Wild still searching for some doggone consistency

The universal name for Georgia's mascot bulldog is Uga, and there have been 10 for football since the tradition started in 1956.

The dog known as Seiler's No. 4 served as Uga through the 1980s and was credited with winning two SEC titles. He did suffer a knee injury jumping off a hotel room bed in 1986, putting Seiler's No. 4 on the injured list for an important game with South Carolina.

The replacement was older brother Otto, and Georgia coach Vince Dooley expressed confidence that Otto would fill in admirably.

"We are deep at dog," Dooley said.

And when the Bulldogs won that road game 31-26, Dooley was effusive in praise for Otto's performance.

This came to mind before the Wild's contest with Toronto on Friday.

The presence of the Maple Leafs meant the anthem singer was facing a twinbill, first ''O Canada" and then the home country's tune.

Both were bellowed in resounding fashion by Andrew Cane, and without the self-serving flairs that can be so time-consuming.

"That gentleman is outstanding," I said to a Wild regular attendee. "He makes me nostalgic for the late, great Jimmy Bowers, our voice of the NHL in Minnesota."

Turns out, Cane is the backup. John de Causmeaker is the regular.

So we can say — while it might not be true at center, or goal, or even defense with Matt Dumba struggling — the Wild are high end when it comes to being deep at anthem.

The matinee on the day after Thanksgiving has become a tradition for the Wild. Twenty games on that date and 19 at home.

And there's a good reason: hard sellouts, as gaggles of youth from Woodbury and other suburbs stream into the arena in their jerseys and with credit card-wielding adults.

The announced attendance this time was an overflow of 18,997.

Yet the crowd was in something of a stupor at the start, as was Marc-Andre Fleury — goalie legend, and having the Wild tie their wagon to him even though he's turning 38 on Monday.

Fleury gave up a goal at 3:42, a harmless-looking shot from outside that suddenly appeared behind him. And then he gave up another at 12:43 — only 42 seconds after Kirill Kaprizov had tied it — that was a putrid gaffe on his part.

The runners-up in the first period to Kaprizov's 12th goal for positive crowd reaction were three hits from Ryan Reaves, previously a longtime enemy with the St. Louis Blues, now playing his first game with the Wild.

Reaves, 35, has stayed in the NHL as a physical force for over a decade. Any Wild fan fortunate enough to be a subscriber to the Star Tribune was reminded of that by a fantastic photo from Aaron Lavinsky on Oct. 13, the Wild's season opener.

Lavinsky was right there as Reaves landed a right to the face of Marcus Foligno, a hard-noser in his own right, against the glass.

Reaves was starting his second season with the New York Rangers. He made the opening lineup, delivered the punch, but had been scratched in eight of the past nine games before being traded here last Friday for a 2025 fifth-round draft choice.

He gave the share of the crowd paying attention what it wanted in the first eight minutes: a hit on superstar Auston Matthews that led to an instant loud cheer.

Then, in the final minute of the period, he twice smacked into Justin Holl, a former Gopher who has become an amazing NHL success story.

The reaction was such that in the third period, when looking down rather than at the ice, another cheer erupted and I asked:

"Did Reaves hit somebody again?"

The answer: "Exactly."

The Leafs were missing much of their defense, yet came away with a 4-3 victory. Fleury gave up those early two, then Dumba watched as Calle Jarnkrok broke a 2-2 tie at the crease in the middle of the second period.

Goals were traded in the third for that one-goal final.

Reaves was in the locker room, an affable fellow, and admitting the Strib photo still can be found on his social media outlets.

He said there was a plan to make something out of it (apparently a poster), until Reaves found out that can't be done with copyrighted material.

And then he was traded.

Reaves shook his head and said: "[Foligno] is a good guy and now a teammate. I'm not doing that to a teammate. I'm dropping that idea of trying to promote that."

Friday's result left the Wild with only four wins in 11 home games (including an OT loss). The good news is, win, lose or gift point, attendees can be certain of this:

The Wild are deep at anthem.