Veteran Wild forward Marcus Foligno did not see any law enforcement on his drive from the suburbs to the team’s Sunday morning practice at TRIA Rink in downtown St. Paul. That was probably a good thing.
“I was flying,” Foligno admitted with a sheepish grin so he could join teammates and staff to watch the third period of Team USA’s tight gold medal game against Canada in the Wild theater-style video room.
And as a dual citizen — born in New York but was raised in Ontario — Foligno said Team USA’s 2-1 overtime win to claim the nation’s first men’s Olympic gold since 1980 was less about national fealty than it was about Minnesota teammates Quinn Hughes and Brock Faber and forward Matt Boldy playing for the U.S.
“They all represent the USA but the Minnesota Wild at the same time,” he said. “So, I’m excited for them.”
Three Wild players were back from Milan and on the ice for Sunday’s skate, Team Sweden goalies Filip Gustavsson and Jesper Wallstedt in the nets and Team Czechia defenseman David Spacek shooting pucks.
The Wild’s three triumphant Americans all had an impact in the finale. Boldly scored the first goal on an assist from Hughes, and Faber was a key cog in the Team USA penalty kill, which was a perfect 18 for 18 in the Olympics. That included a 5-on-3 Canada power play on Sunday that lasted more than 90 seconds.
Wild head coach John Hynes, an assistant coach for Team USA, was placed in charge of the penalty kill, which played an important role in snapping a 46-year gold medal drought.
“That’s huge. I mean, it just goes to show you that special teams can win you games, win you tournaments,” Wild defenseman Zach Bogosian said. “You can just see the compete level and the selflessness that guys are willing to block shots and stuff like that. So, yeah, it’s obvious that can be a huge difference-maker in a game.”
Bogosian, who spent three-plus seasons employed by the Winnipeg Jets, said fans in Manitoba likely aren’t happy with their goaltender, American star Connor Hellebuyck, but will be happy to have him wearing a Jets sweater as Winnipeg tries to get back into the playoff chase over the next two months.
While the final health report from the Olympics is a tightly-guarded secret, the 10 players from the Wild organization who traveled to Italy for the games all appear to be returning free of major injuries. And for the three Americans, with a gold medal on their resumé, their Minnesota teammates expect the focus to change quickly.
“It seems like every time they touch the puck, it’s doing something dangerous, so we just hope they keep rolling,” Foligno said. “Come back here excited with a chance to keep winning. That’s what we want to do here. We want to end the season with a Stanley Cup.
“For those guys, they got a taste of winning and they’ve been in probably the highest-pressure situation. So, to have three guys in the locker room going into the Stanley Cup playoffs is beneficial for us, big time.”
After a day off on Monday, the Wild will practice Tuesday and Wednesday in St. Paul before a flight to Denver, where they will resume their NHL season Thursday night against the Colorado Avalanche. Puck drop is set for 8 p.m. CST.
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