Jarrod Peterson is the sports editor at the Albert Lea Tribune. He can be reached at jarrod.peterson@albertleatribune.com.

I thought I was going to be in for a long winter.

The hot start by the Minnesota Vikings had me excited. I thought this team was headed for the playoffs.

But then, the injuries set in. The offensive line deteriorated so much so that quarterback Sam Bradford couldn’t drop back to throw a slant route.

Then, offensive coordinator Norv Turner called it quits. Blair Walsh got released. The Vikings managed to ruin three holidays — Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas — and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them ruin New Year’s with a loss to the lowly Chicago Bears.

I was excited for the Minnesota Timberwolves season. I was eager to see what Tom Thibodeau could do with this young roster that features Karl-Anthony Towns, Andrew Wiggins and Zach LaVine. I need to relax and realize that two months-worth of games is a small sample size, and now Minnesota is playing far better than it did in the beginning of the season. The three aforementioned young stars are figuring out how to play together, but the team still lacks competent bench players and a starting point guard. This team will be in the lottery again, but the 2017 draft class is shaping up to be a great draft, perhaps the best since the 2003 draft that included LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and Carmelo Anthony.

I think Minnesota needs to move on from Ricky Rubio and hand the reins to the rookie — Kris Dunn. While Thibodeau isn’t a fan of playing rookies for big minutes, Dunn is already a good defender and playing with Towns, Wiggins and LaVine will only help him on offense.

That is the negative for winter sports so far.

Here is the positive, so far, for the winter.

The Minnesota Wild have been on a roll. They can’t seem to lose, and its young players have stepped up. Twenty different players have scored a goal, led by Charlie Coyle (12) and Eric Staal (11), and Devan Dubynk has been the best goaltender in the NHL. Minnesota is giving up a measly 1.9 goals per game and has won its last 11 games, including a 3-2 overtime victory Tuesday night over Nashville to move to 22-8-4. Dubnyk is 18-6-3 and has a save percentage of 94.7 percent.

The Wild has been Minnesota’s most consistent team in recent years. They have made the playoffs the last three seasons and are closing in on the top spot in the Central Division in the Western Conference. I enjoy watching hockey in the regular season, but I will follow the Wild more closely as March and April approach.