Jakub Lauko is an interesting cat, so it’s difficult to know where to begin when discussing the Wild’s new winger.
Do you start with his love of cinema? The young Czechian was at a film festival with friends in Prague when he learned he had been traded from Boston to Minnesota this summer. Or is it his obsession with fantasy fiction, the reason for a left arm covered in impressive tattoos of his favorite characters?
“A little fantasy sleeve,” he called it.
Then there is his love of grapes, which sounds fairly mundane but is so pervasive that he earned the nickname “Grapes” for sharing his favorite intermission snack with Bruins teammates last season.
Now in St. Paul, he noted, “I might become the grape dealer again.”
The reason we already know so much about Lauko? He’s demanded attention by making his presence felt in training camp and preseason games as the Wild prepare for Thursday’s regular-season opener against Columbus on Thursday at Xcel Energy Center.
“He’s been very consistent. I think that would be the word for it,” coach John Hynes said this week. “He’s impacting the game the same way every time; with his speed, he’s been able to score for us, but he’s put himself in good situations to be able to do it.”
In four preseason games, including Friday’s 6-1 victory at Chicago in the preseason finale, Lauko has three goals and an assist and helped solidify what has been a productive fourth line with rookie center Marat Khusnutdinov and veteran wing Freddy Gaudreau.
That set him apart competitively with several forwards hoping to earn a spot with the NHL club in camp, and his personality and interests — and willingness to talk about it — has set him apart from all of his new teammates. One topic in particular puts that into stark relief, and it’s not the movies, books or grapes.
“It should be pushed for everyone,” Lauko said after a practice on Thursday at TRIA Rink, “to wear a neck guard.”
Lauko is the first Wild player to wear the cut-proof protective gear that has yet to catch on at the NHL level, even in the wake of Adam Johnson’s death from a cut suffered during a professional game in England last fall, which prompted the IIHF and AHL to make them mandatory starting this fall.
Neck laceration protection also is mandated in Minnesota youth hockey under the auspices of USA Hockey.
On Oct. 24 last fall, an opponent’s skate got under Lauko’s visor in Chicago and hit him hard above the bridge of his nose, fracturing his skull in four places and missing his left eye by centimeters. In the immediate aftermath, Lauko wasn’t sure that was the case.
“There was so much blood I couldn’t see,” he said.
Lauko clearly doesn’t love talking about it — “I was freaking out. I was scared, too,” he said — but he does.
Four days later, Johnson died after being injured in a game between his Nottingham team and Sheffield in England’s top professional league. That tragedy hasn’t convinced many NHL players to wear protective neck gear. But after learning first-hand how dangerous a skate blade can be, Lauko didn’t have to think twice.
A post from Lauko’s social media account on x.com shows how close the young forward came to losing an eye.
“I know someone said (the guard) is uncomfortable and you get hot. It took me three practices to get used to it, then I was fine to play with it,” Lauko said. “It’s better to have something there; it’s the most vulnerable spot on your body, especially when the blades, they’re so sharp. It can slice you pretty quick. I’m wearing those cut-proof wrist guards, too.”
The NHL and its players union would have to work together to mandate the use of any protective gear. Visors didn’t become mandatory until 2013.
“The joint NHL/NHLPA Protective Equipment Subcommittee provides education to players and teams regarding cut-resistant equipment that is available to them,” said Jonathan Weatherdon of the NHLPA. “The NHLPA focuses on making sure players have the necessary information to make informed choices about their equipment.”
Lauko, in true hockey fashion, returned to the ice on Nov. 11, 18 days after he was hurt, wearing a full cage on his helmet for the better part of two months. His next injury happened in the playoffs when he broke a foot blocking a shot in the closing seconds of playoff win. He returned from that to play five more postseason games.
The neck guard hasn’t stopped Lauko from having one of the best camps of any Wild player this fall.
“I mean, you’ll get used to it,” he said. “I just don’t want to risk it anymore.”
Briefly
The Wild reassigned defenseman Daemon Hunt to Iowa and placed forward Ben Jones on waivers for the purpose of sending him to Des Moines, cutting the roster to 27. The NHL deadline to cut to 23 is Monday at 4 p.m. CDT.
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