The big question of the day – why now?

“Listen, you’re never going to make everybody happy, and people are always going to question,” Guerin said. “I just feel like the timing is right to do it now. That’s just the way I felt.”

They’ll finish out the rest of the season with assistant coach Dean Evason moving into an interim head coach role, one that already started at the team’s Friday practice at TRIA Rink. The move comes the morning after the Wild blew a two-goal lead in the third period before losing 4-3 in a shootout to the New York Rangers. Overall, the Wild are 27-23-7 with 61 points, only three out of a playoff spot.

Dean Evason and Bruce Boudreau on the Wild bench during a January game against Vancouver. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

“The one thing I really do like about Dean is his passion, his fire for the game,” Guerin said. “I am hoping that that translates to the players. I think these guys really like Dean a lot.”

The Wild will conduct a full search for the next head coach at the end of the season, Guerin told the media on Friday at TRIA Rink, a couple of hours after news broke that Boudreau was relieved of his coaching duties. Evason’s name will be part of the overall search, Guerin said.

The timing of it all seemed to surprise a lot of people, including Evason and some Wild players. Evason called Friday a “very emotional morning for everybody.”

“You never know the timing of these things unless you’re on the inside, you don’t know what transpired to get to this point,” Evason said. “I can’t speculate on what happened, but certainly we were all very surprised.”

Defensemen Ryan Suter and Jared Spurgeon used the word “shock” to describe their reaction. Goaltender Alex Stalock called it a “wakeup call” and said he will “wear it myself now,” referencing blowing the two-goal lead in Thursday’s game.

“We were surprised,” said captain Mikko Koivu. “Didn’t expect that this morning when you come to the rink. That’s the biggest reaction for all of us.

“But I think it’s also a message that it’s not enough right now. We can get into the playoffs, and that’s why the change is made, but I think that’s also a pretty clear message to the players that now it’s up to us to get whatever changes Dean and his staff will have and do our job to play into that.”

Guerin briefly addressed the team prior to Friday’s practice. He let them know what’s expected of them and offered clarity on the situation. Like he mentioned earlier in the week when he traded fan-favorite Jason Zucker to Pittsburgh, Guerin said he expects his players to show up for the next game – a 4 p.m. contest hosting San Jose on Saturday – and that he expects a push toward the playoffs.

Professional sports are a business, and that’s a sentiment Guerin has brought up this week amid the personnel changes within the team. He addressed it again when asked about the player reactions to Boudreau’s firing.

“If the players are hurt by this, then maybe they’re not the players that we should have here,” Guerin said. “This is the business we’re in. It’s always a sad time when you do this, but this is the business.”

Boudreau finishes his Wild tenure with a 158-110-35 record, leading them to the playoffs his first two seasons in Minnesota. This was his fourth season as the Wild’s head coach, and he was 16 games away from coaching his 1,000th game in the NHL. Guerin did not comment when asked about the conversation he had with Boudreau when he fired him.

“We have a lot of respect for Bruce,” Suter said. “He was a great guy and a great coach. It’s sad to see him go.”

Despite the coaching change, Guerin made it clear that the Wild players need to be better as well. There have been inconsistencies in the results this season, according to Guerin. The Wild have certainly been a mid-pack squad, rebounding from a 1-6 start to the season. The Wild were actually playing better recently, going 7-3-1 in their last 11 games, but there are things that still need to be better, according to Guerin.

“There has to be accountability, and people are going to be held accountable,” Guerin said. “Players are absolutely included in that first and foremost.”

Still, this move does not change the team’s push to make the playoffs, at least from Guerin’s perspective. He said he expects this team to compete for a playoff spot.

It will be up to the players to focus on that goal, with Evason helping along the way.

“I think they’re pretty honed in right now,” Evason said. “I think when something like this happens, it catches everyone’s attention. Hopefully, they all individually feel a bit responsible to what happened. We all should. We all should be motivated to go forward and try to do the right things to get to where we want to be.”

New Wild head coach Dean Evason. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

While the news might be shocking and unfortunate to see an established NHL coach like Boudreau be let go (the eighth one in the NHL this season), the move also creates an opportunity for Evason. His goal has always been to be a coach at the highest level, the NHL, he said Friday.

“Regardless of the situation and how you get here, this is something that I’ve strived for,” Evason said. “And I’ve got the opportunity, and I’m going to try to do it the way that I’ve learned how to be a head coach through so many different head coaches that I’ve had.”

Evason was hired as a Wild assistant coach in June 2018 under then-general manager Paul Fenton. Previously, he was the head coach for the Milwaukee Admirals in the AHL for six seasons. He scored 139 goals and 372 points in 803 NHL games across 13 seasons with Washington, Hartford Whalers, San Jose, Dallas and Calgary from 1983-96.

He said he’s going to try to lead as a head coach of the Wild while also relying on his coaching staff of Bob Woods, Darby Hendrickson (who will now move behind the bench full-time during games) and Bob Mason. He’ll look to draw on his past experiences as a player and coach to try and do the right things, Evason said.

“He’s developed great relationships with just about everybody in this room,” said goaltender Devan Dubnyk. “So that will be an easy transition that way and make it easier for us going forward.”

Evason also said he wants the group to be accountable and aggressive.

“If we make aggressive mistakes, you can live with them,” Evason said. “If you make passive mistakes, they’re hard to live with.

“Sometimes you’ve got to give a guy a kick in the pants, and sometimes you’ve got to pat him on the back. That’s our job as the leadership group of the team, the coaches, to figure out which ones need the boot and which ones need the pat.”

The post Bye Bye Bruce appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

At an early-November Wild practice, he preached that patience when asked about what he wanted fans to know regarding what he was trying to accomplish in Minnesota.

“I guess my message and my hope would be that they (the fans) understand that this is a great organization, we’ve got great guys,” Guerin said in November. “That some patience might be required here.

“But, we’ll do everything in our power to have a great team.”

Jason Zucker celebrates a goal against Colorado. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

Monday night, Guerin made a significant move in trading away winger and local fan-favorite Jason Zucker to the Pittsburgh Penguins. In return the Wild received young, junior defenseman Calen Addison, a 2018 second-round NHL Draft pick of the Penguins; a conditional first-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft; and left winger Alex Galchenyuk, who suited up with the Wild on Tuesday against Vegas in front of 17,112 fans at Xcel Energy Center.

The 25-year-old Galchenyuk has five goals and 17 points in 45 games with Pittsburgh this season, including six power-play points. But his ice time was pretty low recently, registering less than 10 minutes a game in his last five with the Penguins. Having arrived Tuesday afternoon in St. Paul without a chance to skate with his new team before taking the ice for a game, he skated 12 minutes, 26 seconds across 18 shifts on a line with Luke Kunin and Mats Zuccarello.

After hearing the trade news, Galchenyuk said the adrenaline kicked in and he couldn’t wait to join his new team.

“It felt good today,” Galchenyuk said. “Obviously with the travel and all that, it was a little rough. But it was nice to get a lot of ice time.”

Galchenyuk has some good skill, said coach Bruce Boudreau on Tuesday night, adding that once Galchenyuk gets comfortable, he should be fine. He made his NHL debut during the 2012-13 season with Montreal as a teenager. His best season came in 2015-16 when he scored 30 goals and 56 points – both career-highs – in playing all 82 regular-season games. But his goal-scoring production fell into the teens the past few seasons.

“I know I can put the puck in the net,” Galchenyuk said. “It’s just, for me, working on it and keep building my confidence.”

He added that he needs to stay positive, despite being bounced around with different teams the past few years. He said he knows the type of player he is and what he can bring to a team.

“He just wants to come in and play and prove himself,” Guerin told the media Tuesday morning. “He’s one of these young kids that come into the league and instantly had a major impact the last year-and-a-half.

“Maybe (it) hasn’t gone the way he’s wanted it to. That’s our job is to help build him back up and resurrect his career and find his scoring touch again.”

Wild forward Marcus Foligno recalls playing against Galchenyuk a lot when Foligno was in Buffalo and Galchenyuk in Montreal. Foligno called his new teammate “a stud.”

“He’s got great vision out there,” Foligno said. “He can shoot the puck. He’s only going to get confidence here. We want him to be the player that he is.”

While Galchenyuk might be getting a fresh start in Minnesota – this is his fourth NHL stop in three seasons going from Montreal to Arizona to Pittsburgh to Minnesota – Zucker will start anew out east. The 28-year-old winger has never known an NHL career outside of the Wild organization, the place he was drafted in the second round (59th overall) in the 2010 NHL Draft.

Jason Zucker. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

He leaves Minnesota having played 456 games and scoring 132 goals and 243 points. He scored 14 goals and 29 points in 45 games with the Wild this season, while missing some time after he broke his fibula in December. Zucker also leaves behind a legacy in Minnesota with his #GIVE16 campaign benefiting the University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital.

Once news of the trade broke on Monday, reactions came across from fans and local media members on social media. Local newscasts dug out footage of previous Zucker stories they had done, usually having to do with some of his work in the community.  

“Not only a locker-room-favorite guy but a community, a city and a state-favorite got sent out of here,” said Wild goaltender Alex Stalock. “That kind of sends a little wave through the locker room.”

If Zucker’s now-former teammates were bummed about the trade, they didn’t show it on the ice. Or maybe the trade made some of them realize how quickly things can change if they don’t play well themselves. Guerin said Tuesday morning that he didn’t “expect any lulls” from his team.

At any rate, the Wild put on a dominant showing for their home fans Tuesday night with a 4-0 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights. The Wild’s surging power play tallied three with the man advantage, taking a 2-0 lead in the first period on power-play goals from Joel Eriksson Ek and Jared Spurgeon. Kevin Fiala added a hard-working goal to make it 3-0 midway through the game, with Zach Parise earning his career assist No. 400 on the play.

Parise scored his 21st of the season later in the second for the 4-0 lead, another power-play goal, and that held up as the final goal of the night.

Stalock made some stellar saves in goal and improved to 14-8-3 on the season and set a new career-high with his third shutout this season. He’s also 5-2-1 in his past eight starts. Though Stalock noted that trades are never normal, he acknowledged how quickly things can change.

“It’s a wake-up call,” Stalock said. “I think you saw tonight, guys don’t want to be that guy going out the door.”

The post Guerin trades Zucker appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Koivu celebrates 1,000 NHL games in storybook style

Bruce Boudreau was frank with the media after the game. He didn’t know what he was doing when choosing Minnesota Wild players for the team’s first shootout of the season against the Dallas Stars on Dec. 1.

After being tied 2-2 through the first three round of the shootout, Boudreau went with the captain, Mikko Koivu, who was skating in his 1,000th NHL game that afternoon in St. Paul.

“Initially, I wasn’t going to put him in because he hadn’t scored in a shootout in like two years,” Boudreau said. “And I figured he was rested because he didn’t play in overtime.

“It was his day, so all the stars were shining in the right direction.”

Mikko Koivu watches his shootout-winning goal hit the back of the net to lift the Wild to a 3-2 win over the Dallas Stars on Dec. 1 at Xcel Energy Center. (MHM Photo / Jeff Wegge)

The 36-year-old center became the 55th player in NHL history – out of 342 players to reach 1,000 games – to hit the milestone with the same organization. In the second period, he earned his 700th career point with the primary assist on Kevin Fiala’s power-play goal for a 1-0 lead.

Once called upon in the shootout, with his family in the arena to watch, Koivu went to his trademark backhanded move to score the game-winning goal against Dallas goaltender Ben Bishop.

The ending doesn’t get much more storybook than that.

“I think if you saw our bench after, you could see how excited the guys were for him,” said Wild forward Zach Parise. “It was the perfect ending to a special day for him.”

The scene Parise referred to was a complete mobbing of Koivu on the Wild bench once goaltender Alex Stalock stopped Corey Perry in the fourth round of the shootout to complete the Wild’s 3-2 victory over Dallas. Boudreau didn’t get in on the mob scene but said “it was pretty cool.”

“And that’s what you love about sports, is watching your team happy,” Boudreau said.

Said Koivu: “To be honest, to me that’s what hockey’s all about.”

The shootout victory was a nice touch on Koivu’s big day, but it also capped a comeback win after the Wild were down 2-1 late in the third period. The Wild, 0-4 in overtime games this season to that point, played their most complete extra session of the season before making it to the shootout.

Any extra pressure for Koivu when his name was called? Not really.

“I tried to look at it as an opportunity,” Koivu said. “Just tried to pick a move that I’m comfortable with. That’s pretty much all you can do. It’s always a challenge to go to the shootout against these goaltenders in this league.”

Unfortunately for Koivu, any good feelings from that game were likely dampened when he sustained a lower-body injury the following Tuesday against Florida on the road. He was placed on injured reserve Dec. 6. Despite that, he was honored prior to Tuesday’s home game against Anaheim to recognize his milestone of 1,000 games. 

Long-time teammates Niklas Backstrom, Kyle Brodziak, Marian Gaborik and Nick Schultz surprised Koivu, joining him and his family for the on-ice ceremony alongside Wild owner Craig Leipold and GM Bill Guerin. Fellow former teammates Stephane Veilleux, Mark Parrish and Ryan Carter joined forces for the “Let’s Play Hockey” call just prior to puck drop. 

“That was something that I’ll never forget,” Koivu told reporters after Tuesday’s game. “They built a culture around here early on when the team first got here and when I first got here. Gabby and Schultzie, they’re the guys that really showed me the way things are done here and showed me the way how we do business around here. Then, obviously Backie coming all the way from Finland and Brodzy.

“I tried calling and talking to those guys in the last couple days and no one answers the phone. Now I understand why.”

They are all part of his storied career, which includes Koivu being named the team’s first full-time captain a decade ago.

“I think everything that I do, and I’ve done, I’ve always tried to do what I believe is right,” Koivu said. “I’m sure I do things different now than I did seven, eight years ago. But I think one thing that hasn’t changed and won’t change is I believe in work and the work ethic you’ve got to put in.”

Koivu and teammate Kevin Fiala celebrate Fiala’s goal set up by the Wild captain’s 700th career assist in his 1000th game in the second period of Minnesota’s win over the Dallas Stars on Dec. 1 at Xcel Energy Center. (MHM Photo / Jeff Wegge)

His lengthy tenure with the club has put his name at the top of many categories in franchise history (with numbers through his first 999 games): Games played (999), assists (496), points (699), plus/minus rating (+70), shots on goal (2,241), power-play points (249), power-play assists (189), shorthanded points (25), shorthanded assists (15), multi-point games (150), face-offs won (10,159) and face-off taken (18,929). He’s also tied for first in overtime goals with 5 and second in goals (203).

He’s only the second Wild player to score 200 goals, with that mark coming Jan. 21, 2019 in Vegas. Gaborik holds the franchise record with 219 goals.

Koivu, a native of Finland, is the third player on the current Wild roster to skate in his 1,000th game. Defenseman Ryan Suter had the honor last October, and the Dallas game Dec. 1 marked No. 1,100 for him. Eric Staal hit the 1,200-games mark right after Thanksgiving. That’s more than 3,300 games between the trio.

Koivu’s milestone might have come last season had it not been for an ACL and meniscus tear in his right knee during a game in Buffalo in early February that ended his season, missing out on the final 29 games.

Of course, like many NHL players, Suter and Staal have played for multiple organizations. Koivu is someone who a player really appreciates once they’re on the same side, Staal said.

“He brings so much to the table,” Staal said. “Eats so many minutes that are important to having success as far as team play goes.”

As for the other side of the spectrum, Wild players Ryan Donato, Fiala and Luke Kunin were just 9 years old when Koivu made his NHL debut. Joel Eriksson Ek and Jordan Greenway were only 8.

Stalock recalled how cool it was as a kid to watch guys like Gaborik and then Koivu lead the way as the Wild’s “star power.”

“Obviously, he’s evolved into a leader, a father, a guy that a ton of young players have come into this locker room and looked up to,” Stalock said. “It’s a privilege for some of these guys to be able to watch a true pro like him prepare.”

The biggest thing Koivu said he’s learned, and is still learning, is dealing with the ups and downs, trying to stay even-keel every day. It goes beyond hockey and is also a good life lesson, according to Koivu.

“If you can keep that attitude and make sure that you control the things that you can, I think that’s when you can feel good about yourself,” Koivu said.

It shows. Stalock said he sees Koivu come to the rink each day with a mission and a drive to get better and strengthen his body.

Koivu is under contract through this season. Might he choose to retire, playing his entire NHL career in Minnesota? It’s a possibility.

Three banners hang from the rafters of Xcel Energy Center: The State of Hockey flag, a 2007-08 Northwest Division Champion banner in the middle and the retired No. 1 for Wild Fans to the right. Might Koivu’s No. 9 be lifted to the rafters as the first Wild player’s number to get that treatment?

It’s a possibility. And he’s built a strong case. 

The post Mighty Mikko Honored appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Walz, Stalock reflect on Avs rivalry from diverse perspectives

ST. PAUL — A couple of things stand out to former Minnesota Wild center Wes Walz about the 2003 first-round playoff series between Colorado and Minnesota. First, it was a pre-series meeting complete with line combinations against the Avalanche written out on a board.

“It was going to be my line against (Peter) Forsberg’s line, and Jimmy Dowd was going to play mostly against (Joe) Sakic’s line,” Walz said. “We knew going into the series exactly what was going to happen. We were looking at the board, and we were all saying, ‘we can beat these guys.’”

Did the Wild know they were going to come back from the first of two 3-to-1 deficits in those 2003 Stanley Cup Playoffs? No. But Walz knew they could go into Denver and at least be competitive with their rival, and part of that was based on the fact that the Wild had already beaten Colorado during the regular season.

Those 2003 playoffs is something current Wild goaltender Alex Stalock remembers watching at home as a fan.

“I lived that as a teenager,” Stalock said. “And man, that was an incredible run. Every night you sat down and watched those games, every minute.”

The Wild, still a relatively new franchise, didn’t need home-ice advantage to make it all the way to the Western Conference Finals that season.

The first series ended with an overtime, game-seven win in Colorado. It was a season and a series that sparked a rivalry with the Avalanche. Walz was one of the leading scorers for the Wild in the playoffs that year, with 7 goals and 13 points in 18 games behind leader Marian Gaborik’s 9 goals and 17 points.

“I still believe that big rivalries are created through playoffs,” said Walz, now retired and a Wild analyst with FSNorth. “But with Colorado, it’s always just kind of been there. We beat them in 2002-03. There were a lot of spirited games that we played during regular-season games that specific year.

“Why that is, I’m not 100 percent sure.”

Maybe, as he goes on to mention, it was the “astronomical” payrolls of the Wild opponents in those early years of the franchise. Or it was the hall-of-famers on the other bench that got the Wild playing so hard against them because “we were just scared to be embarrassed because they were that good,” Walz said.

Tempers can flare when the Wild and Avalanche meet and they did just that in Game 6 of their 2014 Stanley Cup first-round series on April 28, 2014 at Xcel Energy Center. (MHM Photo / Jeff Wegge)

The playoff history between these two teams includes 2008 when Colorado beat the Wild in six games and then again in 2014 when the Wild once again won with some game-seven, overtime-magic at the Pepsi Center, this time with the winner from Nino Niederreiter. Each matchup with these two clubs has been in the first round of the playoffs. 

“When you’re looking at just a pure rivalry on the ice between different teams, it seems like this rivalry that we have built between Colorado has been something that’s been very real and it feels like it’s been there almost since day one,” Walz said.

The Wild and Colorado have the “rival” label placed on their games because they play in the same division. Colorado is the only team that’s played in the same division as the Wild even dating back to before the NHL realignment 2013-14. The Wild hold a 52-41-11 (29-18-5 at home) all-time record against the Avalanche, the second-most points (115) and wins against any NHL franchise. That record includes a 3-2 Wild victory over Colorado on Thursday.

“We brought up the word ‘rivalry’ before the game tonight,” Stalock said.

But rivalries aren’t what they used to be – “not as mean and dirty as they used to be” – changing over the past 15 to 20 years, according to Walz. With the roster turnover in today’s NHL, it’s more likely that a fan base becomes attached to the history of a particular rivalry rather than it sticking with the players.

For the Wild, only Mikko Koivu is left from the 2008 team that lost to Colorado. Even the 2014 team a few years ago only boasts Koivu, Zach Parise, Ryan Suter, Jared Spurgeon and Jonas Brodin as players that remain.

“There’s players coming and going so often,” Walz said. “You don’t see guys playing in one spot their whole careers anymore. You very rarely see it.”

Recent rivals Ryan Suter and Nathan MacKinnon go head-to-head in a corner battle during Minnesota’s 3-2 win over Colorado on Thursday night at Xcel Energy Center. MacKinnon was limited to a single assist. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

But Walz suggests that it’s not so much a rivalry with a certain team as it is a different way of looking at things. The Wild will look at the Avalanche and the specifics of how to beat them, for instance.

“It’s Nathan MacKinnon. ‘How can we try to keep him off the scoreboard to give ourselves a chance to win?’” Walz said.

The Wild didn’t keep MacKinnon off the sheet completely on Thursday  – he had an assist on the first of two Colorado goals from Cale Makar – but the overall goal was accomplished with the Wild win. A little payback for a 4-2 Wild loss in Denver back on Oct. 5.

Mats Zuccarello and Jordan Greenway scored goals 53 seconds apart early in the second period for a 2-0 lead before Makar tied it later in the period. Jason Zucker scored the game-winner about halfway through the third period. Stalock made 27 saves for his second consecutive victory; he’s 5-3-0.

“I think we did everything we could tonight,” Greenway said. “Everyone contributed. Al (Stalock) played great. Everyone did their roles, which led to the win.

With the Wild swimming near the basement on the NHL standings, a playoff meeting between these two might not be on the horizon for a while. Even with a disappointing start to the season for the Wild, momentum can always shift on a dime. Walz remembers that from when the team was staring at three potential elimination games against Colorado back in 2003.

Following the game-four loss, the Wild had a bad practice before leaving for Colorado and “our coaches weren’t happy,” Walz recalled. They had a team dinner/meeting the following night to discuss matters with coach Jacques Lemaire and then-general manager Doug Risebrough, who did 90 percent of the talking, according to Walz. Risebrough talked about his years as a player and winning Stanley Cups with the Montreal Canadiens.

“The one thing that stuck out to me in this conversation, when he spoke for about a half an hour, was how momentum can change a series instantly,” Walz said. “Winning one game can kind of get the ball rolling.

“I remember walking out of the meeting that night in the hotel. Honestly, I’m not just saying this, I really couldn’t wait for the game to start. I wanted to walk over to Pepsi Center that night and play.”

The Wild came back with a trio of 3-2 victories in games five through seven, with the last two coming in overtime on goals from Richard Park and Andrew Brunette.

The Wild haven’t been back to the Conference Finals since 2003.

Perhaps it can serve as motivation for the current Wild team, to inspire the younger generation of kids, like Stalock during that magical run.

“It’s, I think, what a lot of guys in here want to do for the kids watching now,” Stalock said. “They can have the memory and say, ‘I remember when you guys did this.’ So I think that’s our goal.” 

The post Rocky Mountain Rival appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Charlie Coyle plays catch-up in first post-trade visit to the ‘X’

St. Paul — When it comes to Boston slang, “wicked” is a word that might come to mind. But there’s a different “W” word that former Minnesota Wild and current Boston Bruins forward Charlie Coyle kept repeating the past couple of days: Weird.

“It’s just a weird thing,” Coyle said of his first game back at Xcel Energy Center since being traded in February. “The trade happened so fast, and you don’t get to say ‘bye’ to everyone. I had to just get up and go.

“So just to see everyone and catch up a little bit, it’s obviously a weird thing… playing against your old friends, teammates.”

(MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

Coyle made his first return to Minnesota to face the Wild as an opponent Thursday night. With a playoff spot already locked up for the Bruins (49-23-9) sitting with 107 points in second place in the Atlantic Division, they came in and shut out the Wild (37-35-9) by a 3-0 margin. It was the seventh shutout of the season on home ice for the Wild.

Though Coyle didn’t factor in to any of the scoring, he registered two shots on goal in the game and got the video-tribute treatment along with a warm ovation from Wild fans during the first period.

Coyle was traded to Boston on Feb. 20 for youngster Ryan Donato. Both are Massachusetts natives and have worked out together during summers, said Coyle, who added that Donato is “a great kid” with a lot of skill.

Simply looking at the small sample size of points during the rest of the 2018-19 season, the Wild came out ahead on the trade. Donato came into Minnesota firing on all cylinders with points in his first five games in a Wild sweater, including an overtime winner for a 2-1 victory over St. Louis in his Xcel Energy Center debut Feb. 24. Donato has 4 goals and 16 points with the Wild in 21 games (10-15—25 for the season).

Contrast that to Coyle’s slower start in Boston, skating pointless in his first seven games with the Bruins. However, he scored a nifty shootout goal in his Bruins debut, a 2-1 shootout loss to St. Louis. He has just 2 goals and 4 assists in 20 games with his new team (12-22—34 for the season). For the most part, he’s starting to find his groove with the playoff-bound Bruins, Coyle said.

“It’s a hard thing to play consistent every single night and do the same thing,” Coyle said. “Points will come. I don’t think you focus on points too much as long as the team’s winning.

“I just want to play my role, do my part.”

Wild coach Bruce Boudreau referred to Coyle’s on-ice performance as being “consistently inconsistent sometimes, offensively.”

“He’s a guy that you always wanted a little bit more from him,” Boudreau said. “You always thought there was more in him.”

Hockey minds know there’s a business aspect to running teams and making trades. No doubt there are all kinds of factors. It’s abundantly clear how much his teammates and Boudreau wanted to keep him around Minnesota.

“Charlie’s one of the best kids you’ll ever meet in your life,” Boudreau said. “He was perfect as far as personality.

“A solid person and a great player to have on your team.”

Said goaltender Alex Stalock: “He brought a lot to this room, a lot to this organization.”

Coyle appreciated the kind words but was also quick to throw credit toward the Wild organization.

“You’re in such a good environment,” Coyle said. “They kind of set the standard right away. I just follow suit.”

Coyle skated with a variety of teammates in Minnesota this season, including Zach Parise, Eric Staal, pal Jason Zucker and Jordan Greenway, another close friend.

(MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

“We had a pretty good relationship, so being able to play against him will be fun,” Greenway said after Thursday’s morning skate.

The two still talk and help each other with their games, Greenway said, adding that it was special being able to go out for dinner and hang out with his former teammate. Greenaway also declared he wasn’t “going to take it easy on him” once the game started.

“I’m going to give it to him,” Greenway said. “I told him that last night.

“He’s scared. He backed down a little bit.”

Coyle played in his 499th career NHL game Thursday. He has 93 goals and 248 points, playing six-plus seasons in Minnesota before the trade. After playing three straight ironman seasons of all 82 regular-season games, injury woes found Coyle last season. He played just 66 games, scoring 11 goals and 37 points.

He was part of the string of six straight playoff appearances for the Wild, with 15 points in 44 postseason games for the Wild. Now he finds himself in the playoffs for a seventh consecutive season, even though his old friends are out.

“It’s a weird thing,” Coyle said. “You start your year with them, and you always plan on finishing the year, you don’t plan on getting traded. You want to make sure you do what you can to help your team and get to the playoffs, and all of a sudden, you get taken from that.

“You always hope the best for (the Wild). I want them to succeed.” 

The post Strange Days Indeed appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Wild backup Alex Stalock is always at the ready for Minnesota

Minnesota Wild backup goaltender Alex Stalock took the 4-0 loss as the St. Louis Blues ran their winning streak to 10 games on Feb. 17 at Xcel Energy Center.

That might look like a bad game for Stalock, but it’s tough to pin any of those goals on him as he started his first game since a 4-3 overtime loss to Chicago Feb. 2. From bad penalty kills to odd-man rushes and rough line changes, it wasn’t great hockey from the players in front of Stalock.

“Poor Al, we left him out to dry on both of them,” Wild coach Bruce Boudreau said of the first two power-play goals from the Blues.

Stalock has played in 16 games this season (12 starts) with a 6-6-1 record. He received the nod Sunday once he arrived at the arena, giving Devan Dubnyk a break after starting six straight games and surrendered 10 goals in two games. The most glaring loss was a 5-4 overtime decision to the lowly New Jersey Devils after the Wild had a 4-1 lead. Dubnyk misplayed the puck on the game-winning goal.

The Wild were riding a three-game losing streak and had gone just 1-5-3 since the All-Star Break/Bye Week.

“I think when you play a goalie every night, that after a while sometimes, unless he’s a Patrick Roy… his game starts to go downhill a little bit,” Boudreau said after the loss to St. Louis. “I thought if we didn’t do it (start Stalock), then we’re just sitting here saying, ‘hey… no matter how good you are, or how bad you are, you’re going back in.’

“Sometimes you have to make them accountable a little bit, too.”

The backup role is something Stalock is used to in his career. The South St. Paul and University of Minnesota-Duluth graduate made his NHL debut with San Jose in 2011 and signed with the Wild as a free agent on July 1, 2016, when Dubnyk was already in Minnesota as one of the best goaltenders in the league. The 6-0, 31-year-old Stalock had a solid year last season, going 10-10-4 (career-high 28 games played, and 23 starts) where he also set career-highs in saves (716) and shots faced (787).

With 22 games left this season, it’s unlikely he’ll see the ice as much as last year. But every season is different, Stalock said.

“At the beginning of the year, I think every coach says: ‘I want this goalie to play this amount of games, and I want this goalie to play this amount of games,’” Stalock said. “I’d say it’s about one to two teams that get that luxury.

“You can’t pick before the year what’s going to happen.”

Stalock’s last victory was a 3-2 shootout win at home against Los Angeles on Jan. 15. Boudreau said at the time how pleased he was with Stalock’s play, “even though he scares me half to death,” Boudreau said, clearly a reference to Stalock’s ability to come out of the net and play the puck.

“We’ve always said he’s going to play more in the second half, we just don’t know when yet,” Boudreau said after that game.

In the back-up goalie role, Stalock has learned the best ways to prepare for games off the ice in order to get his body ready. Mentally, he’ll start thinking about it the night before, when he’s on the bench in a baseball cap watching the game in front of him.

Stalock has the added challenge of getting the second night of a back-to-back situation a lot, too; he’s started in those situations six times this season. It’s not always ideal.

“You often don’t get a pregame skate,” Stalock said. “So, you’ve got to prepare in other ways. I found a routine that seems to work for me.”

Alex Stalock squares to take on a potential shot from Toronto’s Mitch Marner. (MHM Photo / Jonny Watkins)

There’s the other part of the back-up role that isn’t ideal either, and that’s coming into the game cold in relief in case of injury or a momentum change. Stalock has relieved Dubnyk three times this season, and though it isn’t always the best of situations to enter, Stalock says he has the “best seat in the house.”

“You’re basically watching the play, what you’d be doing on the ice, just from a different vantage point,” Stalock said. “You’re mentally in the game. If a bad bounce happens or there’s an injury and you’re forced to go in, you’ve kind of been watching. You know what’s going on.”

It’s pretty clear that his teammates love Stalock, too. As the media waited for postgame interviews in the locker room following the shootout victory Jan. 15, captain Mikko Koivu shouted out: “Stalock will talk in the press conference room. Please, one question at a time.”

He was kidding, but it just speaks to the camaraderie Stalock has in the room. They were impressed with his play on the ice, too.

“He was phenomenal,” said Eric Staal after the win over the Kings. “He made some huge saves and obviously plays the puck really well. I think that makes a big difference for our D to be able to break out.”

Stalock certainly isn’t shy about playing the puck either.

He was credited with an assist on Mikael Granlund’s overtime winner Oct. 20, making him the first goalie in team history to record an assist on an overtime goal. It was one of his two assists this season, a career-high. On Dec. 6 in Calgary, Stalock skated in his 100th NHL game, the seventh Minnesota-born goaltender to hit the mark.

He signed a three-year contract extension with the Wild on Jan. 29, good for $2.355 million and locking him up with the club through the 2021-22 season.

Stalock said he’s happy to play for his home state for a team he watched as a teenager. He enjoys playing for the fans and takes pride in playing for the hometown fans.

“You go out to a restaurant or bar or anywhere, all the way up in northern Minnesota, everybody’s got Wild hats on and the games are on in bars and restaurants,” Stalock said. “It’s on us to make them happy, make them proud to be Minnesotans.

“Lucky for me, I hopefully get three more years to do it.”

The post Best Seat In The House appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

St. Paul – The Wild appear to be decent bet to make the playoffs after picking up one point in a 2-1 overtime loss to the Boston Bruins Sunday night, but nothing is certain.

The only sure thing, after they defeated Nashville, Vegas and Arizona and dropped overtime decisions to the Bruins and Los Angeles Kings in their past five starts, is that they should step into postseason play feeling as if they are well prepared.

“That is probably the most playoff-like game we’ve played all season,” forward Daniel Winnik said Sunday.

Indeed it was, much to the delight of a thoroughly entertained Xcel Energy Center crowd of 19,183.

“It was a big point for us,” Wild coach Bruce Boudreau said. “Going 3-0-2 in the last five, we’re holding our own. We’re not going anywhere fast, but we’re going in the right direction.”

The Wild fell behind 1-0 in both of the back-to-back home games against Nashville and Boston, two of the top three teams in the NHL, but rebounded in both, beginning with a 4-1 victory over the Preds.

“I think if you said going in we’d get three out of four points against two of the very best teams in the NHL, we’d be happy about it,” Winnik said, noting that failing to get the fourth point Sunday stung a bit. “But I think overall, it was a very good effort.”

Minnesota, which upped its season total to 93 points with seven games remaining, stood third in the Central Division through Sunday’s games but maintained very little breathing room ahead of Colorado and St. Louis.

Mikko Koivu’s goal midway through the third period tied the score Sunday in the tightest of games — Boston outshot the Wild 28-25 and neither team was willing to yield even an inch of space.

“This time of year, teams are really buckling down, especially playoff teams,” Wild goaltender Alex Stalock said. “They’re playing the way they want to play in two or three weeks. I think you see how tight games are going to be; it’s a bounce here or there and that’s the difference.”

The Bruins got the decider when Brad Marchand beat Stalock just 28 seconds into overtime of a game in which both team had potential goals disallowed. David Pastrnak got Boston started with a goal 3:15 into the second period.

Before that and after, the ice was filled with one puck battle after another.

“They’re a difficult team to play against because they’re in your face all night long,” Boudreau said. “They push you to the limit.”

That’s how it seems every night these days, as Minnesota prepares for another game against the Predators on the road Tuesday and then two against the Dallas Stars.

“We’re playing against really good teams right now,” winger Zach Parise said. “We’re managing to get points, but it sure would have been nice to get that other one.”

Things are a far cry from five months ago.

You night remember, the Wild started the season 5-7-2 and often looked out of sync. However, improved play from guys like Joel Eriksson Ek, Nino Niederreiter, Marcus Foligno, an injury-free Parise and Winnik has helped provide a boost to an offense mostly relying previously on Eric Staal, Jason Zucker, Mikael Granlund, Ryan Suter and Koivu.

Minnesota needs them all as the end of the season looms.

“It’s going to be tight the rest of the way,” Stalock said. “We’ve got to win games. We’ve got seven games to go, and we need all the points we can get.”

The post Buckling Down appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Minnesota launches season’s “second half” with win over Dallas

St. Paul – After a three-day Christmas break, the Wild returned to action for coach Bruce Boudreau’s 800th game and produced exactly what they figured they needed.

“We called it the start of the second half,” Boudreau commented.

It was just the 37th game of an 82-game schedule, but the Wild came into Wednesday’s post-Christmas festivities outside a playoff berth by one point.

“We’re going to have to win a lot of games for the playoff push,” defenseman Jared Spurgeon said, “and that’s what we’re trying to start off with right now.”

Minnesota got goals from Spurgeon, Eric Staal and Mikael Granlund to seize a 3-2 lead and skated to a 4-2 victory over the Dallas Stars in front of 19,107 at the Xcel Energy Center.

Bruce Boudreau picked up win No. 477 of his now 800-game NHL coaching career on Wednesday night. (Photo by Russ Hons)

The result boosted the Wild to 41 points, two behind the Stars, who have played one more game.

It also upped Boudreau’s coaching record to 477-232-91 over 11 seasons, although he downplayed any significance of coaching 800 games.

“It’s only a number,” he said.

More interesting to Boudreau was the play of the Staal-Tyler Ennis-Charlie Coyle line that combined for four points, plus the contributions of Joel Eriksson Ek, who went pointless but showed again that he’s on track to becoming an offensive factor in the NHL.

“He’s going to start scoring,” Boudreau said. “It might not be this year, and I don’t mean that facetiously, but you can see, he’s going to be a real good player. He had more and more chances tonight, and eventually they’re going to go in for him.”

A number of forwards including Ennis, Eriksson Ek, Marcus Foligno, Zach Mitchell and Daniel Winnik, among others, are focusing on playing their best because injured Zach Parise is scheduled to start a rehab stint with the Iowa Wild and Nino Niederreiter is also closing in on a return to the lineup.

Boudreau likes the energy he sees from guys like he saw Wednesday from Ennis.

“We need people going,” he said. “We don’t have a lot of scoring. Anybody that can pick it up a little bit is good for us, and he did for us tonight.”

Ennis said he is simply “trying to keep playing the way I’ve been playing the last little bit. We’ve got a lot of depth on this team, and tonight was just a good game.”

Said Spurgeon: “He’s starting to find his game.”

With injured Devan Dubnyk also likely back in the lineup along with Niederreiter and Parise, the Wild are closing in on having their lineup fully healthy for the first time this season.

After losing three of four on a pre-Christmas road trip, they regrouped Wednesday and dumped Dallas, outshooting the Stars 31-26 and producing what Boudreau labeled as their strongest third period in a while.

“We’re essentially going into the second half, here,” winning goalie Alex Stalock said. “Tonight was a good start.”

The post Boudreau’s 800th is starting point for Wild appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

St. Paul – The Wild, it appears, are a collection of question marks searching for a major dash of consistency this season.

Through 34 games, they posted 18 wins.

That included four consecutive wins through Game 31, but this season has been anything but smooth for a team that racked up a franchise-record 106 points last season.

And injuries are only a part of it.

A bigger factor, it appears, is a stunning lack of production from some key players.

Offseason signing Marcus Foligno had just three goals through 31 games.

Offseason signing Daniel Winnik scored two goals in 34 games.

And young Joel Ericksson Ek scored just one goal in 27 games.

Factor in the offense supplied by veterans Mikko Koivu, Chris Stewart and Charlie Coyle:

Free-agent signee Matt Cullen has struggled offensively early on in his return to Minnesota. (MHM Photo / Jonny Watkins)

Koivu scored four goals in his first nine games, then went the next 24 with zero before scoring against Ottawa on Dec. 19; Stewart tallied six goals in his first six games, then just one in his next 25 before he, too, scored against the Senators, and Coyle missed 16 games with injury and managed just two goals in the other 18.

Koivu, of course, is first out against any opponent’s top line as well as any opponent’s power play, but he’s expected to deliver more than defensive prowess.

Like offseason pickup Matt Cullen, Koivu’s offense has been strangely silent. He and Cullen, who had just two goals in 33 games, are counted on to do much more than kill penalties.

Ah, the penalty kill. During a 13-game stretch up to and including Game 34 at Ottawa, the Wild demonstrated exactly why their play can be so exasperating as they took 61 penalties while going on the power play just 30 times.

Yikes.

Ask Koivu about such things and expect him to glare and say, “It’s hockey,” then note that there is another team on the ice.

Yes,of course, hockey is a game of mistakes, but sloppy play and undisciplined penalties just spotlight those mistakes.

Winger Tyler Ennis put it this way in the understatement of the week.“We’ve still got to do a better job staying out of the box.”

It became so bizarre that coach Bruce Boudreau, expressing gratitude for Mikael Granlund’s third-period insurance goal in a recent 2-0 win over Toronto, noted wryly that “it was something that we really need because we know we’re going to get another penalty for doing nothing.”

Despite all those issues plus injuries of consequence to Devan Dubnyk, Jared Spurgeon and Zach Parise — Parise had not played through 34 games — the Wild have somehow turned things around every time it appeared they were about to crumble.

“Well it was never like we were four games under .500,” Boudreau said recently. “We just weren’t 10 games over .500 right off the bat. They get a little nervous in Minnesota when that happens. I think they’re playing good despite still missing some very key ingredients.

“When we can band together like that, that’s what makes a positive, and we’re starting to have success at home and making it difficult for other teams to come into this building. That’s good.”

It comes down to personal commitment among the players, Boudreau insisted.

Newcomer Tyler Ennis has recently found himself in Bruce Boudreau’s healthy-scratch rotation. (MHM Photo / Jonny Watkins)

For example, Stewart came back after being a healthy scratch and scored a winning shootout goal. Cullen returned after being a healthy scratch and scored. Next game: Ennis, same thing.

“It’s great,” Boudreau pointed out. “That’s one of the things about this team, it’s got really good character and they really care. So, when they sit down, I have a little talk with them. It’s usually a positive situation, but the character comes through and they play a lot better.”

Backup goaltender Alex Stalock has stepped in to become part of the winning formula, replacing the injured Dubnyk and winning three in a row including posting his first NHL shutout in three years in that recent win over the Maple Leafs.

“Thanks for the reminder,” he said with a grin. “It’s been that long?”

But after that shutout, Stalock was equally happy that the Wild were producing more victories than losses.

“And you just hope you can kind of keep it rolling,” he said. “It’s fun. The way this group’s playing right now, just coming to the rink, everybody’s smiling. Everybody’s having fun. It’s four in a row now. It’s just an atmosphere here where everybody’s having a good time.”

Injuries are part of the equation for every team, Boudreau says.

No big deal, Suter said, adding, “If someone is out, someone else steps up and tries to carry the weight.”

Boudreau, of course, has to push the right buttons.

“Obviously, we have a lot of good players here, and it’s tough on Bruce picking who’s going to be out,” Suter said. “But everyone has a good attitude and they show up to work.”

True. Add in the right quota of consistency and the Wild should keep progressing.

The post Quest For Consistency appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

SAINT PAUL — Playing in the National Hockey League is nothing new to Alex Stalock, but strapping on his goalie pads for his hometown NHL team certainly is.

Prior to making his first start in a Minnesota Wild uniform in an arena just minutes from where he grew up, Stalock, a South St. Paul native, admitted to being both excited and nervous.

“Obviously, the team they have in this room and to be able to play behind them is pretty special,” said Stalock after skating with the team on Thursday morning. “I think anybody would lie if you’re not nervous going into every game. You want to do your best every game and I think if you don’t have nerves you don’t have the competitive juices flowing.”

Minnesota recalled the 29-year-old former University of Minnesota Duluth star was recalled from its American Hockey League affiliate in Iowa Wednesday and was immediately named the starter for Thursday’s game against the Ottawa Senators.

Stalock, who said sleeping in his own bed on Wednesday night “was a treat,” was thrilled by the chance to perform so close to home.

“Playing for the hometown team is [something] not many kids get to do from Minnesota and it’s a pretty special chance,” Stalock said.

Stalock did not disappoint in his hometown NHL debut stopping 18-of-19 shots to backstop a 5-1 Minnesota win and snap the Wild’s four-game losing streak. It marked Stalock’s first NHL victory since a Jan. 12, 2016, win for San Jose at Winnipeg.

Wild No. 1 goalie Devan Dubnyk served as Stalock’s backup while Darcy Kuemper did not dress for the game.

“I was just actually saying that to Doobs, I don’t know when my last win was in this league,” Stalock said. “It’s been a while and the guys made it easy tonight. I just made the routine saves. It was fun to be a part of again.”

Stalock led the team out of the tunnel and was given the obligatory solo lap by his teammates before they joined him on the ice.

“Yeah, I don’t know, maybe I walked out too fast,” Stalock said. “Usually, I walk pretty fast, but maybe Mikko (Koivu) was taking his time.”

Ottawa scored first at 16:20 of the first period on Mike Hoffman’s goal just as a penalty to Nino Niederreiter expired. 

“You don’t want to give up a goal, but when you give one up, it’s kind of a wake-up call, it’s time to go kind of thing, Statlock said. “From there, I settled in and stopped the shots from the outside, so it was good.”

Stalock and the Wild’s team defense shut down the Senators from that point as Minnesota score the final five goals of the game.

“We did a great job coming back, obviously, five unanswered, the way we played and eliminated their chances, other than a few power-play chances,” Stalock said.

The 6′ 0″, 187 lb. Stalock, who said he was caught off guard by the promotion, has rebounded from a slow start to seize control of the starting role for an Iowa team in the hunt for a playoff spot.

“Alex has done a great job down in Iowa, two shutouts in the last week,” Boudreau said after Thursday’s morning skate. “He was sick early in the season but, right now, he’s one of the better goalies in the American Hockey League, he’s playing every day so he’s feeling it.”

The opportunity to play consistent minutes, Stalock says, goes hand-in-hand with his improved performance.

“For a goalie, it’s crucial to play back-to-backs or games consecutively and get some confidence and roll with it,” Stalock said. “To get in there every night and, say you don’t have a good night, get back in there and get another chance to fix it, it’s been beneficial for my game and I’ve taken it and run.”

In 45 games for a much-improved Iowa team, Stalock is 20-16-7 with a 2.31 goals against average and .924 save percentage.

“We’ve got a good thing going in Iowa and we’re making a playoff push there as well,” Stalock said. “It’s been a blast down there playing this year with a good group.”

Stalock’s last NHL start came on Feb. 11, 2016 for San Jose where he played 62 career NHL games during parts of five seasons (2010-16) compiling a 24-19-7 record with a 2.37 goals against average, a .911 save percentage and four shutouts.

After a brief stop in the Maple Leafs organization following a late-season trade, Stalock signed a one-year, two-way contract with Minnesota last summer. On Feb. 2, the Wild signed Stalock to a two-year, $1.3 million extension.

Minnesota coach Bruce Boudreau said getting Stalock some NHL playing time has been in the team’s plans for a while.

“We’ve signed him, he’s gonna be with us the next two years, whether it’s here or in Iowa so we thought this was a good time to do it,” Boudreau said. “Duby looks tired and Kuemps wasn’t getting enough reps to make him sharp so, hopefully, this will work and work out for us.”

Stalock is all too familiar with the challenges faced by a backup goalie in the NHL making it easy to sympathize with Kuemper.

“Any goalie that’s penciled in as a backup in this league, they understand it,” Stalock said. “It’s tough when the guy ahead of you is playing so well and then when you go in you’re expected to be lights out to get your team a chance to win. It’s not easy and, being through it, it’s a hard position to be in.”

Drafted by San Jose in fourth round (112th overall) of 2005 NHL Entry Draft, Stalock’s NHL debut came in in a 5–3 Sharks victory over the Phoenix Coyotes on Feb. 1, 2011. Playing in relief of Antti Niemi, Stalock stopped all nine shots he faced to record his first NHL win.

Three days later, however, after being returned the the AHL’s Worcester Sharks, Stalock was stepped on by a Manchester Monarchs player, severing a nerve behind his right knee. Surgery and subsequent rehabilitation cost Stalock nearly an entire calendar year.

Prior to that, Stalock led South Saint Paul High School to the 2004 Minnesota Class A State Hockey Tournament where he was named to the All-Tournament Team.

He spent the next two seasons with the USHL’s Cedar Rapids Roughriders, leading them to 2005 Clark Cup championship in 2005. Stalock earned series MVP honors playing on a team that included future NHLers Teddy Purcell (Edmonton Oilers), Justin Abdelkader (Detroit Red Wings), and Alec Martinez (Los Angeles Kings).

Stalock then went on to play three seasons at the University of Minnesota Duluth (2006-09) where he led the Bulldogs to the WCHA playoff championship and the NCAA West Regional Final in 2009 before signing on with San Jose.

The post A Career Revived appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.