Matt Cullen will return to the ice tonight as the Minnesota Wild take on Calgary.

Cullen missed three games with a groin injury, and the Wild went 1-2 with him out of the lineup.

Cullen has tapered off some since a blistering start. He has six goals and 13 assists in 27 games.

He’s still playing well, and he’s third on the team in scoring.

However, the team is in dire need of a winning streak.

The Wild are 13-13-4, and only one point from last place in the Western Conference’s Northwest Division.

Not good.

Star Tribune Wild beat writer Michael Russo wrote a blog about the dire situation Minnesota is in right now. You can read it by clicking here. You have to scroll down a bit, but it’s a good read. It’s the one titled “Wild, one point from dead last in the division, find new ways to shoot themselves in the foot.”

He says he took some heat from players about it on Saturday before the game against Calgary.

That’s all for now.

Minnesota Wild center Matt Cullen left last night’s 3-2 win against Phoenix after the second period with a re-occuring groin injury.

Minnesota Wild center Matt Cullen could be sidelined for awhile with a groin injury ... or not.

Cullen, who has 19 points in 27 games, was a game-time decision coming in.

Cullen said he isn’t sure when he will be on the ice again. He will be evaluated today, and they will make a decision based on how it feels Saturday.

This could take awhile. Groin injuries are tricky for any athlete, especially for a pro hockey player.

We’re not sure how severe it is, so Cullen could be back soon. Chances are the team will not want to rush him back and risk further injury.

Stay tuned.

A new book by Minnesota author Ross Bernstein sheds some light on what it means to have a day with the Stanley Cup.

The book, “Raising Stanley,” features stories from more than 100 NHL players who were part of Stanley Cup winning teams.

The players recount what the Cup means to them, what it takes to get it, and how they spent their day with the Cup. If you don’t already know, each member of the winning team gets a full day — chaperoned, of course — with the Stanley Cup.

Moorhead’s Matt Cullen is one of only a few players born in Minnesota to have won the Stanley Cup. I think there are about 22, not sure on the number. Cullen, now with the Wild, won it with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2005-06.

Bernstein talks to almost all of the Minnesota guys about their Stanley Cup experience.

Here is a snippet from Cullen:

“I took Stanley back to my hometown of Moorhead for my ‘Day with the Cup,’ ” said Wild winger Matt Cullen, who won it with Carolina in 2006. “My wife and I have a children’s foundation for pediatric cancer research, ‘Cully’s Kids,’ and we had our annual charity event the day I brought it back, which was pretty special. We had a golf outing and had all the kids there with us, and we even filled up the Cup with fruit punch so that they could all drink out of it with straws. It was just awesome. We had a huge barbeque at our house too, for friends and family, complete with a celebrity whiffle-ball game for the Stanley Cup. It was amazing. My wife Bridget and I then went to bed with Stanley, for our first “threesome” I suppose! How great is that?! I remember a few days later the cleaning lady came over and I wouldn’t let her vacuum the big circular ring on the carpet where we had kept the Cup, I just didn’t want the memory to fade. So, we had the Stanley Cup carpet ring for a good month after that, just as a reminder of our incredible day and our even more incredible season.”

You can get the book from Bernstein’s Web site by clicking here. It looks like a good read.
 

Matt Cullen raises the Stanley Cup as a member of the champion Carolina Hurricanes in 2005-06.

Moorhead’s Matt Cullen, a first-year center with the Minnesota Wild, reached the 300 assist milestone for his 13-year career during the Wild’s 2-1 win against Calgary on Friday night at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.

He assisted on Martin Havlat’s game-winning goal at 4:20 of the third period.

Cullen, 34, becomes just the 47th American-born player, and the ninth from Minnesota, to record 300 assists in NHL history. Those are fact he was unaware of following the game.

I’m sure he’s not the only one who had no idea he was in such elite company.

Cullen, born in Virginia, Minn., before moving to Moorhead as a youth, now has three goals and eight assists in 12 games this season.

You can read all about Cullen’s milestone, including reaction from family and a former bantam coach, in today’s Forum or by clicking on the story here.

Minnesota plays at Columbus at 7 p.m. tonight.

Minnesota Wild forward Matt Cullen will move to the wing for the team’s game tonight against Calgary at the Xcel Energy Center.

Cullen, 34, will move to the left side, with Kyle Brodziak moving to center and Martin Havlat staying in to the right.

There have been a lot of line changes by Wild coach Todd Richards lately in an effort to spark some scoring.

 This is the latest version of the second line, which has included Cullen and Havlat regularly, and Cal Clutterbuck, Casey Wellman and now Brodziak.

“I don’t mind changing the lines around a bit,” Cullen said. “We need to find a spark to get our offense going.”

The Wild has scored only seven goals in the last five games.

Notes: Cullen fans can download the new Matt Cullen “Twilight” wallpaper at Wild.com.

It’s looks pretty slick. Here is a sample:

Cullen. Twilight. Get it?

The Minnesota Wild, as well as several other teams in the NHL and other non-celebrities and non-athletes across the world, are taking part in “Movember” to help raise money to fund research on cancers affecting men.

The premise is this: Start November clean shaven and grow a mustache (Mo) for the entire month.  You can read more about the origins of the Movember movement here.

Since 2003, Movember has raised about $42 million for cancer research.

Pretty much all the Wild players are growing their mustaches to support the cause. Forward Cal Clutterbuck’s stache even has a Twitter account. It’s funny stuff, which you can follow here.

Cullen told me the other day that he will be growing a mustache to help out. No word if he’s going with this 70′s look he sported a couple years back:

Matt Cullen will grow his mustache for Movember.

In any event, there is still time to become a “Mo Bro.” Just start growing your stache and let everyone know when they ask what’s going on with your upper lip that it’s to raise awareness and funds for men’s health issues.

You can donate money, and even get Movember apparel at the Movember site.

I’ll leave you with this, the best mustache in the history of faces:

Tom Selleck supports Movember. And his mustache is boss!

As we wait for Minnesota Wild center Matt Cullen to reach the 300 assist milestone (his next assist will be 300), we’ll take time to give you some other Wild news.

The team recently placed Cullen’s former linemate Guillaume Latandresse on IR, and recalled enforcer and winger Matt Kassian. Kassian, who had an assist and 28 penalty minutes in nine games in Houston, almost made the club out of training camp.

Kassian will likely be on the Wild third line. Cullen’s line included Cal Clutterbuck and Martin Havlat against the Sharks this week. Havlat and Cullen seem to a great rapport. We’ll see if Clutterbuck, Casey Wellman, Eric Nystrom, or whoever they put on the second line can mesh as well as Lantandresse when healthy.

On another note, Matt Cullen turned 34 on Tuesday. He’s the fourth-oldest Wild, behind John Madden (37), Andrew Brunette (37) and Jose Theodore (34).

That is all. Stay tuned for No. 300.