Charlie Coyle is Exhibit A in how the winning Wild can improve

Two games into the season and Devan Dubnyk appears to be the same rise-to-the-occasion goaltender he was a year ago for the Wild.

As expected.

Zach Parise, too, has so far been sensational.

As expected.

After totaling 100 points last season behind the play of Dubnyk, Parise, Nino Niederreiter, Jason Zucker, Ryan Suter, Jared Spurgeon and some others, Wild GM Chuck Fletcher and coach Mike Yeo stressed obtaining improvement from within.

The list of guys expected to step up is a long one.

So far, Charlie Coyle appears to be the prime example of doing exactly that.

Coyle scored two goals Saturday night, the first a marvelous solo effort in the first period and the second a simple carom off his body on a pass from Thomas Vanek, as Minnesota opened the home portion of its season with a 3-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues in front of 19,096 at Xcel Energy Center.

Wild F Charlie Coyle watches his first goal of the night elude St. Louis goaltender Jake Allen’s glove in the first period of Minnesota’s 3-2 win over the Blues on Saturday night at Xcel Energy Center. (MHM Photo / Jeff Wegge)

The scintillating first goal gave the Wild a 1-0 lead, and Coyle did all the work by chipping the puck up the boards to himself, shaking off two defenders and lifting home a backhander with just eight seconds remaining in the first period.

It drew oohs from the standing-room crowd, but came as no surprise to Dubnyk.

“I said that before the season started: I think he’s going to be a guy that as the season goes on, I don’t think he’s going to surprise anybody. And anybody who doesn’t know who he is is going to start to know.

“I told him, ‘That was Marshawn Lynch on the ice there,’ he was just throwing guys off of him and getting to the end zone. It was pretty awesome to watch.”

The 6-foot-3 Coyle, whose rights came to Minnesota as part of a trade that sent Brent Burns to San Jose, is just 23 but is showing more and more that he has the ability to use his size as a weapon.

Coyle had three shots, three hits, one takeaway and two goals against the rugged Blues in 16 minutes, 55 seconds on the ice.

“He played the type of game that we needed him to play against that team,” Wild coach Mike Yeo said.

Another on the list expected to hike his production is Vanek.

So far, so good.

Vanek scored in the opening win at Colorado, then ripped the puck into the crease from deep in the corner for what was announced as his 300th NHL goal.

No. 300 will have to wait – after careful video analysis, the goal was awarded to Coyle.

“That’s OK,” Vanek said. “It’s a goal, so that’s what matters.”

Vanek has a goal and an assist in two games, while Coyle has two goals and an assist.

Success stems from keeping his feet moving, according to Coyle.

“That kind of creates my energy,” he said, “and our team’s really doing things well, too. Just moving the feet, moving the puck, and getting body position around the net. That’s what I tried to do tonight.”

Inject four goals from the extraordinary Parise plus solid goaltending from Dubnyk and the Wild have started the season 2-0.

“I’m comfortable where I’m at,” said Dubnyk, who finished the evening with 30 saves. “I’m trying to build. It’s early in the season, so there’s good things and bad things. You sharpen up as you go.”

Going 2-0 is perfect, but 80 games remain.

“It’s good to get wins this time of year,” Yeo said. “Nobody’s on top of their game, but when you get wins when you’re not on top of your game, that’s a good thing.”

Other guys expected to step up along with Coyle and Vanek – guys such as Mikko Koivu, Jason Pominville, Mikael Granlund, Jonas Brodin, Matt Dumba and more – can take heart from the fact that they and their teammates have four days to work on things prior to Game 3 Thursday at Arizona.

“Our only mindset,” Yeo said, “is we have to get better.”

The post Building from within appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Minnesota breaks camp with confidence

The Wild cruised through six exhibition games with a 4-2 record, capturing their fourth victory with a convincing 6-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres Thursday night at the Xcel Energy Center.

So, all is good, right?

Well, the Sabres aren’t quite in the class of the Blackhawks, and preseason injuries to Justin Fontaine, Erik Haula and Jordan Schroeder leave Minnesota a tiny bit banged up among the forwards.

But after an easy win for the Wild, how can any fan be anything but optimistic before the first puck of the season is dropped?

The slate of exhibitions is complete.

“It’s not about the result,” Wild coach Mike Yeo said after the Sabres had been dispatched. “It’s far more about how you’re playing the game.”

To date, Yeo noted, that has been good.

The list of Minnesota players expected to exhibit improvement this season is a long one that includes Thomas Vanek, Jason Pominville, Charlie Coyle, Matt Dumba, Jonas Brodin, Mikael Granlund and Haula.

Jason Zucker (MHM Photo / Carson Mark)

As well, Jason Zucker and Nino Niederreiter continue to mature, Ryan Suter has the ability to contribute some ice time, Mikko Koivu seems to know how to win faceoffs and pass the puck, Jared Spurgeon and Marco Scandella remain solid on the blue line and winger Zach Parise is, well… Zach Parise.

Then there’s that guy in goal, Devan Dubnyk.

“I think he looks ready,” Yeo said.

Dubnyk rescued the Wild in the middle of last season, arriving in time to halt a goaltending nightmare.

“Some stability in that position is good for us,” Parise said.

It adds up to a decent core that will receive help from additions expected to include Chris Porter, picked up on waivers Thursday, along with Tyler Graovac, Brett Bulmer and one or two others.

Wild coach Mike Yeo said last week Mikko Koivu’s 2015 training camp is his best in Yeo’s tenure behind the Minnesota bench. (MHM Photo / Carson Mark).

Koivu and Coyle netted two assists against the Sabres, while Graovac and Zucker each had a goal and an assist. Also scoring were Vanek, Parise, Niederreiter and Zac Dalpe as Minnesota outshot Buffalo 42-11.

Negatives?

Dubnyk lamented the fact that Buffalo managed just 11 shots against him.

“It would have been nice to see a few more,” he said, “but at the same time I thought that we were really good out there.”

Negatives are always easy to spot in sports, of course, but who wants to dwell on negatives at this point?

There are 82 games ahead, starting next Thursday against the Avalanche in Colorado. The home opener is Oct. 10 vs. the St. Louis Blues. Every team is undefeated right now as training camps conclude.

“I think it’s been a good camp,” Yeo said, “and we feel like we’re ready.”

The post Winning Wild roll towards opener appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Deepest lineup ever presents good ‘problem’ as playoffs begin

St. Paul – With the Stanley Cup Playoffs about to open and Minnesota considered one of the better of the 16 candidates, there are a lot of happy faces these days in the Wild dressing room.

However, donning a smile when you are out of the lineup for your team’s opening Stanley Cup Playoff game does not come easily.

And the Wild, who kick off a seven-game series against the ultra-tough St. Louis Blues Thursday evening in St. Louis, have an abundance of extra bodies who will not be suiting up.

It’s a good thing and it’s a bad thing.

This is without question the most talented team in coach Mike Yeo’s four seasons and — possibly — the most talented team in Wild history. That means sometime-regulars like Nate Prosser, Erik Haula, Sean Bergenheim and possibly Ryan Carter might be scratched Thursday.

Carter was among the top 12 forwards in Tuesday’s Wild practice at the Xcel Energy Center because Matt Cooke sat out with what Yeo called “discomfort,” but Yeo declined to speculate about who’s in and who’s out between Cooke and Carter.

As of Tuesday, Prosser, Haula and Bergenheim looked to be on the outside.

No one has had a crazier ride to this point than Prosser, who was among the Wild’s top six defensemen a year ago, then signed as a free agent with the Blues before he was claimed off waivers by Minnesota at the beginning of the season.

“I’m happy to be back,” Prosser said. A native of Elk River, Minn., he pasted on his trademark smile after practice Tuesday before admitting that it stings to be on the outside.

“It’s out of my control,” he said, noting that all he can do is work hard in practice, offer as much psychological and physical support to teammates as possible and be ready if called to play.

Minnesota’s depth – thanks to players who have recently returned to full health like Jason Zucker, Carter and probably Cooke – is at an all-time high.

“It’s probably as deep as it’s ever been,” Prosser noted, crediting additions obtained by general manager Chuck Fletcher including Jordan Leopold, Chris Stewart and Bergenheim. “We’ve got a lot of guys who are ready and good players. It’s a testament to our team.”

Selecting his lineup and keeping the ones who aren’t in it happy is part of Yeo’s job.

“That’s part of the challenge,” Yeo said, “but guys that were here last year remember and guys that have been part of the playoffs know things change quickly.”

Haula, Yeo pointed out, played limited minutes a year ago before taking on more responsibility “and obviously having quite an impact as things went on.”

Haula’s smile following practice Tuesday appeared a bit forced.

“It’s an exciting time,” he said. “Of course it’s disappointing not being in, but I’ve just got to do the work and be ready when called upon.”

Carter has ridden the roller coaster of emotions, slipping out of the team’s top 12 forwards before climbing back in with Cooke missing Tuesday.

Although Carter beamed after practice, he knew his status could change quickly.

“I think we’re all prepared to play at any time,” he said. “That’s kind of where my head’s at right now.”

The differences between a year ago and today on the Wild’s roster are large: Cody McCormick, Stephane Veilleux, Clayton Stoner, Jon Blum and Ilya Bryzgalov have been replaced by Zucker, Stewart, Leopold, Devan Dubnyk, Thomas Vanek, Matt Dumba and Justin Fontaine. Also available besides Prosser and Haula are Bergenheim, Christian Folin and Jordan Schroeder.

“This team’s more talented than last year,” radio analyst Tom Reid said. “They understand a bit more what’s expected of ’em.”

The Wild’s lineup is not only deep, Reid pointed out, it’s healthy.

“Minnesota’s got more bullets in the chamber than they had previous years,” he added.

Yeo says he’s not about to declare this a Stanley Cup contender, even if the possibility of Minnesota advancing deep into the playoffs does exist.

“Definitely, this is the best team in my tenure,” Yeo said. “The most complete team. Again, we’re not going in the locker room saying, ‘OK, this is our year, this is do or die,’ or anything like that. We’ve got a quiet confidence about us.”

That said, he noted, the Blues present too tough of an opponent to think too big.

“Our expectations,” Yeo said, “are nothing more than to be ready for Game One right now.”

The post Wild’s talent, depth creates tough decisions appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Father and daughter address media in Wild locker room

Jordyn Leopold, whose school assignment to write a persuasive letter ended up circling the globe and proved to be a harbinger for the Wild’s trade-deadline acquisition of her father, squeezed next to her dad in the Wild locker room Sunday night and faced a barrage of reporters and TV cameras.

Jordyn, 10, had led the “let’s play hockey” cheer without missing a beat at the outset of the Wild’s 3-2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche Sunday night at the Xcel Energy Center.

Asked afterward if she was nervous, she smiled and said, “Yeah. A little.”

With beaming Wild defenseman and former University of Minnesota star Jordan Leopold at her side, Jordyn fielded numerous questions about her letter “to the Wild coaches” that went viral after it hit the Internet.

“I never thought it would be that popular,” she said.

Jordyn’s hand-written letter, which begged Minnesota’s NHL hierarchy to bring her father back to his home in the Twin Cities, was never sent to the team.

“It was another way for me to write my feelings down on paper,” she said.

And now?

“I’m really happy and excited that he’s home.”

Without prodding, Jordyn was able to look at the big picture and comment about how numerous kids around the world are faced with not having one or both parents around as much as they would like. She was feeling that when here teacher assigned her class to write a persuasive letter.

“We all have those times where we miss parents, or we don’t have them, and it was just kind of one of those moments,” she said.

Her dad, who played 10 minutes, 18 seconds against the Avs, talked about how special it was to see the oldest of his four children deliver the pregame “let’s play hockey” announcement.

Equally special, he added, was the reception of her letter after it began to make the rounds. He heard from people in New Zealand, Russia, Israel and dozens of far-flung locations who had seen reproductions of the letter.

“I think she impacted a lot of people and touched a lot of hearts,” he noted. “Definitely, Dad’s.”

Leopold, a native of Golden Valley, seconded his daughter’s assertion that his case is not unique.

“We have military families out there that do this every day, and they aren’t in the spotlight,” he said. “It’s a prime example of what really happens to families. It doesn’t matter; it’s relatively anybody.”

Jordyn did not get an “A” for her letter, she said, but her dad pointed out that the school is now using that letter as a prime example of how to do it.

“It was just from the heart,” he said. “It was sweet.”

The post Jordyn Leopold, 10, shares her feelings about her famous letter appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Parise remains at father’s side as Minnesota falls to San Jose

SAINT PAUL — J.P. Parise was a Minnesota hockey icon before anyone ever heard of sons Zach or Jordan.

J.P.’s late-stage battle with cancer forced Zach to skip the Wild’s 4-3 overtime home loss to the San Jose Sharks Tuesday night, and everyone with the Wild concurred with Zach’s decision.

Ryan Suter, the Wild defenseman who lost his father, Bob, to a heart attack at age 57 in September, fielded a phone call from Parise before the game to hear that J.P. was fighting for his life and Zach needed to be there.

“Life is much bigger than hockey,” Suter said after Minnesota lost for the eighth time in its past 10 games and fourth time in overtime during that stretch. “He definitely made the right decision to be with his family.”

Jason Zucker, who arrived at the Xcel Energy Center before the game to discover that Parise’s No. 11 sweater was not hanging in front of his locker, filled the void on the Wild’s top line with two goals and an assist.

Zucker is now tied with Parise and Nino Niederreiter for the team lead in goals with 14.

“To be honest, I don’t really care about that,” Zucker said. “We need to win and that’s all I really care about.”

In a season that is rapidly disintegrating for the Wild, they lost to the Sharks on home ice for the first time in the past eight meetings and dropped to 18-15-5 overall for 11th place in the 14-team Western Conference.

Wild coach Mike Yeo spun things as positive as possible, insisting he was pleased with the play of his guys most of the evening and denying that, besides goaltending, three or four other players might have been “below average.”

“We were good tonight,” he stated.

Earlier, however, Yeo said this team cannot afford to have any players “be below average,” then observed that it’s “tricky” to discuss whether goalie Darcy Kuemper has fallen into that category because of “the confidence factor.”

That said, he noted, a team’s success invariably starts and ends with goaltending.

In that department, Kuemper now has a 13-12-1 record with a 2.68 goals-against mark and a .902 save percentage. He stopped 22 of 26 shots Tuesday, including one of two in overtime.

And the Wild’s season continued spiraling out of control.

It didn’t help that center Mikael Granlund is sidelined by a wrist injury and defenseman Nate Prosser missed the game because of illness.

But Parise is this team’s on-ice and off-ice leader; his absence was staggering.

“Our concern is with him,” Yeo said. “I thought our guys banded together and we played hard for him. All I can say is all our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family right now.”

Jason Pominville commented how the mood in the dressing room before the game turned glum when Zach’s situation was made known.

“It’s just tough to see something like this happening to a teammate and a friend and a big part of this team,” Pominville said. “I think a lot of guys were a little down, thinking about what was going on, but at the same time it might have pulled us together a little bit and we were able to put in a good effort.

“But these are things you never want to see anyone have to deal with. It’s just really unfortunate and we were thinking about him quite a bit.”

Zucker said he feels for Parise.

“He’s a huge leader for us, an emotional leader for us, and to see him going through what he’s going through is very tough,” Zucker said. “I can’t imagine the pain he’s going through right now.”

The Parises, of course, are immensely close and the father was way more proud of his son’s accomplishments than of anything he did in the sport.

I knew J.P. a bit from his days with the North Stars when I was a young sportswriter with the Minneapolis Tribune, but I didn’t really get to know him until he was director of the sport at the hockey factory known as Shattuck-St. Mary’s in Faribault, Minn.

I remember visiting Faribault for a Twin Cities daily newspaper to write about this freshman stud at the University of North Dakota by the name of Zach Parise who had returned to Shattuck to work out while the Fighting Sioux were on Christmas break.

J.P. made me feel at home, giving me a guided tour of the gorgeous campus and noting that there was another pretty good player currently playing there by the name of Sidney Crosby.

Zach, like his father, sat down for a lengthy interview and was gracious and humble.

His aim, he said — provided the teams overlooked his less-than-huge stature — was to make it to the National Hockey League.

Despite his 5-foot-11 height — he’s two inches taller than his father — there was never a doubt about that.

Like his dad, Zach brought nearly unmatched intensity and work ethic to pro hockey. And, also like his father, he has remained gracious and humble through an outstanding NHL career.

J.P. was always quick to say that Zach had more talent, and when I ran into him and his wife, Donna, before a game at the X two seasons ago, J.P. was proudly carrying a sign he had gotten signed by his son that read “Zach Parise Avenue.”

Although no one named any streets after J.P. Parise the hockey player, he was such a popular player and person that more than a few parents named one of their children after him.

J.P. was born 73 years ago in Smooth Rock Falls, Ontario, but became a Minnesotan as an adult. He played 152 games for the Minneapolis Bruins in the early 1960s when the Bruins were one of Boston’s farm teams, then played seven-plus seasons with the North Stars, beginning as a rookie in 1967, before stints with the New York Islanders and the Cleveland Barons and concluding with a final season as the North Stars’ captain in 1978-79.

He exhibited heart and soul as a player and as a man, traits he passed on to his youngest son, Zach.

Sometime soon, Zach Parise will return to the Minnesota lineup, wearing the same No. 11 his father wore for the North Stars, and continue delivering the kind of tenacity and intensity he has become known for.

You can count on it; it is part of the Parise legacy.

The post Heart and soul absent from Wild loss appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Wild do gallop when they get on their offensive horse

With Zach Parise, Jared Spurgeon and Marco Scandella back in the Minnesota lineup Sunday afternoon, the Wild did not seem to have many holes.

Heck, the back-on-track Wild displayed an interesting third line of Erik Haula, Thomas Vanek and Jason Zucker for their 4-3 home overtime victory over the Winnipeg Jets.

As the Wild inch toward the quarter pole of the 2014-15 season in the coming week, they mostly look like the potential contender that partisans were musing about after last spring’s mini-playoff run and the offseason signing of Vanek.

Two X factors are health, of course, and penalties.

The Wild dropped three of five games that Parise missed with a concussion, while Spurgeon, Scandella, Matt Cooke, Keith Ballard and Christian Folin have also been sidelined so far, not to mention No. 3 goalie Josh Harding.

Through 17 games, the Wild have lost 44 man-games to illness and injury, but this team has persevered.

While Spurgeon missed five games because of a shoulder injury and Scandella two because of illness, players such as Ryan Carter, fellow PK-specialist Kyle Brodziak and youngsters Nino Niederreiter, Haula and several others have chipped in.

Ryan Carter has played a strong two-way game since the Wild signed him days before the season opener. (MHM Photo / Jeff Wegge)

Who figured Carter would turn into an offensive force?

The White Bear Lake product has become the surprising offseason pickup and went into Sunday’s game against the Jets tied with Vanek, Niedlerreiter, Ryan Suter, Charlie Coyle and Jason Pominville for second in team scoring with nine points, just one behind Parise.

Carter’s setup of Haula for a short-handed goal in a 2-1 road victory over the Dallas Stars on Saturday turned that game around.

Vanek picked up another assist Sunday to give him nine assists and 10 points, and most folks who watched him tear up the offensive zone when he was a University of Minnesota player for two seasons expect him to resume finding the net in his adopted home town.

His lack of goals puts him in good company – Mikko Koivu, Mikael Granlund and Coyle each have just two.

Nevertheless, Vanek, Koivu, Granlund, Coyle and others remain key ingredients in an offense that controls the puck, outshoots nearly every opponent and gives a breather to an able defense anchored by Ryan Suter, Spurgeon, Scandella and Jonas Brodin plus goaltenders Darcy Kuemper and Nik Backstrom.

The other team can’t score if it doesn’t have the puck.

One key to this, of course, is Parise. The former North Dakota star plays in nothing but high gear, rarely loses a puck battle and sets the intensity bar on 10 every time he’s on the ice.

His two goals Sunday gave him a team-high 12 points in 12 games played.

The math on that is pretty easy.

Wild coach Mike Yeo noted that it hardly matters that Parise scored two goals without using his stick Sunday, because Parise gets rewarded for doing things the right way.

“He doesn’t take short cuts,” Yeo said. “When we talked about doing something before the game and draw it up on the board, and then that first goal goes in because he does exactly what we were talking about.

“That’s leadership.”

The Wild took eight penalties in the second period to waylay their momentum and put themselves in a five-on-three disadvantage three times Sunday, which helped the Jets rally.

But Scandella stepped in to contribute his first overtime goal and third of the season to end it.

“We’re a resilient group here,” Scandella said. “We worked hard and didn’t break.”

Parise watched the Wild stumble some while he was sidelined.

Sunday, their stumbling was less noticeable.

“At least tonight, when we weren’t penalty killing, when we weren’t in the box, we played fast, we pressured them, we forced them into mistakes,” he said. “And then we got into penalty trouble.”

“Things happen,” Yeo said. “I like that we re-grouped and went after it. We got back on the attack, and that’s the way we have to play the game. We’re a team that dictates and initiates. When we play that way we’re effective and when we don’t, we’re not so much.”

With 65 games remaining, how those factors develop will reveal a lot.

The post Brothers: Wild Still a Good Bet appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Efficient shooting and sound defense key yet another Minnesota home win.

The Wild don’t seem to do a lot wrong these days on home ice.

Heck, they aren’t doing much wrong at all.

After posting 5-0 and 2-0 home wins to begin the season, they ripped four first-period shots past an unrecognizable Evgeni Nabokov and rolled to a 7-2 triumph over the Tampa Bay Lightning Saturday night at the Xcel Energy Center.

Nabokov came into this match with a 16-8-3 all-time record and a 2.09 goals-against record versus Minnesota, but he played less than 18 minutes before Lightning coach Jon Cooper put an end to his nightmarish evening.

Now the Wild – they were 3-0 at home in exhibition play – have won eight of their past nine starts at the X including playoffs and are 34-11-5 at home in games that count since the beginning of the 2013-14 season.

It doesn’t hurt that young goaltender Darcy Kuemper raised his Xcel Energy Center record to 14-3-2.

Before the season began, Wild fans sometimes kibitzed about their team’s offensive talents and defensive prowess but felt obliged to also address what appeared to be an uncertain situation in goal.

Kuemper, one of four Wild netminders that included Niklas Backstrom, Josh Harding and Ilya Bryzgalov last season, did not emerge as the official No. 1 goalie until the day before the opener.

Now he has a 4-1-0 record, a goals-against average of 0.80 and a .966 save percentage.

The 24-year-old from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, seems to have a stranglehold on the starting job, and his play has quieted many of the doubters.

But the 6-foot-5 Kuemper will be the first to tell you he’s getting tons of help.

Indeed.

Minnesota has outshot its first six opponents and on Saturday the Wild defense did not allow a shot on goal when the Lightning had a five-on-three power play for 29 seconds early in the third period.

“Our ‘D’ is great,” winger Thomas Vanek said. “I’ve never seen a group that gaps up as well as they do, and them doing that gives the forwards confidence that, ‘Hey, they’re going to give us a chance to get the puck back,’ so we’ll help them out. It’s a two-way street, and right now it’s going pretty good.”

Coach Mike Yeo says his defensemen carried the day in a 2-0 win over Arizona Thursday night and followed that up well on Saturday, adding, “They’re playing to our expectations.”

The offense, meanwhile, has 19 goals in six games and spread it around Saturday: Six players scored and 13 players picked up at least one point, led by two goals from Jason Zucker.

“We had production from every single line,” said winger Erik Haula, who scored his first goal of the season. “That’s huge.”

Part of that production came courtesy of captain Mikko Koivu, who netted his first point of the season with a goal in the first period.

Koivu said he had been getting chances and wasn’t overly worried about his scoring drought, but paused and admitted, “You’re starting to think — let’s be honest – that you should be scoring.”

Koivu’s left wing, Thomas Vanek, also came into the game without a goal but chipped in his third and fourth assists of the season, one on a pinpoint pass to Jared Spurgeon at the corner of the net for a tap-in.

“I’m thinking, ‘Shoot! Shoot!’” Yeo said. “Then he makes that pass and I’m: ‘Good play.’”

The final shot total was 22-19 and Minnesota has limited its opponents to 133 shots through six games, leading the NHL by yielding an average of 22.2 a game.

That’s nice, Koivu said, but pointed out that “it’s only six games.” Still, he added, all five guys on the ice are playing with confidence, especially defensively.

“We’re trying to be in their face,” noted defenseman Marco Scandella, who recorded a Gordie Howe hat trick with a goal, an assist and a fight against the Lightning. “We have defensemen that can skate and that’s a big advantage for our team.”

And the 18,884 customers, who represented the third consecutive sellout for the Wild, could sit back and enjoy another easy one.

“We’ve played good on the road, too,” Koivu said, “but we didn’t win, and that’s what it’s all about, so yeah, when you do good you get that confidence at home.”

The post Brothers: Wild Ground Lightning appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

“Other” former Sabre carries Wild to preseason win over Penguins.

SAINT PAUL—With ex-Gophers Erik Haula and Keith Ballard scratched, the stage was set for former University of Minnesota star Thomas Vanek to hog the spotlight in his home debut as a member of the Minnesota Wild Monday night against the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Xcel Energy Center.

Three ex-Gophers were playing with the Wild at the X for the first time Monday, but Vanek stands among the elite in the storied history of Gophers hockey. He was the Most Outstanding Player during Minnesota’s 2003 NCAA championship and came back to lead his team to the Frozen Four again in 2004, playing 83 games in two seasons with the Gophers while scoring 57 goals and 113 points.

The stat line for Vanek in the Wild’s 4-1 exhibition victory: 19 shifts, one shot and one giveaway.

Compare those numbers to those of former Gophers center Jordan Schroeder: 16 shifts, one shot on goal, one giveaway and three takeaways.

Former Gopher Stu Bickel, playing defense, contributed 14 shifts, one shot and four hits.

Turns out, the Wild’s big gun who formerly played for the Buffalo Sabres was Jason Pominville, who netted a natural hat trick in the third period to rescue Minnesota from what appeared to be an otherwise lackluster evening.

Yes, Pominville was outstanding, winger Zach Parise said, but he did not get a whole lot of help.

“We all need to be a lot better,” Parise said.

Thomas Vanek played his first game on home ice as a member of the Wild on Monday night. (MHM Photo / Jordan Doffing)

Vanek, the 217-pound Austrian, missed Minnesota’s home exhibition opener with an upper-body problem and could have been pretty hopped up about finally playing in front of the home crowd Monday.

“He’s a pretty calm guy,” Parise said. “If he does have nerves, he doesn’t really show them.”

That was true during Vanek’s days with the Gophers, and also true through 663 NHL games in which he bagged 556 points.

He went from Buffalo to the Islanders to the Canadiens last season, and Pominville says the pressure does not get any greater than that in Montreal.

“I don’t think he’s the type of guy that gets too nervous out there,” Pominville said. “That’s what makes him so good; he’s composed and doesn’t feel any pressure at all.”

Vanek, who famously drove Pominville to the Buffalo airport after Minnesota acquired Pominville two seasons ago, took a pass from Mikko Koivu in the third period Monday as he closed in on Pens goalie Jeff Zatkoff with the score tied 1-1. Instead of shooting, however, he tried a drop pass that was picked off by Pittsburgh.

“He was on his backhand,” Pominville said. “Sometimes it’s tough when you have back-checkers with their stick there – it’s tough to get a good shot off on your backhand — so he probably wanted to move it to a guy on his forehand. He’s the type of guy that would make those plays sometimes. You’ve got to trust his offensive abilities. If he gets that through, that guy’s going to have a point-blank shot for sure.”

In a non-counting game, coach Mike Yeo was just happy to finish with more goals then the Penguins.

Like many in the crowd of 16,106, he was not particularly enthusiastic about what he saw from his team through the first two periods.

“The third period was tough to watch in spurts, too,” he added.

Guys are still shaking off the “summer hockey” syndrome, according to Parise, who had a goal and an assist.

Yeo couldn’t find much good to say about most of his players, limiting his praise mostly to Pominville, Parise and goaltender Darcy Kuemper, who stopped 32 of 33 shots.

Asked about Schroeder, who was placed on waivers after the game and is ticketed for the Iowa Wild, Yeo said the former Gopher was one of many who did not warrant special praise.

Vanek, who declined requests for postgame interviews, fell into the same category.

But Vanek has played just two exhibitions and has scored one goal, so there’s no reason whatsoever to worry about him, according to Pominville.

Pominville – who on Monday played on a line with Parise and Mikael Granlund – said the Koivu-Vanek-Coyle line should be something to behold this season.

“That line’s going to be a good line, especially in the West,” Pominville said. “All three of them are big boys and we need that type of line to play against the bigger lines.”

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