With fans counting down the hours until the Minnesota Wild’s season re-starts Saturday with an early game in Detroit versus the Red Wings, assistant coach Jack Capuano — running practices while head coach John Hynes works with Team USA at the 4 Nations Face-Off in Boston — admitted sometimes the on-ice work feels more like September than February.
But he likes what he’s seen so far.
“When you go on break for so long, it’s almost like a mini training camp,” said Capuano, following the team’s Wednesday practice at TRIA Rink. “But I thought the last couple days the guys were dialed in, they were detailed, they had good execution and pace, and they worked hard. So that’s a credit to them.”
The schedule is for the three players who skated for Team Sweden — Jonas Brodin, Joel Eriksson Ek and Filip Gustavsson — to return to practice on Friday, before the team flies to Michigan that afternoon. Hynes, general manager Bill Guerin, defenseman Brock Faber and forward Matt Boldy are expected to join the team in Detroit prior to its meeting with the Red Wings.
To fill the gaps created by the current absences, the Wild called up forward Travis Boyd and goalie Dylan Ferguson from their AHL team in Iowa this week just for a practice or two. And while that meant 10 total hours in the car for both men, they jumped at the chance to get some work with the NHL team at the practice rink, even if they would have preferred to be a few blocks away at Xcel Energy Center.
“It’s obviously a big deal. Just try and take what you can from it,” said Boyd, the former Gophers standout who has played three NHL games for his home state team — all of them on the road — this season.
“These guys are coming off their break, so they’re trying to get back up to speed, so you just try to be a sponge and take it in. There’s always a small thing or two you can take away from every practice, and try to get one percent better every day.”
With Filip Gustavsson getting some rest after backstopping two overtime losses for Team Sweden at the 4 Nations, Marc-Andre Fleury has had Ferguson as his counterpart for the recent practices. Ferguson was signed by the Wild to a AHL contract in the fall, and recently inked a two-way deal with the team.
The practices this week were the first time he has been called up by the NHL team, but he began his pro career in Vegas and knows Fleury from their time together with the Golden Knights.
“These are the best players in the world, and I think any chance you get to get up here and experience that is better for me and for my growth moving forward,” said Ferguson, who has played 10 games with Iowa this season.
Capuano said the team plans more of a light “training and treatment” day on Thursday, then will have a more complete roster on Friday, prompting them to send both Boyd and Ferguson back to Des Moines after practice on Wednesday. But the coaches were thankful for the extra bodies and what they contributed on the practice rink this week.
“Boyd’s been around and has played a lot of NHL games, and Fergie’s up here so he gets some NHL shots, so it’s good to have those guys around,” Capuano said. “It’s good to see the guys and it’s good to compete at this level.”
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