Wild face a summer of hard questions if they want to become a true contender

DENVER — The Minnesota Wild’s season ending at the hands of the mighty Colorado Avalanche is nothing to be ashamed of.Well, except for the way they lost — a Game 5 collapse that preceded the humbling handshake line.Colorado is the class of the NHL, the Presidents’ Trophy winners. And the idea that Minnesota would blow through the Dallas Stars and the Avalanche in back-to-back rounds was always — well — ambitious, especially this round without Joel Eriksson Ek and Jonas Brodin.Advertisement