 | 95 |
| 3 | 8 | Edmonton Oilers | 82 | 41 | 28 | 13 | 256 | 251 | 95 |
| 4 | 9 | Vancouver Canucks | 82 | 42 | 32 | 8 | 256 | 255 | 92 |
| 5 | 11 | Minnesota Wild | 82 | 38 | 36 | 8 | 231 | 215 | 84 |
Note: CR = Conference rank; GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; OTL = Overtime loss; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points Bolded teams qualified for the playoffs.
Western Conference :
| R | | Div | GP | W | L | OTL | GF | GA | Pts |
| 1 | P- Detroit Red Wings | CE | 82 | 58 | 16 | 8 | 305 | 209 | 124 |
| 2 | Y- Dallas Stars | PA | 82 | 53 | 23 | 6 | 265 | 218 | 112 |
| 3 | Y- Calgary Flames | NW | 82 | 46 | 25 | 11 | 218 | 200 | 103 |
| 4 | X- Nashville Predators | CE | 82 | 49 | 25 | 8 | 259 | 227 | 106 |
| 5 | X- San Jose Sharks | PA | 82 | 44 | 27 | 11 | 266 | 242 | 99 |
| 6 | X- Mighty Ducks of Anaheim | PA | 82 | 43 | 27 | 12 | 254 | 229 | 98 |
| 7 | X- Colorado Avalanche | NW | 82 | 43 | 30 | 9 | 283 | 257 | 95 |
| 8 | X- Edmonton Oilers | NW | 82 | 41 | 28 | 13 | 256 | 251 | 95 |
| 8.5 ||||||||||
| 9 | Vancouver Canucks | NW | 82 | 42 | 32 | 8 | 256 | 255 | 92 |
| 8 | Los Angeles Kings | PA | 82 | 42 | 35 | 5 | 249 | 270 | 89 |
| 11 | Minnesota Wild | NW | 82 | 38 | 36 | 8 | 231 | 215 | 84 |
| 12 | Phoenix Coyotes | PA | 82 | 38 | 39 | 5 | 246 | 271 | 81 |
| 13 | Columbus Blue Jackets | CE | 82 | 35 | 43 | 4 | 223 | 279 | 74 |
| 14 | Chicago Blackhawks | CE | 82 | 26 | 43 | 13 | 211 | 285 | 65 |
| 15 | St. Louis Blues | CE | 82 | 21 | 46 | 15 | 197 | 292 | 57 |
Divisions: CE – Central, PA – Pacific, NW – Northwest
P – Clinched Presidents Trophy; Y – Clinched Division; X – Clinched Playoff spot

## Schedule and results

2005–06 regular season :
October: 6–4–2 (home: 5–2–0; road: 1–2–2)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordRecap
1WOctober 5, 20056–3Calgary Flames (2005–06)1–0–0Recap
2LOctober 8, 20051–2@ Phoenix Coyotes (2005–06)1–1–0Recap
3LOctober 9, 20051–2 OT@ Los Angeles Kings (2005–06)1–1–1Recap
4WOctober 12, 20056–0Vancouver Canucks (2005–06)2–1–1Recap
5LOctober 14, 20053–5Vancouver Canucks (2005–06)2–2–1Recap
6WOctober 16, 20054–1Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (2005–06)3–2–1Recap
7WOctober 19, 20056–1San Jose Sharks (2005–06)4–2–1Recap
8WOctober 22, 20053–2@ St. Louis Blues (2005–06)5–2–1Recap
9LOctober 23, 20052–4@ Chicago Blackhawks (2005–06)5–3–1Recap
10LOctober 25, 20051–3Vancouver Canucks (2005–06)5–4–1Recap
11LOctober 28, 20051–2 SO@ Columbus Blue Jackets (2005–06)5–4–2Recap
12WOctober 29, 20053–1Columbus Blue Jackets (2005–06)6–4–2Recap :
November: 4–6–1 (home: 2–2–1; road: 2–4–0)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordRecap
13LNovember 1, 20050–3@ Calgary Flames (2005–06)6–5–2Recap
14LNovember 2, 20051–2@ Vancouver Canucks (2005–06)6–6–2Recap
15WNovember 5, 20053–1@ San Jose Sharks (2005–06)7–6–2Recap
16WNovember 6, 20054–3 SO@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (2005–06)8–6–2Recap
17LNovember 8, 20052–4Phoenix Coyotes (2005–06)8–7–2Recap
18LNovember 11, 20051–3@ Detroit Red Wings (2005–06)8–8–2Recap
19LNovember 14, 20052–3@ Calgary Flames (2005–06)8–9–2Recap
20WNovember 19, 20054–2Nashville Predators (2005–06)9–9–2Recap
21LNovember 23, 20053–4Edmonton Oilers (2005–06)9–10–2Recap
22WNovember 25, 20055–3St. Louis Blues (2005–06)10–10–2Recap
23LNovember 30, 20052–3 SOColumbus Blue Jackets (2005–06)10–10–3Recap :
December: 8–7–1 (home: 4–2–0; road: 4–5–1)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordRecap
24LDecember 1, 20051–2@ Nashville Predators (2005–06)10–11–3Recap
25LDecember 3, 20052–3 SO@ New Jersey Devils (2005–06)10–11–4Recap
26LDecember 5, 20051–3@ New York Rangers (2005–06)10–12–4Recap
27WDecember 8, 20055–0@ Pittsburgh Penguins (2005–06)11–12–4Recap
28LDecember 10, 20052–3@ Philadelphia Flyers (2005–06)11–13–4Recap
29LDecember 11, 20052–3Buffalo Sabres (2005–06)11–14–4Recap
30WDecember 13, 20054–3@ New York Islanders (2005–06)12–14–4Recap
31LDecember 15, 20052–3Boston Bruins (2005–06)12–15–4Recap
32WDecember 17, 20054–3 OTMontreal Canadiens (2005–06)13–15–4Recap
33WDecember 19, 20052–1Dallas Stars (2005–06)14–15–4Recap
34LDecember 22, 20053–4@ Colorado Avalanche (2005–06)14–16–4Recap
35WDecember 23, 20055–3Colorado Avalanche (2005–06)15–16–4Recap
36WDecember 26, 20054–1@ Edmonton Oilers (2005–06)16–16–4Recap
37WDecember 28, 20054–2@ Edmonton Oilers (2005–06)17–16–4Recap
38LDecember 29, 20052–4@ Calgary Flames (2005–06)17–17–4Recap
39WDecember 31, 20054–3Vancouver Canucks (2005–06)18–17–4Recap :
January: 7–7–0 (home: 5–5–0; road: 2–2–0)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordRecap
40WJanuary 3, 20064–2@ Detroit Red Wings (2005–06)19–17–4Recap
41LJanuary 5, 20062–4Colorado Avalanche (2005–06)19–18–4Recap
42WJanuary 7, 20064–1Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (2005–06)20–18–4Recap
43LJanuary 9, 20061–2Dallas Stars (2005–06)20–19–4Recap
44LJanuary 14, 20061–4Calgary Flames (2005–06)20–20–4Recap
45LJanuary 16, 20061–6Ottawa Senators (2005–06)20–21–4Recap
46WJanuary 18, 20065–3Toronto Maple Leafs (2005–06)21–21–4Recap
47WJanuary 20, 20064–1Chicago Blackhawks (2005–06)22–21–4Recap
48WJanuary 22, 20063–2@ Chicago Blackhawks (2005–06)23–21–4Recap
49WJanuary 24, 20063–2Phoenix Coyotes (2005–06)24–21–4Recap
50WJanuary 26, 20065–1Nashville Predators (2005–06)25–21–4Recap
51LJanuary 27, 20063–4@ Columbus Blue Jackets (2005–06)25–22–4Recap
52LJanuary 30, 20064–5Detroit Red Wings (2005–06)25–23–4Recap
53LJanuary 31, 20062–3@ Colorado Avalanche (2005–06)25–24–4Recap :
February: 4–2–1 (home: 1–1–0; road: 3–1–1)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordRecap
54WFebruary 2, 20063–2 SO@ San Jose Sharks (2005–06)26–24–4Recap
55WFebruary 4, 20066–4@ Phoenix Coyotes (2005–06)27–24–4Recap
56WFebruary 7, 20065–1Los Angeles Kings (2005–06)28–24–4Recap
57LFebruary 9, 20061–2Colorado Avalanche (2005–06)28–25–4Recap
58WFebruary 10, 20066–3@ Edmonton Oilers (2005–06)29–25–4Recap
59LFebruary 12, 20062–3 OT@ Vancouver Canucks (2005–06)29–25–5Recap
60LFebruary 28, 20062–4@ Colorado Avalanche (2005–06)29–26–5Recap :
March: 5–7–2 (home: 3–3–1; road: 2–4–1)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordRecap
61LMarch 2, 20062–3@ Los Angeles Kings (2005–06)29–27–5Recap
62LMarch 3, 20062–4@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (2005–06)29–28–5Recap
63WMarch 5, 20065–3Colorado Avalanche (2005–06)30–28–5Recap
64LMarch 7, 20062–3 OTLos Angeles Kings (2005–06)30–28–6Recap
65LMarch 10, 20061–2 OT@ St. Louis Blues (2005–06)30–28–7Recap
66WMarch 12, 20064–3Edmonton Oilers (2005–06)31–28–7Recap
67LMarch 14, 20061–2Edmonton Oilers (2005–06)31–29–7Recap
68LMarch 19, 20062–3Calgary Flames (2005–06)31–30–7Recap
69WMarch 21, 20063–1Calgary Flames (2005–06)32–30–7Recap
70LMarch 22, 20062–4@ Dallas Stars (2005–06)32–31–7Recap
71LMarch 25, 20061–5San Jose Sharks (2005–06)32–32–7Recap
72WMarch 28, 20063–2@ Edmonton Oilers (2005–06)33–32–7Recap
73LMarch 29, 20061–2@ Vancouver Canucks (2005–06)33–33–7Recap
74WMarch 31, 20062–1 SO@ Vancouver Canucks (2005–06)34–33–7Recap :
April: 4–3–1 (home: 3–1–0; road: 1–2–1)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordRecap
75LApril 2, 20062–3Detroit Red Wings (2005–06)34–34–7Recap
76WApril 4, 20065–4 SOSt. Louis Blues (2005–06)35–34–7Recap
77WApril 6, 20062–1 SOEdmonton Oilers (2005–06)36–34–7Recap
78LApril 7, 20061–2@ Calgary Flames (2005–06)36–35–7Recap
79WApril 9, 20065–2@ Colorado Avalanche (2005–06)37–35–7Recap
80WApril 11, 20062–0Chicago Blackhawks (2005–06)38–35–7Recap
81LApril 13, 20062–4@ Nashville Predators (2005–06)38–36–7Recap
82LApril 15, 20063–4 OT@ Dallas Stars (2005–06)38–36–8Recap :
Legend:
  Win (2 points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Overtime/shootout loss (1 point) :

## Player statistics
### Scoring

* Position abbreviations: C = Center; D = Defense; G = Goaltender; LW = Left wing; RW = Right wing
* † = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Wild only.
* ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Wild only.
| No. | Player | Pos | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season |
| No. | Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM |
| 12 | Brian Rolston | C | 82 | 34 | 45 | 79 | 14 | 50 |
| 10 | Marian Gaborik | RW | 65 | 38 | 28 | 66 | 6 | 64 |
| 96 | Pierre-Marc Bouchard | C | 80 | 17 | 42 | 59 | 3 | 28 |
| 28 | Todd White | C | 61 | 19 | 21 | 40 | −1 | 18 |
| 25 | Randy Robitaille | C | 67 | 12 | 28 | 40 | −5 | 54 |
| 37 | Wes Walz | C | 82 | 19 | 18 | 37 | 7 | 61 |
| 32 | Marc Chouinard | C | 74 | 14 | 16 | 30 | 1 | 34 |
| 26 | Kurtis Foster | D | 58 | 10 | 18 | 28 | −3 | 60 |
| 9 | Alexandre Daigle | C | 46 | 5 | 23 | 28 | −6 | 12 |
| 11 | Pascal Dupuis | LW | 67 | 10 | 16 | 26 | −10 | 40 |
| 17 | Filip Kuba | D | 65 | 6 | 19 | 25 | 0 | 44 |
| 21 | Mikko Koivu | C | 64 | 6 | 15 | 21 | −9 | 40 |
| 20 | Andrei Zyuzin | D | 57 | 7 | 11 | 18 | −12 | 50 |
| 34 | Daniel Tjarnqvist | D | 60 | 3 | 15 | 18 | −11 | 32 |
| 19 | Stephane Veilleux | LW | 71 | 7 | 9 | 16 | −13 | 63 |
| 8 | Brent Burns | D | 72 | 4 | 12 | 16 | −7 | 32 |
| 55 | Nick Schultz | D | 79 | 2 | 12 | 14 | 2 | 43 |
| 27 | Kyle Wanvig | RW | 51 | 4 | 8 | 12 | −8 | 64 |
| 2 | Willie Mitchell‡ | D | 64 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 15 | 87 |
| 24 | Derek Boogaard | LW | 65 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 158 |
| 41 | Martin Skoula† | D | 17 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 10 |
| 83 | Matt Foy | RW | 19 | 2 | 3 | 5 | −4 | 16 |
| 18 | Mattias Weinhandl† | RW | 15 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 10 |
| 36 | Alex Henry | D | 63 | 0 | 5 | 5 | −4 | 73 |
| 35 | Manny Fernandez | G | 58 | 0 | 3 | 3 | | 6 |
| 7 | Erik Westrum | C | 10 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −1 | 2 |
| 23 | Scott Ferguson | D | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −3 | 22 |
| 29 | Josh Harding | G | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 0 |
| 44 | Andrei Nazarov | LW | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 6 |
| 56 | Erik Reitz | D | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −2 | 4 |
| 30 | Dwayne Roloson‡ | G | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 6 |

### Goaltending

* ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Wild only.
| No. | Player | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season |
| No. | Player | GP | W | L | OT | SA | GA | GAA | SV% | SO | TOI |
| 35 | Manny Fernandez | 58 | 30 | 18 | 7 | 1612 | 130 | 2.29 | .919 | 1 | 3411 |
| 30 | Dwayne Roloson‡ | 24 | 6 | 17 | 1 | 759 | 68 | 3.00 | .910 | 1 | 1361 |
| 29 | Josh Harding | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 83 | 8 | 2.59 | .904 | 1 | 185 |

## Awards and records
### Awards

| Type | Award/honor | Recipient | Ref |
| League (in-season) | NHL Defensive Player of the Week | Manny Fernandez (January 2) | |
| Team | Three Star Award | Brian Rolston | |

### Milestones

| Milestone | Player | Date |
| First game | Derek Boogaard | October 5, 2005 |
| First game | Matt Foy | October 5, 2005 |
| First game | Mikko Koivu | November 5, 2005 |
| First game | Josh Harding | April 4, 2006 |
| First game | Erik Reitz | April 7, 2006 |

## Transactions

The Wild were involved in the following transactions from February 17, 2005, the day after the 2004–05 NHL season was officially cancelled, through June 19, 2006, the day of the deciding game of the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals.

### Trades

| Date | Details | Details |
| July 30, 2005 (2005-07-30) | To Ottawa Senators 4th-round pick in 2005 | To Minnesota Wild Todd White |
| August 26, 2005 (2005-08-26) | To Phoenix Coyotes Zbynek Michalek | To Minnesota Wild Erik WestrumDustin Wood |
| March 8, 2006 (2006-03-08) | To Edmonton Oilers Dwayne Roloson | To Minnesota Wild 1st-round pick in 2006Conditional 3rd-round pick in 2007 |
| March 9, 2006 (2006-03-09) | To Dallas Stars Willie Mitchell2nd-round pick in 2007 | To Minnesota Wild Shawn BelleMartin Skoula |
| June 14, 2006 (2006-06-14) | To Atlanta Thrashers Conditional 3rd-round pick in 2006 or 2007 | To Minnesota Wild Rights to Petteri Nummelin |

### Players acquired

| Date | Player | Former team | Term | Via |
| August 1, 2005 (2005-08-01) | Andrei Nazarov | Phoenix Coyotes | | Free agency |
| August 4, 2005 (2005-08-04) | Scott Ferguson | Skovde IK (Allsvenskan) | | Free agency |
| August 4, 2005 (2005-08-04) | Kurtis Foster | Anaheim Mighty Ducks | | Free agency |
| August 15, 2005 (2005-08-15) | Daniel Tjarnqvist | Atlanta Thrashers | 1-year | Free agency |
| August 16, 2005 (2005-08-16) | Joey Tetarenko | Houston Aeros (AHL) | 1-year | Free agency |
| October 4, 2005 (2005-10-04) | Randy Robitaille | Nashville Predators | | Waivers |
| March 4, 2006 (2006-03-04) | Mattias Weinhandl | New York Islanders | | Waivers |
| June 1, 2006 (2006-06-01) | Niklas Backstrom | Oulun Karpat (Liiga) | multi-year | Free agency |
| June 6, 2006 (2006-06-06) | Peter Ratchuk | Adler Mannheim (DEL) | 1-year | Free agency |

### Players lost

| Date | Player | New team | Via |
| April 12, 2005 (2005-04-12) | Christoph Brandner | Sodertalje SK (SHL) | Free agency (UFA) |
| July 29, 2005 (2005-07-29) | Matt Johnson | | Compliance buyout |
| August 1, 2005 (2005-08-01) | Jason Beckett | | Contract expiration (UFA) |
| August 1, 2005 (2005-08-01) | Kyle Kettles | | Contract expiration (UFA) |
| August 4, 2005 (2005-08-04) | Mark Cullen | Chicago Blackhawks | Free agency (UFA) |
| August 6, 2005 (2005-08-06) | Andrew Brunette | Colorado Avalanche | Free agency (III) |
| August 9, 2005 (2005-08-09) | Richard Park | Vancouver Canucks | Free agency (UFA) |
| September 4, 2005 (2005-09-04) | Raymond Giroux | Ak Bars Kazan (RSL) | Free agency (VI) |
| September 14, 2005 (2005-09-14) | Jordan Krestanovich | Mora IK (SHL) | Free agency (UFA) |
| N/A | Marc Cavosie | Philadelphia Phantoms (AHL) | Free agency (UFA) |
| October 19, 2005 (2005-10-19) | Dan Cavanaugh | Philadelphia Phantoms (AHL) | Free agency (VI) |
| May 11, 2006 (2006-05-11) | Kirby Law | Geneve-Servette HC (NLA) | Free agency |
| May 13, 2006 (2006-05-13) | Alexandre Daigle | HC Davos (NLA) | Free agency |

### Signings

| Date | Player | Term | Contract type |
| July 28, 2005 (2005-07-28) | Patrick O'Sullivan | 3-year | Entry-level |
| July 29, 2005 (2005-07-29) | Alexandre Daigle | 1-year | Re-signing |
| August 2, 2005 (2005-08-02) | Roman Voloshenko | 3-year | Entry-level |
| August 3, 2005 (2005-08-03) | Marc Chouinard | 1-year | Re-signing |
| August 3, 2005 (2005-08-03) | Manny Fernandez | 1-year | Re-signing |
| August 8, 2005 (2005-08-08) | Miroslav Kopriva | | Entry-level |
| August 9, 2005 (2005-08-09) | Pierre-Marc Bouchard | 1-year | Re-signing |
| August 9, 2005 (2005-08-09) | Willie Mitchell | 1-year | Re-signing |
| August 9, 2005 (2005-08-09) | Todd White | multi-year | Re-signing |
| August 10, 2005 (2005-08-10) | Andrei Zyuzin | 1-year | Re-signing |
| August 16, 2005 (2005-08-16) | Kyle Wanvig | 1-year | Re-signing |
| August 19, 2005 (2005-08-19) | Rickard Wallin | 1-year | Re-signing |
| August 24, 2005 (2005-08-24) | Peter Olvecky | | Entry-level |
| September 9, 2005 (2005-09-09) | Clayton Stoner | | Entry-level |
| September 9, 2005 (2005-09-09) | Stephane Veilleux | multi-year | Re-signing |
| September 28, 2005 (2005-09-28) | Erik Reitz | | Re-signing |
| March 3, 2006 (2006-03-03) | Manny Fernandez | multi-year | Extension |
| April 5, 2006 (2006-04-05) | Danny Irmen | multi-year | Entry-level |
| May 1, 2006 (2006-05-01) | Benoit Pouliot | multi-year | Entry-level |
| June 14, 2006 (2006-06-14) | Petteri Nummelin | multi-year | Re-signing |
| June 19, 2006 (2006-06-19) | Brian Rolston | 1-year | Extension |

## Draft picks

Minnesota's picks at the 2005 NHL entry draft in Ottawa, Ontario.
| Round | # | Player | Pos | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team (League) |
| 1 | 4 | Benoit Pouliot | LW | Canada | Sudbury Wolves (OHL) |
| 2 | 57 | Matt Kassian | LW | Canada | Kamloops Blazers (WHL) |
| 3 | 65 | Kristofer Westblom | G | Canada | Kelowna Rockets (WHL) |
| 4 | 110 | Kyle Bailey | C | Canada | Portland Winterhawks (WHL) |
| 4 | 122 | Morten Madsen | LW | Denmark | Frölunda HC Jr. (Sweden) |
| 5 | 129 | Anthony Aiello | D | United States | Thayer Academy (USHS-MA) |
| 7 | 199 | Riley Emmerson | RW | Canada | Tri-City Americans (WHL) |