There were plenty of reasons the Wild didn’t make the playoffs last season, an anomaly for a team that had been there in 10 of the previous 11 seasons. Injuries played a role, and underwhelming performances by a few veteran forwards, too. And don’t forget a 5-10-2 start that left them chasing from the get-go.

All important issues, to be sure. But for real clarity, the statistic that sticks out is the Wild’s season-long struggle on the penalty kill, 67 goals against shorthanded — second-worst in the NHL — for a 74.5 percent rate, third-worst among all 32 teams.

For context, the Wild ranked 13th in 5-on-5 goals against, 163. Nearly 26 percent of all the goals Minnesota gave up last season came short-handed.

“It’s a hard league to score goals in, so if you let in some easier, or not good, ones it’s gonna hurt you.” special-teams stalwart Joel Eriksson Ek said. “We know that’s something we need to do better, and we get to work with it right away.”

The PK was so down, even the return of captain Jared Spurgeon — a fixture on both special-teams units limited by injuries to 16 games last season — isn’t a guarantee it will be better this season. Keep in mind that in a first-round playoff series loss to Dallas the previous spring, the Wild’s penalty kill success rate was 62.5 percent.

So, the team is revamping its schemes, and trying to inculcate a new attitude on the penalty kill during training camp. That started Monday and Tuesday with four intensive practices, two for each group still in camp. The first focused on entries, the second on the back end.

Of the eight teams that made the NHL conference semifinals last season, five (Carolina, New York Rangers, Florida, Boston and Dallas) had a PK ranked among the best eight in the league, and Colorado (12) and Edmonton (15) were in the top half.

As Wild associate coach Jack Capuano said, “Your power play can go stale, but you’re not going to win with a bad penalty kill. You have to keep the puck out of your net, and that’s just a fact.”

Capuano, the New York Islanders head coach for parts of seven seasons before working as an associate coach in Florida and Ottawa, was added to John Hynes’ staff this summer. He and assistant Patrick Dwyer have taken the lead on the penalty kill project. Outside of a two-week period after Hynes became the head coach on Nov. 28, the Wild’s kill was consistently among the NHL’s bottom three.

“You’re in season and you’re trying to fix it, and you can’t,” Hynes said. “You have to do it through video. You try to do it through practice, but again, you’re limited in the amount of times that you can do things. So, when you have the opportunity here … now you build that foundation.”

The Wild rallied last season to stay in playoff contention until the second week in April, when they were eliminated by a 5-2 loss at Colorado on April 9, despite a kill that never found its footing.

Jake Middleton, one of Minnesota’s most effective penalty killers last season, said it became disheartening.

“We had no jam, no confidence in it,” the veteran defenseman said. “I think we had that swagger for a little bit when the new staff came in … and then we kind of were a shell of ourselves again after that. But that’s old news.”

In some ways, the team is starting from scratch, and that includes personnel.

“Nobody plays for free; you have to earn it,” said Capuano, who noted that some of the best overall players in the NHL — such as Florida’s Aleksander Barkov and Vincent Trocheck, and Boston’s Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron — play on the league’s best PK units.

The Wild are hoping to add wing Matt Boldy — who has scored a combined 60 goals over the past two seasons — to the PK for the first time this season, but that has been put on hold by his lower-body injury. That would make him one of a small handful of players on both special-teams units.

The Wild already have a strong power play, with all key players back from a unit that finished 10th in the NHL last season. Of the nine teams with better units, only Detroit failed to make the playoffs — and none of them had a worse PK than Minnesota’s.

Of the four teams that made the conference finals last season, three had a PK ranked among the best eight, and Colorado’s was ranked 12th.

“You hope when the power play is struggling, the penalty kill is going to pick us up, and vice versa,” Capuano said. “But in the big realm of things, the penalty kill has to be in the Top 10 or 15 in the league.”

Not so special

The Wild’s penalty kill was one of the worst special-teams units in the NHL last season. Here are some indicative numbers, with where that ranked in the 32-team league in parentheses:

Wild PK                 SHGA     SHGF     PPGA
74.5 percent (29)   67 (31)    3 (T-31)  9 (T-29)

A look at some of Friday’s top high school football games involving East Metro teams:

Eagan (3-1) at Lakeville North (4-0), 7 p.m.

It’s an odd thing to say in Week 5, but there’s a very good chance this game determines the section’s all-important No. 1 seed in the Class 6A tournament bracket. Yes, the Wildcats are competing for such a distinction, a credit to the patience and perseverance demonstrated by coach Nick Johnson and his players.

Both the Panthers and Wildcats had gantlets to clear to open the season. Both have beaten Rosemount and Lakeville South. Both faced difficult Week 1 opponents (Lakeville North topped Stillwater, while Eagan fell to Edina). That Lakeville North had an extra day off in preparation for this one after its game against Farmington last Thursday could prove to be a key advantage. OUR PICK: Lakeville North 24, Eagan 16

St. Thomas Academy (3-1) at Robbinsdale Armstrong (4-0), 7 p.m.

It’s all systems go right now for. St. Thomas Academy, whose offense appears to be finding a rhythm at a good point in the season. Credit to Robbinsdale Armstrong for its undefeated start, which has the Hawks up to No. 5 in the current Class 5A state rankings, but this figures to be their stiffest test to date by a wide margin. OUR PICK: St. Thomas Academy 30, Robbinsdale Armstrong 14

Andover (3-1) at Spring Lake Park (2-2), 7 p.m.

The Panthers are fresh off the sting of a late-game loss to Rogers last week, but there’s plenty to be optimistic about. Spring Lake Park’s rushing attack is proving to be up to the program’s traditionally high standards, led by junior running back Larami Brown, who is up to 494 yards on the ground already this season. The question for Friday is whether Spring Lake Park’s defense can limit Andover’s lethal passing attack enough for the Panthers to continue to be able to run the ball. OUR PICK: Andover 34, Spring Lake Park 24

South St. Paul (2-2) vs. Simley (1-3), at TCO Stadium in Eagan, 7 p.m.

Winners of two of their past three games, perhaps things are starting to click for the Packers, who may have found a recipe for success last week in leaning on running back Nasir Robinson. Simley is still in search of such a formula. It is a young team with a lot of developing talent, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Spartans find their groove over the next month. OUR PICK: Simley 24, South St. Paul 20

WISCONSIN

New Richmond (5-0) at Rice Lake (5-0), 7 p.m.

The two teams that have separated themselves as the powers in this year’s Big Rivers Conference duel for the inside track in the title race. New Richmond is physical and touts a strong running game in its own right, but no one has been remotely close to slowing the defending Division 3 state champion Warriors on the ground to date. Rice Lake is averaging 346 rushing yards per game on a gaudy 7.6 yards per carry. That’s with wins over the likes of Menomonie and Chippewa Falls already in its pocket. OUR PICK: Rice Lake 34, New Richmond 27

Prescott (5-0) at St. Croix Central (4-1), 7 p.m.

This type of season felt as though it was coming for Prescott, with a slew of young, talented players coming into their own with added age and experience. The current product is an explosive offense capable of running, passing and putting up points at a high level. Now the Cardinals will see if they can continue that amount of success while facing leveled-up competition. OUR PICK: Prescott 35, St. Croix Central 28

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By JOHN HANNA

Lawmakers said during a contentious congressional hearing Thursday they are uneasy about the U.S. Postal Service’s readiness for a crush of mail ballots for the November election because some of them feel burned by other Postal Service actions.

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy sought to reassure a House Appropriations subcommittee that the Postal Service is well-positioned for an extraordinary effort to deliver mail ballots to election officials on time to be counted and that close to 100% will make it promptly. In recent weeks, DeJoy has pushed back on suggestions from state and local election officials that the Postal Service has not addressed problems that led to mail ballots arriving too late or without postmarks.

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But as subcommittee members asked DeJoy about how the Postal Service has addressed election officials concerns, they criticized a larger, longer-term plan to make the mail delivery system more efficient and less costly by consolidating mail processing centers, suggesting it could slow mail delivery, particularly in rural areas. DeJoy disputed that.

DeJoy has said repeatedly that the Postal Service’s larger plans won’t affect the handling of potentially tens of millions of mail ballots for the Nov. 5 election because the plan is on hold for October and the first half of November. But subcommittee Chair David Joyce, an Ohio Republican, told him in opening the hearing that broader problems with mail delivery are on constituents’ minds as the presidential election approaches.

“Many of our constituents have expressed concerns about the Postal Service’s ability to deliver election ballots securely and on time,” Joyce said. ”It is imperative that the Postal Service get this right.”

DeJoy told the lawmakers that the Postal Service’s 650,000 employees will be sifting through 300 million pieces of mail to capture stray ballots and ensure they arrive on time. He said the Postal Service has improved its training.

“We’re doing very well at this — just not perfect,” he said.

Legendary Vikings quarterback Tommy Kramer took to social media this week to announce that he has been diagnosed with dementia.

In a lengthy post on his X account, Kramer, 69, said he was officially diagnosed a little more than a year ago at the Cleveland Clinic. He said he recently had his annual checkup and the doctors told him his dementia hasn’t advanced. He added that he has stopped drinking alcohol.

“Please, no sympathy,” Kramer wrote.” I’ve lived a great life and wouldn’t change a thing.”

The announcement from Kramer came after Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre, who starred for the Green Bay Packers and Vikings, announced that he has Parkinson’s disease earlier this week. That motivated Kramer to share his story with hopes of shedding light on other former players dealing with similar situations.

“I know there are players out there who I played with that need all the help they can get,” Kramer wrote. “I’m hoping to bring some awareness so the NFL will be able to help others and future players who are battling illnesses like myself.”

After being selected by the Vikings in the first round of the 1977 NFL Draft, Kramer went on to play more than a decade in Minnesota. He earned the nickname “Two-Minute Tommy” because of his propensity for leading comebacks.

In total, Kramer led 20 comeback victories during his time with the Vikings, which included the iconic Miracle at the Met. After erasing a 14-point deficit down the stretch in that particular game, Kramer completed a 46-yard Hail Mary to receiver Ahmad Rashad on the final play, which propelled the Vikings to an impossible 28-23 win over the Cleveland Browns.

“Nobody wanted to win more than me,” Kramer wrote. “I never gave up.”

Naturally, Kramer vowed to carry that same tenacity into his battle with dementia.

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