Olympic-size ice sheets, 15 feet wider than the normal NHL-size playing surfaces, were once a hockey trend that is quickly going away. Locally, the Gophers reduced the size of the ice at 3M Arena at Mariucci a few years ago, and St. Cloud State recently announced plans to do the same.
In the 1990s, when the “big ice” was all the rage, many believed that more playing surface would open up the game to more dynamic offense. It didn’t really happen that way, but there were nuances in the game on an Olympic-size sheet that caused teams to adjust their style of play.
During his run as head coach at the University of Michigan, Edina native Mel Pearson noted that playing on the Gophers’ big ice caused many young defenders to stray farther and farther away from their own net, leaving the Wolverines’ goalie unprotected at times.
Although he surely played on Olympic-size ice sheets, which remain commonplace in Europe, on his journey to the NHL, Wild defenseman David Jiricek now makes his living on standard size ice. In an effort to make him an everyday member of the blue line — and show fans why they paid dearly to acquire him — the Wild are working with the 21-year-old Czech on not wandering away from the net.
Or as head coach John Hynes explained it, “If there’s a play below the goal line, and there’s kind of a loose guy at the net front, not vacating the net front to go chase bad ice.”
With a 6-foot-3 frame and the long limbs that can be so effective for modern NHL defenders, Jiricek clearly has all the physical tools, one reason Columbus made him the sixth overall pick in the 2022 draft. Last season, Wild general manager Bill Guerin sent Daemon Hunt, the Wild’s 2025 first-round pick, and first-, second-, and third-round picks to Nashville to acquire him.
Jiricek played 27 games for the Iowa Wild and six at the NHL level (with one goal) before an upper body injury ended his season prematurely.
While his skating has been the biggest project for coaches working with Jiricek, he has a goal already in the preseason — scoring on a power play during the team’s preseason game in Dallas last week. But Hynes reiterated that there are still lessons for Jiricek to learn about when to defend and when to let his offensive instincts kick in.
“The habits and the mindset,” Hynes explained, “to be able to defend, and understand when it is time to be aggressive and when is it not time to be aggressive.”
With a good stable of defensemen at the ready, and veteran like Jack Johnson proving to be an option, it looks as if the Wild will remain patient with Jiricek’s development into a full-time NHL blue line option.
Teammate and translator
Wild rookie Danila Yurov is learning to speak better English, but it is a work in progress. Following Thursday’s preseason home loss to Dallas, Yurov spoke to the media with the help of a translator, fellow Russian and new Minnesota teammate Vladimir Tarasenko.
Along with the normal questions about Yurov’s first game at Grand Casino Arena, one reporter asked Yurov what it is like to play with Tarasenko, a hero to Yurov his while growing up in Russia. After Yurov answered in Russian, Tarasenko provided the answer in English.
“He said, ‘It’s nice to play’ because he was watching me on TV,” Tarasenko said. “So, they still have skill and it was nice to play together.”
Tarasenko, 33, has more than 800 NHL games and two Stanley Cups on his resume, while Yurov, 21, looks to make his NHL debut next month after playing in Russia’s KHL since 2000.
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