Ex-Bulldog Kuhlman turning heads in Boston but taking it day by day

St. Paul — With all eyes on Charlie Coyle’s first-ever road game at Xcel Energy Center for the Boston Bruins and Minnesota rookie Nico Sturm’s NHL debut, lost in all the hoopla was the return of a player who has experienced more success in the Wild’s home building than the two of them combined.

Esko, Minn. native and former Cloquet/Esko/Carlton High School star Karson Kuhlman skated for the Bruins on Xcel Energy Center ice for the first time since April 7 of last year in Boston’s 3-0 win over Minnesota in the Wild’s 2018-19 home schedule finale.

“A little different, obviously, but very exciting,” Kuhlman said when asked to compare his two most recent games in St. Paul. “To be in this situation, playing down the stretch here for such a great organization is pretty special.”

Former Minnesota Duluth captain Karson Kuhlman celebrates a goal in the Bulldogs’ 2018 West Regional semifinal win over Minnesota State. (MHM Photo / Jeff Wegge)

The 23-year-old Kuhlman played his first NHL game in his home state nearly a year to the day after he factored into both goals in Minnesota Duluth’s 2-1 win over Notre Dame to lift the Bulldogs to the 2018 Frozen Four title. Kuhlman, the team captain, scored the game’s first goal that night and later set up Jared Thomas’ game winner to give UMD its second national championship.

The performance earned Kuhlman the Frozen Four’s Most Outstanding Player honor, a distinction he shares with former Bulldog J.T. Brown who suited up for the Wild on Thursday night. Kuhlman said he has been keeping tabs on the Bulldogs who are making a third straight appearance in the Frozen Four next week.

“I’ve got a lot of a lot of good friends on that team, we had a lot of good memories and, obviously, won a championship together too,” Kuhlman said. “They’re poised to make a nice little run here in Buffalo next weekend.”

The undrafted Kuhlman, who finished with 38 goals and 40 assists in 165 career college games including 20 points (13-7–20) as a senior, helped lead a team featuring eight freshmen and five sophomores in the lineup to a national title.

“If I could have 25 guys like Karson, my job would be a lot easier,” Minnesota Duluth coach Scott Sandelin said after the championship game. “I can’t say enough about Karson. He’s a great kid, great captain for us.”

Kuhlman, who signed an ATO with Boston’s American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Providence Bruins, as a free agent just three days after his collegiate career ended, made his NHL debut for the Bruins on Feb. 16 in a 4-2 road win over the Los Angeles Kings. Two nights later, Kuhlman scored his first NHL goal in a 6-5 OT win over the Sharks in San Jose.

Currently in his fourth stint with the Bruins this season, Kuhlman has five points (3-2–5) in nine career games. He has spent most of his first pro season playing for Providence where he is a team-high plus-23 while recording 12 goals among his 30 points.

Kuhlman called the whole thing a whirlwind experience. 

“I’ve just been taking it day by day and really focusing on getting better, working on my game and just kind of watching all these guys who have done it for so long and taking little little notes from them,” Kuhlman said. “As a group, our leadership, of course, is unbelievable, second to none really.

“So they’ve just made me feel so comfortable and then that comfort kind of translates into confidence every day so it’s a pretty special group.”

(MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

The Bruins were coming off of a 6-2 win over Columbus on Tuesday which saw Kuhlman pick up his first career multi-point game with a goal and an assist earning him the game’s third star for his efforts. With Thursday’s win over Minnesota, the Bruins are now 6-2-1 with him in the lineup, primarily playing right wing on Boston’s second line centered by David Krejci with Jake DeBrusk on the left side.

“We’ve been looking for a winger on that right side and it’s been kind of a revolving door,” DeBrusk said. “Against Columbus he was, I think, the best player on our line and when he plays like that, he’s fun to play with.

“He grinds, he works really hard and brings energy and I feel like anytime you kind of have those intangibles, when you put them with some skill with Krec, I think that he can get some good looks.”

Kuhlman praised his linemates for making the game simple for him in his career’s early stages.

“I just try to go out there and work as hard as I can and get them the puck and, obviously, good things have happened here as of late,” Kuhlman said.

Saturday’s season finale in Boston against Stanley Cup favorite Tampa Bay will likely be NHL game No. 10 for Kuhlman who admits his brief tenure in the world’s best league has taught him a lot about what he needs to do differently this offseason.

“I think I think that’s one thing I really, really kind of hang my hat on is how in shape I come into camp every year so I work hard in the summers and take a lot of pride in that,”Kuhlman said. “This little end of the season here is as a good view of what I’ve got to work on and what I’ve got to get better at.”

The post Keeping His Cool 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.

The post Gallery: Wild vs. Boston 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.

The term throwback is an easily overused adjective applied to professional athletes. But in the case of David Backes it fits like a well-worn pair of hockey gloves.

In an era marked by the pursuit of personal glory at other high schools and/or the junior level by Minnesota’s best prep players, Backes is part of a dying breed.

The power forward with the scorer’s touch and the banger’s crush turned his back on offers to leave his Spring Lake Park friends and teammates and completed his illustrious Panther career with a Mr. Hockey nomination in 2002

MHM: A recent pair of Duluth News Tribune point/counterpoint columns stirred up the age-old debate over the perceived benefit to Minnesota high school kids departing early for junior hockey. As someone who is seen by many as the poster child for the if-you-are-good-they-will-find-you argument, where do you stand on the subject and describe the process you went through in determining your own path at that age?

Backes: There’s certainly benefits to playing a little more hockey in junior but I think your junior and senior year in high school are critical years for development as an athlete but certainly as a person. If you’re away with a different family or forced to grow up too fast, you miss those years. I think that I think that can be detrimental down the road.

The likelihood of a player even if they’re good enough to leave a little early to play junior, of making a pro career and never having to have a real job is very, very slim. For me, that was my mindset is that I’m gonna have these great memories of playing with the friends that I grew up with in high school, I’m gonna train my but off and if it’s meant to be it’s gonna be.

To read more of this interview, and many other great stories like it, click HERE to view the January, 2017 issue of our digital magazine and subscribe to have future issues delivered directly to your email inbox. 

The post On the Fly: David Backes appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

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Ex-Gopher not in celebratory mood despite milestone goal

St. Paul – This was not the way Mike Reilly wanted his first NHL goal to come.

Reilly, the former Gopher and Minnesota Wild rookie defenseman from Chanhassen, was playing in his seventh NHL game Saturday afternoon and the Wild were losing 4-1 to the Boston Bruins.

Boston had just scored an empty-net goal to grab a three-goal lead, and most of the SRO crowd of 19,191 at the Xcel Energy Center had already abandoned its seats and headed for the frigid outdoors.

Then, in the final minute of play, Reilly launched a shot from the center point to make it 4-2, goal No. 1 in his NHL career.

“It sucks that it came the way it came,” Wild forward Thomas Vanek said, “because he’s a great kid. He’s going to be an unbelievable player in this league.”

Reilly, who won’t turn 22 until July, resisted the temptation to celebrate after his shot hit the Bruins’ net.

“The game was over at that point,” Reilly said. “The natural reaction is not to put my hands up.”

That was the final score as Minnesota extended its streak of futility: Three consecutive losses in a three-game homestand, eight consecutive losses total, losses in 13 of its past 14 games and the dismissal of Mike Yeo as coach.

Not a fond memory to accompany someone’s first NHL goal.

Reilly got the puck after the game but also recognizes that he might simply have to pack in his belongings for another trip to Iowa in the near future, depending on the status of injured defenseman Jared Spurgeon.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Reilly said. “When I get my number called, I’m going to go out there and play my game and try to help the team and try to produce.”

Vanek said Reilly showed class by not celebrating his goal, but he wasn’t surprised because Reilly is such a “smart player.” Reilly demonstrated that earlier on a give-and-go with Ryan Suter, Vanek pointed out.

“He’s going for a stick off the back door, which most guys don’t do,” Vanek said. “You can tell the vision. That’s hockey IQ; you don’t teach that.”

Like Vanek, Suter, Zach Parise, Mikko Koivu and everyone else on the roster, Reilly said he is mystified by the tailspin but will pitch in to make things better.

“I’m hoping,” he added, “to be part of the solution.”

The post Reilly’s first goal rings a bit hollow appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Eriksson’s overtime goal lifts Boston over Minnesota

SAINT PAUL — If there was a single word that could describe the Wild’s effort tonight, it would be “response.”

Coming off a disappointing 5-3 loss in Chicago, Minnesota’s response to each situation throughout the 60-plus minute night defined their game. Though the Wild forced overtime, they fell 3-2 on Loui Eriksson’s goal 2:30 into the extra session, earning a point on the night.

“A disappointing end to an otherwise pretty strong game,” Wild head coach Mike Yeo said, succinctly summing up the night.

Looking to rebound from Tuesday night’s loss, adversity seeped in quickly. Just over five minutes into the first, the Bruins took a 1-0 lead as Carl Soderberg netted a rebound from the slot as Wild netminder Niklas Backstrom was stuck outside the far post.

But the Wild quickly responded as Kyle Brodziak scored his fourth of the season 29 seconds later on a drag-and-snipe goal, beating Bruins goaltender Niklas Svedberg. Though the Wild drew even, the Bruins took a 2-1 lead into intermission as Patrice Bergeron netted a knuckle puck blocker side from above the circle, near the boards.

Whatever was said in that intermission lit a fire within the Wild. Though they didn’t score in the second, they put together one of their strongest middle frames in recent weeks, outshooting the Bruins 20-5.

The equalizer did come — a period later — on one of the luckiest bounces to go Minnesota’s way in quite some time. Ryan Suter, playing in his 700th career game, threw the puck on net, which eventually banked off Jason Pominville, also playing in his 700th career game, and in.

The Wild remained tenacious throughout the game, forcing overtime and earning a crucial point, but once again, how they respond to the outcome will be key.

“It’s a fine line between trying to find positives and trying to build your game, to build our confidence and to build that winning attitude,” Yeo said. “And between, not being satisfied, not accepting losing and not getting the result that we want. So we have to try to walk that line.”

This narrative isn’t entirely new. The Wild has been alternating wins and losses for several weeks now. In fact, the last time Minnesota won back-to-back games was Nov. 24 with a 4-1 win against Florida that capped a three-game win-streak.

Pominville noted that the issue comes down to confidence.

“Sometimes when guys are going through a tougher stretch, you tend to cheat a little more. That leads to us getting caught and giving up more chances than we usually would,” Pominville said. “But tonight I thought we were pretty solid. It has been tough. When you’re in those tight games you battle back, it’s just finding ways to lose instead of finding ways to win. Good teams right now find ways to win. We’re struggling to find ways to win.”

The post Wild respond but Bruins have last word appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Boston tops Minnesota in overtime 3-2

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Minnesota clinches playoff berth with 4-3 win over Boston

SAINT PAUL – An anti-climatic entrance to the second season wasn’t the whole story Tuesday for the Minnesota Wild in front of 18,893 fans on Fan Appreciation Night at Xcel Energy Center. Not even close.

That it’s not is the bigger story.

Despite Boston getting two power play goals, including Loui Eriksson’s go-ahead one late in the second, Ryan Suter’s goal with 1:05 remaining in regulation tied the game at 3 and Jason Pominville scored twice beforehand in a 4-3 shootout win over the Bruins.

“We talked about the resiliency of our group this morning and that was another good example of it right there,” a joyous Minnesota head coach Mike Yeo said after the game.

The two points were enough for the Wild to make the postseason for the second consecutive year and clinch the first Western Conference wild card spot.

The berth was no surprise, however. Needing a single point or a win by either Columbus or Nashville for its fifth trip to the postseason in franchise history, Minnesota got the good news during the second intermission following Blue Jacket Ryan Johansen’s overtime winner against Phoenix.

“Yeosie told us after the second that we were in the playoffs, but I think for us it was more about us being in on our own terms,” said Suter, whose team was trailing for all but 1:55. “I thought we went out and played a good third period … we came back and fought, Bryz played great in net.”

At that point in the game the Wild trailed Boston 3-2 despite Yeo’s team not being able to have gotten off to a better start. Following a Milan Lucic penalty 41 seconds into the game, Pominville got Minnesota on the board 1:05 into the game with a slap shot that beat Bruins goalie Tuuka Rask on the power play.

It wasn’t to last, though. The Bruins, missing Jarome Iginla and David Krejci, came back with a power play goal by Reilly Smith to snap Ilya Bryzgalov’s 145:15 shutout streak spanning parts of four games on the first Boston shot. Patrice Bergeron made it 2-1 10:28 into the first before Pominville scored his second, and 29^th goal of the season, 28 seconds later.

“We did a good job staying even-keeled and not getting frustrated when times were tough,” said Pominville, who finished the night with three points and the team scoring lead with 57.

Minnesota, playing its third game in four nights, did not back down even when knowing it was in the playoffs. That’s been the way the team has played lately, going 5-0-1 over the last six games. Passes that came easy to the Bruins in the first period were stopped and Rask, who made 21 saves, was forced to make a couple of his best late.

However, Pominville, who wasn’t able to celebrate last year when Minnesota clinched a playoff berth on the final game of the season, started the scoring play that Suter finished for his eighth goal of the season.

That seemed to spark the Wild. Minnesota nearly ended the game in overtime with Massachusetts native Charlie Coyle and Matt Moulson both coming close in an exciting overtime that featured everything besides a winning goal.

Bryzgalov, who made 21 saves and hasn’t lost in regulation since Jan. 24, stopped all three Boston shooters. Rask couldn’t get a glove on Mikko Koivu’s patented shootout backhand for the only scoring in the skill competition.

The Wild still have two regular-season games against St. Louis and the Predators, but all eyes turn to a postseason which will begin next week against an opponent to be determined.

At the same time, it is entering the playoffs on a high note. Missing Mikael Granlund and having Brzygalov, the team’s fourth goalie in net this season may not be the best case scenario, but right now the 33 year-old Russian goaltender producing. So are the top players at this point in April.

“As much as we want to get to the playoffs, that’s important of course, but we want to build our game right now,” Yeo said. “I said at the time I’m glad we’re playing teams like Boston and Pittsburgh and LA and all these teams that give us a glimpse. If we want to have a chance, we’re going to have to beat good teams and we’re going to have to be at our best. We’ve put ourselves in a position where we know what our game is and there’s confidence in it.

“Like I said, I think we’re ready for the playoffs.”

But Tuesday’s shootout win remains a celebration prior to the postseason,which saw the Wild lose in the opening round to eventual Stanley Cup champion Chicago in five games. It’s a celebration, one which Minnesota blasted Macklemore’s “Thrift Shop” in the locker room; a song the team played during its first win of the year back in October. It has to be, as Parise said after the game, “getting ready for the second season is going to be a lot of fun.”

The post Wild Get in on Their Own Terms appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.