In the baseball world, Tuesday was the much-anticipated announcement of which former Major League Baseball players would be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 2024. For Minnesota Twins fans, that meant learning former catcher and St. Paul native, Joe Mauer, received a call for the Hall. Mauer is a first-ballot Hall of Fame player after the Twins already retired his No. 7 at Target Field back in 2019.

A couple of hours after the announcement, another Minnesota native wearing a No. 7 jersey made sports history, too, on the Xcel Energy Center ice sheet in St. Paul. Rookie Minnesota Wild defenseman Brock Faber scored his fourth goal of the season only 1 minute, 37 seconds into the game against the Washington Capitals for a quick 1-0 lead.

“Pretty lucky bounce,” Faber said. “It just kind of landed on my stick. It worked out. That’s always fun when you get bounces like that.”

Now that’s a rebound #mnwild pic.twitter.com/nrPRRZLL2X

— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) January 24, 2024

Not even five minutes into the game, the Wild grabbed a 2-0 lead thanks to a bit of a baseball-looking play from Marcus Foligno. Matt Boldy passed the puck out from along the wall to Foligno in the crease. But the puck went airborne, leaving Foligno to bat it down with his glove before hitting the puck into the net with his stick.

Well played, Marcus.

The Wild players talked Tuesday morning about the possibility of Mauer getting into the Hall of Fame, Foligno said.

“That was perfect – a little baseball move,” Foligno said. “I told the guys, and there was a bet in here, I think last year, we got cocky and said, ‘I can probably catch 10 out of 10 pop flies in the outfield.’ So, there’s a good example right there.

“That’s a cool moment, obviously really happy for Joe (Mauer) and obviously a legend.”

It’s just some fun with numbers, but here’s how the rest of the scoresheet shook out for the Wild when it came to the number seven in what turned out to be a 5-3 Wild victory over Washington:

Faber: No. 7 jersey

Foligno: No. SEVENteen jersey

Marcus Johansson: Scored his 7th goal of the season, assisted by Zach Bogosian for his 7th assist of the season

Joel Eriksson Ek: No. 14 jersey (which is 7+7)

Johansson, again: Nickname is JoJo, and Mauer’s first name is Joe. So there.

The Wild also earned their 21st victory of the season, which is 7×3 and reached forty-SEVEN points for the season

Young rookie leaving his mark in Wild history
Faber, who was playing with the University of Minnesota Gophers last season, has drawn plenty of attention this year for his on-ice play. It’s not just locally, but his name has been thrown around as a possibility for the Calder Memorial Trophy, awarded to the NHL’s top rookie.

Faber sees plenty of ice time, and once again led the Wild with a team-high 24:50 time-on-ice in Tuesday’s game against Washington. His goal was also notable as part of Wild franchise history, extending his active point streak to five games (2 goals, 6 assists for 8 points). It’s the longest scoring streak by a rookie defenseman in Wild history.

The goal also brought his points total for the season to 28 (4 goals, 24 assists). That brought him into good company with two other notable Wild defensemen in the team’s archives. He tied Kurtis Foster (10-18—28 in 2005-06) for the third-most points in a season by a Wild rookie defenseman. Filip Kuba leads the list with 30 points in 2000-01, the team’s inaugural season, and Calen Addison recorded 29 points last season for second on the list.

After the game, a humble Faber said there are pros and cons to the way he’s played, even though he’s getting points lately.

“But I still know that I have to build on my consistency and my decision-making in the D zone,” Faber said. “Which, I’ve been far from perfect defensively the past, this month, really.

“But again, just trying to find that happy medium where I’m jumping in plays where I’m skating, where I have the puck on my stick a lot of the game.”

Wild coach John Hynes has been impressed with Faber’s ability to always be part of the offensive side of the game, and he added that it was nice to see the youngster get rewarded for his efforts on Tuesday.

Being a young player in the NHL, playing on the blue line, is a really hard position to play, Hynes said. Faber has also been put in a position of a top-defensive pairing, due in part to injuries to Wild blue liners like Jared Spurgeon this season.

“His effectiveness, his consistency level has been really impressive,” Hynes said. “So, I think the way that he’s played and the situations that he’s played in, he’s certainly deserving of that type of talk.”

Though Faber didn’t grow up in St. Paul, like Mauer and three other National Baseball Hall of Famers, he’s still a Minnesota native. He’s also earned the respect of his teammates, something he certainly has in common with Mauer.

“First of all, off ice, unbelievable guy,” Foligno said. “He cares about everyone in here. And now to see what he does on the ice, he’s a leader in my mind. He’s definitely a future leader of this team.”

The post Well played, Wild appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

It was no surprise that Foligno took the lead and the next night the Wild rallied from a 3-0 deficit against the visiting New York Rangers for a 5-4 victory in a shootout. The Wild then opened a three-game East Coast swing on Nov. 7 with a 4-2 victory over the New York Islanders.

Folgino, and by extension Evason’s message, had been received or, at least, that was the hope.

But after losing the next two games of the trip, against the Rangers and Buffalo Sabres, the Wild put on an embarrassing display in an 8-3 loss Sunday to the Dallas Stars. The team deserved every boo it received from its dissatisfied fan base.

The Stars scored five power-play goals on eight opportunities against the Wild’s atrocious penalty kill, and from top to bottom the Wild played like a checked-out group that had quit listening to its coach. 

“I’m not going to call out a lot of guys in front of you guys, but there’s some guys that sucked tonight,” said Evason, who rarely criticizes his team.

He wasn’t talking about the fourth line either. Among those on Evason’s unnamed list was superstar winger Kaprizov, who hasn’t looked like himself all season.

There had been some thought that the return of standout defenseman Jared Spurgeon would help stabilize things, but the captain has been back for two games and the Wild have lost both of them.

So what’s next?

Matt Boldy on the ice against the Dallas Stars during last year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs. Boldy has one goal and seven assists in eight games this season. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

The Wild departed Monday night for a trip to Sweden and a nearly week-long break from games. They will play Ottawa and Toronto on Saturday and Sunday, respectively, before returning home and not playing again until Nov. 24 against Colorado. It’s exactly what the Wild doesn’t need.

The break between games will give other teams a chance to widen their lead in the standings, and it’s no secret that teams that aren’t in a playoff position at Thanksgiving often struggle to make the playoffs. The Wild also need to get their act together and sitting around a hotel room, touring Sweden and having a few practices isn’t the way to do it. It would be better for the Wild to get back into action and put the Dallas debacle behind them.

The other interesting thing about the Wild’s 5-8-2 start — their second consecutive slow start to a season — is how much patience owner Craig Leipold and general manager Bill Guerin will show with Evason.

Evason was a hard-working player during his NHL career and always has prided himself on having a team that is willing to do the necessary work to win games. But in his fourth full season in Minnesota, Evason isn’t getting the necessary buy-in from his players.

That’s a major concern because the reason the Wild find themselves in salary-cap hell is because of Guerin’s desire to get Zach Parise and Ryan Suter out of the locker room. Guerin wanted to establish a new culture and yet this team is showing many of the same signs that Guerin thought he had eliminated.

As far as Kaprizov, he has five goals and 15 points in 15 games but has become a turnover machine and is a team-worst minus-11. He was given practice off Monday morning for a maintenance day and Evason said he’s “a little banged up.”

Filip Gustavsson is 2-4-1 this season. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

That might explain some of why Kaprizov hasn’t looked like himself, but it doesn’t explain why wingers Matt Boldy and Marcus Johansson have only one goal apiece.

The Wild’s goaltending duo of Filip Gustavsson (4.64 goals-against average in eight games) and Marc-Andre Fleury (3.41 GAA in eight games) also has performed below expectations.

The list of underachievers is a lengthy one and Guerin has made a few moves, including dealing defenseman Calen Addison and acquiring veteran defenseman Zach Bogosian, in hopes of sparking his team. But only so many players can be moved and it’s unlikely there are any major trades coming.

That makes Evason the easy target if Leipold and Guerin decide a significant shakeup is needed. Both the owner and GM have made it clear they don’t see the Wild’s salary-cap issues as a reason to give up hope on a playoff berth or even a postseason run.

If that’s the case, you have to wonder how much longer they will tolerate watching losses and lifeless performances. Could two losses in Sweden spell the end for Evason?

In a season that is circling the drain, it has to be considered a possibility.

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