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After winning a Stanley Cup with New Jersey in 1995, why in the world would new Wild coach Jacques Lemaire put himself in a virtually hopeless situation? Because he enjoys teaching younger players, and also because general manager Doug Risebrough, a former Canadiens teammate, asked him to.

Lemaire's hands will be full, that's for certain. The Wild has no proven scorers on its roster, unless you count Sergei Krivokrasov, whose goal total dropped to a mere 10 from 25 the previous season. He enters the season as the team's leading goal scorer.

On defense, Risebrough put together a mix of physicality and finesse. Sean O'Donnell and Andy Sutton fit the former, while Brad Bombardir, Filip Kuba, Curtis Leschyshyn and Lubomir Sekeras are penciled in to provide the latter.

Lemaire's strength lies in his ability to get players to buy into a system. He has been knocked for being too conservative, but his approach will be perfect for a team looking to find its identity.

For more on the Wild, bookmark this page and check back Wednesday, Oct. 11 for a Sports Illustrated Scouting Report.

BRIGHT SPOTS		GRAY AREAS
Goaltender Zac Bierk, plucked from Tampa Bay in the expansion draft, is the brother of former Skid Row singer Sebastian Bach. A commitment from fans who purchased more than 15,000 season tickets erases some of the sting lingering from when the North Stars skipped town. Forwards Darby Hendrickson and Jeff Nielsen will be making a homecoming of sorts. Both starred for the University of Minnesota.		Without playing a single game, the Wild found themselves embroiled in controversy. The franchise, along with the NHL, filed a lawsuit against the Canada-based children's magazine, Wild for trademark rights. Goaltending. Jamie McLennan started only briefly when he was with the Islanders. Manny Fernandez has played sparingly, backing up Ed Belfour in Dallas. And Bierk has barely gotten a taste of the NHL.

Comings
Player	Pos.	From	Via
Zac Bierk	G	Minnesota	Re-signed
Brad Bombardir	D	New Jersey	Trade
Brian Bonin	C	Vancouver	Free agent
J.J. Daigneault	D	Phoenix	Free agent
Sergei Krivokrasov	LW	Minnesota	Re-signed
Filip Kuba	D	Minnesota	Re-signed
Antti Laaksonen	LW	Boston	Free agent
Darryl Laplante	C	Minnesota	Re-signed
Christian Matte	RW	Colorado	Free agent
Mike Matteucci	D	Boston	Free agent
Brett McLean	C	St. John (AHL)	Free agent
Pavel Patera	LW	Minnesota	Free agent
Scott Pellerin	LW	Minnesota	Re-signed
Andy Sutton	D	San Jose	Free agent
Rickard Wallin	C	Phoenix	Trade

Goings
Player	Pos.	To	Via
Joe Juneau	C/LW	Phoenix	Trade
Chris Terreri	G	New Jersey	Trade
Mike Vernon	G	Calgary	Trade

Prospect Watch
Marian Gaborik, LW, 6'1", 183
Born: February 14, 1982 in Trencin, Slovakia
Acquired: 2000 draft, first round (No. 3 overall)
Scouts rave over his speed and offense, comparing him to Marian Hossa and Miroslav Satan. He has an uncanny ability to change speeds when need be. The knock on Gaborik is that he's inconsistent at times, meaning he sometimes falls into a rut where he can't create enough chances for himself.

Get the Highlighter
Fri., Oct. 6 at Anaheim: This is where Wild history begins.
Wed., Oct. 11 vs. Philadelphia: Xcel Energy Center in downtown St. Paul will be full of excitement as the Flyers help christen the new building.
Mon., Jan. 15 at Columbus: The fight for expansion dominance surely will be both team's Stanley Cup this year.
Wed., Jan. 17 vs. Columbus: In the second of three meetings, the Wild hosts the Blue Jackets for the first time.
Sun., April 8 vs. Colorado: This is where the honeymoon ends. The book closes on the inaugural season.

Quoteworthy
"I've done the best thing I could possibly do with it, and that's hold it above your head on the ice."
--Bombardir, on winning the Stanley Cup with the New Jersey Devils

Team-by-team previews compiled by CNNSI.com's Ken Klavon, Jamie MacDonald and Jimmy Traina.

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