Goaltender Marc Andre-Fleury broke his stick during the game, a representation of some of the tension within the team at the time.

“They’re human beings and they feel it and they know it,” said Wild coach Dean Evason, after the Feb. 9 loss. “It’s easy to go in and kick the garbage can over 14 times tonight or come two days from now and scream. What are we going to do? We have to get back to how we play structurally.

“We’ll remind them of all those things and stay as positive as we can. What else are you going to do?”

Flanked by the Minnesota Wild’s Dave Schwartz (L) and Bill Butters (R), Nate Prosser discusses his faith journey at the Wild’s Faith and Family event. (MHM Photo / Heather Rule)

The Wild eventually turned things around, with a stretch of eight wins in nine games. But former Wild defenseman Nate Prosser, 36, could relate to the kind of stress, pressure and mounting frustrations that can show up in a long NHL season. He shared some of his faith journey, along with Minnesota Wild chaplain Bill Butters, at the Wild’s Faith and Family pregame event on Feb. 28 at the St. Paul RiverCentre. More than 275 tickets were sold as part of the special package.

Faith was his firm foundation, Prosser said.

“I was always signed as a no. 7 defenseman, so I sat out for three, four weeks at a time,” Prosser said. “And you can’t tell me there wasn’t stresses or frustrations with that.”

When it’s a contract year and his hockey skills got rusty while he was a healthy scratch for a month at a time, where would he turn? His faith. He’d hit play on worship music or lean on his wife, Brittani, and her faith to keep him going through his day-to-day grind of the hockey schedule.

Prosser kept himself even-keeled, and always loved showing up to the rink with a smile on his face. Was his team on a four-game winning streak or a six-game losing streak? Couldn’t tell by looking at Prosser.

“I showed up the same way,” he said. “I wanted all my teammates to see that. I loved being the team-first guy that brought our locker room together. That’s what I pride myself on throughout my career.”

That team-first player retired from the NHL in June 2021 after 11 goals and 49 points in 360 games as a defenseman. The Elk River native, who played for the Minnesota Wild for eight seasons, settled back in his home state with his family.

Bill Butters, a former North Stars player, said Prosser was his “go-to guy” for holding chapel with players. Now, there is one “chapel guy” left, Butters said: Marcus Foligno.

“It’s usually guys with big fists and play hard that have a soft heart,” Butters said.

Prosser acknowledged that he liked to chirp and play physical on the ice. But even as a kid, he took on a leadership role growing up in Elk River in a blue-collar, “very church-oriented house.”

“I always had a heart for the broken and the lost and the made fun of,” Prosser said. “Even at a young age.

“I always wanted to be the leader… be friends with those guys and reach out to them.”

That leadership carried over to his hockey locker rooms, a place combined with Christianity “wasn’t like peanut butter and jelly,” because they didn’t go well together, Prosser said.

Starting in high school hockey, the locker room scene was focused on partying and girls, he added. It was important for him to find a group of friends who shared his values. Most of his best friends from high school weren’t hockey players.

Once his career took him to the Wild, he enjoyed eight great years there, calling the signing “a God thing.”  

“A guy like me wasn’t supposed to sign a contract with the hometown Minnesota Wild,” Prosser said. “It just wasn’t meant to happen like that. I knew God was going to have his hand in the rest of my career.”

(MHM Photo / Jeff Wegge)

Though Prosser was never the guy at the top of the scoresheet or on the top defensive pairing, he earned the respect of his teammates throughout his professional hockey career. He relished being the guy in the room whom players could turn to and lean on if they struggled in their personal lives, needed to feel like part of the team after getting called up to the big club, or maybe it was a top goal scorer who went eight days without a goal.

“They show up with their shoulders shrugged a little bit,” Prosser said. “I loved to build those guys back up.”

His faith rubbed off on some of his teammates, too. Prosser recalled going to NHL chapel programs, then coming into the Wild locker room and Chris Stewart asking “spit some knowledge at me, Pross. What did you learn in there?”

Prosser obliged. When he did, guys in the room paused from taping their sticks to listen as Prosser spoke about his faith and Jesus. Prosser also had an effect on former Wild player Dany Heatley, who changed his vocabulary around Prosser; he wouldn’t say the Lord’s name in vain around Prosser.

“Talk about having respect,” Prosser said. “That was earned.”

Having been retired from the NHL for nearly two years, Prosser and his family live in Plymouth, and he is coaching 10U, 8U and 6U hockey teams, filling his days with his kids’ sports and activities. One of the things he is most excited about is that he can continue to be faith-driven in his work, which has “been huge in my next chapter of life after hockey.” Everyone struggles with the transition to life post-hockey, he said, so it took him some time to figure out what he wanted to do, along with being a dad to his four daughters under the age of 10.

A few months ago, Prosser also joined True North Equity Partners, a package assembly facility that Prosser is helping to grow.

“They share my moral compass, and my faith,” Prosser said. “That’s what kind of drew me to them.”

He knew all along that being a hockey player was something he did, not who he was.

“I think that was always harped into me a young age,” Prosser said. “My dad always told me, ‘whether you play until you’re 18 or you play until you’re 35, really, what does it matter? It matters what you’re doing for eternity.’

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Minnesotans shine in Hockey Day win over Lightning

St. Paul, Minn. — The twelfth Hockey Day Minnesota ended at Xcel Energy Center with a 5-2 Wild win over the Tampa Bay Lighting with all four of the team’s Minnesota native skaters getting points.

Nate Prosser’s goal in the second period ended up as his second Hockey Day Minnesota game winner, and Kyle Rau earned a secondary assist on the play during his debut with the Wild.

“Nate loves Hockey Day Minnesota, he’s a point a game player on Hockey Day,” Zach Parise said. “I think you see the excitement from the rest of the team when he scores, and that says it all. He’s very well liked guy on our team, great person, and you want to see guys like that do well.”

Prosser got the crowd going early in the game when he stepped up to scrap with the Lightning’s Ryan Callahan following a hit on Tyler Ennis in the neutral zone. It was a play his coach though the team appreciated, got the crowd even more amped up, and kept the team’s adrenaline going.

Parise was the first of the Minnesota natives to get on the board, tallying his first goal of the season late in the second period by getting a stick on a Ryan Suter shot. Parise said his conditioning and energy has been fine since coming back to the lineup, but tonight was the best he felt handling the puck.

Matt Cullen was the fourth Minnesotan on the scoresheet tonight, when he got his 700th point assisting on Marcus Foligno’s third period goal.

The win came off of a bye week for the Wild and it was a night where they seemed to have the most energy despite an NHL trend of teams struggling their first game back.

“Yesterday’s practice, everyone was upbeat, probably the loudest practice as far as guys being talkative, and the same with morning skate today,” Bruce Boudreau said. “It would have been a crime if they didn’t come out with same energy they did the last two days.”

Rau wasn’t one of the players coming in off a bye, but off of a call-up from Iowa and contributed a simple, smart, intelligent and fast game with the big club. The former Gopher was so excited to play in his sixth Hockey Day Minnesota that he couldn’t settle in for his pre-game nap.

Rau didn’t see much ice in the first period as he settled into the speed of the game with a couple wall battles on the breakout early, but saw a regular shift during the second on a line with Charlie Coyle and Joel Eriksson Ek. Boudreau liked the line and thought Rau stepped in, didn’t look out of place and his speed and intelligence really wore off. The coach didn’t have any special messages for him other than asking how many tickets did he have to buy.

Rau had a bunch of high school buddies in the rink for the game that saw him get 6:56 of ice time, two shots, one assist and ending up plus one for the night.

“Good play by Rauser, he played well tonight,” Prosser said. “It’s just cool that this Hockey Day thing has become such a big deal, all the guys kind of yelling about, Minnesota guys money on the board, stuff like that, we all got up there, big win.”

Prosser said he told Rau to just play his game, make plays and skate.

“When your feet are moving, the rest of your game usually follows and he was skating well,” Prosser said.

Rau became the 24th Minnesotan to play for the Wild during the franchise’s history, his brother Chad Rau is one of the others, and they’re the first pair of brothers to play a game for the Wild. Chad’s debut was on Hockey Day Minnesota 2012, when he scored the game winning goal. The Gopher Hockey alum also became the 21st player from the University of Minnesota to play in the NHL this season, tying Michigan for the most in college hockey.

“I think this is my sixth [Hockey Day Minnesota], so it’s kind of cool to be able to say that,” Rau said. “Then to be able to contribute on the scoresheet obviously that’s something that you want to do.”

The post Locals Lead Wild To Win appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Wild make a point and savor Vikings’ win

No one is thrilled when a lead with four minutes remaining turns into an overtime loss, but Wild players pretty much seized a positive attitude as the team began a five-day break for its NHL bye week.

Minnesota dropped a 3-2 decision to Vancouver Sunday night in a strange evening permeated by the Vikings’ surprise playoff win over the New Orleans Saints a few hours earlier.

The result left the Wild with six of a possible eight points in their final four games, however, as players scattered for a few days away from the rink.

“Got to look at it as a positive,” coach Bruce Boudreau said.

Player introductions were held in front of a mostly empty arena at the Xcel Energy Center as the vast majority of fans huddled in front of TVs on the arena concourse to watch the final minutes of the Vikings-Saints game.

Midway through the Canadian National Anthem, a roar went through the building that signified something good must have happened for the Vikings.

“It certainly sounded loud enough to be a good thing,” Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk said, “so I was kind of itching to get over to the bench and figure out what happened.”

What happened, of course, was a last-second touchdown that boosted the Vikings into the NFC championship game, the replay of which was shown on the Xcel scoreboard after the anthems for players and fans alike.

After many setbacks, it was the Vikings’ turn to stage an improbable comeback.

“It’s exciting for our state,” defenseman Nate Prosser said. “We’re all pumped up for them.”

A native Minnesotan like Prosser, winger Zach Parise donned a Vikings cap after the game and reveled in the victory by his favorite pro football team.

“That was awesome,” he said.

Less awesome was the Wild’s final result against the Canucks, but Minnesota took 53 points and a little momentum into the break off a record of 24-17-5.

“I think we’re starting to play better hockey overall,” Boudreau said, admitting that his guys looked a bit emotionally drained after two back-to-back series over the previous six days. “In regulation we gave up six goals in four games. What our identity’s got to be; we’re not a high scoring team this year, so quite frankly, we’ve got to defend.”

The Wild defeated Chicago 2-1 and Winnipeg 4-1 in their previous two games after an overtime loss to Calgary and ended their most recent stretch of games with a 6-2-2 record.

The point Sunday pulled them within two of St. Louis for third place in the NHL Central Division.

“We made some good movement in the standings this week,” Prosser said. “We’re definitely pushing in the right direction, that’s for sure. You can sense it on the ice; you can sense it in the locker room — we’re building it here.”

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Nate Prosser’s third homecoming begins with a win over old mates

St. Paul – Although Nate Prosser was not selected as one of the three stars of the game, he must have felt like one.

Reporters surrounded Prosser in the Wild dressing room Saturday after the newest member of the team played more than 17 minutes, blocked a game-high three shots, recorded at least one big hit and forced one turnover.

He also had one giveaway, which Wild coach Bruce Boudreau slyly noted might have been because, only three days earlier, Prosser was a member of the opposition St. Louis Blues.

Boudreau gave the overall play of Prosser a thumbs-up — especially his nearly five minutes on the penalty kill.

“Nate did what we knew he does; he plays just a solid, safe game,” the coach said following Minnesota’s 2-1 overtime win over the Blues.

Prosser, 31, a native of Elk River, was signed away from the Wild by St. Louis in 2014, then waived and picked up again at the beginning of that season by Minnesota.

This season, same again — except the change came after 25 games with the Blues.

And Prosser’s smile was ear to ear following his team’s win over his former team.

“This is crazy, what happened,” Prosser said. “To be back for my third time is pretty bizarre, but this group can take me in. It’s a good group of guys and I’ve a lot of good relationships in here, so it’s a pretty seamless transition for me.”

Prosser was mostly a watcher during his time with the potent Blues, playing only one game before he was waived. He arrived in Minnesota in time for one practice with the Wild on Friday, then jumped straight into the lineup.

It was a stunning development for him: He left the first-place Blues but landed on his feet and was able to silently absorb a bucketful of kidding before and during the game from his old mates.

It was all the spirit of friendship.

“I was able to form a good bond with a lot of guys,” he said. “Even though I wasn’t in the lineup a lot, I still met a lot of good guys down there. They took me in pretty well.

“I was sad to leave, but getting the opportunity to come here and put on this sweater tonight was a dream.”

Prosser was not alone in standing tall against the Blues, who brought a 17-8-1 record to the Xcel Energy Center. Devan Dubnyk made 41 saves as St. Louis outshot the Wild 42-25, and Matt Dumba banged in a loose puck that slithered off Charlie Coyle’s stick 39 seconds into overtime for the winning goal.

It enabled the Wild to sneak away with two points — they were outshot 14-9 in the second period and 16-8 in the third as they took four penalties over those 40 minutes.

Prosser was a key factor all game and especially on the PK, where he put himself in shooting lanes, used his 6-foot-2 frame to shove guys out of the crease area and typically cause problems for the Blues.

Unlike defenseman Kyle Quincy, who the Wild placed on waivers before picking up Prosser, he demonstrated exactly how to do what is necessary in front of his goaltender for success.

“I think ‘Pross’ might have made more saves than me when we were in the zone, there,” Dubnyk said.

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Deepest lineup ever presents good ‘problem’ as playoffs begin

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Classic WCHA alums blow away Hurricanes

SAINT PAUL – Early on in the Wild’s 6-3 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes Saturday night, a hat trick appeared inevitable.

Instead, the lone mention of hats might have been a reference to the Gophers’ “Minnesota, hats off to thee.”

Former University of Minnesota star Thomas Vanek scored two goals in the first 8:17 to spark a Wild offense that got goals from ex-Gophers Jordan Schroeder and Erik Haula as well as Elk River native Nate Prosser and Bloomington native Zach Parise.

With the Gophers men posting a 2-0 win over Michigan at Mariucci Arena, it was a good evening for Minnesota hockey fans.

“They need to win; we need to win, so it’s a good day for all of us,” Vanek said.

The Wild’s six goals, coming on just 24 shots including one into an empty net, were backed by another strong effort from Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk.

Dubnyk raised his record with Minnesota to 10-1-1 and the Wild, much to the delight of 19,220 at the Xcel Energy Center, raised their record in their past 10 games to 8-0-2 to tie the franchise mark for longest points streak.

With points in 12 of their past 13 games, the Wild have climbed to a 28-20-7 record for 63 points with 27 games remaining. The 63 points temporarily tied Minnesota for eighth place in the Western Conference, just three points behind sixth-place San Jose, although Calgary and Vancouver played late.

The timing of this streak has been terrific: The Wild now head on the road for games at Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton.

“At this time of year, it’s all about getting points, and we’re getting them,” Vanek said.

Vanek got the Wild started in the first period, with a bunch of help from Justin Fontaine.

Fontaine’s forecheck created a loose puck, and Mikael Granlund found the puck and an open Vanek to make it 1-0 just 1:15 after puck drop.

Seven minutes later, Fontaine slid a perfect pass to an open Vanek to make it 2-0, and after Schroeder banged a shot past former Wild goalie Anton Khudobin at the 15:31 mark, it appeared Minnesota was in control.

But the Hurricanes outshot the Wild 13-4 in the second period to push back.

“We got the win, that’s the bottom line,” Schroeder said. “And that’s 10 consecutive games with a point, so that’s pretty cool, too.”

Carolina cut deficits of 3-0 and 4-1 to 4-3 in the second period before goals by Haula and Parise made things more comfortable.

“Unflappable,” was the word chosen by Wild coach Mike Yeo to describe his team, noting that a strange embellishment penalty called against Mikko Koivu seemed to give the Hurricanes life.

But, as Yeo said, the Wild did not wilt.

“I think we’re just kind of building our game,” Prosser said. “Each and every game we’re building our confidence, and everyone’s feeling good about their games. We’re doing all the little things right: Making sure we’re paying the price, blocking shots, taking hits to make plays. I think everyone can feel that positivity on the bench.”

Yeo tipped his hat to the play of Fontaine and Schroeder, who have moved up because of injuries to Jason Zucker and Ryan Carter, commenting that both did things “the right way.”

Fontaine picked up two assists and Schroeder one, while Granlund and Jared Spurgeon each added two assists and Vanek one.

Yeo was obviously relieved to add another win to his team’s record – the Wild will likely need to pick up 31 or 32 points over their final 26 games to make the playoffs – but Yeo was in no mood to celebrate.

“One win doesn’t mean we’re there,” he said, “and one loss doesn’t mean we’re not there. This is all just part of the process right now. We’re finally back in it. We’ve gotten ourselves closer, and there’s still an awful lot of hockey left this year.”

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Nate Prosser skates up the ice during Minnesota’s 4-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers.
(MHM Photo/Jordan Doffing).

For a handful of players on the Minnesota Wild roster, the lyrics “I was born a child of the strong and wild,” from their anthem could not be more appropriate as they hail from the great state of hockey. Nate Prosser is one of those players and as Hockey Day in Minnesota approaches he couldn’t be a better choice to feature following the Wild’s 4-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers. The win came in front of a sold out arena of 18,037 home team fans and included Prosser’s first game-winning goal of his career, coming at 16:45 of the 2nd period, assisted by Jason Pominville. Prosser honed the skills that would lead him to the NHL – and that 2nd period goal – on the site of this weekend’s coming Hockey Day activities, “The Pit,” as it is lovingly referred to, in Elk River, MN.

Sit back and enjoy this Q&A with Nate Prosser on growing up Minnesota, High School Hockey and what being truly blessed means to him.

Q: What do you think was the best part of growing up in Minnesota as far as hockey is concerned?

A: I think the best part about growing up here for hockey is the availability of ice. “The Pit” in general is a great spot. Growing up, when we wanted to play outdoor hockey we could go there and and it was perfect. There are lights and it’s down out of the wind, it literally sits in a pit so it was kind of alike a dream setting for kids with the warming house and everything right there.

Q: Was there anything really special about Elk River specifically for you?

A: The biggest thing for me growing up in Elk River was being able to watch Paul Martin and my brother who was three years older than me. I was able to grow up watching those great players and we actually won a state tournament when I was a bantam. There have been some great teams down through there in the past ten to twenty years and I think it’s just a perfect spot to have Hockey Day with the teams that we’ve been having and the success that we’ve been having with hockey…it’s such a hockey city. We get such good fans there. The student section is down on the glass on the opposing end and the guys really got us into it. It’s just a fun city to play in.

Q: Do you have a favorite hockey memory?

A: The state tournament my sophomore year was a lot of fun at the Xcel playing Bloomington that first game and all of the road trips me and my dad and sometimes my brother would take up to Grand Rapids or Duluth or Fargo…places like that. We’d pack up the minivan and head up and play penny poker on the way up and do goofy stuff. My first high school hockey game was an experience I’ll always remember because I grew up watching and idolizing my Paul Martin when he was in high school who was such a good player and I always wanted to play for my high school team. My sophomore year our first game was against Edina and I just remember stepping on the ice that first time and it was a dream come true.

Q: Coming full circle…does it make it more special that you play in the NHL here as opposed to if you played at another NHL venue?

A: Yeah for sure. I definitely have to take a step back a lot of the time and pinch myself. I know I’m truly blessed with where I’m at and all of my family and friends are still in the local area here and I’m truly thankful to be a part of this organization. When I graduated from college I was so happy to be heading to the Xcel and being able to play in front of my friends and family…the sense of pride I had to be playing for the hometown team…words can’t even describe it.

Q: Do you think having your friends and family here makes it easier or harder to play?

A: Obviously there are pros and cons with everything, in every situation, but I think the pros definitely outweigh the cons in this situation. I’m  able to be here and be close to my family and I’m able to raise my family here. My wife is pregnant with our second child and we’re getting a big family going down here and I think it’s great to be here in Minnesota.

Q: Any plans to check out the State High School hockey tournament this year?

A: Yeah! Oh yeah!

Q: Why do you think that tournament is so popular?

A: This state just loves their high school hockey! It’s pretty incredible. I remember playing up at sectionals at the DECC in Duluth and that place would be packed full and then you come play in St. Paul and it’s packed full as well. People just love coming to watch their high school hockey and when the top eight teams get into one building, especially at the Xcel because it’s a great venue for it, everyone comes down and makes a weekend of it and just makes it a great time. I also always go to the final five because it’s just incredible as well.

Following Prosser’s big night we couldn’t help but ask him to reiterate how special it was to play in front of his friends and family. He responded with a big smile, “It’s a dream come true playing here in front of my family and friends at the Xcel. Having them here by my side and supporting me after every game is huge.”

Nate Prosser during Minnesota’s 4-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers. Photo Credit ~ Jordan Doffing.

Head coach Mike Yeo also weighed in on Prosser following the game saying, “He’s an unbelievable professional, he’s an unbelievable team guy.” He continued, “He does little things right and obviously we’re incredibly happy for him to score that goal tonight but even if he didn’t score that goal he’s going to go out and give you a great chance because of the way he plays, the way he defends and manages the puck well and he competes hard every night.”

There is no doubt Minnesotans everywhere echo Coach Yeo’s sentiments on Prosser and perhaps even smile a bit knowing the defenseman is a living representation of the spirit of hockey being instilled in kids all across the state of Minnesota.

For more information on Hockey Day in Minnesota CLICK HERE! Be sure to follow @MNhockeyMag on Twitter for all of our latest articles, updates and events as well as the author of this article @AmySnow17!

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