To be successful in one of the most stressful positions in sports, goalies are expected to have quick reflexes, superior vision and short memories. For Wild goalie Jesper Wallstedt, long stretches of the 2024-25 season are a time he would like to forget. To his credit, he has — after some introspection.

“It was more about thinking through last year. Get through it, analyze it, put it behind and not think about it anymore, then look forward with excitement to the season coming up,” said Wallstedt, who won nine of 27 appearances for the Iowa Wild last season and went 0-2 in two NHL appearances last December. “I feel like head and body are in a really good spot.”

Asked again about last season’s struggles in Iowa, when he posted admittedly disappointing numbers — 3.59 goals-against average, .879 saves percentage — Wallstedt made it clear he had moved on.

“That’s enough about that,” he said.

Wallstedt, who turns 23 in November, was the Wild’s first-round pick (20th overall) in the 2021 NHL draft. He has beaten Winnipeg twice this preseason as he preps for what will most likely be the backup role at the NHL level behind No. 1 goalie Filip Gustavsson.

In the Wild’s preseason home finale on Tuesday, Wallstedt overcame a slow start and finished with 26 saves in a 3-2 win. It included killing a quartet of Winnipeg power plays, one with just 3:15 left in regulation, and a busy final minute when the Jets’ goalie was on the bench for an extra attacker.

All of that had the goalie smiling postgame.

“I felt that our PK was good all game. I felt like we did a good job, and I think we all felt that we were confident on the PK,” Wallstedt said. “You don’t want to (have to) kill that late in a game when you’re up, but I think we knew what we were supposed to do out there.”

Wallstedt was part of a rare three-man goalie room for the first handful of Wild games last season before the team settled on Gustavsson and now-retired veteran Marc-Andre Fleury as the primary tandem. With a fellow Swede as his presumptive understudy this season, Gustavsson predicts a good relationship in the crease.

“It’s a little easier. I speak better Swedish than French,” Gustavsson deadpanned. “So, you can talk a little more on a personal level and stuff like that. Jesper’s a great guy, so it’s easy to deal with him.”

Coach John Hynes likes a goalie tandem that is friendly and respectful but acknowledged it’s not just about getting along.

“I think that there also needs to be a healthy competition,” he said. “That they do push each other from a competitive standpoint for playing time, for starts.”

His first start as a regular member of an NHL roster is still to come, but Wallstedt came to Minnesota feeling lighter, faster and more explosive. He also feels confident and can look back on a wealth of success in September as he looks to translate that game to October and beyond.

“I feel very ready. I think I’ve had a great preseason every year I’ve been here,” he said. “I think I’ve still won every game I’ve started during the preseason. So, now it’s just about converting that into when the season starts. I feel very confident. I feel like I’ve matured a little bit. I feel like my game is in a great place.”

Even if that place is in the secondary role.

Related Articles

Kirill Kaprizov show rolls on as Wild rally in preseason home finale

St. Paul renames 7th Street ’97th Street,’ temporarily, for Wild star Kirill Kaprizov

Wild’s Mats Zuccarello sidelined 7-8 weeks with lower-body injury

‘Our franchise player’ staying, as Wild wrap up Kirill Kaprizov long term

Wild cut three more from training camp

The Minnesota China Friendship Garden Society on Saturday will host events to mark a holiday celebrated around the world. The Twin Cities Mid-Autumn Festival showcases different Asian American cultures in the community.

In China, the festival is is a time for people to gather, offer thanks for the harvest, and pray for longevity and good fortune. The holiday — Oct. 6 this year — falls on the day of a full moon. The festival is also celebrated in other parts of Asia such as Vietnam, Malaysia, and Singapore.

The event is free and runs from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the China Friendship Garden “Liu Ming Yuan” in Phalen Regional Park.

The festival starts with Voices in the Light Poetry and open mic readings as well as and a 5K run at 11 a.m. ​The festival also will feature more than 30 cultural information booths and more than six hours of traditional performances and dances from Hmong, Chinese, Vietnamese, Dakota tribe performers and more. There also will be food and moon cakes tastings. More information is available at mnchinagarden.org.

According to Romi Slowaik, a board member of the Minnesota China Friendship Garden Society, the festival is meant to be a get-together for friends and family.

​“It’s a time for family get-togethers and remembering people all over the world who are part of your family. As you look at the shadow of the full moon, you think that your family members on the other side of the world are looking at that,” Slowaik said.

​Christina Morrison, the board director of the Minnesota China Friendship Garden and president of the Association of Sino-American Neocultural Exchange, said the festival is a way to inform people about the Chinese American garden at the center.

The garden was established in 1988 under the leadership of Mayor George Latimer and the Minnesota China Friendship group after Latimer helped build a relationship with St. Paul’s sister city, Chagsha.

Morrison said she hopes when people come to the festival, that they learn more about gardens and come to appreciate the family aspect of the holiday.

“(The) two main goals are promoting this garden and (getting) to know more about this festival,” Morrison said. “By attending this festival, we’re celebrating this family reunion holiday with all the different ethnic groups in the Twin Cities.”

Related Articles

Nine-piece K-Pop group Twice to headline Grand Casino Arena in April

‘Coolest Thing Made in MN’ announces four finalists

Pop star Doja Cat is coming back to Target Center next October

Literary calendar for week of Sept. 28

County Un-Fair: Inside the long-running disputes that derailed the Ramsey County Fair

By LINLEY SANDERS and AMELIA THOMSON-DEVEAUX, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump got a significant amount of blame during the last partial government shutdown, which took place toward the end of his first term after he forced a shutdown over border wall funding — but with Democrats embracing the shutdown fight this time, the outcome could be very different.

A New York Times/Siena poll conducted last week, prior to the shutdown, shows that most registered voters did not want Democrats to shut down the government if their demands were not met, although both parties could end up receiving some blame for the resulting closure.

Here is what AP-NORC polling showed about the 2019 shutdown, and what recent polling suggests about how voters could react as the current shutdown unfolds.

Many blamed Trump for the last partial government shutdown

The last government shutdown took place in late 2018 and early 2019, after Trump demanded money for a U.S.-Mexico border wall. Then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, refused to negotiate unless Trump allowed the government to reopen.

In an AP-NORC poll conducted during that shutdown, about 7 in 10 Americans said Donald Trump had “a great deal” or “quite a bit” of responsibility for the partial shutdown. About 6 in 10 said that about Republicans in Congress, and roughly half said that about Democrats in Congress.

It was seen as a significant problem at the time, as airport delays and missed paychecks for federal workers brought urgency to efforts to resolve the standoff. About two-thirds of U.S. adults said the partial government shutdown was “a major problem for the country.” Democrats were more likely than Republicans to see it as a large issue.

Most didn’t want Democrats to force a shutdown this time

In the Times/Siena poll, about two-thirds of registered voters said the Democrats should not shut down the government, even if their demands were not met.

Democrats in Congress had demanded an extension to expiring health care benefits in order to pass the bill to extend government funding. Republicans in Congress had refused, but offered a stopgap bill to keep the government open for several weeks, which Democrats rejected.

Related Articles

New York rapper who joined Trump at campaign rally sentenced to 5 years for attempted murder

As Trump punts on medical debt, battle over patient protections moves to states

The US military has long been an engine of social change. Hegseth’s approach runs counter to that

States target ultraprocessed foods in bipartisan push

Cuban foreign minister says Rubio’s ‘personal’ agenda in Latin America risks Trump’s peace prospects

Registered Democrats may have been more eager than voters overall to see their party’s leadership force a shutdown: 47% said the Democrats should refuse to fund the government if their demands were not met. The move was less popular among independents and Republicans. About 9 in 10 Republicans and roughly 6 in 10 independents said Democrats should not shut down the government, even if their demands were not met.

But depending on what happens next, there could be plenty of blame to go around.

About one-quarter of registered voters in the Times/Siena poll — which was conducted prior to the shutdown — said they would blame Trump and the Republicans in Congress if a shutdown happened, while about 2 in 10 said they would place blame on congressional Democrats. About one-third said they’d blame both sides equally.

What Americans think of Congress

Congress had few fans with the American public, even before the shutdown.

It’s hard to find an American who has “a great deal” of confidence in the way Congress is being run, according to AP-NORC polling. Only 6% said they had a high level of confidence in the people running Congress in polling from this summer. About half had “only some” and 44% had hardly any confidence in how Congress was being run.

Confidence tends to be low among Democrats and Republicans, regardless of which party is in power. About 1 in 10 Republicans had “a great deal” of confidence in Congress, compared to 2% of Democrats.

St. Paul’s Highland District Council and other community groups are hosting a forum on Monday where voters can ask candidates running for mayor questions.

The forum is hosted by the district council, FairVote Minnesota, Danger Boat Productions, and others.

It will take place from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in St. Paul. Those interested can RSVP and send in questions at the Fair Vote MN website or Rank Your Vote website.

The first part will be a question and answer period.

The forum will feature Mayor Melvin Carter, Yan Chen, Adam Dullinger, State Rep. Kaohly Her and Mike Hilborn. Carter is running for his third term as mayor.

After the forum, residents can meet face to face with the candidates.

Related Articles

St. Paul mayoral candidates debate rising property taxes, loss of Cub Foods

League of Women Voters sponsors St. Paul mayoral forum Wednesday

Letters: A madness in the land

St. Paul mayor’s race begins in earnest, Kaohly Her launches campaign

Here’s who is running for St. Paul mayor