With the last two games of the 4 Nations Face-Off played not only in his home country, but his home state, it’s not surprising that Minnesota Wild forward Matt Boldy felt comfortable in the red, white and blue of Team USA.
He finished the four-game tournament with a goal and two assists, and made an impression even on those who see him every day wearing red and green. Wild fans know what Boldy can do, as his 21 goals are most among players currently in the lineup, and he has now tied Kirill Kaprizov for the team lead in assists with 29 — although, in fairness, the high-skilled Russian has played in 20 fewer games.
Still, Boldy’s play at 4 Nations produced a checklist of things that Wild head coach John Hynes, a Team USA assistant coach, liked to see.
“Heavy, heavy forechecking, heavy contact, north-south speed, putting pucks in,” Hynes said. “There wasn’t a lot of east-west play, used his size, net-front tip goals, 40-second shifts. That’s the game. So, it’s great that we got that.”
Boldy and defenseman Brock Faber were the two Wild representatives on Team USA, and while Faber sees Boldy’s game every day, he enjoyed the rest of the world getting to know the big kid from Millis, Mass.
“He’s hard not to appreciate. As a guy who’s on this team, I think he lacks a little appreciation around the league, just how skilled he is, how big he is, how impressive he protects the puck,” Faber said. “He’s going to be one of the best in the world, and he showed that. It’s a huge privilege to call him a teammate.”
Boldy, who will be 24 by the time the NHL playoffs begin, was the Wild’s first-round pick, 12th overall, in the 2019 NHL Draft and played at Boston College before turning professional. While he is on pace to have his best season in the NHL, Boldy also has a tendency to run hot and cold. Hynes said Boldy’s play at 4 Nations gives the coaches some important video to show him if Boldy gets into a slump going forward.
“If it veers off, we’ll just bring it back to when he played his best in a best-on-best tournament,” Hynes said. “But that’s the style of game that Bolds needs to play to be such an impact player that he can be for our team.”
Hartman suspension reduced
While it was clear that Wild forward Ryan Hartman was going to miss some time for his altercation with Ottawa’s Tim Stutzle in a road game on Feb. 1, his appeal of the 10-game suspension was at least successful in reducing his time away.
On Monday the NHL ruled that Hartman’s suspension will now be eight games rather than 10, which makes him eligible to return to the Wild lineup for their March 4 game in Seattle.
Hartman has been skating with the team in practice while waiting on the ruling on the suspension and the NHL Players Association’s appeal. Tuesday night’s game against the Red Wings at Xcel Energy Center will be Hartman’s fourth missed game.
In 48 games for the Wild this season, Hartman has seven goals and 10 assists while averaging just under 15 minutes of ice time per game.
Related Articles
For Wild’s Brock Faber, this reunion after international play was a relative breeze
When the dust clears, Wild find a way win in Detroit
Wild’s John Hynes returned from 4 Nations with new tricks in his bag
Wild return to NHL duty still missing their best player
Practice call-ups make valuable Wild contributions
Leave a Reply